The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
October 5, 2008
Vol. 11 no. 39

Everything But...
           It may be a matter of trivial pursuit, but when the Lord God delivers those famous commandments on top of Mount Sinai to Moses, these words are never called commandments. And God started with ten, took a breath, then continued on a roll with a list that stretches from chapter 20 through chapter 31. These latter words are not as “pithy”, much harder to inscribe on that 2-1/2 tonne granite monument Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore placed in that state’s judicial building. Imagine how big and heavy it would have been to do the job right!
           No doubt these were important words for the Israelites and for us, but the idea of commandments is a matter of interpretation following the original version which was rather terse and concise. It has been easier to demand obedience to these ideas if God commanded them with no wiggle room. Of course, there has been a growth industry always at work creating ways to bend and wiggle out of some of the commandments.
           Of making commandments, however, there is no end. There were 632 commandments incumbent upon the Jewish faithful during the time of Jesus. Could any human being obey all of them at all times? Does obeying one commandment place you in a compromising position with another? One wonders how many people really knew all 632 and could keep them straight, for surely an act of omission can be as bad as intentionally disobeying. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, we hear said today.
           Let’s face it, it is nigh impossible to give equal attention to 632 of anything, especially when the negative is emphasized. John Calvin, our Presbyterian founder, believed there is always a positive to every commandment. “Don’t kill” means just as much “support the living.”