Why did God change the Ten Commandments?

Question

Moses gets his tablets, reads the commandments (Exodus 20:2-17) breaks the tablets and a few days later gets new commandments. God tells Moses they are the same commandments ("hew thee two tablets of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon them the words that were on the first tablets")

Yet the second set of commandments (Exodus 34:14-26) are different from the first. The second ones seem to be the real ones, because as it is written: ""And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." (Exodus 34:28)"

Anybody who can help me on this, because i don't get it.

Second little question, can anybody explain to me the tenth commandment "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk" ?
I always assumed it was "Don't covet your neighbor's wife and property". That one was easy for me, my neighbour is 88 years old. But the one occording to Exodus 34, i truly don't understand.

Answer 1

The old "wrong commandments" arguement. Another classic that is so simple you wonder why people can't see it.



In verse 1 God told Moses to make another set of stones like the first and God said "I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets". In Exodus 34:28 it says that's is what He did - he wrote the Ten Commandments.



In between He talked to Moses and explained and expanded the commandments - but NOWHERE does it say verses 14-26 are what He WROTE. Moses was up there for 40 days with God. I am sure they SAID many things during that time. Verses 14-26 record some of them. But He WROTE "the same word that were on the first tablet".



Sorry, no contradiction, but feel free to try again some time...

Answer 2

He didn't change the 10 commandments, honey. Verse 27 is a new thought.



In the previous verses He is telling Moses general information to relate to the people, and in verse 27 He gets back to the task of writing the ten commandments.



If you look at Deuteronomy 5:6-21 they are the same commandments as in Exodus 20:2-17. Deuteronomy is the second reading of the law, which happens much later than Exodus 20:2-17.



Both tablets were the same.



I don't know why God didn't want them to boil a young goat in it's mother's milk, but it's not one of the ten commandments.

Answer 3

god did not replace them; the region you compromise with posts 2 issues -- 3 diverse variations of what the ten are, dependig on religious custom and then an invention of a 2d set in preserving with choosing 10 different commandments and claiming that they're a sparkling set of ten on the stone -- yet that is no longer precise. in truth, in case you seem at deuteronomy, you'll see a similar initial 10 restated (just about identically). Why are you choosing different verses and claiming that they were a alternative? the torah is full of a large number of commandments -- 10 became the start, no longer the end, notwithstanding the ten on the pills were the in basic terms 10 on the pills.

Answer 4

I'm tired so I'll just answer part of your question right now regarding "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in it's mother's milk."



If someone slaughtered your wife's child in order to eat it, and then used your wife's breast milk in which to boil the child, well, that would just add insult to injury. In other words, that breast milk was meant to provide life and nourishment to the child, not meant to be an ingredient used in the death of the child. God is sensitive even to this kind of dynamic concerning animals. Not that the animal (the she-goat) would KNOW about it; it's just a matter of principle. This commandment is also the basis for the kosher laws prohibiting eating any meal that contains both meat and milk from the same type of animal, for example; a cheeseburger. There is not one McDonald's in Israel that serves cheeseburgers. It is not kosher.



I may return later to address the rest of your question regarding the ten commandments.

Answer 5

I don't think they were meant as a second set of commandments. God just gave extra instruction to Moses. That would seem odd that He would have given different commandments. About the other question... another translation I read said something about not boiling a kid in it's mother's milk. It's sad someone would even consider doing such a thing!

Answer 6

Yup.



That is but one of the problems with worshiping the ten comandments as many people who call themselves Christians do.



You have to first decide which ten, (because while several of them are the same - there are a few that are diffrent betwean the two versions) and in which order you want them to be in. The first order, the second order, or the order in which Christ puts them in the New Testiment?



Better to not worship the comandments.



As Martin Luther wrote - they are not for Christians anyway - they were given to Moses - let Moses keep them.

Answer 7

This should also appear in Deuteronomy 14:21- Do not cook (seethe) a young goat (kid) in it's mother's milk, when refering to clean and unclean food. Do not profane the death of the child with the life of the mother. In Exodus, it could also be a metaphor for incest.

Answer 8

he didn't save it in a file, couldn't remember exactly I guess

"thou salt not seethe a kid in its mothers milk" is mentioned three times Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21, there is a middle eastern stew of lamb simmered in goats milk called saag I think, but it's not kosher, jews still never have meat and milk in the same meal

Answer 9

to be technical there are 613 commandments in the Torah or the first 5 books of the scriptures, ten was a condensed set.Also the boiling (seething) of a baby goat (kid) in its mothers milk is a pagan practice as for it being in the ten commandments I don't know what VERSION your reading, but it is a law given in the Torah. hope this helps

Answer 10

You need to check out eaglebrookchurch.com as they are currently doing a series on the ten commandments. The only problem is they are on commandment number 3 so you have 7 weeks to go before they get to your question.

Answer 11

I believe the second set is just more detailed of the first 10 He gave. Though they may not match up perfectly, you will see if you study them side by side.



The law was made to show us we cannot keep it and that we need a savior.



Very good question. If I have more info later I will add details. Sounds like you are studying hard.

Answer 12

First of all, it is important to have an accurate translation, don't read the roman catholic, mormon, or jehovah's witness translations, they are not accurate translations. Two good translations are the NASB and the NKJV. Secondly, i'm sure that if you study it a little closer, the commandments are the same. Also, maybe www.equip.org might help.

Answer 13

The thing to remember about TORRAH is that laws wich must have anything to do with their temple (Preistly Levitical Prriests), do not apply to anyone alive today.

Answer 14

read exodus 20 over and over and over and you will get it oh by the way ask the HOLY SPIRIT to help you to understand what you just read and He will show you all truth and He wants to help you to become the person that GOD wants you to become and to help others in your life. You would like to help right?

Answer 15

what in the world are you talking about? the commandments are the same both time. and the tenth commandment is don't covet. i don't know where you're getting this other one from.

Answer 16

they were always the same God never changed them He just gave Moses another copy

Answer 17

the first ten God inscribed them with his hand ...after the moses incident GOd gave them a guide to how they should conduct themselves since they were God's chosen

Answer 18

He changed the ten commandments? the last time i checked, it's the same!

Answer 19

You are mixed up, the ten are the same.

Answer 20

the last one means don't kill a child before its born

Answer 21

For those that said it was not changed...



http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.pdf

Answer 22

He made a typo?

Answer 23

God gave the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20:1-18. The people were so scared at the voice of God, that they asked God to stop talking to them, and asked Moses to go up and find out the rest of what God was going to say, and then tell them what it was. (Exodus 20:19) So, Moses went up and found out what the rest of the covenant was. This is the part of the covenant that is recorded in Exodus 21-23. You can confirm this by reading Exodus 24:3-8, to see that Moses read the "Book of the Covenant" (not just the 10 Commandments, but also the part they didn't want God to speak out to them), and they agreed to it. In the part that Moses read to them, we find this verse: Exodus 23:19 "“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk."



Moses went back up to the mountain, where God was giving him the pattern for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31), the people got worried that Moses maybe something had happened to Moses. (Exodus 32). They made a false god, and held a festival to that false god. It also said that they were eating and drinking at this festival. (Exodus 32:2-6)



God told Moses to go back down and deal with situation. God was so angry with the people He was going to destroy them and start over with Moses' children as the children of the promise. Moses begged for the people's lives, and God relented. (Exodus 32:9-14)



Moses got so mad at the Children of Israel when he saw the party to the false god, that he threw down the tablets of the 10 Commandments that God gave him. He destroyed the false god, and killed the people who would not agree to recommit their lives to the true God. (Exodus 32:25-29). Then Moses went up the mountain to see if God would renew the covenant with the Children of Israel, after they had broken it so quickly.



Now, in Chapter 33 we see that God was willing to renew the covenant with them, if they would take off their jewlery. (Ex. 33:4-6)



So, we see the children of Israel had broken part of the original covenant, by making another god, instead of worshipping YHWH. They had used jewlery to make this false god. They had proclaimed a false festival to this false god. They had eaten and drunk and partied by this false god. We don't know what they ate, but we can surmise what it was they ate, by reading what God said, and emphasized out of the original covenant, when He decided to renew the vows.



In Exodus 34, God is renewing the vows, and asking the children of Israel who are left, who had broken the first covenant with him, to make a new commitment to Him. It makes sense that He would emphasize the laws that were the problem, and make sure they would agree to them. In Exodus 34, we see restating these laws: I will list the original source of the law in parentheses, to show where it was in Exodus 20-23.



1. Do not make molten gods. (Exodus 20:1-4, Exodus 34:17) They had made a molten god.



2. Keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the right time of year. This is the Festival that shows when and how I brought you out of Egypt. (Exodus 23:25, Exodus 34:18). They had said this false god they had made had brought them out of Egypt. (Exodus 32:4)



3. All the firstborn of the sheep and oxen belong to God. Redeem the donkeys and mules. Redeem your firstborn sons. (Exodus 22:30, Exodus 34:19. The rule for donkeys and mules was in Exodus 12:23, as a reminder that God brought them up out of Egypt.) They certainly didn't remember who brought them up out of Egypt, and we can surmise they may have sacrificed other animals other than sheep or oxen. We hope they did not sacrifice any of their sons to the false god.



4. You are to work six days, and rest on the seventh day. (Exodus 20:8, Exodus 34:21). This has to do with holidays that are set up by God. They set up their own holiday, and declared a rest day to their false god. They also may have not been resting on the day that YHWH set up, and needed to recommit to this.



5. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. (Exodus 23:16, Exodus 34:22) They had set up their own feast day, and God wanted them to re-commit to His ordained feast days.



6. Three times a year the men shall appear before God. (Exodus 23:17, Exodus 34:23). This has to do with the festivals God set up. They had set up their own festival to the false god.



7. Don't offer the sacrifces with leavened bread, and don't leave any of the Passover sacrifice until morning. (Exodus 23:18, Exodus 34:25). We can see that they had broken the specifics of the other commandments above. From this, we can surmise that the sacrifices they brought to their false god included leavened bread, or that they ate it on the next day. For whatever reason, God felt this statute needed to be part of the vow renewal.



8. The firstfruits of the land you are to bring to the house of God. (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26) This is part of the firstfruits offering, and festival. They had set up their own festival to their own god.



9. Do not boil a kid goat in his mother's milk. (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26). For the same reasoning as number 7, since we know they had broken the other points above, we can surmise that during their eating and drinking to this false god, they had broken this command of the original covenant, and it needed to be agreed to again.



I hope this helps show that the new set of Commandments was not a different set of the original Covenant. These commandments were part of the original set they had agreed to, and were the ones they had broken by making, and worshiping the golden calf. It also shows that God wants us to obey the entire covenant, listed in Exodus 20-23, and not just the part that is listed in Exodus 20.



Since Moses had broken the original set of the 10 Commandments, God wrote another set. All of these specific parts of the renewal of the vows can be included in the original 10:



1. Do not make other gods and worship them. (Exodus 20:3-4)

2. Remember the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8), and His other sabbath days listed in the other festivals. Worship God in the way He wants to be worshiped.



Jesus said all the commandments can be summarized as "Love God, and Love each other." Matthew 22:37.



These all fall into the Love God category, in doing the things that He wants us to do.

Answer 24

i don't know cause i don't beleive in god.

Answer 25

oh, shut up---you KNOW you are screwing everything all around,...