The Ten Letters of the Law

"The Ten whats?" I'm glad you asked. Personally, I prefer the Five Commandments. You never heard of that set, have you? They predate the list of Ten Thou Shalt Nots. They are, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion. I call them the Thou Shalts. Much more positive and reflective of a good father. 

As for the Thou Shalt Nots, they contradict what Jesus came to share. If they are still valid, I'd say he taught for no reason. If I tell a Christian they were never meant to be kept, they indignantly reply, "Oh course they were!" Then I ask, "Do you keep them?" Well, no, but I try to, is the inevitable confession.  

I offer an eccentric interpretation (try to contain your amazement) with the disclaimer that it is only my opinion extrapolated from my fundamental knowledge of basic spiritual principles. Let's start with something trivial... God didn't give Israel the Ten Commandments.  

If you look at the big picture, the western bible takes us from condemnation to redemption, from sweat and thorns to heavenly bliss, from rituals that were done outwardly, to rituals of the soul and from obeying the letter of the law, to having the spirit of the law live within us. [Keeping the letter of the law means just that. Following the rules to the letter, and dispensing the punishment, to the letter. No plea bargaining, no friend of the court. The spirit of the law implies that you're keeping the law because you want to, not because you have to in fear of punishment.]  If you think small, Moses ends up being a failure. He served faithfully for 80 years after being miraculously rescued from crib death, liberated from being an Egyptian prince (huh?) and then freed from slavery, only to take Israel half way to the promised land and die in the wilderness. Sounds like a raw deal. But it had to be that way, Moses wasn't just a shepherd of slaves. He represented the letter of the law, as distinct from the spirit of the law. The letter of the law is simple, yet harsh. If you make one mistake, you blew it and there's no pardon or parole for kissing up aftewrds. True to his archetype, Moses did everything he was asked to do, except one time. No, not the time he killed somebody. The time he was told to hit the rock with his stick. When no water flowed from the rock, he hit it a second time, demonstrating a lack of faith. That's cold! For this, he had to die in sight of the promised land and there wasn't even a funeral. He just walked off alone and disappeared. You're making a mess, there! Here's a Kleenex. And you aren't the one peeling the onion. 

It had to go this way. You can't get into the promised land by the letter of the law. That law says, if you make one mistake, you're condemned. That style of law is what the Ten Commandments were. There will be a new law given much later, again, to satisfy the bigger picture. So, if the Thunder of Mt. Sinai didn't intend to give Israel the letter of the law, what happened? Moses and the nation of Israel, or the Hebrews were camped in Sinai. It was no man's land between bondage and freedom. The top of the mountain was shrouded in smoke and cloud and there was constant thunder and lightning. Are you sure this isn't Florida? The people are shaking in their sandals and so grateful they have Moses for a buffer. They told him, look, Moishe, you have a rapport with this God, or bush or whatever. You go talk to him and we'll wait here. No, we'll wait way over there. You tell the lord "We'll do anything he asked us to do." And I think he heard that. 

Let's freeze frame and analyze: Do whatever he asks us to do? That's not even possible. Dimwits! How can you vow to do anything you're asked? What if he tells you to tie your arm in a knot? Here you see another vital element in the big story. If it's impossible to enter the sweet land by keeping laws, then the arrogance of believing you can is actually what keeps you from the goal. Now, imagine the all-knowing god picking up on this attitude and divining a plan.... "So, you'll do anything I ask? Well, let's just see if you can do these ten simple things." 

Moses heads up the mountain and true to my unqualified suspicions, the ten simple rules for pleasing god are prepared and handed to the delivery boy. If you believe this all-knowing deity is just that, then you can have no illusions that he ever thought the Ten Commandment scheme was supposed to succeed. He knew what they'd do with them before they did it. Moses is holding the stones. They're still warm from the lightning pen. He says he hears the sound of war in the camp. God says, you better get down there. It's not war, it's partying. When Moses descended with the new laws, he found them breaking rule number one. You think that was a coincidence? There are no coincidences. It all fits the pattern of the big story, right down to Moses smashing the tablets to bits upon the golden calf. All the laws would be broken. [Hey, just a minute! I'm sure I never made any graven images.] 

These laws were not given to Israel as a guide to behavior. They were given to teach those arrogant brats that they can't make it into the promised land by their good behavior. If you just tell someone this, they won't believe you. They have to fall on their face and prove it to themselves. Now Moses has to discipline the bunch that wants to follow the calf instead of Old Thunder and Lightning, so he makes them stand in the corner. Then he shakes his stick at them and the corner caves in and buries them. Now he has to head up the mountain again for a new set of tablets. I guess he thought the warranty was still good for a full replacement. He had no idea. 

When he was in the presence of the scary voice in the bush again, he can take it no more. He blurts out, "Show me your glory!" I guess talking to a bush long enough will give you the heebie jeebies. God replies, "You can't see my face, mortal. You would be a crispy critter in a heartbeat and then just a fond memory. But here's what I will do. Climb up into that crack in the rock and I'll move by you, covering you with my hand as I pass and speak my true name." In that culture your name was your reputation, or your nature, but are you following this? Cover him with his hand? The guy is huge! So God safely moves past him declaring his nature. What he heard, or felt in the voice was "mercy, compassion, to all generations, forever". Then the presense passes by and the wake hits him. Moses drops to the deck and eats sand. He was probably balling like a baby and blowing snot. It was more mercy and compassion than any human had ever felt. It was enough love to turn your legs to rubber. That was the second law.