Many will not know the 1st commandment of the Ten as read by Yeshua in his days on earth. We all grew up to know (as taught by the church) that the first commandment is ‘Thou shall not have any other god beside me’

However, the list of the 10 commandments in the 1st Century has ‘I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of Egypt, the house of bondage’ as number 1. It is known that as the church was moving away from Judaism and dropping it’s Jewish identity, it has to also drop the personalisation of the Most High as ‘The Elohim of Israel’ and adopt the global identity of ‘Creator of the World’.

What the church did not know is that changing the first commandment is tantamount to removing the foundation and the pillar of the 10 commandments. The personal touch in the 1st commandment is not to make the commandments Jewish but to present the basis of the relationship that is needed between man and Yahweh. It is not about a Creator/Creation relationship but a Liberator/Freed Man one.

The 1st commandment is a command to the people of Israel to believe in Yahweh not as anything but as a Liberator, a Redeemer and a Savior. It could have been sweeter if Yahweh had referred to Himself as ‘Creator of the World’ or ‘Elohim of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob’ while commanding Israel; but those decriptions will not explain why the Israelites have to obey His voice and keep the covenant.

The purpose of the commandments is to set the Israetites free from every type of bondage that exist in the world. Obeying Yahweh and keeping the commandments give life to anyone. The commandments are to give life and not to keep anyone in bondage.

The word ‘Egypt’ is translated from ‘Mistrayim’ which means ‘a fencing to limit’. It means to keep in bondage. Every one is limited in experiencing life as given by Yahweh by the corruption in this world. The commandments are to help us remove these limitations and set us free. Have you wondered why Yeshua said that “I have come to give life and give it more abundantly”? It is beacuse he came to bear witness to the truth (the Torah) by teaching it accurately.

The basis of our relationship with Yahweh is to receive freedom from Him by living according to His word. Knowing Him as Creator of the World is not enough, knowing Him as Father of the Patriarchs will only help our faith but knowing Him by keeping His commands will give us LIFE.

Shalom!