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Special Portuguese Spanish    

Year 9 - N° 422 - July 12, 2015

JORGE LEITE DE OLIVEIRA 
jojorgeleite@gmail.com
Brasília, DF (Brasil)

 

Translation
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br

 
 

Jorge Leite de Oliveira

Moses and the Ten Commandments
in the Light of Christ

Love as principal and Order as base; Progress at last.”  ― Auguste Comte.
 

According to Auguste Comte, in the early days of Mankind, thousands of years ago, humans expressed their fear of God through the so-called fetishism, the worship of supernatural beings, who worked in Nature. This gave place to the belief in polytheism, i.e., the belief in many gods.

Other theorists, like Taylor, believe that the evolution of the religious thought started with animism (the belief in the presence of the soul in all beings of Nature, animate and inanimate); followed by manism (belief in ghosts); then by fetishism (worship of material objects, considered the incarnation of a spirit or in connection with it), by polytheism (belief in many gods) and finally, by monotheism (belief in one God). It was with Moses that the idea of one God began among the Hebrews, and spread around the world. According to Christianity, the first Divine Revelation occurred about 4,000 years ago. 

From that time forth came the major religions: Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islamism, Judaism and Christianity, in which, as stated by Kardec, the three revelations of God are present, unfolded in the message revealed to Moses, then confirmed by Jesus and finally completed by Spiritism, according to the promise of Christ to send us the Comforter, as we read in John, Chapter 14:15-17:
 

If you love me, keep my Commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Comforter to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see it and absolutely does not know it. But as for you, you shall know Him, because it will be with you and shall be in you [...]. (Apud Kardec, 2013a, pages 105-106).  

Moses was the prophet chosen by God to reveal to the Hebrews His existence and His laws, summarized in the Ten Commandments, which were transmitted psychically to Moses on Mount Sinai. This is considered the first Divine Revelation of the threefold revelation. It's about these Commandments that we will continue our reflections: 

1st Commandment: do not make images of other gods, for there is only one God.

Allan
Kardec’s first question in The Book of Spirits is: "What is God"? The answer was: "God is the Supreme Intelligence, the First Cause of all things”. In other words, God has a human form, and this was confirmed by Jesus to the Samaritan, when He said to her: "God is a Spirit: and it is important that He is worshiped in Spirit and in Truth." (John 4:24).
This is stated by the Spirit Emmanuel, in a psychographics by Chico Xavier:

 

Before all Moses’ programs, the revelations of the Prophets and their own redemptive blessings in the Gospel, the Master makes a strong statement of principles, calling all the Spirits to the plane of substantial unity. Consolidating the savior service that He himself brought from the Highest Spheres, Christ declares to Mankind that there is only one Lord Almighty - the Father of Infinite Mercy. (XAVIER, 2012, page 223).

2nd Commandment: do not speak the name of God in vain.

The respect and love of God, our Father, requires of us a humble posture at all times of our eternal life, because, being pure Spirit, He created us for our spiritual perfection. Man has thus two natures, as the Higher Spirits say: the animal, present in the physical body; and the spiritual, contained in the soul, which is the incarnate Spirit (issue 605 of The Book of Spirits). Created to perfection, we need thus to prevail in us, the spiritual nature, with which we approach the good spirits and therefore God.

Speaks the name of God in vain, the one who preaches in His name and does not practice what he himself recommends to others.

Speaks the name of God in vain, the person who makes of religion a form of exploitation of other people's faith, selling "passports to Heaven" and other disgraceful trades, what made Christ cast out the "hawkers from the Temple" with strictness and saying these unforgettable words: "It is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves". (Matthew 21: 12-13; Luke 19: 45-46).

Speaks the name of God in vain, the one that mocks His existence or rebels against Him when he undergoes tests and atonement.

Also speaks the name of God in vain, the people who pretend to believe Him with the purpose of their own personal projection and their pretend to believe by pure convenience and desire to project themselves and to manipulate others’ conscious. Such people betray themselves by their contradictory attitudes and harmful fluidic vibration. Thus, they are not able to maintain the false belief for a long time, before those who observe them closely. “Such people, said Jesus, are like whitewashed tombs on the outside but full of rottenness inside". (Matthew 23:27).

Finally, speaks the name of God in vain, the one who sells his psychic gifts, contrary to what Jesus said: "Give for free what you receive for free”. According to Comte (Phrases, 2015), "Living for others is not only the law of duty, but also of happiness". Only loving and serving our brother with unselfishness and silence, praying and being vigilant, will we stop speaking the name of our Father in vain, independent of our own belief and regardless of our social position and any other prejudices. 

3rd Commandment: sanctify the Sabbath day.

Symbolically, this Commandment is the need we all have to not exceed the limit of external forces and of our strength in the work we perform or make someone perform. It also symbolizes the duty of at least one day a week to dedicate ourselves to God, by rising our thoughts through prayer and reflection, reading, attending specific lectures, visiting the sick, helping the needy, praying for friends and relatives, as well as for those who "pursue and slander" us (Matthew 5:44), according to the recommendation of Jesus.

4th Commandment: honor father and mother.

The respect and love that we all have for our parents show our gratitude to those who gave us new physical existence and looked after us with loving care and even with sacrifice of their sleep and their own health. Therefore, we must honor them, being obedient and helpful. And even though their actions may be wrong, we have no right to criticize them publicly, even if they are not a reference of good behavior. 

5th Commandment: do not kill.

Life is a gift of God, granted to us all, and we have no right to decide in His behalf, who shall live and who shall die. We answer for every life entrusted to us, even our little animal brothers.

I consider that we are hypocrites when we treat dogs and cats better than children and needy elderly people, and we eat beef and other animals. The day we learn how to feed ourselves without sacrificing animals, we will give a big step towards our spiritual development.

This, however, does not mean that I agree with the ill-treating of animals, letting them suffer in the cold, or letting them starve. But nothing justifies treating them with more love than we treat a human being, whom Jesus recommended us so much to love as we love ourselves.

There are other ways of killing. This happens too when we kill other people’s hopes, by not giving them a chance to reach their personal and professional objectives, or when we do not believe in someone and manifest it through our words and deeds. The greater good to be preserved will always be our life. Thus, Jesus warning remains updated: "The one who kills by the sword, shall die by the sword." (Matthew 26:52). 

6th Commandment: do not commit adultery.

Adultery is not to just sexually betray your spouse. It is not to say the truth to avoid committing to someone. Adultery is not to comply with our obligations as citizens, at home or at work. It is to be disloyal to our neighbors when they most need our support. It is to promise to be better and continue being or acting bad. Adultery is someone who claims to never have adulterated but forgets that when a student copied a test; or when working does not comply with the professional duties regarding office hours, and arrives late and hides this fact from the boss; when trading, harms the client by changing the weight of the product in his own benefit, and if necessary sets the scale for that purpose; when driving, does not obey the speed limit, or passes a red light if there is no one watching. Who, among us, is without sin? Cast the first stone…

Let us try from now not to commit adultery. Let us pay attention to what we are doing, keep vigilant and pray so that by our action we can be considered faithful children of God, attend, watch and pray that in our minimum actions, we are known as faithful children of God, because as we know He is always true. Surely the angels in Heaven shall sing hosannas and support our purposes with great joy. 

7th Commandment: do not steal.

There are people who prefer to steal from others instead of working. They think they are victims of injustice, but do nothing to study, to prepare for a good professional future; and they do not act with honesty when hired to work. They stay in their laziness and get used to it and do not leave it even when they are offered a job and thus harm themselves more and more. Moreover, there are also people who make us waist our time with small talk, and with no use at all. There are still people who try to damage the image of someone by evil-speaking, others steal and destroy the hopes of others through cruel judgments, and also those that cheat in contests for their own benefit or for the ones they protect… To all these people the 7th Commandment also applies, as it applies to all those that in some way harm their neighbor in the smallest things. 

8th Commandment: Do not be a false witness against your neighbor.

The one, who accuses without evidence and lies to harm someone, and has a habit of lying, gives a false testimony. This goes too for the one, who is not consistent considering what he talks and what he does. Unfortunately, we find many people like this among our own fellow believers. They have a weak character and their consciences will never deceive. In the Spiritual Center, or Church, they have one face, but in society, and even in their own homes, they take off their mask and reveal what they really are: hypocrites and fallacious.

9th Commandment: do not want your neighbor's wife.

This Commandment, today, needs to be thought about and practiced not only by men but also by women, according to the female conquests, which makes them have the same rights as men, as well as liable for the same obligations. It would be good if we all loved and we respected the purity and the simplicity preached by Jesus and the Good Spirits, without passions that drag us to denigrate our very soul. We are to exercise the pure, brotherly love, which restrains the evil inclinations and recommends that we do to others what we would also like to receive, as per the golden rule taught by Jesus: "Therefore all things whatsoever you would like men do to you, you do the same to them too, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). 

10th Commandment: do not want anything that belongs to others.

Kardec said: "This law is of all times and all countries, therefore, it has a divine character". When asked what was the greatest Commandment, Jesus replied: "Love God with all your heart and with all your soul, and mind; and the second, similar to this one, is: love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22: 37- 40).

Who covets another's property has not yet learned, with Jesus, that there is more joy in giving than in receiving. The Spirit Emmanuel, through psychographics by Chico Xavier, still offers us the beautiful message "We have what we give". In this message we can read these beautiful reflections:

The one, who gives, is granted with the happiness of seeing what was given multiplied.

Offer kindness and you will encourage the plantation of brotherhood.

Extend the blessing of forgiveness and you shall strengthen justice.

Manage kindness and you shall have the growth of confidence.

Give your good example and you will guarantee the nobility of character.

The resources of Creation are distributed by the Creator with the Creatures, so that in a permanent donation they multiply to infinity.

You will be helped by Heaven, as you are helping the Earth.
We have what we give.

Do not forget, then, that you are the butler of your life.

Give to your neighbor something more than the money you may have. Offer your affection, your health, your joy and your time, and, in fact, you will come into the possession of sublime gifts of love, balance, happiness and peace, today and tomorrow in this world and eternal life. (XAVIER, 2010, pages 269-270).

We shall love God, as recommended by Christ, when we think about His Laws and make a real effort to put them into practice. Let us begin by the memorization and observance of each of these Ten Commandments, brought to us by the extraordinary Prophet Moses. These Commandments can expand into countless others. So, we'll be in full possession of our being, which is the son of God and was created for the self-enlightenment, a truly effective instrument for achieving happiness, the final purpose of all of us.

 

References:

COMTE, Auguste. Phrases. Available in: http://www.mensagenscomamor.com/frases-de-famosos/auguste_comte.htm#ixzz3cIypJRIz. Accessed on June 6, 2015.

ENCYCLOPEDIA Mirador International. Religion. Sao Paulo: Rio de Janeiro: Encyclopaedia Britannica Publications of Brazil Ltda. 1981, vols. 17- 18.

Kardec, Allan. The Gospel according to Spiritism. 131. ed. Brasilia: FEB, 2013a.

__________. The book of the Spirits. 93. ed. Brasilia: FEB, 2013b.

COMTE, Auguste. Phrases. Available in: http://www.mensagenscomamor.com/frases-de-famosos/auguste_comte.htm#ixzz3cIypJRIz. Accessed on June 6, 2015.

XAVIER, Francisco Candido. Our bread. By the Spirit Emmanuel. Brasilia: Brazilian Spirit Federation, 2012, chapter 105.

______. Living source. By the Spirit Emmanuel. Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian Spirit Federation: 2010, chapter 117.




 


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