Ten Commandments Metaphysically Interpreted

Metaphysical interpretation of the Ten Commandments, based on Emmet Fox's book of that title.

The commandments have obvious literal meanings, and these are all valid. But beyond that there is a metaphysical meaning. Within these commandments, Moses concealed the laws of psychology for those who were ready for them. And within that again, he concealed the deepest and highest spiritual teaching for those who were ready for that.

(NRSV) Then God spoke all these words:

1) Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Exodus 20:3 you shall have no other gods before me.

God is the I AM THAT I AM, and you are I Am, and you make your own destiny and your own fate by the things which you attach to that I Am.

2) Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, Exodus 20:6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

God is the only Presence and Power. To attribute power to anything other than God is idolatry. The children are yourselves of tomorrow; if you do not make God the sole power, all your future activities will suffer for it. "Jealous" here means that if you give power to anything other than God, you have lost God altogether.
The Bible uses the word “jealous” in the sense that if you give power to anything but God, you have lost God altogether. As for “punishing children for the iniquity of parents,” in the symbology of the Bible, you are a father, and your children are your works, the things you do. If you do not give all power to God, you will lack inspiration and guidance, and all your activities will suffer, to the third and fourth generation. In the deeper symbology of the Bible, our ancestors mean our selves of yesterday, our selves when they were younger than they are now. And our children and grandchildren mean our selves of tomorrow and next week and next year.

3) Exodus 20:7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

You cannot take the name of God [your conviction concerning God] in vain. Whatever your idea of God is, whatever idea you really believe in, that is what will be expressed in your life.

4) Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

This commandment emphasizes the sacredness of the individual; it applies to everyone: family, slaves, foreign residents, even to animals! The seven days of creation are the time that it takes to create a new condition in your life. In any kind of mental work that you do, you must have a Sabbath. Build up the new consciousness—and then, let it alone. We must set aside a time for God in accordance with our personal need.

5) Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

This commandment give us practical instruction in prayer. Your real father and mother is God. Polarity is always present. To get activity, you must have both masculine and feminine, both knowledge and feeling. To honor our Father and Mother is to recognize God as the only Power, the only Presence, the only Cause.
All the commandments are really viewing the great Truth from different angles, for it is the One Truth. They all dovetail into one another. To break this Commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother”—to have some power other than God—is dishonoring your parent which is God; it is also breaking the First Commandment; and it is also bearing false witness; and you can see too that it is attempting to steal something from God, and so forth and so on.

6) Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.

You cannot kill, and the sooner you find that out, the better. You cannot kill. You may destroy the body but you will live forever. Nothing ever dies from the outside. You cannot kill yourself, your circumstances, or your ego. The only way out is to get your contact with God.

7) Exodus 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.

Adultery symbolizes idolatry. The fundamental idea behind the commandment is to have one God, to recognize only one Power. To us, idolatry means giving power to a false god, to outside things.

8) Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal.

Stealing is trying to get something for which we do not have the consciousness, and are therefore not spiritually entitled to. You cannot keep anything for which you do not have the consciousness.

9) Exodus 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

This may be the most important of all the commandments, if properly understood. The real or fundamental meaning is that you always express what you are. You cannot be one thing and express another. You cannot permanently bear false witness. As long as we witness to error, we are bearing false testimony, and our business is to witness to the Truth of Being, the truth about ourselves and each other: we are divine beings, spiritual and perfect, one with God.

10) Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

To covet means that you are missing the key to life: nothing can ever come to you or be kept from you except in accord with your state of consciousness. It is a form of adultery or idolatry because you are giving power to something other than God, or denying God the power that is His, denying God as Source.