The Ten Commandments
Prepared by Skylar Hamilton Burris

The idea for this study was inspired by The Ten Commandments Today, a guide by Don Prince, Texas Student Department.  I thought his concept of studying the commandments week by week, with reference to both Old and New Testament Scriptures, was very useful.  I have since read a variety of additional materials on the decalogue, and I have created my own independent study, complete with a series of original self-quizzes intended to stimulate discussion.

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Length of Study: Seven Weeks

Suggested Time: One hour a week

Steps to Follow Each Week:

Reflection/Discussion: Obeying One of the Commandments. Discuss (or, if doing this on your own, reflect on) the difficulties you encountered when attempting to obey the command(s) you focused on the week before. Also discuss (think about) how following it (them) may have rewarded you. (You won’t do this step the first two weeks.)

Self Evaluation Quiz. Take the self-evaluation quiz. These have questions which should stimulate thought about the implications and limitations of the commandments, and also about how we might improve our obedience. Although some of the questions may seem strange or irrelevant at first, they will eventually come up in discussion.

Scripture Readings and Reflection/Discussion. Read scripture verses and discuss (or reflect on) the issues that arise. Scripture verses and some discussion questions are provided.

Reflect on How to Better Obey: Take a few minutes of personal time to reflect on how you might better follow the commandment that week. Share your commitment with the group (if meeting in a group), and discuss how you will attempt to improve your obedience that week.

Closing Prayer. You may want to use this time to ask God for the strength to obey.

Texts:

Each participant will need a Bible. That, and the study guide provided here, are the only required texts.

However, your students may wish to read The 10 Commandments: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life by Laura Schlessinger.    This is a useful exposition of the ten commandments, co-written with a rabbi.  Dr. Schlessinger is informed by a Jewish perspective, but our study will view the ten commandments from a Christian perspective.  Obviously, there is a great deal of overlap between these two perspectives, and I often found that the "Jewish" information in The Ten Commandments gave me new insights into Christ's interpretations of the decalogue in the Gospels.   

Week-By-Week Leader’s Guide:
(You can use this guide as a group leader or for your own individual study.)

You can access this study guide for free by downloading a PDF (Adobe) document. This guide is password protected to prevent wholesale copying by other websites. The password is "moses".   If you like this Bible Study, please consider helping to support the free resources provided by this website by shopping through the links here or by making a direct donation. Click HERE for the PDF file of the study.

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