Does My Existence Bother You?

“When we consider the Ten Commandments, given to a newly freed nation trekking through a desert, it might seem odd. Why would a people who already understood the basics of right and wrong—like “Don’t steal” or “Don’t murder”—need a dramatic, divine revelation for these seemingly obvious rules? Their own history, from the Book of Genesis, already illustrated the dire consequences of such actions.

As people of faith, we typically view the Commandments through a vertical lens, outlining our relationship with God (the first five), and our interactions with one another (the remaining five). But there’s a deeper, more interconnected flow between these two sets of divine pronouncements. I call this the horizontal lens.

Let’s focus on the profound link between “I am the Lord” and “Don’t murder.” The opening of the Ten Commandments isn’t just a statement of God’s existence; it’s educating a nation to embrace Him as Redeemer. The vertical lens of “I am the Lord” asks Israel to go beyond merely accepting God as Creator. The Lord directs them to internalise the notion that He is involved in every aspect of their lives.

The horizontal interconnectedness between “I am the Lord” with the Sixth Saying, “Don’t Murder,” may shock you. Of course, we can’t literally murder God. However, the human act most akin to spiritual homicide is deliberately choosing to ignore Him—to completely disengage from His open invitation for relationship. For the nation or individual for whom God’s existence is such an issue, there is an active quest to remove the very idea of Him from the world. This is no different than a murderer perceiving their victim as such a threat that eliminating him or her seems the only option for their own life to move forward. This, of course, is an extreme parallel, but it highlights the gravity of deliberately disengaging spiritually from “I am the Lord” through actions akin to “Don’t Murder.”

At the same time, God has woven a network of people into a believer’s life. This is so we can uplift God’s image in others and draw them closer to Him. What happens right outside our door every day is an opportunity to put His redemptive will into action by serving one another. Deliberately disengaging from others, even when their existence genuinely bothers us, misses the point of our divine purpose in this world.

The Ten Commandments are far more than just a list of “Do’s and Don’ts.” The revelation at Sinai fundamentally reshaped how we view relationships.
The Ten Commandments aren’t merely about governing a society; they’re about impacting and transforming people under His sovereignty and power.”