Who did God give the 10 commandments to? What happens if you start keeping the commandments? Seven deadly sins or passions

“But whoever penetrates into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides in it, he, being not a forgetful listener, but a doer of work, will be blessed in his action.”

(James 1:25)

God's Law for Man

Is it easy for you to imagine a world without crime? Probably not, especially if you have to read and listen every day and see all kinds of crimes - thefts, armed attacks and robberies, murders, fraud. Experts talk about a new, if I may say, qualitative level of crime.

Crimes have always been committed in the world, but there has never been a time when crime was so cleverly hidden under the guise of legality and so skillfully avoided legal punishment as it is today.

When the moral level of the people falls so much that respect for the laws is lost, the thought involuntarily arises that not everything is in order in the thinking of society. How to explain such disrespect for the laws, and where did people learn this?

Education begins in the family; it is the first school of the child. If children are taught that the law of God - His commandments - must be obeyed, that this law forbids stealing, killing, deceiving, debauchery, insulting elders, then the youth, entering into life, will have a moral support sufficient to understand civil laws and fulfill them. . And, on the contrary, if you teach the younger generation that the law of God is not needed, or that it is completely abolished, and it can be violated with impunity, then the youth will lose all respect not only for the law of God, but for all laws in general. One follows from the other. How can one, disregarding the law of God, at the same time demand respect for the laws created by people?

We know that children need role models. But who will be their ethical, moral and spiritual ideal? Parents often swear, quarrel and deceive each other. And the kids see it all. Drunkenness, fights and divorces leave deep wounds in their hearts. Who will teach children to distinguish good from bad if parents cannot or do not want to do this? It is naive to believe that the school is capable of doing this. Today we face the question: who determines what is good and what is bad? After all, sometimes even good people can judge biased.

The criterion of good and evil

Without a criterion of good and evil outside of ourselves, we can justify just about anything. We can steal to get out of a difficult situation; commit treason if we like someone, and kill a person standing in our way. The Bible reminds us that, unfortunately, we do not always distinguish between what is good and what is bad.

“There are paths that seem straight to a man, but their end is the way to death” (Proverbs 16:25).

Long ago, God showed us the way to a crime-free society. If people always followed them, then there would be no crime! In any corner of the Earth, people would feel completely safe!

10 commandments of happiness

At Mount Sinai, the Lord gave all mankind the 10 commandments of happiness. The people gathered at the foot of the mountain looked anxiously at its peak, hidden by a thick cloud, which, darkening, descended until the whole mountain was shrouded in mysterious darkness. Lightning flashed in the darkness, accompanied by thunder. “Mount Sinai was all smoking because the Lord descended on it in fire; and the smoke from it ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. And the sound of the trumpet grew stronger and stronger” (Exodus 19:18-19).

God wanted to give His law in an unusual setting, so that the majestic solemnity would correspond to the sublime essence of this law. It was necessary to imprint in the minds of the people that everything connected with the service of God should be treated with the greatest reverence.

God's presence was so majestic that all the people trembled. At last, the thunder and trumpets ceased, and a reverent silence reigned. Then the voice of God was heard, sounding from the thick darkness that hid Him from the eyes of people. Moved by a deep love for His people, He proclaimed the Ten Commandments. The principles of the Decalogue apply to all mankind, they were given to all as an instruction and guide to life. Ten short, all-encompassing, and undeniable principles express man's duties to God and to his fellow men, and they are all based on the great fundamental principle of love: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind. yours, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

And God said;

1st commandment: "I am the Lord your God... Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2-3).

God does not claim primacy among certain gods. He does not want to be given more attention than any other gods. He says to worship Him alone, because other gods simply do not exist.

2nd commandment:“Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in the sky above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth. Do not worship them or serve them” (Exodus 20:4-6).

The God of eternity cannot be limited by the image of wood or stone. Trying to do this humiliates Him, perverts the truth. Idols cannot meet our needs. “For the statutes of the peoples are emptiness: they cut down a tree in the forest, dress it with the hands of a carpenter with an ax, cover it with silver and gold, attach it with nails and a hammer so that it does not stagger. They are like a turned pillar, and do not speak; they are worn because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, but they cannot do good either” (Jeremiah 10:3-5). All our needs and requirements can only be satisfied by a real Person.

3rd commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; For the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

This commandment not only forbids false oaths and those ordinary words that people swear by, but it also forbids casually or carelessly pronouncing the name of the Lord without thinking about His holy meaning. We also dishonor God when we thoughtlessly mention His name in conversation, or repeat it in vain. “Holy and terrible is His name!” (Psalm 110:9).

Disregard for the name of God can be shown not only in words, but also in deeds. Anyone who calls himself a Christian and does not act as Jesus Christ taught will dishonor the name of God.

4th commandment:“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work six days, and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall do no work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11).

The Sabbath is presented here not as a new institution, but as a day approved at creation. We must remember it and keep it in memory of the deeds of the Creator.

5th commandment“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

The fifth commandment requires from children not only respect, humility and obedience towards parents, but also love, tenderness, care for parents, saving their reputation; demands that children be their help and comfort in their advanced years.

6th commandment: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13).

God is the source of life. He alone can give life. She is a holy gift from God. A person has no right to take it away, i.e. kill. The Creator has a certain plan for each person, but to take the life of a neighbor means to interfere with God's plan. To take the life of oneself or another is to try to take the place of God.

All actions that shorten life - the spirit of hatred, revenge, evil feelings - are also murder. Such a spirit, no doubt, cannot bring happiness to a person, freedom from evil, freedom to good. The observance of this commandment implies a reasonable reverence for the laws of life and health. The one who shortens his days by leading an unhealthy lifestyle, of course, does not commit direct suicide, but does it imperceptibly, gradually.

The life that was bestowed by the Creator is a great blessing, and it cannot be thoughtlessly squandered and reduced. God wants people to live full, happy, and long lives.

7th commandment: "Do not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14).

Marriage is the original establishment of the Creator of the Universe. In establishing it, He had a specific goal - to preserve the purity and happiness of the people, to elevate the physical, mental and moral strength of a person. Happiness in relationships can only be achieved when attention is focused on the person to whom you give all of yourself, your trust and devotion throughout life.

By forbidding adultery, God hopes that we will not seek anything other than the fullness of love, securely protected by marriage.

8th commandment:“Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15).

This prohibition includes both overt and covert sins. The eighth commandment condemns kidnapping, the slave trade, and wars of conquest. She condemns theft and robbery. It requires strict honesty in the most insignificant worldly affairs. It forbids fraud in trade, and requires a fair settlement of debts or in the issuance of wages. This commandment says that any attempt to take advantage of someone's ignorance, weakness, or misfortune is recorded in the heavenly books as a deceit.

9th commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" (Exodus 20:16).

Any deliberate exaggeration, allusion or slander, calculated to produce a false or imaginary impression, or even a description of misleading facts, is a lie. This principle forbids any attempt to defame a person's reputation by unfounded suspicion, slander, or gossip. Even the deliberate suppression of the truth, which may harm others, is a violation of the ninth commandment.

10th commandment: “Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife...anything that thy neighbor has" (Exodus 20:17).

The desire to appropriate the property of a neighbor means to take the first most terrible step towards a crime. An envious person can never find satisfaction, because someone will always have something that he does not have. Man becomes a slave to his desires. We use people and love things instead of loving people and using things.

The tenth commandment strikes at the root of all sins, warning against selfish desires, which are the source of lawless deeds. “It is a great gain to be godly and contented” (1 Timothy 6:6).

The Israelites were thrilled by what they heard. “If this is the will of God, we will fulfill it,” they decided. But knowing how forgetful people are, and not wanting to trust these words to the fragile human memory, God wrote them with His finger on two stone tablets.

“And when God stopped speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him two tablets of revelation, tablets of stone, on which was written by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).

This time, for the first time, the Creator gave people His law in writing, and the law itself existed forever.

The law that ruled from Adam to Moses

Even before Sinai, even before Adam and Eve, the eternal and unchanging standard of righteousness was the foundation of God's heavenly government.

This law also governed the angels. They were free to choose to follow God's law or ignore it and rebel against it. Satan and his angels decided to do things "in their own way," according to their own laws. This rebellion led them to exile from heaven to earth.

But there were angels who decided to follow God and remained faithful to His law: “Bless the Lord, all of His angels, mighty in strength, doing His word, obeying the voice of His word” (Psalm 102:20).

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve knew about the law of God because they felt guilty and ashamed when they sinned. They realized that they had disobeyed God by taking what was not theirs and choosing to follow another "god". When Cain was angry that God accepted brother Abel's sacrifice and not his, the Lord asked, “Why are you upset? And why did your face droop? If you do good, do you not raise your face? but if you do not do good, then sin lies at the door” (Genesis 4:6-7).

The law of God must have existed at that time, for it is said, "Where there is no law, there is no transgression" (Romans 4:15). A crime... is a violation of any law.

Long before Sinai, Abraham knew and kept the Law of God. God said he would bless Abraham and his descendants “because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept what I was commanded to keep: my statutes, my statutes, and my laws” (Genesis 26:5).

There can be no order and government without law. There is no harmonious, happy, safe society without laws. But it is not enough to carve the commandments on stone or write on the wall, but it is important to keep them: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

The basis for keeping the commandments is love: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind": this is the first and greatest commandment. The second is similar to it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

The Law Is a Reflection of God's Disposition

“The law of the Lord is perfect” (Psalm 18:8) as His character is perfect. The law is a reflection of God's disposition, an unchangeable disposition! “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6).

Any change in the law would lead to its imperfection. But the law is perfect, therefore it is unchanging. This is the truth Christ had in mind when he said, “It would sooner be for heaven and earth to pass away than one tittle from the law to perish” (Luke 16:17).

It is not uncommon for believers to be asked, "How can you live freely and happily, being limited by the law of God, which robs you of many of the joys of life?"

We build fences on bridges and mountain roads so as not to fall down. So God gave us His law to protect and keep us on the path of life.

“Oh, that their hearts were such as to fear me and keep all my commandments all the days, so that it would be good for them and their sons forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29).

The Creator gave man His law for another reason: “For by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

The Apostle Paul confirms this idea: “... I did not know sin otherwise than by means of the law, for I would not understand desire either, if the law did not say: “Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7).

One African princess was assured by her subjects that her beauty was unsurpassed. But one day a traveling merchant sold her a mirror. Looking into it, she was horrified by her own ugliness and broke the mirror into small pieces!

The law of God is like a mirror, and we, looking into it, like that African princess, may be dissatisfied with what we see, for the law points to sin in our lives. We cannot change our position if we try to destroy or ignore the law. Imperfection will remain so!

The Law of God points out our sins and helps us feel our need for a Savior. When we accept Christ as our Savior, He promises us forgiveness and power to keep His commandments, for He assured us, “I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts…” (Hebrews 8:10).

The greatest act of love and obedience to the will of God took place one dark, cold night in the garden under an old olive tree. Bloody sweat dripped down the forehead of the Son of God. So He suffered, in prayer turning to His Heavenly Father: “My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You” (Matthew 26:39).

The fate of humanity hung in the balance at that moment. The guilty world had to either be saved or perish. Will Jesus decide to give up the desire to live and ascend to Golgotha?!

He could have wiped the bloody sweat from his forehead and concluded, "Let the sinner bear the consequences of his sins."

But He allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross so that man would be forgiven. At the moment when the stake was so great, Christ dipped the pen of His love in the purple ink of His blood and wrote "forgiven" in front of our names!

The cross of Calvary will be an eternal reminder of the price God paid to satisfy the demands of the broken law and save guilty humanity. If the law could be changed or repealed, there would be no need for the Calvary death of Christ.

God gave His Son to die on the cross, and Holy Scripture says that Christ "by His own blood . . . acquired eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12).

In the third month after leaving Egypt, the travelers stopped near Mount Sinai. "And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up."

God said to the prophet Moses: "Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow; let them wash their clothes so that they can be ready for the third day: for on the third day the Lord will descend before the eyes of all the people on Mount Sinai."

On the third day, "there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet sound; and all the people that were in the camp trembled." And the people heard the voice of God.

God spoke ten Commandments:

First. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Second. Do not make yourself an idol.

Third. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Fourth. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Fifth. Honor your father and your mother, that you may be well and that your days on earth may be long.

Sixth. Don't kill.

Seventh. Don't commit adultery.

Eighth. Don't steal.

Ninth. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Tenth. Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, or anything that is with your neighbor."

After that, the prophet Moses climbed Mount Sinai, and God gave him two stone tablets-tablets on which these ten commandments were written.

Moses remained on the top of the mountain for forty days. God spoke to him, telling him the laws and rules that should be followed in everyday life. In addition, the Lord explained to Moses how to arrange a camp temple - a tabernacle: you need to make a tent "from ten bedspreads of twisted linen (white linen) and blue scarlet wool"; place in the tent the "Ark of the Covenant" - a casket made of shittim wood (a type of acacia), upholstered inside and out with gold, in which the tablets with the commandments will be stored. Also, the tent and the ark should be equipped with rings of gold, through which the poles could be threaded and the tabernacle carried from place to place.

The companions were waiting for Moses at the foot of Sinai. Days passed, but Moses was not there. The people of Israel became worried, doubted the favor of God towards Moses and decided to return to the pagan gods. They began to demand from Aaron: "Get up and make us a god who would go before us; for with this man, with Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what happened."

Aaron gave in to their demands. He collected from the women all their gold ornaments and cast a golden calf. The Israelites worshiped the golden calf as a god, made sacrifices to it, and then had a meal and dances. At this time, Moses came down from the mountain. Seeing the wicked, he became angry and in a rage broke the tablets with the commandments on the rock, and ground the golden calf into powder and poured it into the water.

Many Jews immediately repented that they had apostatized from the true God, and those who did not repent, Moses ordered to be put to death. Then he again went to Mount Sinai and stood before God.

Moses said: "O Lord, this people have committed a great sin: they have made themselves a golden god. Forgive them their sin. And if not, then blot me out of Your book, in which You have written."

God forgave the Israelites and gave Moses new tablets to replace the broken ones.

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Ten Old Testament Commandments (Decalogue) God gave on Mount Sinai through Moses to the Jewish people when they returned from Egypt to the land of Canaan, on two stone boards (or tablets). The first four commandments contain the obligations of love for God, the last six contain the obligations of love for one's neighbor (that is, for all people).

Book of Exodus, chapter 20, 10 commandments of Moses.

(see also: Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 5)

1 And God spoke all these words, saying:

1.2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2.4 Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol, nor any likeness of that which is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water below the earth; 5 do not worship them and do not serve them, for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, who punishes the children for the guilt of the fathers to the third and fourth generations that hate me, 6 and shows mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3.7 Thou shalt not pronounce the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who pronounces His name in vain.

4.8 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; 9 six days you shall work and do all your work, 10 and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall do no work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger who is in your dwellings; 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5. 12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6.13 Don't kill.

7.14 Do not commit adultery.

8.15 Don't steal.

9.16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10.17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

Gospel of Mark, chapter 12

28 One of the scribes... came and asked him, Which is the first of all the commandments? 29 Jesus answered him, The first of all commandments: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord; 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment! 31 The second is like it: love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. 32 The scribe said to Him: Well, Master! Thou hast said the truth, that there is one God, and there is none else besides Him; 33 And to love Him with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 Jesus, seeing that he answered wisely, said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God.

A DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE COMMANDMENTS

The commandments of God are an external law given by God in addition to the weakened, as a result of a sinful life, the internal guideline of a person - his conscience.

The first commandment given at Sinai reads: “I am the Lord your God: let there be no other god to you, except Me” (I am the Lord your God ... let there be no other gods before my face).

This first commandment is the foundation of all ten commandments of Sinai. She says that there is only one God - living and true, Whom one should worship and Whom one should love with all the heart and with all the soul.

Can we, Orthodox Christians, have “other gods?” Yes, it could be. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). This means that any treasure can become our idol, which we will begin to worship and love. For every treasure to which our heart is attached stands between God and us and becomes an idol for us.

If the first commandment speaks of the one living God and worship only Him, then the second commandment speaks of how to worship God.

“Do not make yourself an idol, and any likeness, a fir tree in heaven, and a fir tree on the earth below and a fir tree in the waters under the earth: do not bow down to them, nor serve them” (Do not make yourself an idol and no image of what is in heaven above and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth, do not worship them and do not serve them - Exodus 20:4-5).

In order for us to correctly understand the words of the commandment, let us recall the words of St. app. Paul, which he said in Athens: “Therefore, we, being the offspring of God, should not think that the Godhead is like gold, or silver, or stone, which received its form from the art and invention of man” (Acts 17, 29).

The second commandment forbids idolatry and all believers are called to worship God in spirit and truth (see John 4:21-24).

Idolatry is that people, instead of worshiping God, worship nature or things made by man himself.

In addition to gross idolatry, there is also subtle idolatry, such as covetousness, gluttony, or delicacy, overeating and drunkenness, pride, vanity, hypocrisy.

The question involuntarily arises: is it not forbidden by the second commandment to have sacred images in general?

Here is the answer we find in the Orthodox Catechism of Metropolitan Philaret:

“Not at all. This is clearly seen from the fact that the same Moses, through whom God gave the commandment forbidding idols, at the same time received a command from God to put in the Tabernacle ... the golden sacred images of the Cherubim, and, moreover, in that inner part of the temple in which the people turned to worship God” (See Exodus 25:17-22).

The veneration of holy icons, the cross, and sacred images in general, is not idolatry, because the respect shown by him refers to the one whom they remind us of ...

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." - Do not pronounce the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who pronounces His name in vain (Ex. 20, 7).

We can boldly say about this commandment that it is violated more than all other commandments of God in our life.

What does it mean to pronounce the name of the Lord in vain? This means: pronounce it at every trifle, under petty, insignificant circumstances, pronounce it at every step... Who among us is not guilty of this sin?...

In vain pronouncing the name of God is also the so-called swearing. We know how widespread swearing is among people, that is, the calling of God as a witness when necessary and unnecessary. And how often God is called to witness in case of an obvious lie, in case of an obvious lie... We know that this sin was committed even by St. Peter (see Matt. 26:74)...

God should have no place among Christians, for this is a clear violation of God's commandment!

Let us always remember that if we are guilty of violating one commandment, then we are guilty of violating the law of God, the will of God in general. (see James 2:10) because the will of God is indivisible.

The fourth commandment says:

“Remember the Sabbath day, hedge it: six days do it, and do (in them) all your works; on the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord your God. - Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work six days, and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (see Ex. 20:8-11).

To understand the fourth commandment given by God at Sinai, we must know that the word “Saturday” is not a Russian word, but comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, which means; peace. So, in Hebrew, the fourth commandment accurately reads like this: “Remember the day of rest ... work for six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the day of rest for the Lord thy God.”

Why did the Church of Christ in the New Testament begin to sanctify the first day of the week, that is, Sunday as a day of rest? Because the resurrection of the Lord took place on the first day of the week (see Luke 24:1-3). And this day - Sunday became a day of rest for all the faithful children of God of the New Testament from the time of the birth of the Church of Christ on earth (See John 20:19-24; Acts 20:7-12; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Rev. 1:10).

Following the example of the holy apostles and ancient Christians, we also honor and sanctify the first day of the week, that is, Sunday, in memory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which gave us justification and liberation from sinful slavery.

What does it mean to remember and keep the day of rest? - On the day of rest, we should not do things that can be done at another time. But this does not mean that we should not do things that are impossible or difficult to do without on the day of rest. What are the things that cannot be done without on the day of rest - this should be decided personally by everyone.

The New Testament does not list the things that can and cannot be done on the day of rest, as, for example, we see in the Old Testament regarding the Sabbath. However, church tradition clearly tells us what can and should be done on the day of rest.

First of all, we must be “in the spirit” on the day of rest, as St. John on Sunday on the island of Patmos.

To be in the spirit on the day of rest is to focus on your inner spirit man. It means to give our soul good spiritual food. This food is given in our St. temples, so attending services on the day of rest is the best way to take care of our inner man.

If we could not be in the church on Sunday and the feast day, then we will give our soul spiritual food at home - by reading the Word of God and spiritual literature.

But a day of rest does not mean a day of inactivity. To sanctify the day of rest means: to fill it with holy deeds (see Luke 13:10-16; John 5:5-16)- deeds of love and mercy. Many bedridden patients await visitation and consolation. Let us go to them with a feeling of love and compassion and with words of consolation and encouragement. And this will be the best observance of our days of rest.

When we look at the first four commandments, we see what they say about our relationship to God. Beginning with the fifth commandment, God tells us about our attitude towards people.

“Honor your father and your mother, may it be good, and may you be long on earth.” - Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you (Ex. 20:12).

Whoever does not honor his father or his mother in the broadest sense of the word cannot be a good Christian or a good Christian.

We may be surprised by the promise of God associated with the fifth commandment ... The longevity that God associates with the fulfillment of the fifth commandment / will become clear to us if we remember that death was supposed for the violation of this commandment among the Israeli people. In Exodus 21:17 we read: "Whoever speaks evil of his father or his mother must be put to death." Solomon speaks very clearly in his parables about the result of breaking the fifth commandment: “Whoever speaks evil of his father and his mother, his saint will go out in the midst of deep darkness” (Pr. 20, 20).

In order to better understand the meaning of the fifth commandment to honor parents, it should be noted that the concept of father and mother cannot be limited only to the father and mother from whom we were born ... It must include any person who is older than us in physical or spiritual age, who superior to us in knowledge or experience, who occupies a commanding position in the church or the people Then only we will understand the greatest significance of the fifth commandment both for the believing people and for all mankind.

The sixth commandment says: "Thou shalt not kill!" - Do not kill (Ex. 20, 13).

The word “kill” is well understood by all of us. But we must penetrate even deeper into its meaning. To kill means; to deprive a living being of the most precious thing that it possesses, that is, life. Between birth and death, life manifests itself in the most complex phenomena - in the processes taking place in the body, and in a person in the soul. Having created man, God breathed into him "breath of life", after which only man became “a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). When creating plants and animals, God did not endow them with His “breath”. This suggests that man received from God many Divine properties that plants and animals do not possess. And the sixth commandment was given by God to protect life as the highest good that a person possesses.

The Word of God says that murder is not only the deprivation of oneself or another person of life, but also the destruction of life, leading to premature death.

What destroys human life? Alcohol slowly but surely leads the alcoholic to a premature grave. Smoking, slowly but surely, poisons a person with the strongest poison of nicotine. Both the alcoholic and the smoker are definitely violating the sixth commandment, which says: “Thou shalt not kill!” Excesses in food and drink certainly destroy the digestive organs and disturb the activity of the heart, thereby shortening the life of a person. May the Lord save us from gluttony, which is a slow suicide.

Neglect of medicine can also lead a human life to premature death ... But vice versa: the abuse of drugs can also lead to a reduction in life.

But what is especially surprising is that the Word of God equates hatred with murder. Thus, in the first epistle of St. app. John the Evangelist we read: “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (3:15).

Hatred is a feeling of intense enmity that goes hand in hand with wishing the worst for the one we hate. And if we analyze the feeling of hatred even more deeply, then we will see that hatred carries in itself the desire for the death of the one we hate. This desire for the death of the one we hate may be deep in our heart, but it accompanies every feeling of hatred, whether we like it or not. That is why everyone who hates his neighbor is a potential murderer, that is, a hidden murderer who has not shown himself in practice, but wants the destruction and disappearance of the person he hates.

The Word of God speaks of one weapon, which also carries death within itself and which is also capable of killing. This is the language of man. St. app. Jacob writes:

“None of the people can tame the tongue: it is an uncontrollable evil; he is full of deadly poison” (3, 8). What serious words about the lethality of our language! They say that a person can be killed with the tongue, that is, with the word... Such sins of our tongue as slander and slander can really deeply and mortally wound the heart of our neighbor.

And slander is especially deadly. It really destroys the slandered person: it destroys his dignity, his authority. Slander can make the purest angel the most filthy creature in the eyes of others... Let the words of the sixth commandment warn us about our tongue: “Thou shalt not kill!”

The seventh commandment says: "Do not commit adultery." Do not commit adultery (Ex. 20:14).

This great commandment is quite understandable to all mankind, and only one thing is necessary - that there should be an ardent desire in the heart to always fulfill it.

Our Lord Jesus Christ in His Sermon on the Mount expanded the seventh commandment of the Old Testament. He tells us that besides physical adultery, there is also spiritual adultery, adultery in the heart, adultery in the mind... And in His eyes, our impure thoughts are as sinful as our unclean deeds.

The seventh commandment - the commandment "do not commit adultery" - calls us to absolute chastity, to chastity not only of the flesh, but also of the spirit, to the chastity of the heart and thoughts. And such chastity will be our property, if we will unfailingly abide in Christ, and He in us.

The eighth commandment is short and clear: "Thou shalt not steal." - Don't steal. (Ex. 20, 15).

Many thefts, many thefts, seemingly harmless, are committed on our earthly planet, and how God's commandment is necessary for mankind: "Do not steal." For most people, this commandment is forgotten or deliberately violated. We often do not care about the appropriation of any little thing. One mother severely punished her boy son for taking someone else's spool of thread. The neighbor says to her: “Well, is it possible to punish the boy for the coil in such a way, as if he took gold.” The mother replied: “Today he took the spool, and tomorrow he will take the gold.” Of course, human law does not punish a spool of thread as severely as it does gold. But God's law is also strict in so-called small things. for petty thefts are a sure way to great thefts, and, above all, they are, like great thefts, a violation of the eighth commandment.

The ninth commandment says: "Do not listen to a friend of your testimony is false." - Do not bear false witness against your neighbor (Ex. 20:16).

Some interpreters of the Word of God confine the ninth commandment to witness in judgments. The institution of court witnesses exists in all countries of the world, and evasion of evidence is punishable by the laws of each country. Unfortunately, there are witnesses who testify in court with lies.

Since false testimony in courts is punishable by law, not all witnesses dare to testify there with perjury. False witnesses carry their false witness where they are not threatened with punishment. Thus, the ninth commandment is much broader in its scope: it embraces the whole life of a person...

We all know that every person has two sides: good and bad. Each person has pros and cons, good, positive qualities, and bad, negative properties. If we draw a person only from the bad side, if we emphasize only his bad qualities, then we definitely utter false evidence against him, that is, we depict him untruthfully. We know the property of flies - to look for wounds and ulcers on the human body and sit on them. This is exactly what those who say only bad things about people do. They say that Tsar Peter the Great allegedly interrupted every person who told him only bad things about someone, with these words: “Do not only tell me about the bad sides of this person - he has good qualities, too, so tell me about them too.” ".

But a false witness never talks about the good qualities of a person; he carries only black paints with him. False testimony against a person is the spread of unverified and unkind rumors about him. The effect of this kind of perjury is extremely powerful. It is like a blazing fire that spreads with lightning speed, seizing more and more new objects.

The exaggeration of the shortcomings of our neighbors is also false evidence ... But the exaggeration of the shortcomings and mistakes of our neighbors can result in reproach. How many believers are guilty of this sin!

But the most terrible false testimony against one's neighbor is slander.

Slander is the utterance of a deliberate lie with the aim of discrediting a person. Slander is the attribution to a pure and innocent person of some impurity, some imaginary sin. Slander is throwing mud at a person who doesn't deserve it.

The worst thing about the sin of bearing false witness against our neighbor is that the spoken word can never be taken back. Never! One can regret what was said, one can cry and sob... One can repent before God and ask for forgiveness from the person whom we have denigrated with our false testimony, but what we have said about him is said forever and irrevocably.

Counterfeit money in circulation can be gradually fished out and destroyed. But how to catch out the slander and how to heal the souls poisoned by it? How great this sin is in the eyes of God, is evident from the Book of Revelation, where it is said that the fate “all liars... in the lake burning with fire and brimstone” (21, 8).

The tenth commandment says: “Thou shalt not covet thy sincere wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, nor his village, nor his servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor all that is thy neighbor’s spruce” . - Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor's (Ex. 20:17).

The tenth commandment, given by God at Sinai, is directed against a very common vice - covetousness. Covetousness is greed, the desire to have more than is necessary: to have in excess of what is necessary... The covetous man himself will never call covetousness a sin. He thinks, rather, that this is a virtue, that it is a special wisdom, care and foresight regarding his future.

The sin of covetousness made Judas Iscariot first a thief, and later a traitor to his Teacher Christ, because thirty pieces of silver turned out to be dearer to him than the Savior of the world. And what did these pieces of silver give to Judas? Nothing but terrifying remorse, to get rid of which he threw them at the feet of the enemies of Christ, and he himself went and strangled himself.

Let's hear what App. Paul to Timothy on covetousness and the love of money: “The love of money is the root of all evil, which, having indulged, some have deviated from the faith and subjected themselves to many sorrows. But thou, man of God, flee from this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (1 Tim. 6:10-11). Ap. Paul in these words contrasts earthly treasures with heavenly treasures.

Covetousness and greed are indeed the root of all evil. The most close-knit families broke up when dividing the inheritance left after the death of their parents, and disputes over the inheritance led and lead to enmity between siblings. Covetousness has engendered and continues to engender thousands of marriages of convenience, which, apart from tears, give nothing to those entering into such a marriage.

It was covetousness and the love of money that were the cause of all the theft and theft, i.e., the violation of the eighth commandment “do not steal”.

Covetousness has given rise to most of the bloodiest wars in the history of mankind. And the same sin was the cause of the enslavement of black Negroes, the horrors of slavery of which the book Uncle Tom's Cabin tells so well.

St. app. Paul calls covetousness “idolatry” (Col. 3:5). And indeed: mammon easily turns into an idol, into “another god” and chains the heart of a covetous person to itself.

Modesty in everything - in clothes, in food, in our daily life - this is the way to overcome covetousness, greed, greed, in a word, to overcome the search for more than we need. Well writes about this app. Pavel in 1st Tim. 6, 6-9: “The great gain is to be godly and contented. For we have brought nothing into the world; it is clear that we cannot take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and into a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts that plunge people into disaster and destruction.”.

Let us recall the parable of Christ about one covetous man: “One rich man had a good crop in the field; and he reasoned with himself: what should I do? I have nowhere to collect my fruits. And he said, "This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will gather all my bread and all my goods." And I will say to my soul: “Soul! You have a lot of good things for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him: “Crazy! This very night your soul will be taken from you; Who will get what you have prepared? So it is with those who lay up treasures for themselves, and do not grow rich towards God” (Luke 12:16-21).

We must always remember the words of Christ: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

May the Lord help us to always fulfill the tenth commandment and not cling with our hearts to the idols of earthly treasures, so that we do not become at the same time violators of the first commandment, which says: “I am the Lord your God ... you will have no other gods!”

We cited the ten commandments of God according to the text of the Bible and their accepted division in the Orthodox Catechism.

Reading the second division of the commandments of God according to the tradition of some Christian churches, we seem to notice a difference, but this difference is only apparent, since the content of all ten commandments is fully explained, both at the first division and at the second.

The fact that the fulfillment of the ten Old Testament commandments is absolutely necessary for salvation follows from the answer of our Lord Jesus Christ to the man who asked Him what he needs to do in order to inherit eternal life? The answer was: “If you want to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments”. Undoubtedly, the Lord was referring to the Ten Commandments, for He directly quoted some of them. (Matthew 19:16-19).

Probably everyone has heard about the 10 commandments of the Bible. They are considered fundamental laws in both the Christian religions and Judaism. These are simple theses, but entire volumes have been written on their interpretation. Is it realistic to apply them in today's life? Will it bring any practical benefit?

Origin of the Ten Commandments

The Bible tells how this set of laws came about. The 10 commandments of God were announced from heaven publicly to all the people of Israel, who gathered near. Later, God himself wrote the proclaimed code of laws on ten stone tablets and handed it over to Moses so that this original was kept among the people from generation to generation.

The story of how God gave the people of Israel the 10 commandments is recorded in the twentieth chapter of the book of Exodus. Here is their summary:

Worship only your Creator.
Do not make any statues or pictures for worship.
Don't use God's name inappropriately.
Sabbath dedicate to God (do not do daily work).
Respect your parents.
Dont kill.
Do not participate in debauchery.
Do not steal.
Do not lie.
Do not envy.

Do Christians need to keep?

Do the requirements of the Law given in ancient times to Moses apply to Christians? It would be useful to mention that the provisions of the Law were not limited to only ten points. It includes about 600 different indications. However, these ten commandments contain the main principles that the rest of the decrees explained more broadly.

The main criterion for making certain decisions for Christians, in theory, should be the Bible. 10 is not mentioned anywhere. And even more than that, when Jesus Christ was asked which commandment in the Law is the most important, he gave two statements that are not part of the 10 commandments of the Bible.

Does this mean that Christ considered them obsolete by that time or irrelevant for his followers, who were supposed to stop practicing Judaism and become the first Christians?

Far from it. If we analyze the famous Sermon on the Mount of Christ, it is easy to see the scheme according to which he built it: a specific decree from the Law is an explanation of how to fulfill it correctly. So, among these rulings there are requirements included in the 10 commandments of the Bible, and those that are not part of them.

Jesus Christ himself assured his disciples that he came to earth not to break the Law, but to fulfill it. It is no coincidence that for thousands of years the Word of God has been preserved, despite all attempts to destroy it. And it is no mere coincidence that today we have a list of the 10 commandments of the Bible. The law of God was written for our own benefit. Therefore, the principles contained in the Ten Commandments apply directly to Christians today.

The Uniqueness of God's Law

Even with a very cursory glance at the famous commandments, the resemblance to the basic laws of any civilized society catches the eye. And this is not surprising, because they reflect the understanding of human essence. However, one of the commandments is fundamentally different from any human law.

Think about the very meaning of laws. They are taken to protect the interests of society as a whole and individual members of this society in particular. In addition, any decree that prohibits something implies a certain measure of punishment in case of violation. Accordingly, the methods of fixing these violations are determined.

However, think about how you can follow the fulfillment of the last of the commandments: "Do not envy"? How can one determine, accuse, prove and punish someone who violates this directive? For a human, this is simply an impossible task.

The existence of the tenth commandment is one of the indirect proofs of the veracity of the biblical narrative. God is able to examine the heart and see the motives of actions and hidden desires. Everyone should follow their integrity in this matter independently.

The 10 Commandments of the Bible and Modern Society

Back in 2000, a survey was conducted on the subject of the attitude of respondents to the Ten Commandments. The results vividly illustrated the change in values within neighboring generations. Almost 70% of the respondents, who were over 60 years old, knew the commandments and tried to act in accordance with them. But among young people under 30, there were not even 30% of those. And this trend is only getting worse.

Substitution of concepts and values

Almost everyone, even a person who is very far from religion, will say that the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments is useful and correct. And not a single sane individual will declare that one must go against God. The substitution of biblical values - those values that were originally established by the Creator himself - occurs at a more subtle level.

Is killing a sin? Yes! And if you kill, defending your country? The killer is renamed into a hero…. And regardless of whether this country is defending or attacking.
Is adultery a sin? Yes! What if this is true love? It already sounds different...

Don't make images for worship. Seems like an absolutely definite indication. But if it's an icon.... That which, according to the law of God, is unacceptable, at some point turned into sanctified.

This is how, imperceptibly, there is an influence on the subconscious of a person. And at the moment when you need to make a decision about how to act, the brain will automatically offer a more comfortable option. Although the consequences can be dire.

Children's education

When is the right time to start introducing Bible instruction to children? Nowadays, the popular opinion is that a child should not be given a religious upbringing. It is better to wait until he grows up and can make his own conscious decision in these matters.

However, such inferences are untenable. The 10 commandments are no less useful than for adults. And knowing these principles will certainly not cause any harm.

Think about it, we do not wait for a child to reach a conscious age in order to start teaching him how to use a spoon. And following the above logic, it would be necessary to completely let everything take its course, waiting for the right moment.

The Law of God itself prescribes the need to teach your children the commandments from an early age. But how can this be done practically?

First, don't be afraid to read the original Bible to your children from a young age. Don't underestimate the capacity for perception and learning in toddlers. It is best if you use a clear and easily understandable translation of the Bible, rather than favoring an outdated version just because of tradition.

In addition, there is now an abundance of literature that introduces basic biblical requirements, written especially for children. Read it with your child. Encourage him to ask questions and look for answers together. And do not doubt that your efforts will pay off handsomely.

1. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods but Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in heaven above, what is on the earth below, and what is in the waters below the earth; do not worship or serve them.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the day of rest to spend it holy; work for six days and do all your deeds in them, and the seventh day - the day of rest - may it be dedicated to the Lord your God.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that you may be well and that you live long on earth.
6. Don't kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor covet thy neighbor's house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant... nor all that belongs to your neighbor.

Explanation of the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament.

Every true Christian needs to know the ten commandments of the law of God and check his life by them every day. If during the day we did nothing contrary to the commandments of God, then we should thank God and pray to Him that He would give us strength and continue not to sin; if it turns out that we have violated the commandments in some way, then we should bring sincere repentance to the Lord and pray to Him for the forgiveness of our sins.

The first commandment of the Old Testament:

"I am the Lord your God, may you have no other gods but Me."

By the first commandment, the Lord God points man to Himself and inspires us to honor His one true God, and, apart from Him, we should not render divine veneration to anyone. By the first commandment, God teaches us the correct knowledge of God and the correct worship of God.
Knowing God means knowing God correctly. The knowledge of God is the most important of all knowledge. It is our first and most important duty.
In order to acquire the knowledge of God, we must:
1. Read and study the Holy Scriptures (and children: the book of the Law of God).
2. Regularly visit God's temple, delve into the content of church services and listen to the priest's sermon.
3. Think about God and the purpose of our earthly life.
Worshiping God means that by all our actions we must express our faith in God, hope for His help and love for Him as our Creator and Savior.
When we go to church, pray at home, keep fasts and honor church holidays, show obedience to our parents, help them in any way we can, study hard and do our homework, when we are quiet, do not quarrel, when we help others, when we constantly think about God and realize His presence with us - then we truly honor God, that is, we express our worship of God.
Thus, the first commandment to a certain extent contains the rest of the commandments. Or the rest of the commandments explain how to keep the first commandment.
The sins against the first commandment are:
Godlessness (atheism) - when a person denies the existence of God (for example: communists).
Polytheism: worship of many gods or idols (wild tribes of Africa, South America, etc.).
Unbelief: doubting divine help.
Heresy: a distortion of the faith that God gave us. There are many sects in the world, the teachings of which were invented by people.
Apostasy: Renunciation of faith in God or Christianity out of fear or expectation of a reward.
Despair - when people, forgetting that God arranges everything for the best, begin to grumble with displeasure or even attempt to commit suicide.
Superstition: belief in various signs, stars, divination.

The second commandment of the Old Testament:

"Do not make for yourself an idol and no likeness of what is in heaven above, what is on the earth below, what is in the waters under the earth. Do not bow down and do not serve them."

The Jews revere the golden calf that they themselves made.
This commandment was written when people were very inclined to venerate various idols and deify the forces of nature: the sun, stars, fire, etc. The idolaters built themselves idols representing their false gods and worshiped these idols.
These days, such gross idolatry is almost non-existent in developed countries.
However, if people give all their time and energy, all their worries to something earthly, forgetting their family and even God, such behavior is also a kind of idolatry, which is prohibited by this commandment.
Idolatry is excessive attachment to money and wealth. Idolatry is constant gluttony, i.e. when a person only thinks about it, only does it in order to eat a lot and tasty. Drug addiction and drunkenness are also included in this sin of idolatry. The second commandment is also violated by proud people who want to always be the center of attention, want everyone to honor them and obey them unquestioningly.
At the same time, the second commandment does not forbid the correct veneration of the Holy Cross and holy icons. It does not forbid because, honoring a cross or an icon depicting the true God, a person pays honor not to the wood or paint from which these objects are made, but to Jesus Christ or the saints who are depicted on them.
Icons remind us of God, icons help us to pray, because our soul is arranged in such a way that what we look at is what we think about.
Honoring the saints depicted on the icons, we do not give them the same reverence as equal to God, but we pray to them as our patrons and intercessors before God. Saints are our elder brothers. They see our difficulties, see our weakness and inexperience, and help us.
God Himself shows us that He does not forbid the correct veneration of holy icons, on the contrary, God shows help to people through holy icons. There are many miraculous icons, for example: the Mother of God of Kursk, weeping icons in different parts of the world, many updated icons in Russia, China and other countries.
In the Old Testament, God Himself commanded Moses to make golden images of cherubs (Angels) and place these images on the lid of the Ark, where the tablets with the commandments written on them were kept.
Images of the Savior have been revered in the Christian Church since ancient times. One of these images is the image of the Savior, called "Not Made by Hands." Jesus Christ put a towel to his face, and the image of the face of the Savior miraculously remained on this towel. The sick king Avgar, as soon as he touched this towel, was healed of leprosy.

The third commandment of the Old Testament:

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

The third commandment forbids pronouncing the name of God in vain, without due reverence. The name of God is pronounced in vain when used in empty conversations, jokes, games.
This commandment generally forbids a frivolous and irreverent attitude towards the name of God.
The sins against this commandment are:
Bozhba: the frivolous use of an oath with the mention of the name of God in ordinary conversations.
Blasphemy: Bold words against God.
Blasphemy: the irreverent treatment of sacred objects.
It is also forbidden here to break vows - promises made to God.
The name of God should be pronounced with fear and reverence only in prayer or in the study of Holy Scripture.
Absent-mindedness in prayer must be avoided in every possible way. To do this, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the prayers that we say at home or in the temple. It is necessary, before saying a prayer, even to calm down a little, to think that we are going to talk with the eternal and omnipotent Lord God, before whom even angels stand in awe; and, finally, to say prayers slowly, trying to make our prayer be sincere - coming directly from our mind and heart. Such reverent prayer is pleasing to God, and the Lord, according to our faith, will give us the blessings that we ask.

The fourth commandment of the Old Testament:

"Remember the Sabbath day to spend it holy. Work for six days and do all your deeds in them, and the seventh day - the day of rest - may it be dedicated to the Lord your God."

The word "Sabbath" in Hebrew means rest. So this day of the week was called, because on this day it was forbidden to work or engage in worldly affairs.
By the fourth commandment, the Lord God commands six days to work and do one's duties, and to dedicate the seventh day to God, i.e. on the seventh day to do holy and pleasing deeds.
The holy and pleasing deeds of God are: caring for the salvation of one’s soul, prayer in the temple of God and at home, studying the Holy Scriptures and the Law of God, thinking about God and the purpose of one’s life, pious conversations about the subjects of the Christian faith, helping the poor, visiting the sick and others. good deeds.
In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was celebrated to commemorate the end of God's creation of the world. In the New Testament since St. Apostles began to celebrate the first day after Saturday, Sunday - in remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ.
On Sunday, Christians gathered for prayer. They read the Holy Scriptures, sang psalms and took communion at the liturgy. Unfortunately, now many Christians are not as diligent as in the first centuries of Christianity, and many have become less likely to take communion. However, we must never forget that Sunday must belong to God.
The fourth commandment is violated by those who are lazy and do not work or do not fulfill their duties on weekdays. Those who continue to work on Sundays and do not go to church break this commandment. This commandment is also violated by those who, although they do not work, spend Sunday in nothing but amusements and games, not thinking about God, about good deeds, and about the salvation of their souls.
In addition to Sundays, Christians dedicate to God some other days of the year on which the Church celebrates great events. These are the so-called church holidays.
Our greatest holiday is Easter - the day of the Resurrection of Christ. It is "holidays a feast and a celebration of celebrations."
There are 12 great holidays, called the Twelfth. Some of them are dedicated to God and are called Lord's holidays, others are dedicated to the Mother of God and are called Mother of God holidays.
Lord's holidays: (1) Nativity of Christ, (2) Baptism of the Lord, (3) Meeting of the Lord, (4) Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, (5) Resurrection of Christ, (6) Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles (Trinity), (7) Transfiguration of the Lord and (8) Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord. Feasts of the Theotokos: (1) Nativity of the Mother of God, (2) Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, (3) Annunciation and (4) Assumption of the Mother of God.

Fifth Commandment of the Old Testament:

"Honor your father and your mother, that you may be well and that you live long on earth."

By the fifth commandment, the Lord God commands us to honor our parents and for this promises a prosperous and long life.
To honor parents means: to love them, to be respectful to them, not to offend them by words or deeds, to obey them, to help them in their daily work, to take care of them when they are in need, and especially during their illness and old age, also pray for them to God both during their life and after death.
The sin of disrespecting parents is a great sin. In the Old Testament, whoever spoke bad words about a father or mother was punished by death.
Along with parents, we must also honor those who in any respect replace our parents. These persons include: bishops and priests who care about our salvation; civil authorities: the president of the country, the governor of the state, the police and all those who have the duty to maintain order and normal life in the country. It is also necessary, therefore, to honor teachers and all people older than us who have experience in life and can give us good advice.
Sinning against this commandment are those who do not respect the elders, especially the elderly, who are distrustful of their remarks and instructions, considering them to be "backward" people, and their concepts "obsolete." God said, "Rise up before the gray-haired man and honor the face of the old man" (Lev. 19:32).
When the younger meets the older, the younger should be the first to say hello. When the teacher enters the classroom, the students must stand up. If an elderly person or a woman with a child enters a bus or train, then the young person must stand up and give up his seat. When a blind person wants to cross the street, you need to help him.
Only in the case when elders or superiors require us to do something against our faith and law, we should not obey them. The law of God and obedience to God is the highest law for all people.
In totalitarian countries, leaders sometimes issue laws and give orders that contradict the Law of God. Sometimes they require a Christian to renounce his faith or do something against his faith. A Christian in this case should be ready to suffer for his faith and for the name of Christ. God promises eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven as a reward for these sufferings. "The one who endures to the end will be saved ... Whoever gives his life for the sake of Me and the Gospel, he will gain it again" (Matt. 10th chapter).

The sixth commandment of the Old Testament:

"Don't kill."

By the sixth commandment, the Lord God forbids murder, i.e. taking the life of other people, as well as of oneself (suicide) in any way.
Life is the greatest gift of God, therefore no one has the right to take away this gift.
Suicide is the most terrible sin, because this sin contains despair and grumbling against God. And besides, after death there is no opportunity to repent and atone for your sin. A suicide dooms his soul to eternal torment in hell. In order not to despair, we must always remember that God loves us. He is our Father, He sees our difficulties and has enough strength to help us even in the most difficult situation. God, according to His wise plans, sometimes allows us to suffer from illness or some kind of trouble. But we must firmly know that God arranges everything for the better, and He turns the sorrows that have befallen us to our benefit and salvation.
Unjust judges violate the sixth commandment if they condemn the defendant, whose innocence they know. Anyone who helps others commit murder or helps a murderer escape punishment is also violating this commandment. Violates this commandment and the one who did nothing to save his neighbor from death, when he could have done it. Also the one who exhausts his workers with hard work and cruel punishments and thereby hastens their death.
Sins against the sixth commandment and the one who wishes the death of another person, hates his neighbors and causes them sorrow with his anger and words.
In addition to physical murder, there is another terrible murder: this is spiritual murder. When a person tempts another to sin, by doing so he spiritually kills his neighbor, because sin is death for the eternal soul. Therefore, all those who distribute drugs, seductive magazines and films, who teach others how to do evil or set a bad example, violate the sixth commandment. Violate this commandment and those who spread godlessness, unbelief, witchcraft and superstition among people; those who preach various exotic beliefs that contradict Christian doctrine sin.
Unfortunately, in some exceptional cases it is necessary to allow murder to stop the inevitable evil. For example, if the enemy attacked a peaceful country, warriors must defend their homeland and their families. In this case, the warrior not only kills out of necessity to save his loved ones, but he himself puts his life in danger and sacrifices himself to save his neighbors.
Also, judges sometimes have to condemn to death incorrigible criminals in order to save society from their further crimes against people.

The seventh commandment of the Old Testament:

"Do not commit adultery."

By the seventh commandment, the Lord God forbids adultery and any unlawful and impure relationship.
Married husband and wife made a promise to live together all their lives and share both joys and sorrows together. Therefore, by this commandment, God forbids divorce. If a husband and wife have different characters and tastes, they should make every effort to smooth out what they have different, and put the unity of the family over personal benefits. Divorce is not only a violation of the seventh commandment, but also a crime against children who are left without a family and after a divorce are often forced to live in conditions alien to them.
God commands the unmarried to keep their thoughts and desires pure. Everything that can arouse impure feelings in the heart should be avoided: bad words, immodest jokes, shameless anecdotes and songs, violent and exciting music and dances. Seductive magazines and films should be avoided, as well as reading immoral books.
The Word of God commands us to keep our bodies clean, because our bodies "are members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit."
The most terrible sin against this commandment is an unnatural relationship with persons of the same sex. Nowadays, they even register a kind of "family" between men or between women. Such people often die from incurable and terrible diseases. For this terrible sin, God completely destroyed the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, as the Bible tells us (ch. 19).

The eighth commandment of the Old Testament:

"Don't steal."

In the eighth commandment, God forbids theft, that is, the appropriation in any way of what belongs to others.
Sins against this commandment can be:
Deception (i.e., appropriation of someone else's thing by cunning), for example: when they evade payment of a debt, they hide what they found without looking for the owner of the found thing; when they overweight when selling or give the wrong change; when they do not give the due wages to the worker.
Theft is the theft of someone else's property.
Robbery is the taking of someone else's property by violence or with the help of weapons.
This commandment is also violated by those who take bribes, that is, they take money for what they should have done as part of the duty of their service. This commandment is violated by those who pretend to be sick in order to get money without working. Also, those who work dishonestly do something for show in front of the authorities, and when they are not there, they do nothing.
With this commandment, God teaches us to work honestly, to be content with what we have, and not to strive for great wealth.
A Christian should be merciful: donate some of his money to the church and to poor people. Everything that a person has in this life does not belong to him forever, but is given to a person by God for temporary use. Therefore, we must share with others what we have.

The ninth commandment of the Old Testament:

"Don't bear false witness against another."

By the ninth commandment, the Lord God forbids telling lies about another person and forbids all lies in general.
The ninth commandment is violated by those who:
Gossip - retells to others the shortcomings of his acquaintances.
Slander - deliberately tells lies about other people in order to harm them.
Condemns - makes a strict assessment of a person, classifying him as a bad person. The gospel does not forbid us to evaluate the actions themselves in terms of how good or bad they are. We must distinguish evil from good, we must move away from all sin and injustice. But one should not take on the role of a judge and say that such and such an acquaintance of ours is a drunkard, or a thief, or a dissolute person, and so on. By this we condemn not so much evil as man himself. This right to condemn belongs only to God. Very often we see only external actions, but do not know about the mood of a person. Often sinners themselves are then weighed down by their shortcomings, ask God for forgiveness of sins, and with God's help overcome their shortcomings.
The ninth commandment teaches us to bridle our tongue, to watch what we say. Most of our sins come from unnecessary words, from idle talk. The Savior said that man would have to give an answer to God for every word he said.

Tenth Commandment of the Old Testament:

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, covet not thy neighbor's house, nor his fields... nor all that is thy neighbor's."

With the tenth commandment, the Lord God forbids not only doing something bad to others around us, but also forbids bad desires and even bad thoughts in relation to them.
The sin against this commandment is called envy.
He who envies, who in his thoughts desires someone else's, he can easily go from bad thoughts and desires to bad deeds.
But envy itself defiles the soul, making it unclean before God. Holy Scripture says: "Evil thoughts are an abomination before God" (Prov. 15:26).
One of the main tasks of a true Christian is to cleanse his soul from all internal impurity.
In order to avoid sin against the tenth commandment, it is necessary to keep purity of heart from any excessive attachment to earthly objects. We must be content with what we have and thank God.
Students at school should not envy other students when others are doing very well and making progress. Everyone should try to learn as best as possible and attribute their success not only to themselves, but to the Lord, who gave us reason, the opportunity to learn and everything necessary for the development of abilities. A true Christian rejoices when he sees others succeed.
If we sincerely ask God, He will help us become true Christians.