God's Top Ten List - The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments -  Where do we find them?  You can read them in Exodus 20:1-17 and in Deuteronomy 5:1-21.  Where did they come from?  They were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai.  Check it out:

Well, it wasn't quite like that.  Mel Brooks needs to get his hearing checked.  God said to Moses, "I will give thee tablets of stone," NOT "I will give three tablets of stone."  Here's the Bible's first mention of the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments:
^"The LORD said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.'
 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God."  Exodus 24:12-13 (TNIV).

What do the Ten Commandments command us to do?  Here's what they say:

1. "I am the Lord your God, ... You shall have no other gods before me."
2. "You shall not make for yourself an idol ... You shall not bow down to them or worship them;"
3. "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,"
4. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but [on] the seventh day ... you shall not do any work,"
5. "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord commanded you ..."
6. "You shall not murder."
7. "You shall not commit adultery."
8. "You shall not steal."
9. "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."
10. "You shall not covet ... anything that belongs to your neighbor."

The first five commandments (the first tablet) concern our relationship with God.  They are summed up by the greatest commandment:  "Love the Lord  your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."  -Deut. 6:5 (NIV).  Jesus taught that this is the first and greatest commandment.  Take a look at Matthew 22:34-40 here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022:34-40&version=TNIV

The last five commandments (the second tablet) deal with our relationships with each other.  These commandments are summed up by Leviticus 19:18, which teaches that you should "Love your neighbor as yourself."   "Who is my neighbor," you may ask?  Jesus answered that question in Luke 10:25-37.  You can read it (or listen to it) here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2010:25-37&version=TNIV


What impact have the Ten Commandments had on our culture?  It's no overstatement to say that the Ten Commandments are a vital building block of morality and the rule of law in western society.  Don't believe me?  Look who is sitting at the center of the eastern pediment of the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.:

Yes, that's Moses with the two tablets of stone.  You will also find Moses and the Ten Commandments depicted within the building's beautiful courtroom.  I'm a big fan of the Court.  You can find its website at: http://www.supremecourt.gov/Default.aspx  This week they are hearing oral arguments in a little case about some health care law ;-)  Some day I'll have a case there.  I'm admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court just in case that ever happens!

Here are our Sunday school class nominees for Best Commandment:

Wes, our winner last week, picked No. 10 -- Thou shalt not covet.  It's good that he picked that one ... He can practice it, because he didn't win.

Jake chose No. 5 -- Honor your father and mother.  (His folks must be so proud!)

Paige selected the first commandment -- Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  If God put it first, how can you argue with that?

Laura Jane chose the 6th Commandment -- Thou shalt not murder.  Killer choice, if you ask me.

Angela got creative and went beyond the two stone tablets to the 22nd Chapter of Matthew, where Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.

And the winner of the Wesley Award for Best Commandment, chosen through our scientific polling of Rolling Hills Youth, is the 4th Commandment -- Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy!  Congrats to Nick, who picked our winner.

Next week, we will be picking our favorite miracle from the Old Testament.  Check us out on April 1 to see the winner!

P.S.: For a unique and light-hearted look at the Ten Commandments, check out this article, in which Lindsay, a reader of this blog, translates the Ten Commandments into text-talk:
http://www.landlinephoneservice.net/blog/2012/the-ten-commandments-translated-to-text-talk/
Just remember the 11th Commandment: THOU SHALT NOT TEXT WHILE DRIVING!

Greatest Hits of Genesis

Welcome to this week's post on the Rolling Hills Youth Bible Blog.  Today, we studied Genesis:

Wait, there must be some misunderstanding!  Not the Band named Genesis ... We studied the Book of Genesis:

The Old Testament's Book of Genesis is the easiest book of the Bible to find because it's the first!  Genesis is all about firsts:  The first man and woman, the first murder, humanity's first covenant with God ... the list goes on and on.  The word Genesis is Greek for "beginning" or "origin."  The name Genesis comes from the first verse of the book: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. 1:1 (TNIV).  The Book of Genesis originally was written in Hebrew, of course.  But when the Hebrew later was translated into Greek, the Greek word "genesis" stuck as a title.  The book is also full of "sticky" stories: stories that stick in our imaginations ... and stories of people in sticky situations.  The members of our Youth Sunday school class nominated their favorites for today's award of "Greatest Hit from Genesis" --

Chris  nominated The Creation Story from Chapter 1 of Genesis. We read there that the Earth got off to a great start:
  "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day."  Gen. 1:31 (NIV).

Dana picked The Story of Adam and Eve found in Chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis.  They started out in paradise, but soon sin entered the picture, and they were evicted from the Garden of Eden for breaking the house rules:
And [God] said, ... “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  -Gen. 3:11-13 (TNIV).

Jacob was inspired by his name to nominate the story of Jacob stealing his father, Isaac's blessing from Jacob's older brother, Esau.  You can read about this great act of brotherly betrayal (and the acting job Jacob did to pull it off) in Chapter 27 of Genesis.

Adrienne picked the story of Noah and the Great Flood.  You can find it in Genesis, Chapters 6 through 8.  My favorite re-telling of this ages-old story is by comedian Bill Cosby, Temple University's favorite son:

Paige picked the story from the aftermath of the flood: God's Covenant with Noah.  Leave it to Paige to find a story about rainbows!  You can read it in Chapter 9 of Genesis.  Noah learned that God was true to his word. How does the saying go? Oh, yeah: "With God's help, a lone amateur built the Ark.  A group of professionals built the Titanic."

And our winner for Greatest Hit from Genesis goes to Wes, who selected the challenging story of Abraham's Near Sacrifice of Isaac.  What a story!  You have to read it in Genesis 22.  Here's a song about it by an awesome parody band from Pittsburgh called ApologetiX:

Here are the lyrics:

Genny 22
Parody of "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone 

Genesis twenty-two's where I turn to
To get the story of Isaac no one knew
I know you think Ike's life was prob'ly a bore
Because his famous father loved the Lord
When he was lots more younger Isaac was saved in time
When the Lord told His father
Abraham sacrifice Me your child
Take sticks sacrifice Me your child
Abraham sacrifice Me your child
Isaac sacrificed, me oh my
Daddy, daddy – that's a grill for meat
And you won't tell me why today we don't have sheepI tried to tell you before – but I lost my nerve
I tried to find another way son – but I trust His Word
Daddy, I'm on the lumber – why did you take your knife
There is an angel up there
Abraham, I'm satisfied, free your child
Your faith has satisfied me all right
Abraham, I'm satisfied, free your child
Your faith has satisfied me all right
Hey, Daddy! Hey, Daddy!
We've got a lamb there after all
Hey, Daddy! Hey, Daddy!
When you get time – let’s have a good long talk!
LEAD
When your begotten son’s there
How can you take his life?
Yet we know God the Father
Made this sacrifice with Jesus Christ
Genny 22’s where I turn to
God saved Isaac in time and we all must learn the truth
(To make it to Heaven find Jesus Christ)
Find Jesus Christ! Find Jesus Christ!

©2010 Parodudes Music, Inc.

 If you want to learn more about this band, you can check them out at their website, here:
http://apologetix.com/

Join us next week when we take a look at the Ten Commandments and select the winner for Best Commandment!

Proverbs: Words to Live By!

Proverbs is an Old Testament book that collects over 350 ancient sayings (or proverbs).  Many of these proverbs are traditionally attributed to King Solomon, the son of King David.

Solomon was famous for his wisdom.  In 1 Kings 4:29-32, we read:
   God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.  Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.  He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.  He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.

Solomon also has a cool hotel named after him in Israel.  Here it is:

The Book of Proverbs is an effort to pass along practical wisdom to people, especially young people.  We can learn how to live by trial and error, or we can learn by taking the advice of others who came before us.  The Book of Proverbs is a great collection of that advice!

Wisdom: Where does it come from?  How do we get it?  Proverbs 9:10 teaches: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. "  In Proverbs, wisdom is often personified as a woman ... Adrienne liked that! We see an example here in Proverbs 1:20: "Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square."

Our youth nominated a number of proverbs this morning for a Wesley Award.  Here are the nominees:

Jake nominated Proverbs 15:2 -- "The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly."

Adrienne picked Proverbs 27:19 -- "As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart."

Nick  picked Proverbs 19:15 -- "Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry."

Alex chose Proverbs 20:17 -- "Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel."

Jack selected Proverbs 19:4 -- "Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friends of the poor desert them."

Wes went with Proverbs 6:6 -- "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! " (I think Wes just likes the word "sluggard"!)

Laura Jane  selected Proverbs 12:4 -- "A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones."

And the winner of the Wesley Award for Best Proverb goes to ...

Proverbs 16:16, which was nominated by Matt:
 How much better to get wisdom than gold,
to get insight rather than silver!

Next week, we will select the Wesley Award winner for Best Story from Genesis!  Post a comment to nominate a story, then check in with us on March 18 to see what story won!

And The Winner Is ...

Here are the Psalms that our youth nominated for the Wesley Award for Best Psalm:

Wes nominated Psalm 117:
 Praise the LORD, all you nations;
   extol him, all you peoples.
  For great is his love toward us,
   and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
   Praise the LORD.
Why? Because it's the shortest - only two verses long ;-)

Jake went the other direction, nominating Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms.  It has 176 verses and is broken into 22 separate sections - one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Angela nominated Psalm 121, which begins:
¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.

Paige nominateed Psalm 23, which is perhaps the best known psalm.  Here it is in the King James Version:
¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
 ²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
 ³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
 ⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
 ⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
 ⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

And our winner, nominated by both Alex and Adrienne, is Psalm 136:
 ¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
            His love endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods.
            His love endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
            His love endures forever.
 ⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
            His love endures forever.
⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens,
            His love endures forever.
⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,
            His love endures forever.
⁷ who made the great lights—
            His love endures forever.
⁸ the sun to govern the day,
            His love endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night;
            His love endures forever.
 ¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
            His love endures forever.
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them
            His love endures forever.
¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
            His love endures forever.
 ¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
            His love endures forever.
¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it,
            His love endures forever.
¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
            His love endures forever.
 ¹⁶ to him who led his people through the wilderness;
            His love endures forever.
 ¹⁷ to him who struck down great kings,
            His love endures forever.
¹⁸ and killed mighty kings—
            His love endures forever.
¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites
            His love endures forever.
²⁰ and Og king of Bashan—
            His love endures forever.
²¹ and gave their land as an inheritance,
            His love endures forever.
²² an inheritance to his servant Israel.
            His love endures forever.
 ²³ He remembered us in our low estate
            His love endures forever.
²⁴ and freed us from our enemies.
            His love endures forever.
²⁵ He gives food to every creature.
            His love endures forever.
 ²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven.
            His love endures forever.

God's love truly does endure forever! Congratulations to Psalm 136, the first-ever winner of the Wesley Award for Best Psalm!

Now, for our next award category:  On Sunday, March 11 we will be voting for Best Proverb.  So, leave a comment and suggest your favorite verses from the Old Testament's Book of Proverbs.  There's lots of wisdom to be found there!  We want to hear from you!

Psalms: Songs for Real Life!

This week the Youth Sunday school class is taking a look at the Old Testament's Book of Psalms.  The psalms are poems and song lyrics that were written to be used in worship and to celebrate Jewish feasts and festivals.  The Psalms were assembled as a collection in the Third Century BCE after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon.  By Jesus' time, the collection was being referred to as the Book of Psalms.

Artists continue to this day to set the psalms to music.  Here's an example from the band Third Day, which wrote this song using Psalm 36:5-7 ...

   
And here's one from my era ... U2 performing their song, "40", which, as its name suggests, is based upon Psalm 40:

Psalms often draw upon timeless references to nature.  Look at this passage from Psalm 91:

 ¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”
 ³ Surely he will save you
   from the fowler’s snare
   and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

The psalms cover the whole range of our emotions as we speak to God.  The psalms have it all: joy, grief, thankfulness, anger, praise, fear, you name it!  The great reformer Martin Luther believed that you could hear the voice of Christ in every Psalm - praying with us and for us.  The German pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer described the Psalms as "a strange journey of ups and downs, falling and rising, despair and exaltation," and he relied upon "praying the Psalms" to the very end of his life.  When in prison awaiting execution at the hands of the Nazis, Bonhoeffer found comfort in Psalm 30:5:

 For his anger lasts only a moment,
   but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
   but rejoicing comes in the morning.

So, what Psalm is speaking to you today?  Do you have a favorite?  Let us know.  Tomorrow, we will award the first ever Wesley Award for the category of Best Psalm and will announce the winning Psalm on this blog.  Stay tuned!