Pat Boone: 10 Commandments, 2 versions

One set of judicial decisions created the foundation and framework for humane society. Another set, much more recent, has negated much of the first and laid out a program that has the appearance of George Orwell's "1984."

One set was composed of ten directives, formulated by the Creator and Judge of the universe, and intended to promote healthy, considerate and moral relationships between people, and between human beings and their God. The other set of 10 judicial decisions is designed to stifle free expression, erase any standards of moral behavior and absolutely forbid any public acknowledgement of the very existence of "a God."

One served as the inspiration and basis for the notion of "unalienable rights" as an "endowment" from a Creator who made all men equal, and intended them to have "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The other, more "progressive" set forms a blueprint for a society ruled by a legal oligarchy that dictates what citizens can say and write, where and under what conditions they can express their faith in their God, and that is determined to abolish the ridiculous concept of "one nation under God."

You think I'm exaggerating the contrast? Let's look at the first set. We call it the Ten Commandments – written, the Bible says, by the finger of God on two stone tablets and given to the prophet and leader of the people of Israel.

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.

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

IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

V. Honor thy father and thy mother.

VI. Thou shalt not kill.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal.

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor manservant, nor his cattle nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

This set of directives and regulations has been generally accepted for 4,000 years as the best basis for a free and healthy society ever devised. Granted, it has seemed restrictive to some because it does impose limits on what one person can do that might harm another, and it presupposes a society that wants relationship and blessing and protection from the Giver of the blueprint. But long history has proved that anywhere these rules have been observed by a nation, the nation has prospered and thrived and produced blessing for its citizens, and even for other nations as well.

The other set, devised and prosecuted through our courts, sometimes even the Supreme Court – the ACLU always seeming an institutionalized part of the process – is almost the diametrical opposite of the first set. Consider:

I. Thou shalt not pray in public schools, even if students and faculty desire to.

II. Thou shalt not allow Nativity scenes on public property.

III. Thou shalt not display the Ten Commandments, in public, anywhere.

IV. Thou shalt not pray at graduation ceremonies, sport events or in mixed company, anywhere.

V. Thou shalt not permit teachers to have even their personal Bibles in class, or students to mention a Bible verse in an essay or speech.

VI. Thou shalt not allow Boy Scouts, who promote religious and moral values, the use of public property.

VII. Thou shalt not dare to define marriage as only between one man and one woman.

VIII. Thou shalt not allow crosses in war memorials.

IX. Thou shalt not say the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

X. Thou shalt not teach creation or intelligent design or any understanding of human origin except evolution.

Get the picture? Does a pattern begin to form, revealing a trend toward a different kind of society? And the ACLU, which actually dares to describe itself as the defender of civil liberties, has won court battles on all these issues, increasingly imposing its atheistic, humanistic, amoral views on America – and blatantly robbing the majority of their civil liberties!

Which set of commandments appeals to you?

Do you favor the "progressive" form of life in our country, in which all public expressions of faith are illegal? Or do you still kind of like the way it's been in the United States for over 200 years now? Does it matter any more what the framers of the Constitution intended?

John Adams said, "The general principles upon which our founders achieved independence … were the principles of Christianity."

Andrew Jackson proclaimed, "The Bible is the rock upon which our republic rests."

And James Madison, considered the father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, although an opponent of theocracy, still declared, "Religion is the basis and foundation of government."

Marx declared and Lenin recited, "Religion is the opiate of the people." And the ACLU, now with the agreement of certain Democrat leaders in Congress, wants to pass legislation that will actually define parts of the Bible as "hate speech," because these parts condemn and forbid activities they want to condone and promote.

H.R.1592, the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007," is the latest pending suitcase bomb against free speech, courtesy of ultra-liberal Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and carried by Ted Kennedy in the Senate.

And the ACLU is betting that you don't care; they can reach over your shoulder and take things away that are precious to you, and you won't do anything about it. Heck, you may not even know it happened. They've already succeeded spectacularly, and if it weren't for conservative organizations like Christians Reviving America's Values, the Alliance Defense Fund and the American Center for Law and Justice, they might well achieve all their objectives. And those objectives include removing every last vestige of Scripture-derived moral values.

The question is will they succeed, and transform America into a totally secular, humanistic, relativistic state, devoid of any responsibility to a Higher Power? Or will an aroused citizenry stir itself, reclaim its God-given rights, powers and freedoms … and tell the corrupt legalist organization to go start its own country somewhere else?

It's high time, past time, for us to choose one set over the other – while we still have the choice!

That link is plain goofy! HERE is what the BIBLE records...

Exodus 20

1. And God spoke all these words:
2. "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3. "You shall have no other gods before me.
4. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6. but showing love to a thousand [ generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7. "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10. but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
11. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12. "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13. "You shall not murder.
14. "You shall not commit adultery.
15. "You shall not steal.
16. "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Exodus 34

1. The LORD said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
2. Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.
3. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain."
4. So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.
5. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.
6. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
7. maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
8. Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.
9. "O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."
10. Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you.
11. Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
12. Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you.
13. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.
14. Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15. "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.
16. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
17. "Do not make cast idols.
18. "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt.
19. "The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock.
20. Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
21. "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
22. "Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
23. Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD, the God of Israel.
24. I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the LORD your God.
25. "Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.
26. "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk."
27. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."
28. Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments.
29. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.
30. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.
31. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them.
32. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.
33. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face.
34. But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,
35. they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Deuteronomy 5

1. Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.
2. The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
3. It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
4. The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
5. (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:
6. "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
7. "You shall have no other gods before me.
8. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
9. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
10. but showing love to a thousand [ generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11. "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
12. "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
13. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
14. but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.
15. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
16. "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
17. "You shall not murder.
18. "You shall not commit adultery.
19. "You shall not steal.
20. "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
22. These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

Strong's Definition - H3789
כּתב
kâthab
kaw-thab'
A primitive root; to grave; by implication to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe): - describe, record, prescribe, subscribe, write (-ing, -ten).

BDB Definition:
1) to write, record, enroll
   1a) (Qal)
      1a1) to write, inscribe, engrave, write in, write on
      1a2) to write down, describe in writing
      1a3) to register, enroll, record
      1a4) to decree
   1b) (Niphal)
      1b1) to be written
      1b2) to be written down, be recorded, be enrolled
   1c) (Piel) to continue writing
Part of Speech: verb
A Related Word by BDB/StrongÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â’s Number: a primitive root
Same Word by TWOT Number: 1053

From the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT):
katab is the only general word for "write" and it is widely used. Curiously, it is not used in Genesis. Moses wrote on a scroll God's curse on the Amalekites (Exo_17:14). God himself wrote the Ten Commandments (Exo_31:18). Moses also is specifically said to have written the Book of the Covenant (Exo_24:4), the Sinai legislation (Exo_34:27), the names of the leaders of the tribes (Num_17:2-3), the wilderness itinerary (Num_33:2), the law "from beginning to end" (Deu_31:9, Deu_31:24) and Moses' final song (Deu_31:22, Deu_31:24). It is quite possible that the general references of Deu_31:9 and Deut 24 refer to the whole of the Pentateuch (cf. Deu_28:58-61; Deu_29:20-21) although critical scholars refer it only to Deut and question even that.

References to writing abound in the rest of the OT. Joshua wrote (Jos_24:26), a young man wrote for Gideon (Jdg_8:14, NASB, NIV), Samuel wrote the constitution of the kingdom-and others, prophets, kings, scribes and common people wrote as well. It appears from the many references in I and 2Kings that the court records of both Israel and Judah were written, preserved and available. The series of such notations begins with Solomon (1Ki_11:41) and goes to the breakup of the kingdom under Jehoiakim (2Ki_24:5). Similar records were kept by the Babylonian kings and some have been discovered (Wiseman, D. J., Chronicles of the Chaldean Kings, British Museum, 1956). Fortunately for Mordecai such records were also kept by the Persian kings. Like modern minutes and records, they apparently made dry reading (Est_6:1-2). The enigmatic references to the Book of Jasher may possibly be explained as referring to similar records. The word Jasher (like Jeshurun, Deu_33:26) is probably a poetic name for all Israel. The Book, of Jasher may thus have been a record book of the events of Israel in the pre-monarchy days as the annals of the kings of Judah and of Israel were in later days. It is mentioned only in Jos_10:13 and 2Sa_1:18. It bears no relation to the apocryphal book of the same name.

According to R. K. Harrison, Wellhausen still in his day held that the Hebrews did not write before the times of the monarchy (HIOT, p. 201). Such a view seems odd today, but it reminds us how little archaeology was really known one hundred years ago. Writing began among the Sumerians shortly before 3000 B.C. and at about the same time in Egypt. There was a wealth of literature by Abraham's day and Moses, trained in the learning of the Egyptians, surely could write Egyptian, Akkadian and Hebrew, possibly also Hurrian and Hittite.

Some have argued that although writing was available it was little used among the Hebrews who have left us few examples of their writing in comparison to the nearly one million clay tablets found in Mesopotamia and the abundant inscriptions and papyri in Egypt. Actually, we do have sporadic Hebrew writing scattered from Solomon to Ezra. We have very little after Ezra until the Dead Sea Scrolls. One possible explanation for this is that the Hebrews who used alphabetic script wrote on papyrus and leather. These materials are well preserved in Egypt (and the Dead Sea caves), but soon deteriorate in the Palestinian rainy season.

F. F. Bruce rightly emphasizes that the Hebrews in Palestine had a great advantage over the Egyptians and over those in Mesopotamia who wrote on clay tablets. The Hebrews had an alphabet. Whereas one must know several hundred signs to read Akkadian and also a large number to read Egyptian, the Hebrews only had to learn twenty-two. Says Bruce, "It is worth noticing that it was the alphabet that made it possible for all classes to be literate; its invention is therefore a landmark of great importance in the history of civilization," and, we may add, in the spread of the knowledge of God's word (The Books and the Parchments, rev. ed., 1963, p. 30). Harrison draws a significant conclusion, "It is no longer necessary to assume that an extended period of oral transmission is a necessary prerequisite to the written from of many if not all of the OT documents as is common in liberal circles" (HIOT p. 209).

Bibliography: Bruce, F. F., The Books and the Parchments, 3d ed., Revell, 1962. Cerny, J., Paper and Books in Ancient Egypt, Ares, 1977. Driver, Godfrey R., Semitic Writing: From Pictograph to Alphabet, rev. ed., 1954. HIOT, pp. 201-207. White, W., in ZPEB, V, pp. 995-1015. R.L.H.

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