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The Ten Commandments are an ancient law of the Bible, having been delivered to the Israelites around 3,500 years ago. Yet they are a point of contention in U.S. politics today, as some seek acknowledgment of their influence on the nation from its inception, while others want them dismissed.
God commanded that His laws be taught and even posted on the Israelites' doorframes and gates so that they would be regularly seen and ingrained in people's thinking (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). So it's honorable to give them place in our educational institutions -- and in fact they long had such place. But legal challenges eventually arose based on the notion of the "separation of church and state" supposedly enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution -- though such wording is not found there.
On Nov. 17, 1980, following a series of negations of religious expression in government-sponsored enterprises, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a slim (5-4) majority that a Kentucky statute requiring school officials to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom was unconstitutional.
But the issue is now back, especially with Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signing a bill into law requiring all state public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments in frames or as posters no smaller than 11-by-14 inches. The statute also requires a four-paragraph statement of context showing how the Ten Commandments have historical significance to American foundational documents.
Besides a sincere desire to educate young people about the Ten Commandments, it seems part of the reason for the legal effort at this time is due to the shift of the Supreme Court to a 6-3 conservative majority -- one that recently overturned the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, allowing each state to decide that matter. Could a similar ruling follow with the commandments posting?
Opposition to the Louisiana law came immediately, with a judicial stay request filed in local court by the American Civil Liberties Union and a multifaith group of nine Louisiana families with children in public schools, as well as the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
In a related development, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced on June 27, 2024 that all Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in their curriculums. He specified that "the Bible is one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country." He also wrote that "the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, [and] to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system."
Supt. Walters' directive was met with resistance, including from Interfaith Alliance, a national organization claiming to protect religious freedoms. It stated: "This is blatant religious coercion that should have absolutely no place in public schools in Oklahoma or any other state. True religious freedom means ensuring that no one religious group is allowed to impose their viewpoint on all Americans. The vast majority of people of faith in this country reject these dangerous, intimidating efforts to force a Christian nationalist agenda into our schools, our courts and our government."
Yet that's revisionist history at work. What's truly dangerous is the effort to marginalize the laws of God from public life. Where is that leading? And will such opposition to posting the Ten Commandments never cease? Or is a day coming when the whole world will come to acknowledge and live by these divine laws and the entirety of God's Word?
Other states have also recently attempted to pass laws requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. A 2023 bill in Texas failed to become law, while a similar bill in Utah passed in 2024 after being watered down so that the Ten Commandments could only be placed on a list of optional historical documents for study that teachers of American history and government could use.
As noted above, various legal and religious organizations are alarmed that posting the Ten Commandments or teaching the Bible in public schools is a dire blending of "church and state" detrimental for the nation and its citizens. But that was certainly not the viewpoint of the nation's Founding Fathers and early presidents, who frequently included numerous references to God, the Bible and the commandments in their statements and writings.
The American Declaration of Independence of 1776, which was signed by 56 courageous Founding Fathers, states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (emphasis added throughout). And it appeals to "the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions . . . with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence."
George Washington, president of the Constitutional Convention and first president of the United States, stated in his first inaugural address in 1789: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency."
James Madison, "father of the Constitution" and the nation's fourth president, stated in 1785, "Before any man can be considered as a member of Civil Society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe."
James Wilson, a U.S. Supreme Court justice and signer of the Declaration of Independence, noted, "Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine."
Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president, said, "The Bible is the rock on which our republic rests."
Even before the establishment of the United States as an independent nation, 12 of the 13 original American colonies incorporated all Ten Commandments into their own civil code of laws. This indicates tremendous respect and honor toward the words of Holy Scripture as an indispensable element in wise and upright governance.
So it should be clear that the Founding Fathers did not believe in a separation between religion and public life and never intended that America's governing documents stand in an adversarial position toward the Bible and the Ten Commandments.
The political reality in American society today stands in stark contrast to the Framers' intent. Prior to the 1980 decision to ban displays of the Ten Commandments in public schools, the Supreme Court had ruled in 1962 that prayer in public schools was unconstitutional. Then in 1963 it declared that the Bible could no longer be read in public school classrooms. Since that time, neglect of and even antipathy toward religion have accelerated.
When people turn away from God and the Bible, what is the consequence? The prophet Hosea wrote, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). This refers to biblical comprehension, which involves abiding by God's eternal, spiritual laws expressed in the Ten Commandments and other flawless statutes. Without the Creator's revealed knowledge, people flail around in needless ignorance -- causing themselves and others great anguish and suffering (Isaiah 59:7).
It should be no surprise, then, that immoral and corrupt corollaries have arisen throughout society. This is seen in people's increasing appetites for sex outside of marriage, cohabitation, same-sex "marriage," transgenderism, pornography, violence, drug and alcohol addiction and other evils. Indeed, expelling God and His commandments from public and private life strikes at the very foundation of a successful and beneficent society.
Noah Webster, of Webster's Dictionary fame, often called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education," stated: "The moral principles and precepts contained in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."
So true. And on top of self-inflicted consequences, the Bible also shows that God will bring judgment on the nations for their flagrant disobedience of His laws. The world as a whole stands in deep trouble. Yet God calls on all to repent and change.
Will America turn around and rediscover its roots of profound respect for the Bible and the Ten Commandments? Will other nations submit to God and His ways? While that's unlikely to happen in this age, you don't have to go along with the crowd! You can go to God in sincere repentance and willing obedience, receiving His profound loving mercy (Psalms 33:18-19; 86:5).
Furthermore, beyond today's world of trouble, confusion and suffering lies an electrifying period that will dawn for all humanity at Jesus Christ's second coming that will replace the hateful, adversarial and destructive behavior that now afflicts society everywhere.
At that coming amazing time, Christ will install God's righteous government -- the Kingdom of God on earth, in which His followers of this age will reign with Him over the nations, commencing with a thousand-year period of righteousness and peace (Daniel 2:44; 7:27; Revelation 5:10; 11:15; 20:4-6).
God's law will go forth from Jerusalem, the seat of Christ's reign, and people will cease from war and all harm, as all come to know God and His ways (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:1-9). At that awesome time "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). And unlike today, everyone will fully respect and obey the Ten Commandments. Starting with the people of Israel, the Eternal says, "I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Hebrews 8:10; see Jeremiah 31:31-34).
All of this will be possible as people the world over will receive the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28). Again, starting with Israel, God says: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
So not only will the Ten Commandments be posted in public, but they will be written into people's hearts and minds! God's laws and all Scripture will be the basis for education throughout the world -- and through the Spirit will be internalized.
Just imagine a world where everyone lived by the Ten Commandments and the other laws of Scripture. One of America's Founders did that. John Adams, the nation's first vice president and its second president, wrote: "Suppose a nation in some distant Region, should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. Every member would be obliged in conscience to temperance and frugality and industry [or productivity], to justice and kindness and charity towards his fellow men, and to piety and love, and reverence towards Almighty God.
"In this commonwealth, no man would impair his health by gluttony, drunkenness, or lust . . . No man would steal or lie or any way defraud his neighbour, but would live in peace and good will with all men -- no man would blaspheme his maker or profane his worship, but a rational and manly, a sincere and unaffected piety and devotion, would reign in all hearts. What a Eutopia, what a paradise would this region be" (Diary, Feb. 22, 1756).
This wonderful dream will be realized in the Kingdom of God -- as all are led into repentance and heartfelt obedience. Harmony will then fill the world (Psalm 96:3; Acts 15:7; 2 Timothy 4:17). Not only will Jesus Christ make it possible for people to live in peace, safety and enjoy great physical abundance, but He will give them indispensable spiritual, moral and ethical guidance and instruction. Assisting Christ in this crucial task will be God's resurrected, faithful and wise divine sons and daughters from this age who will serve as teachers, administrators, judges and leaders (2 Corinthians 6:18; Isaiah 30:20). They will diligently coach each person in God's way of life -- in which the Ten Commandments are fundamental (Deuteronomy 10:4; Isaiah 30:21).
By obeying God's teachings, individuals and nations will have a solid foundation for cooperation as they work harmoniously in serving their Creator and one another. Indeed, "God blesses everyone who obeys his Law" (Proverbs 29:18, Contemporary English Version).
But again, you needn't wait until that time to enjoy the fruits of joy and peace in your life. You can turn to God in sincere repentance and obedience to the Ten Commandments today and experience a foretaste of His coming glorious Kingdom.
God even points the way to that future in the commandments. The Fourth Commandment, to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, is not only a reminder of God as Creator (Exodus 20:8-11) but as Deliverer from bondage (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). And the Sabbath at the end of the work week symbolizes the coming 1,000-year reign of Christ as a rest from the wearisome toil of this age (see Hebrews 3-4 and our free study guide Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest).
The Kingdom age is also represented by the annual Feast of Tabernacles, another biblically commanded observance, which we will soon be celebrating in October.
As we follow Christ's instruction to pray to God, "Your kingdom come" (Matthew 6:10), longing for the wonderful future ahead, let's strive with His help to live by the laws of that Kingdom today, experiencing the great blessings this will bring to us and others.
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