Interpreting the Ten Commandments Spiritually

“You shall not covet” is the root and first principle of spiritual growth. As long as we live for selfish designs rather than for the “Kingdom of Heaven”, we remain at the base of the mountain, unable to proceed further.  It was desire that led to original sin and it is desire for goodness that begins our vertical assent.  Without this, the mountain remains a superficial enigma.

Once we decide to follow the path of holiness we must next navigate the four cardinal commandments.  Set out like a compass, they involve respect for two principles: the right to personal integrity and the right to the creative freedom of all people in following the will God the Father.

The personal integrity continuum has at one end “You shall not  kill” and at the other end “You shall not bear false witness.”  Thus it focuses on loving respect for people both physically and spiritually. The second continuum deals with the responsible and loving use of the world’s resources. At one end of the continuum we find : “You shall not steal” and at the other “Honour your  father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that Yahweh your God has given to you.”  Thus the right of ownership is recognized but moderated by a sense of social responsibility in a spirit of love.

In the patriarchal system of Moses’ day, to honour ones parents meant two things:  to be submissive to legitimate authority and secondly to look after those in need (e.g. aged parents).  Ownership is moderated by social responsibility. True ownership always operates within the orbit of social responsibility which is its own ideological wellspring.  Its exercise lives, breaths and pulsates with the   dictates of love.

When the principles of the four cardinal commandments are respected in a spirit of love they are in dynamic, living balance and the right to personal integrity and creative freedom are properly realized.  Only love can ensure the dynamic equilibrium necessary to bring the four forces into authentic harmony. This is something that law and its consort, duty, can never do.

These 5 commandments constitute the first stage in the assent of the mountain.  The next stage consists in the vertical integration of these principles through the “male” principle of faith and the “female” principle of “love”.  This is expressed in the commandment “You shall not commit adultery.”  When Jesus speaks of adultery in the gospels, he is not just talking about marital infidelity, he applies it to the broader context of infidelity to God.  Infidelity in marriage is a concrete metaphorical expression of a more encompassing spiritual truth: