What Happened to Eight Commandments?

So the title today is, What Happened to Eight Commandments? What happened to eight commandments? Jesus of Nazareth is questioned about the Ten Commandments. You know the story, most of you do. Hopefully our new viewers know the story of the Ten Commandments. Many religious people say that He, Christ, God reduced the ten to eight. Excuse the ten to two. He took out eight. I saw a debate over this on YouTube not long ago. Reduce the ten to eight, and not particularly those two. Is that correct? Because there's one thing you have to admit. Jesus, our Savior, the Messiah, He had the power, He had the authority to do it, didn't He? God said He's given Him all authority, all power, under heaven. So if it's going to be done, who else could do it? But Jesus Christ. That's what He talked about. Moses was given the Ten Commandments by the rock. First Corinthians 10, 4, said, the rock carried them through that we know was to reincarnate Christ. So He would have been able to do that. So He would have been able to reduce it from ten to two because He had full authority. But did He do that? People argue that He did. There are scriptures that show that He did, and that we only need to keep two. But there's a problem here. This is in John, John 13, verse 34. It shows Christ didn't take one away, He added one.

Because He said, hey, that last non-earth, I'm giving you a new one. Right, Maria? That's what He said. That's what it says. So, 3 or 13? Or is it 3 and 11? Wait a minute, what the—what does the Word of God say? I said, I gave you a new commandment that you love one another. And since He giveth He obviously can take us away, if you think that way. So let's talk about those commandments today since they're all through the Old Testament, and then you find them all through the New Testament, and the last writers like John, verse John, just goes through and just, well, shut up about them!

So is there a conflict in Scripture? Do we need to delve a little deeper? Well, I'd like to look at that because how old are the commandments? They go all the way back to Exodus 20, right? Well, no, those are verbal. Exodus 20 is verbal. He just said them. Now go to Exodus 31, it's where He actually wrote them down. So is that where they started? No? Very good. Got our students on the front row. I used to like that in school. If I was really good at the subject, I'd sit on the front row. But if I wasn't, I'd sit in the back. Now, well, here we go. But you go from Exodus 31, where they were written down, or even Exodus 20. It wasn't that much time between a few months there, between they were given verbally and when they were written down. But you have to go back about 450 years before it's given to those Moses followers, and we come to a time in Genesis. Genesis 26 and verse 5. Genesis 26 and verse 5 is 450 years before Mount Sinai. And the Scriptures say, because Abraham obeyed my voice, and he did what? Kept my commandments.

And you've got to remember, there were no birds or steams back then. It means there were no Jews back then. Okay? If you're from West Palm or Boca, you understand that you're Jewish communities, and there's a lot of birds and a lot of steams there. Okay. When Abraham existed back there, there weren't birds and there weren't steams, there weren't Jews. Abraham wasn't a Jew. Because they said, well, the laws were given to the Jews. Abraham wasn't a Jew. Noah wasn't a Jew. And I didn't find it when Jeff was talking that Adam and Eve were born Jews, or created Jews. I guess what? No. So what is this commandment keeping? Did it go all the way back? Is it possible that Abraham and Eve were given the commandments? It doesn't say so, does it? That's just speculation, my part. Now, they did what God told them not to do. Don't eat that fruit! They ate it anyway. You think, okay, God just put them there and they were just hanging around, having a good time, having joy in the sun.

No oil on their skins. But you think God said, okay, do anything. I don't care what you do. Just don't eat that fruit. That's the only thing he said? I wouldn't think so.

So is it possible that they knew what was sin since the original sin started with them? Sin is the transgression of the law, God's law. But did it exist 6,000 years ago? Did it exist before 6,000 years?

We can kind of answer that question with Scripture because you can go to Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel 28 and verse 15. Now, this is the New King James Version. Iniquity. If you go to the New Living Translation, it says sin. Sin lays it out, till sin was found in you. What is this? Wait a minute. That's a long time ago. Long, long, long time ago. We're not talking millions, we're talking billions of years ago. Could God's law have existed that long? Is that possible? Feasible? You know what happened? Because it says verse 16, it says, then I cast you to the ground.

And then in verse 18, it says by the multitude of your iniquities in the New Living Translation, because of the multitude of your sins.

What was he sinning? What was he doing? By the iniquity of your trading? Okay, what did Lucifer have to trade?

You ever thought about that? What is it?

Oh, yeah, well, business, that's what this is like, so forth. So if God owned everything and controlled everything, he didn't have anything to trade until it was his. Because it tells us that he wanted to be like the most high. He wanted to take over. He tried. And if he took over, what did he have to trade then? Everything. Everything. Positions. Planets. Skies. Everything. Because God owns everything. Isn't that amazing? But it didn't turn out that way. So did he promise a lot? Obviously, when I had my business and before I had my business, I worked for another business. You've done some. All of you have done some. Jonathan, you've been in that too.

I was a salesman. Thought I was pretty good. Made a living. Had some meat and my potatoes.

But this guy, Lucifer, he was a salesman. He had perfection in front of him. He had the big dog and the other big dog right there with him showing how to live and everything was harmonious for billions of years. And he somehow convinced a third of the angels that I got something better than this. You know what was that old TV show? Yeah, something behind door three. You know, you can't see what it is, but you'll give up what you have to get behind the curtain. This is what he did. And he sold a third. And you ever see that? What was that show called? Price is Right. Okay. And that's where they had the three door. And you could have what you had already. You could swap for the let's make a deal. Oh, there. Okay. Let's make a deal. And you and I remember because I was a kid shows how old you are. So was I. But so, so, so here you they might have something really great and nice. Okay, that they've won doing whatever things they did. And then he can okay, you can keep that or you can have what's behind door number three or curtain or whatever. Most people didn't do it, did they? If I remember the show, most people took with it. But occasionally you would have somebody go, ha. And then they pull in it and have a drum roll. They would have all this and then turned out to be a piece of salami or something, you know, and the people were like, and then you hear this out. No, no. How must those fallen angels third have felt when they pull back the curtain, he had nothing to offer them but misery and no real future? Hmm, really?

Must think about that, shouldn't we? Because he's still today, Lucifer is still trying to promise what's behind the curtain. It's better than what we can what we have in front of us and we can see and read. Because it was Christ's own apostle in 1 John 3 and verse 4 says, whoever commits sin also commits what? Lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. So for there to be sin, there has to be lawlessness. For there to be lawlessness, there has to be law. Law! Boy, you guys are so sharp. It just makes sense. And so way back, there was law. And there were lawbreakers. 1 John 5 and verse 3 says, this is the love of God that we keep. His commandments. And, as you heard last week by Andy Diemer, his commandments are not burdensome. They're not like some weight on your shoulder. Oh, it's such a burden to have to shut things down and rest for 24 hours.

So where do people get only two of the commandments? That eight were done away. We no longer have to worry about the eight. Just two. And that is just about saying, because this is what it is, Love you, God. I love you people, too. That's it. Let's do anything else. Right? Well, let's go see if this is what Christ said in his own words. Let's go first, because we'll finish up this here, in Matthew 22. Matthew 22. Now, it's interesting because who wrote Matthew? Boy, you are so sharp. It doesn't. You've trained her well, or she's trained you well. Matthew, he was a Jew. He was also a former tax collector. It means he was despised and hated by most of his people. But he wrote this. Was he there? Seems he was. He jumped on board somewhere because of the setting and so forth. This is my speculation. Okay, don't quote me that this is what he said. I'm calling Victor Cubic. This is speculation that where Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount was just right above where his tax office was. And you notice the Sermon on the Mount is covered so much more deeply, richly in Matthew than any of the other gospels. So is it possible that's where he really got turned on? I don't know. But it's interesting because in Matthew 22, verse 34, that's where we get it. But when the, what's their names? Pharisees. When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, their enemies, they gathered together. Then one of them, a, what does your Bible say? A lawyer. What was a lawyer? A scribe. Okay, the two words are interchangeable. Just remember that. A lawyer was a scribe. A scribe was a lawyer. A teacher, a writer of the law. Like Bill's drawing when he does his little drawings, not everybody can do that. I can't. I can draw a stick man as good as Bill, but pass a stick man. I'm not anywhere in his league. Well, guess what? Scribes and lawyers were not just someone who could draw a stick man. They were gifted at writing. They had to be so precise. I'll go into that just a little bit more. So they were chosen. They were chosen because they were gifted. They were talented. They were educated. Then one of them, a lawyer, a scribe, asked him a question, testing him. So Matthew wants to lay this out. This guy, is he sincere? He's testing. He's testing my leader and saying, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Trinity. It's about as far into Trinity as we go in this church. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all, all the law and the prophets. What was the law and the prophets? The law was the first five books of the Bible, Torah. That's what they considered at the time. The prophets were what? Nope. Not the rest because you had the law, the prophets, and the writings. Writings were Solomon's, Ecclesiastes, writings were like that. The prophets were all the major, all the minor prophets. Not hard to say. You have law and the prophets. So all the law, all the prophets hung on those two commandments.

All right? The greatest. A Pharisee asked the greatest. And he told them. Now, there's one other account of this. It happens to be a mark. The same account, except there's differences. And that's the beauty. That's why we study the Bible. Because the little nuances, the little differences, it's what helps us to have a greater understanding of God's work and helps us to teach. That's what it's about, teaching others. Differences, same account. Same day, same everything, except this is Mark's writing of what happened that day, which is believed to be Peter's account. So let's go there. Mark 12 verses 28 through 34. Okay, 28. Then one of the scribes came. Remember what the other said? A lawyer. Well, that's interchangeable. Let me tell you about a scribe. The scribes were chosen when they were very young because of their knowledge, because they had to be able to know the law. They had to be able to read it. They had to be able to write it. They were writing the law so that it could be handed down or taken to other places. So they had to be sure. Scribes had to say out loud the words before writing them. They were in a room. They were in a controlled environment because these skins that they were writing on, it had to be. They didn't want anything interfering. And so they were in room. So they had to make sure that they were to say it and then write it down. Pretty simple. But before they wrote the name of God, whether it was Adonai, whether it was Yahweh, or anything else, they would have to take and go clean the writing instrument and the writing tablet. Clean it completely. Every time they worked because they were to hold that name up here. So that takes a little time. So this wasn't a job. They're just going, well, you know, I knocked out Genesis today. No. It was something that they were chosen because of their handwriting, their ability to write. It was even suggested by different scholars that anyone left-handed couldn't be ascribed. Because left-handed people were at the time considered accursed.

Because most of the people, 90% of the people in the world today are right-handed. Only 10%, 9.9% of the people today are left-handed. Is anybody here left-handed? What do you got? You're left-handed and you're left-handed and you are a freak.

She used both hands. She said, I'm a dexterous. Yes. Well, I'm left-handed and that 9%... I am a freak. Okay, but I'm less of a freak than she is. And the reason I tell you that is that left-hand, there's only 9.9% of the people in the world are left-handed. And 9% of those are male. 9%, 9.9% only 0.9% of the world are left-handed women. They are very rare. Yes. The only thing they get you is never be a serial killer. You'll be very easy to find. They know if you commit with your left hand. But that's so interesting because to me, this was such a specialized job that you needed to follow a pattern. And when you were being taught the law, when you were being trained, that's what this was about. And the scribe's specific job, his specific mandate was to copy the Torah. That was so important. And you could only copy at this time, you could at the New Testament when it was here. It wasn't done on papris. It was done on animal skins. And it had to be just so. And the animal skin had to be, couldn't have a lot of wrinkles. It couldn't be an old animal. They wanted those animal skins. They were right. They had to be dried. They were just like... And so then he had this special instrument that he would write on him. And it had to be black ink. He'd say, well, what other kind of ink did they have? They had purple ink. They had different color inks, because it was from different dyes and it was flowers. It was actually fash and everything else. It gave different color.

But when they wrote this down, when they had the skin, and they were writing the law, not that... I'm sorry, I couldn't write it. Yeah, I couldn't be a scribe. But that if any of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, any of the Hebrew letters touched, the whole skin was thrown out. It was so specific that none of the letters could touch. And it had to be just so that that script at the end of the day, that skin was inspected evening to find if there was anything wrong with it. Because passing down the Torah, first five books of Bible was so important at that time. So you can see that this person asking this question, he knew the law. This is all he did his entire life. This is what he was trained to do. So he's not just some, oh well, you know, I copied this down and I ran through this on my Xerox. No, it was that big a deal. So let's look at this big deal that was done at that time. Said then one of the scribes, you know what they are now, also called lawyers, because, why would I call lawyers? Because everybody was judged from the law, the same law in all of you, to all of Israel, was judged by it. So they would bring out one of them and say, well, where is it? And they would know exactly the entire five books at that time. They could turn to it because if that's all you ever did, you should know. Not just the 50 chapters of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. So, here was this guy and he, one of the scribes, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he answered them well, who was he answering well? Jesus Christ was answering what happened up above? The Sadducees! Remember what we just read in the earlier, because the Pharisees came because the Sadducees thought they were going to stump him and they couldn't. They're going, well, what happens to this man? He's got five wives. What's going to happen in the kingdom? Who's he going to be? You know, and Christ just kind of put them in their place. You don't know the scriptures. Yes, you don't know, nor the power of God, he said. So then this scribe, perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered and said, the first of all, the commandments is, here, O Israel! We're looking at the differences, right, from the first account in Matthew. He didn't say that thing. Here is the ad. Here, O Israel! It was important what he was about to say. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear as he said all the time. Do you think he goes, listen, you guys. Hey, guys, hear up. Listen up. No, he said, hear, O Israel! He said, hear, O Israel! He said, hear, O Israel! He said, hear, O Israel! The Lord our God! The Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your might. And then he adds what? All your strength, everything you got. This is the first commandment. And the second is like it, is this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. So the scribe said to him, well said, teacher. You have spoken the truth. For there is one God, and there is no other. But he, addressing everything he said. Why? Because the scribe was detailed. They're detailed people.

He recognized the truth when he heard it. He didn't have an agenda like the Pharisees or the saisies that somebody's going to take my job.

And he said in verse 33, And to love with all your heart, with all the understanding. This is, he's wrapping everything up. With all your soul, with all your strength, and to love one's neighbor as yourself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. This man knew the Word of God, and he couldn't help when he heard it. He knew it.

Now, when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, you are not far from the kingdom of God. You're not far from eternity. Keep this mindset. You will have eternity. You will be in the kingdom of God. It always makes me wonder, did the scribe follow through? Is it possible this scribe was there? Pentecost day. God himself told him, you're not far. But after that, no one dared question him. Why? Because I knew that the scribe knew everything. He was just like, uh, case closed. So, so was there anything here that did away with the other eight? No. He summarized. He encapsulated. What is to encapsulate? You summarize this? I mean, this is it. He didn't do away. He encapsulated to break it down to, okay, if I were to, someone tells me, well, I haven't read the book of Genesis. Could you encapsulate it for me? Could you summarize? I said, yeah, I can do it in seven words. Well, basically seven events, seven people. Garden. The flood. Babbel. Right? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joshua. That's it. Seven words. Now, for all of you who know the book of Genesis, that's basically it, because that's the, that encapsulates the whole thing. Those events, those people, summarize the entire thing. Christ was making it so simple because the teachers before Him made it so hard. They had six hundred and something different things that you could break the Sabbath with. They had all these things and they made it so hard.

Their laws that they spoke, the Mishnah, oral law, that they made this. And so here, Christ came and said, guys, it's not that complicated. It's not that hard. Put this in your heart because they didn't have the regular people, ninety nine point nine percent of the people. They didn't have the law. They didn't have the Ten Commandments on it. They had to memorize everything. So He said, let me make it simple.

Take these two. The only thing Christ did was on the Sermon on the Mount, He said, what? Do you not think that I came to destroy the law? Or the prophets? And the prophets? He said that as He expanded the Ten Commandments, expanded the spirit of the law.

And He said, don't think that I came to do away. And what does Christianity today teach? A law is done away with. He did away and nailed to the cross. It's no good. Nope, you don't need it. But He said at the end of that, I did not come to do away with the with the law and the prophets, but to fulfill. Christ came to fulfill. And some people said to fill it up. Okay, well that's all fine to anybody.

But a lot of people go, well, no, that's not what He meant. Okay, but what did He mean when He came and He fulfilled the 300 to 400 prophecies of Himself in the Old Testament? Matter of fact, Alfred Edersheim in the Life and Times of Messiah said there were 456. I've read most of those 4 and 5. I give him 400. Some of them are stretching a little bit.

But He said for prophecies that are in the Old Testament that happened 400 to 3000 years before telling about Jesus Christ coming. When Jesus Christ came, if you're going to go by what people are teaching, what did He do when He came?

He didn't fulfill it? What did He do? It's just, it's ludicrous because exactly what Christ said, exactly what I said I won't do, you say I'm doing. Do away with the law. Why? It's mind-boggling that people think He would come and lie. Because if He is, don't worship Him. He's not your Messiah. He's not your Savior. If you believe that He just lied and He said I did not come to a love it, then you don't need to even open your Bible.

Go home. Go somewhere else. Find you another Messiah. There's a bunch of them out there claiming to be. But it is this important, brethren. These words are so important. The commandments are so important. That people are just looking for a way to do away with them. And it's amazing how many people will do that. It's kind of like, oh, I'm going to bring coffee in the morning and I'll bring along some donuts and Danish and when I bring it in, you're saying, you didn't bring the coffee?

Well, yeah, I did. This is exactly what is happening here for those that want to profess to take away, to destroy the commandments, to destroy the law. And they try to do it with eight. I had one guy tell me one time, well, yeah, I keep nine. But he changed the Sabbath to a Sunday, which you heard about last week. That didn't happen. Okay. He gave us ten. He expects us to keep ten. But he encapsulated and summarized just two.

Now, why? Why would people want to get away from? Why do they despise the commandments so much that they would actually lie? Because if you understand Scripture, you understand it, it's not ignorance. They're not ignorant. They know exactly what they are doing by doing away with this. It's blatant lies. So why do away with eight commandments or ten commandments in Christ?

Because you're absolutely right, Maria, they're going to do what they want to do. They're saying, don't tell me what to do. Don't tell me what to do. And I ask you, your grandson, your son. Sorry. You look older than that, but no, just kidding. Just kidding. Okay. Of the ten commandments, you know them, right? Okay. Anybody's out there, got kids, grandkids, listening to this, they want to buy into this incredible lie. Which of the ten commandments don't you want him to keep? Is there one you don't?

You don't mind if he lies to you? You want to sleep well at night with he's got a knife right by your ear? No, there's not a one. If you're a married person and you have a wife, which of the ten commandments don't you want your wife to keep? Don't you want your husband to keep? It is ludicrous that people will want to do away with God's law. Sodom and Gomorrah, they didn't want God's law. Garden of Eden didn't want God's law. The Tower of Babel, they don't want God's law. Today, so many people don't want God's law. And there's a reason. Jeffrey.

Ha ha ha.