Matthew 5:21–26 (NKJV):
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
According to Matthew 5:21-26 there are two wildly different ways to understand God’s moral law. You can read it like the Scribes and Pharisees. When the 6th commandment says, “Don’t murder,” you understand this as only a prohibition of the physical act of murder. Let’s call this the superficial reading. On the other hand, you can read it like Jesus. He condemned physical murder, but also exposited the sixth command as spiritual. For him, the law applied to the depths of man; the understanding, the will, the affections, and all other powers of the soul; as well as words, works, and gestures.1 Let’s call this “reading with depth.”
In this post, I offer 2 reminders and a game to play in hopes to introduce a deep reading of God’s law.
First Reminder: Law as Summary & Ellipses
The ten commandments are a summary of God’s moral will. A summary is a brief statement or account of the main points of something. I’ve seen some authors summarize the entire bible in 4 points; creation, fall, redemption and new creation. Those four points are not the Bible in detail. They are not the content of all 66 books of the Bible. They are a summary. Similarly, God’s moral will is summarized in ten separate but interconnected laws.
The Ten Commandments are not the only summary of God’s moral will. Jesus summarized the law into 2 parts or tables. The gospel writer Matthew recorded a conversation which Jesus had with a lawyer. The lawyer asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus responded with a two part summary saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”2 Loving God is the first table consisting of four commands. Loving neighbor is the second table consisting of commands five through ten.
R.C. Sproul understood that the law was a summary. He taught that God gave the ten commandments in “elliptical fashion.”
Whenever you see three or four dots in the middle of a sentence or a paragraph, the dots indicate that material has been deliberately left out. Those dots are called “ellipses.”
He continued saying,
When it comes to the ellipses in the law, it means that whatever the law specifically forbids, it also forbids the broader nexus of the context of that law. So when God says we should not murder, that means, by extension, that we should not do anything that damages our neighbor’s life. Murder begins with unjustifiable anger and hatred, and it includes insults, slander, and estrangement from people.
The Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC) fills in the “ellipses” by enumerating “the broader nexus”. Here is an example from the WLC on the sixth commandment
Q. 135. What are the duties required in the sixth commandment?
A. The duties required in the sixth commandment are, all careful studies, and lawful endeavours, to preserve the life of ourselves and others by resisting all thought and purposes, subduing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations, and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any; by just defence thereof against violence, patient bearing of the hand of God, quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit; a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, labour, and recreations; by charitable thoughts, love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness; peaceable, mild and courteous speeches and behaviour; forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for evil; comforting and succouring the distressed, and protecting and defending the innocent.
After the duties required, they enumerate the sins forbidden:
Q. 136. What are the sins forbidden in the sixth commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the sixth commandment are, all taking away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public justice, lawful war, or necessary defence; the neglecting or withdrawing the lawful and necessary means of preservation of life; sinful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge; all excessive passions, distracting cares; immoderate use of meat, drink, labour, and recreations; provoking words, oppression, quarrelling, striking, wounding, and whatsoever else tends to the destruction of the life of any.
The Westminster Divines recognized that the Ten Commandments were summaries recorded in Exodus and Deuteronomy in “elliptical fashion.” In order to provide a vision for God’s moral order, they enumerated some the depth of those laws in the WLC.
I wonder if this helps you to make more sense of David in Psalm 1 who says that the righteous, “meditates on his law day and night.” Did you picture a young man or woman rehearsing only the summary of the law? David was not referring to a superficial meditation. He was referring to something deeper like we see in the WLC.
Second Reminder: Stories as Law
The ten commandments are embodied in the stories of the Scriptures. In the Story as Torah, Reformed Old Testament scholar Gordon Wenham acknowledged that Jews and Christians turned to Bible stories for instruction in the Ten Commandments:
For centuries Jews have read the Bible didactically drawing from its stories moral and legal principles to guide daily life. Encouraged by Jesus and Paul (Matt 19:4; 1 Cor 10:11) and common ancient practice, Christian teachers and preachers have similarly read the Old Testament with a view to using its stories to instill ethical principles in their hearers.
One of my favorite stories for illustrating this is from Acts 9:36-43; the story of Dorcas or Tabitha. Luke himself commended her in verse 36 saying, “This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds…” In verse 39, Luke listed some of the good deeds saying, “And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.” Luke illustrated God’s moral will through this story.
Which commandment was illustrated? I’d argue that at least the sixth command. My conclusion rests on a principle I haven’t shared yet. Westminster Larger Catechism Q.99 states it like this, “where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden; and, where a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded.”3 The Divines quoted Ephesians 4:28 as an example. It says, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Do you see the principle? The sin forbidden is stealing. The contrary duty commanded is, “let him labor, working with his hands what is good…”
With that principle in mind, we may return to the story of Tabitha and the sixth command; You shall not murder. That is the sin forbidden. What is the contrary duty commanded? It would be all of the ways she brought life. According to Luke, Tabitha accomplished this by charitable deeds for widows. She made them tunics and garments.
Handling the law well may take some time. That is how the world works, though. We grow in skill and wisdom with much practice, trial, error and some principles to remember—the law is a summary of God’s moral will; God’s moral will is revealed in scriptural stories.
Game for Children
Recognizing the 10 commands in biblical stories is a great way to train the moral judgment of our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and the like. To give you an idea of how to play this game, I will quote two passages below. Try to figure out which of the ten commands it illustrates. You can play the same game with different verses after dinner with the family. [This game goes better if the children memorize the 10 commands; a worthy accomplishment!]
Judges 8:1–3 (NKJV): 8 Now the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded him sharply. 2 So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.
Matthew 1:18–19 (NKJV): 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
