The Ten Commandments

Read Exodus 20:3-17 and make a list of the Ten Commandments. Read Matthew 22:36-40, and identify what the Lord said were the two “great” commandments. Verse 40 states that “all” other commandments are part of these two great commandments. Place each of the Ten Commandments within one of these two great commandments by writing “love God” or “love neighbor” next to each of the commandments on your list.

 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

 13 Thou shalt not kill.

 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

 15 Thou shalt not steal.

 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Ten Commandments:

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Love God)

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. (Love God)

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Love God)

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Love God)

Honour they father and thy mother. (Love neighbor)

Thou shalt not kill. (Love neighbor)

Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Love neighbor)

Thou shalt not steal. (Love neighbor)

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Love neighbor)

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor. (Love neighbor)

Two Great Commandments:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

List three of the commandments from Exodus 20:3-17 that you feel are most commonly neglected by the world. Read the Institute Student Manual commentary for those three commandments (pgs. 127-34). Write a paragraph about what a difference it would make in the world if all of God’s children kept these commandments.

Thou shalt not commit adultery:

If everyone kept this commandment there would be a lot less heartache in the world. So many people would have marriages that would last. God has given us the power of procreation that we can bring His children to this mortal life and He has asked that we do so within the bonds of matrimony. So many people fall into temptation to use those procreative powers outside the bonds of marriage and there is so much heartache because of it.

Honour they father and thy mother:

So many people do not honor their mother and father. We have been given the great gift of having an earthly mother and father and so many people choose to live in accordance in the things contrary to what they teach them. When people righteously follow and honor their mother and father they will be blessed. 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain:

I know so many people who do not even realize they’re using the Lord’s name in vain! Sometimes it’s scary to think that they don’t realize what they’re saying. Something that I learned is that even when you choose not to live by the covenants you’ve made at baptism you’re in fact taking the Lord’s name in vain. What I’m saying is is that you don’t have to speak to take the Lord’s name in vain, it also includes our actions which is huge!