Memo #140

May 1, 2012 (written April 7, 2008)

From: Dad, Grandpa etc. Richard M. Pratt

Re: The Ten Commandments

Exactly two months right to the day after Israel had left Egypt they came to the foot of Mt. Sinai, and there Israel camped before the mount. (Grandma and I spent two days there. It’s a wild and rugged area of tall and craggy, rocky mountains and sandy valley bottoms with but little vegetation. And such as the there is, is the same dusty grey as the terrain. Very desolate and barren. St. Kathrines’ monastery is at the base of the mountain, the oldest monastery in the world, established there in the sixth century A.D. a small spring of water makes life possible there.)

Here Moses hoped to do great things for Israel. He hoped to bring this band of recently freed slaves into some semblance of order. Try to imagine two million people just freed from two hundred years or more of slavery suddenly receiving their freedom. They must have indeed been a wild and rowdy bunch, very difficult to lead if they could be led at all, moaning and complaining about every thing from the sand and heat to what they were going to eat and drink. The Lord said unto them thru Moses: “the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant; then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him...and the Lord said unto Moses, lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever... And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses, go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes,

and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mt. Sinai.

The third day came - the people were dressed in their best but when the mountain began to shake and belch forth smoke the people were too afraid to meet the Lord and begged Moses to intercede for them. Exodous 19:6-17

After being instructed by the Lord, Moses went down to the people and revealed to them as he had been instructed “THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: which in a simplified form and easy to understand are as follows: (read them in full in the Bible, Exodus chapter 20)

1. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. (choose to love God)

2. Thou shalt not make any graven image.

3. Take not the name of God in vain.

4. Keep the Sabbath day holy.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not lie.

10. Thou shalt not covet.

~ 2 ~

Is this the first time the world had been exposed to these basic laws? Of course not! For they are the very basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Sabbath is mentioned right in the beginning. “And on the Sabbath Day God ended his work which he had made.....and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” Genesis 2:1-2

“Our Father Adam taught these things. And many have believed and become the sons (and daughters) of God, and many have believed not and have perished in their sins.

And what did Father Adam teach? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion and the gift of the Holy Ghost. “And Adam was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water, and thus he was baptized and the Spirit of God descended upon him, thus he was born of the spirit, and became quickened in the inner man....behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons (and daughters) amen.”

Were the ten commandments taught? Of course else how could Cain be guilty of murder? Where no law is given no sin can be committed nor punishment affixed. Were the ten commandments all of God’s commandments? Of course not. They are the basic laws. The laws of the Priesthood are not mentioned there-in.

I frequently, when teaching the ten commandments, invite the class to try and add ten more that are not already included in the ten. I’ve never had a class that could do it. But here are a few more most of which belong to the Priesthood and the ordinances and covenants there of:

11. The law of tithing.

12. The law of the fast and offerings.

13. Pray always lest ye be deceived.(Read grandma’s dream start bottom of page 30 in her autobiography.)

14. The law of eternal marriage.

15. The commandment to have children.

16. The law of obedience to God and his agents.

17. Temple work.

18. Genealogy.

19. YOU add......

20. YOU add......( remember most any that you can think of are already part of the original ones.)

Of course there are the civil laws that the Lord gave as to how they were to govern themselves and to this day in a corrupted form are the basic civil laws of all nations.

Apparently the Lord was trying to make another people like the “People of Enoch”. And in a small measure succeeded in the case of Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, they went up on a high mountain: “and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness and upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand:” ABSOLUTELY SAW GOD. Exodus 24: 9-11. Moses was then commanded of the Lord to go up into a high mountain and there for forty days and forty nights he fasted and prayed and was taught face to face by the Lord. (No man can fast that long without food and water and live. In fact fifteen days is about the limit for the strongest of men.) But the Lord strengthened him and bore him up that he with the Lord (Jesus) are the only ones two fast from food and water that long and still survive. And Moses was still strong enough to come down off the mountain carrying two heavy stones engraven on both sides by the finger of the Lord.)

~ 3 ~

Only to discover that during that forty days the camp had reverted to the devilish doctrine and worship of a golden calf and totally immersing themselves in carnality and all the sins of sensuality.

Moses threw the plates of stone down in disgust, breaking them, and ordering the execution of three thousand men who appear to have been the ring leaders of all this corruption. And after three days, having gotten the camp back in order, he again ascended the mountain for another forty days of fasting and receiving instructions as to what to do next.

Again he received two tablets of stone engraven by the finger of the Lord. But alas they did not contain the same instructions as the first. For they had contained the laws and covenants pertaining to the Melchizedek Priesthood including all the temple ceremonies for the living including eternal marriage. The second set of plates contained the laws and rites of the Aaronic Priesthood which for the most part pertain only to mortal life.

However it appears that a few of the stalwarts such as Joshua and the seventy elders and a few other faithfuls did receive all their ordinances of the Higher Priesthood in the Portable

Temple which the Lord commanded them to build and was called the Tabernacle, later used as the model for Solomon’s temple build of precious stones, wood, and gold. The basic dimensions being exactly twice that of the tabernacle.

The next forty years, because they had spurned the Celestial law of God, was spent wandering in the wilderness while all over age twenty had died or been killed by enemies and several times by the Lord visiting upon them plagues, and phenomena of nature. The new generation were of course taught the gospel as far as the Aaronic Priesthood could take them which would have included baptism by immersion but not confirmation. Remember when the Lord went out when John was baptizing in Jordan that the confirmation was not performed except in the case of Jesus when the Holy Ghost appeared and the Father spoke from Heaven saying, “Behold my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3: 13-17

Now lets take a look at each of th ten commandments.

1. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. Yet men have worshiped everything under the sun and including the sun. and some of todays God’s include, the basics of life, careers, education, recreation (this one perhaps has the most devotees), sexuality, animals of all kinds and of course money. In short about any physical thing is worshiped by someone. 

2. 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.  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; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3. 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. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work. 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 in thy gates. 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.” Note: the Sabbath is perhaps considered one of the least of the commandments yet one of the most important, the one most often broken.

~ 4 ~

The person who breaks the Sabbath day has also broken the first three commandments. That person has broken the commandment by placing other “Gods, Gods” of his own making, imaginary or real before God the Father. They may have graven images, such as a camper, a boat, or joy riding etc. etc. None of these are bad when used at the proper time.

Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain is much more than just swearing. It’s breaking any and every covenant we have made with God from baptism on. And oh how easy it is to break the Sabbath unthinkingly. Example: a few Sundays ago I was preparing to go to the regular Sabbath meetings. I went to discard some junk into the waste basket most of us keep under the sink, only to find it over flowing ( I believe someone else is using it besides me for it is always full!) I grabbed it to take it out and dump it in the canister on the back porch, I could have had it returned in two minutes. Then the thought hit me, “Sabbath breaker! You would be a violator of one of my Father’s holy laws. And I thought NO WAY!” I laid the waste in the sink and took it out Monday. Five years ago I would have taken it out. Perhaps that’s why I’ve lived nearly one hundred years that I might learn to keep that day specified by God as the Sabbath holy. Now I even buy my groceries at Allen’s for it’s a grocery store I know of that is closed on Sunday. Where were the five foolish virgins when the doors to the wedding feast were closed in their faces? Perhaps they were getting their last bargains at the shopping areas open on Sunday. (I know the scriptures says they were asleep, same thing.)

Well that’s the first four and they are all about your relationship with God. The last six are your relationship with your fellow beings.

5. Honor thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. ( note this is the first commandment with a promise).

In this sad day of broken homes, deserting parents, often untruthful and unfaithful we honor our parents by being obedient to God even if our mortal parents don’t like it. For that is the only way you can honor them and by so doing your days may be long upon the land and you may influence delinquent parents to repent and do like wise.

In many Islamic countries it is still legal for a father to kill his son or daughter if they have violated Islamic law. I had a young friend some thirty years ago, a student from Iran who converted to the church. I had the privilege of being his Bishop and at the appropriate time took him to the Salt Lake Temple for his endowments. Several times it was announced that he was the first Iranian in modern times to receive these sacred ordinances.

When it came time to go home to Iran. He explained the dilemma he was in. If he told his father he had left Islam, his father would kill him.  I couldn’t believe it. Well he solved the problem by seeking asylum in the United States and is currently a highly respected professor in an Eastern university. His name is BiJan Sawdstmand.

6. Thou shalt not kill. Oh how my heart bled for the little seven year old girl abused and murdered last week in Salt Lake city by a young man. Especially did I sorrow for him. And the eternal suffering he will experience.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.  (Nor anything like unto it. To tamper with and divert the source of life to sensuality is second to murder in seriousness before our Heavenly Father.)

8. Thou shalt not steal. (My heart goes out to the petty thieves. If you’re going to be a thief be a big one the penalty is the same!)

9. Thou shalt not bare false witness against thy neighbor. (Or anyone else!)

10. Thou shalt not covet...anything that belongs to others.

Come follow me the Savior said, for my burden is light and easy to bear, any other course brings eternal regrets.  Choose with me to follow Jesus Christ our Lord and redeemer! I love you all.

My love,

Dad, Grandpa, etc Richard M Pratt