An Introduction to the Ten Commandments

Teaching the Ten Commandments Through a Jewish Lens

Rom 3:1,2 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Reclaiming the Ten Words: A Journey Beyond Christian Misreadings

Heeding the Apostle’s Warning: Learning from the Root

The Apostle Paul issued a sobering admonition to the Gentile church: “Do not be arrogant toward the branches” (Romans 11:18). He warned against a posture of boastful ignorance toward Israel—a disposition that, tragically, has permeated much of Christian theology for centuries. This series on the Ten Commandments takes that warning seriously. It offers a transformative re-engagement with the Ten Commandments, not through the lens of Christian supersessionist tradition, but through the eyes of the people to whom these words were first spoken. Rooted in Jewish understanding and covenantal continuity, this study seeks not to replace, reinterpret, or override, but to humbly learn from the custodians of the oracles of God. In doing so, we confront the theological blindness Paul cautioned against and begin to restore a posture of reverence, gratitude, and shared inheritance.

For over two thousand years, much of Christian theology has been shaped by a troubling legacy of anti-Judaism, often expressed through doctrines like supersessionism (the belief that Christianity has superceeded and replaced Judaism), replacement theology, Christian triumphalism, and New Covenant Theology.

These ideas have become so deeply woven into the fabric of Christian psychology, consciousness, subconsciousness, belief, thought, teaching, theology, tradition, and spiritual identity that they often appear intractable—almost as if they constitute a kind of spiritual pathology, a hereditary theological disorder embedded in Christianity’s genetic code. Like an incurable inherited disease, this legacy of anti-Judaism resists correction not because it is rationally defensible, but because it has been transmitted across generations, encoded into the very structure of Christian theological consciousness. It functions like a doctrinal mutation—a distortion of covenantal truth that has become normalized, systemic, and self-reinforcing.

Terms like Anti-Semitism, Anti-Zionism, Anti-Judaism, and the Teaching of Contempt are not just historical footnotes; they represent real theological and cultural forces that have distorted how Christians view Israel – the Jewish people, and the Hebrew Bible. As a result, the Ten Commandments—originally given to Israel in the wilderness, in Hebrew, within a covenantal framework unique to Jewish life and law—have often been stripped of their Jewish essence and reinterpreted through a lens that marginalizes their original meaning.

This teaching will seek to restore that meaning. It will invite you to encounter the Ten Commandments not as abstract moral principles or universal platitudes, but as living expressions of a covenant between God and His people Israel. This covenant continues to shape Jewish identity, spirituality, and ethics to this day. You may find that this perspective not only deepens your understanding of the commandments themselves but also challenges you to confront unconscious biases and inherited assumptions about Judaism and the Jewish people. We do not see, understand, believe, teach, and practice the Ten Commandments in the same way Christians do

This is not merely an academic exercise. It is a spiritual reckoning—a call to humility, to historical awareness, and to theological honesty. By engaging with the Ten Commandments through the lens of Jewish tradition, we honor the roots of our faith and begin to heal the fractures caused by centuries of prejudice, misunderstanding, misinterpretation, misrepresentation, and mistranslation of the Hebrew text.

Conclusion: Returning to the Custodians of the Covenant

“What advantage then hath the Jew? … Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1–2). Paul’s words are not a footnote—they are a theological foundation. They remind us that the Jewish people are not a relic of the past, nor a theological stepping stone to something “greater,” but the entrusted stewards of divine revelation. The Ten Words were given to the Church in the wilderness (Acts 7:38)—they were given to Israel. And it is from Israel that the Church must learn.

To teach the Ten Commandments through a Jewish lens is not to Judaize Christianity, but to de-Christianize centuries of distortion. It is to return to the mountain—not with conquest, but with reverence. It is to hear the voice that thundered at Sinai not as a universal abstraction, but as a covenantal speech-act spoken to a specific people in a specific language, within a specific history. And it is to recognize that our spiritual integrity depends on how we honor that specificity.

This journey is not about theological novelty—it is about theological fidelity. It is about recovering what has been lost, restoring what has been misrepresented, and repenting for what has been arrogantly dismissed. It is about seeing the Ten Commandments not merely as moral imperatives, but as covenantal declarations—rooted in Jewish soil, bearing Jewish fruit, and revealing the character of the God who chose to speak them to Israel.

As we embark on this journey through the Ten Words, we echo the psalmist’s prayer: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). What lies ahead is far more than a list of rules or moral imperatives. These words conceal mysteries, patterns, and codes woven into the covenantal fabric of Israel’s life. Beneath the surface of the familiar “Ten Commandments” are depths of divine wisdom, breathtaking in their design and resonance, waiting to be uncovered. Each study in this series will invite you to look beyond what merely meets the eye and to encounter the Ten Words as revelations of the mind and Spirit of YHVH Himself—wondrous things that both instruct and transform.

May this teaching provoke humility, awaken historical conscience, and stir a renewed commitment to truth. May it lead us not away from Israel, but toward her—in gratitude, in solidarity, and in shared hope. For in honoring the oracles entrusted to her, we honor the God who gave them.

Author’s Note: This series on the Ten Words is an ongoing project and will be updated continuously as new studies and insights are added. Readers are encouraged to subscribe in order to receive notifications of updates and newly published posts in the series.