The first part of the commandment is really an introduction.  God is telling us who He is.  At the burning bush, God tells Moses “I AM WHO I AM” which seems redundant at first.  What God is saying is My name “to be” is existence. His name defines Him as the creator of all that exists and establishes His right to be the lawgiver.  He says “I am” and then gives us His proper name.  In English Bibles His name is translated as “the Lord.” In Hebrew it is the four letters YWHW which come from the Hebrew verb HAYAH, to be.  The name is so sacred no official English pronunciation exists, but for years has been pronounced Yahweh.

 

The essence of this commandment is to establish Yahweh as the most important thing in existence. Period.  He is the reason for our existence and we are subject to His laws.  He is the prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, jury and executioner.  He is all.  This commandment is first, because it is the foundation upon which our whole relationship with God is based.  

The Bible is full of promises.  Some have already taken place, such as the prophecies in the Old Testament —Tyre, Sidon, Samaria, Gaza-Ashkelon, Moab-Ammon, Petra-Edom, Thebes-Memphis, Nineveh, Babylon, Chorazin-Bethsaida-Capernaum, Jerusalem’s enlargement, Palestine—while others have not yet occurred, i.e. events in the book of Revelation.  Many other promises are contingent on our actions.  If we do something, then God will do something in return.  Some promises are rewards and some promises are punishments.  Some of my favorites are found in Psalm 16(NIV):

 

 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

⁷ I will praise the LORD , who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave, ^[3]
nor will you let your Holy One ^[4] see decay.
¹¹ You have made ^[5] known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

 

There is one of these conditional promises in the Ten Commandments.  Do you know which one?  Send me an email at tenforus@mwelshco.com          when you find it.