As a parent of 5 children living in a world that is very hostile to the Gospel, teaching the children is a huge part of what we have to do. There is no infrastructure of support to lean on. But even if there was, institutions simply don’t do a good job teaching. Children are made to be taught most things by their parents. It just works better that way, for a ton of reasons. The only real attempt at Universal Literacy the world has ever known was built by parents and children reading Scripture together, and as that fades civilization is falling back into darkness.
General comments on how and why I write this can be found at the intro post for Finding Grace here: Intro to Finding Grace
This is an adaptation of the Ten Commandments as presented in Deuteronomy 5. You will notice the first commandment looks a little odd. It is taken from Hosea’s repetition of this commandment(Hosea 13:4). This adaptation is designed not merely to teach the facts of the Law but to highlight how they fit into the Lord’s Covenant in a way that is accessible to kids from 4-9 years old.(actually I should say 3 because Susy is like a little evangelist and she gets some of this) So:
He said:
‘I am the Lord your God who rescued you from the land of Egypt, from being a slave.
1 You shall have no other gods before Me, because there is no Saviour besides Me.
2 You shall not make for yourself an image to worship or serve of anything anywhere; you shall not bow down to or serve anyone but Me. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. If you do wrong I will punish you and your family for a long time. But if you do right, I will be very good to everyone around you.
3 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, this isn't a little thing, the Lord takes it seriously.
4 The Sabbath, Saturday, is holy to God so He has commanded us to do all of our work in 6 days but not on the Sabbath. You don't work on the Sabbath or make anyone else, because you used to be a slave and had to work all the time, but the Lord your God saved you from slavery by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Remember the Sabbath so that you don't forget that God saved you.
5 Honor your father and your mother, God says to, so that you may live a long life and enjoy God's blessings to you.
6 You shall not murder.
7 You shall be faithful to your spouse.
8 You shall not steal.
9 You shall not lie.
10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or, his house, his land, his friends, people who help him, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
Deuteronomy 6 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.