Expert: Clifford H. Readout, Jr. - 12/4/2008

Question
Dear Mr. Readout:
I read something that I had never considered before. The writer was contending for the belief that the Ten Commandments are not the traditional commandments of Exodus 20 but are the commandments of Exodus 34:10-28. He further gave as evidence that only these commandments are actually called the "Ten Commandments" in verse 28. Have you ever heard of this unusual belief? What is your opinion of this belief?
Thanks,
Mickey

Answer
Dear Mickey,

That particular belief is a new one to me, even though I have heard many others equally ignorant. It is unmistakable proof that that its advocate does not have enough regard for the Bible and has no qualification to speak or write about what it contains.  It is so easy to prove his error just by reading a few verses.

Exodus 34:1 says, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.”
Exodus 34:1-4 is very clear that the first tables of stone, specified in Exodus 24:12, had written in them the same words as the second ones.

If one demands a second witness, God provided it forty years later:
Deuteronomy 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

That’s enough to eliminate that ridiculous theory.  The whole context of Exodus 19-34 is very easy to understand, and had the author of that nonsense bothered to read it he may never have exposed his ignorance.  Look at the summary, at least, if not go and read the text in full:

In Exodus 20 God spoke the specified commandments to Moses.
1.  Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2.  Exodus 20:4-6 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.
3. Exodus 20:7 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.
4. Exodus 20:8-11 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.
5. Exodus 20:12 ¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
7. Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Exodus 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
9. Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Exodus 20:17 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.

This is confirmed when Moses repeated it forty years later during the “Second Giving of the Law” (which is basically what “Deuteronomy” means):
1. Deuteronomy 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
2. Deuteronomy 5:8-10 Thou shalt not make 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 waters beneath the earth:  9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto 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,  10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
3. Deuteronomy 5:11 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.
4. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.  13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:  14 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.  15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
5. Deuteronomy 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Deuteronomy 5:17 Thou shalt not kill.
7. Deuteronomy 5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
8. Deuteronomy 5:19 Neither shalt thou steal.
9. Deuteronomy 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Deuteronomy 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Deuteronomy 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

More summary of the context in Exodus:
In Exodus 21-24:3 God spoke to Moses many other commandments which are the core of the covenant law.
In Exodus 24:4 Moses wrote everything the Lord had spoken to him into a “book of the covenant”.
In Exodus 24:12 God commanded Moses to come up and receive “tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written”. Moses did as commanded.
In Exodus 25-31:17 God spoke to Moses His commandments concerning the building and service of the Tabernacle, the garments and service of the priesthood, and the details of the sacrifices.  He also restated most of the commandments given in Exodus 20.
In Exodus 31:18 God gave to Moses “two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”
In Exodus 32:19 Moses broke those two tables of stone in anger at the idolatry begun while he was up on the mountain for 40 days receiving the Law from the Lord.
Exodus 32:20 through chapter 33 detail Moses’ intercession and God’s mercy.
Exodus 34:1 says, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.”
Exodus 34:1-4 is very clear that the first tables of stone had written in them the same words as the second ones.

I will not take the time to add the testimony from the New Testament references to the commandments. These from Exodus and Deuteronomy are sufficient to debunk that ignorant doctrine for anyone who pays proper attention to God’s Word.

Yours for Truth,

CR