Have you ever wondered why the Jews have Ten Commandments?
Well, it’s a long story and a very old one too, but a few thousand years ago, God came up with this great idea for helping mankind and went to share it with the people of the Earth.
God first went to the Arabs and said to them, “I have Commandments for you that will make your lives better”.
“Really?” the Arabs asked. “What are Commandments?”
The Lord said, “The Commandments are rules for living”.
“Oh right”, the Arabs said. “Can you give us an example?”
God replied, “Thou shall not kill”.
“Not kill?” the Arabs replied. “Sorry, we are not interested”.
Well God was just a teeny bit disappointed with the way the Arabs had dismissed his Commandments, so he went to the Africans and said to them, “I have Commandments”.
The Africans also wanted an example of a Commandment and the Lord said, “Honour thy Father and Mother”.
“Father? We don’t even know who our fathers are so that’s not much use to us”, came the reply”, so God again went away unsuccessful.
Thinking that maybe he ought to try further afield, God went to the Mexicans and said, “I have Commandments”.
Guess what, the Mexicans also wanted an example of a Commandment and the Lord said to them, “Thou shall not steal”.
“Not steal? Who are you kidding? Sorry we aren’t interested”.
Well poor old God, he was getting really distraught by this time, but he thought he might have more luck in Europe, so he went to the French.
“I have Commandments”, he said to the French.
The French too wanted an example of a Commandment and the Lord said, “Thou shall not commit adultery”.
“Not commit adultery? We are French! Sorry God but we are definitely not interested in your Commandments”.
Poor old God (and he must have been getting quite old by this time), thought he would have one more try to see if someone would take up his offer of Commandments.
So finally, he went to the Jews and said, “I have Commandments”.
“Commandments?” the Jews said, “How much are they?”
“They’re free”, God replied.
“Free you said”, the Jews replied. “Go on then, we’ll take 10”.
Well, that’s your history lesson for today and I think that ought to offend just about everybody.
Is there anyone we left out? Wouldn’t want anyone to be offended at being missed off the list of people we have offended, like they weren’t important enough!
Image used under a Collective Commons License from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/christian-christianity-religion-1316187/
