The Ten Commandments

The first two commandments spell out clearly that Yahweh is their God, the one who brought them out of Egypt. They must never forget that primitive experience and the God who brought them into being. They must give themselves wholly to God, the hidden God who spoke out of fire and smoke. Neither must they dull the primitive experience by making images of God as other people had of their gods. Neither could they try to use God's name to obtain an advantage for themselves. They were consecrated to God alone and so were a Holy People, separated from all other peoples [Exod 20:1-7].

The third commandment, concerning the Sabbath day, had similarly far reaching implications. Every seventh day was a 'holy' day. It was a tithe from the time allotted them by God. It was a day of rest not only for the heads of the clans but also for their sons and daughters, for men or women servants, for their animals and the alien living among them [Exod 20:8-11]. The Book of Deuteronomy expands this, but drops the motive of God resting on the seventh day, and adds another: "Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt, and that Yahweh your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day". Even without this addition in Deuteronomy the promulgation of the Sabbath institution, which belongs to the basic law, brought liberation into the daily lives of all the people. Truly, Yahweh is a liberating God. We may note that about 30 years ago i.e. 3,000 years after Moses, the employers of Hong Kong could not afford to give their workers one day's rest in seven.

The other commandments can be noted in passing. They protect the life, good name and property of individuals, and the well being of the family.

Not much reflection is required to see that the Ten Commandments are not irrelevant to the Year of Jubilee. The law codes found in the Pentateuch can be said to be expansions of the Ten Commandments. These law codes are: the Code of the Covenant [Exod 20:22-23:19]; the Holiness Code [Lev chapters 17-26], and Deuteronomy [Deut chapters 12-26]. Each of these codes works out in a certain amount of detail how the Israelites were to live out their lives according to the Ten Commandments in the changed circumstances in which they found themselves. The Jubilee Law comes towards the end of the Holiness Code [Chapter 25 and 27:17-21]; the only other mention of Jubilee is in Num 36:4 and Ez 46:17.