At-one-ment, Abundance, and Adultery:
The 7th Metaphysical Commandment and
the 7th Law of Prosperity

Remember the 1st 4 Metaphysical Commandments and the 1st 4 Laws of Prosperity as a whole give us rules for right relationship with Spirit.
They are:

Metaphysical Commandments:

1. God and I are One
2. Worship no false idols or graven images, instead put God first
3. Thou shalt not take the “I am” name of Spirit, Thy God, in vain
4. It is always the Sabbath Day. We honor it by consciously spending time with Spirit in thought and in deed.

Laws of Prosperity:

1. Thou shalt look to no other source but God for thy Supply.
2. Thou shalt make no mental images of lack.
3. Thou shalt not speak the word of Lack or Limitation; thus taking the “I am” name of Spirit in vain
4. Let Go and Let God Do It

The last 6 Metaphysical Commandments give us practical instructions in living a happy, healthy life; keeping right relationship with each other and with life in general.

The next 2 Metaphysical Commandments are:

5. Recognize Spirit as the Only Cause, 1st Principle, One Power in two Polarities, thinking and feeling. When we have this recognition, our days will be long and blessed.
6. No one can seem to hurt you but yourself; but even you cannot do that for energy, which you are, cannot be created nor destroyed.”

The next 2 Laws of Prosperity are:

5. Thou shalt deal honorably with God, or Spirit, and with all human instruments through which Spirit is manifested in you.”
6. Thou shalt not Take thy Wealth out of Circulation

Now we move on the the 7th Commandment which reads simplistically as “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Naturally this Commandment means what it says. The Christian standard of conduct with regard to personal purity will never be improved on. It keeps the sanctity of the family. But as with all the other commandments, there is much more behind this little statement. First of all, one of the Hebrew synonyms for adultery was idolatry. The two words were used interchangeably. The worship of false Gods was described as adultery. The fundamental idea behind this commandment was to have only One God. Still there was even more than this and it is explained by the verses Acts 10 (1-35).

The gist of this story is as follows:
There was a very devout man, who gave alms to the poor and constantly prayed to Spirit for guidance. He was Cornelius, a Jewish soldier, in the town of Caesarea. Cornelius saw a vision about the ninth hour of the day. An Angel of God came to him and instructed him to send men to Joppa for a man named Simon Peter, a Christian who lived with Simon, the tanner in a large house by the seaside. The Angel told him that this man had a very important message for him. Now, this Simon Peter was also a pious man, known for his visions. In one recent vision, while in a trance in prayer, he saw “Heaven” open and a certain vessel descended unto him as a great sheet knit at the 4 corners and let down to earth. In it were four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him that said; “Rise Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “No Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is unclean or common.” But Spirit said, “What Spirit has cleansed is never unclean or common.” This happened three times. Peter prayed about the vision and waited. Three men appeared from Cornelius, the Jew, and invited Peter to go with them to Cornelius, whom they informed Peter was a just and devout Hebrew man with great love of Spirit. Peter went with them and when he arrived at the home of Cornelius, who had been praying continually for four days, Cornelius bowed before Peter. Peter said,” Rise man, for I myself am also only a man.” Cornelius answered, “Thank you for coming. What has God commanded thee to tell me?” Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, “Of a truth I perceive that Spirit is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that followeth Spirit, and worketh, and is righteous, is accepted by Spirit”.

Now in this little story there are two commandments considered together for they are different aspects of the same thing. In those days Jews did not break bread, or stay with or visit Christians, even devout Orthodox Christians, as Peter, did not stay with common men, such as Simon the Tanner. Peter was so human, so like ourselves. We believe in Jesus and many of us use his name, so we think that we are Christians; but, of course, we are not, until we have revised everything in ourselves—all our beliefs, all our prejudices, all our ideas. Many of our prejudices we inherited from the families into which we were born, the nation where we lived, the schools that we attended, even our local newspapers. Being a metaphysical Christian means revising your fundamental beliefs daily, and the faster that you do that the faster you progress in Spiritual thinking. Peter had quite a lot of revising to do; but, because he prayed constantly and was sincere, his guidance came quickly to him. He had this vision about the strictest of Mosaic laws, the law about diet and he repealed it. Moses set up this law to a group of people in a tropical desert and it was necessary for sanitation at that time. In fact most of the laws in the first five books of the bible, known as the Pentateuch, were written for a group of people living in an area where such laws were needed. Many of those laws are not needed today and even Moses would scold us for keeping them around. He would say, “Where is your common sense?” Notice that Jesus did not follow all the Ten Commandments; in fact, he broke many of them. Peter's vision told us to break the rules of diet; but also, told us to mix with and accept other people. As I said, they were very exclusive in those days. Jews did not associate with Samaritans, with Gentiles, etc. Jesus did and got into lots of trouble. No race is any better than another. There is only one God. There really is no such thing as a superior race, a chosen people. Jesus said, “Chosen people means nothing. If you were really descended from Abraham, you would do as Abraham did, but you don't.” The truth is that if you seek God wholeheartedly, struggle to put Spirit first, and carry out its' will, then you are one of the children of God. It makes no difference what race, nation, or church that you belong to. No one is a”Chosen race”. Joining a church means that your name is on an index card so you get notices, nothing more. God chooses those who choose Him. Spirit turns to those who turn to her. Notice that I use the terms God and Spirit as well as gender interchangeably.

A basic trouble the Jews have always had, has fundamentally arisen from the feeling of their being a chosen race. Lots of Gentiles have done it too. The British did it from 1850 to 1890 until the Boer War brought them to their senses. The French under Napoleon tried it as well only to fail as did the Germans in the Great World War. There is not any chosen race, only those who choose God. So this chapter was put into Acts to teach people that nobody is common or inferior, that there is no superior race. All have the same rights. Is that not what is not written in our constitution?

In the past certain religious sects and one or two sections of the metaphysical movement taught that normal married life for married people meant living for a time as brother and sister, perhaps for a year prior to being married. That is completely wrong,as well. It will not interfere with your prayers in any way. Remember that the first thing that Jesus did was to attend a wedding to give his approval to marriage, itself.

Yes, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” does mean exactly that but it also means a bit more. In the Old Testament a different form of symbolism was employed than was used in Europe or America. Our ideas today came chiefly from the Greeks. For instance Liberty is a Lady holding a Torch of Freedom. However, you must remember that the people of the Old Testament were forbidden to make images and they took it literally. Moses did not want them to make idols for back then they would worship those idols above Spirit. The idols were most always women. In that time the soul was conceived of as the women and God as the beloved; therefore, idolatry and adultery meant the same thing. To us today, it means giving power over to outside things; for example, “I cannot do that because, I am too old.” or “I haven't got enough money or influence.”, “I don't know the right people.”, or “My joints won't work in that climate.” This is all giving power to a false God.

Now what about coveting? We are not to covet our neighbors' house, nor his wife, nor his manservant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbors'.” What is jealousy but covetousness? I think Moses knew more about the human heart than anyone but Jesus. If you see something that someone else has and you would like one, that is OK; but to covet it, is wrong. No one has anything that is not just right for him alone. And there is plenty where that came from. Spirit has no lack of supply. And will be glad to give it to you, if you have the right consciousness about it. Even today we go after another country’s possessions; for example, oil wells. Yet we do not say we are doing it for that reason. Oh no, we say that we are doing it to fight and keep our freedom, to stop terrorism. We are lying to ourselves and our people and the world. We must instead say to ourselves, “I admire this. I am in touch with the Source of that. The lovely house he has, her lovely marriage, his great job, their oil fields, yes, I am in touch with the Source if that. God's supply is inexhaustible.” If you took it from him, it would not fit you; but, the thing you get from Spirit will be a perfect fit for you. Thus the 7th Metaphysical Commandment is “Thou shalt not commit adultery by turning away in any form from God. As well, thou shalt not covet anything that is not yours for there is an inexhaustible source that will fit you much better.”

Again the 7th Metaphysical Commandment is also about purity. Jesus taught us that purity of thought is every bit as important as purity of sensual behavior. The actual word adultery comes from the word adulterate, which is to debase, corrupt, to make impure. Just add a foreign substance to clear water and watch what happens. It can even become poisonous. The clear water of our thoughts are thoughts of love, compassion, forgiveness, sharing and giving. Impure thoughts are lust, greed, anger, hatred, envy, etc. We are more than our physical bodies, for we have learned to think. We are only in these bodies temporarily. We are Spiritual beings, much more than our bodies and the urges of our bodies. Our happiness and joy do not come from the limited vehicles called our bodies. All the commandments are designed to guide us in that direction, especially this one. Thus, the seventh Commandment of Prosperity is “Thou shalt not debase thy wealth to idle or evil uses.” You shall not use your wealth for idle or evil uses. Your money is a form of Spiritual substance. It gives you immediate feedback of the presence of Spirit in your life. It is not the amount of money that is important. It is how it flows through your life that has meaning. Do you look to your God as your supply or do you believe that your job or paycheck is the source? It is our responsibility to use our money for the good of all persons, not to squander it foolishly or greedily. One way we do that is to pamper our worldly appetites. Every time we do that, it takes a big toll on our bodies. We're sluggish, if not outright sick. You see, our wealth is not ours, the Source is from Spirit. We are merely stewards of it. The Bible states quite clearly that it is the love of money that is the root of evil. Coveting money or any possession that is not ours, so it never works. In the Lamsa Bible translation of Luke 18:25, it says: “it is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” A rope has more threads that will not loosen to go through a needle; just as a person is unwilling to let go of his possessions to pass through the gate. The “eye of the needle” was the gate entrance to Jerusalem. It was very narrow and hard to go through. A rich man often had many possessions tied to his camel that he would have to stop and unload before he could get the camel through the gate. Thus, this would require multiple trips back and forth for the man. Now Jesus had many rich friends and followers. Jesus himself had wealth. Guards bid for his robe after his death. It was a very expensive burgundy robe with the mark of Tolo on it. Wealth itself is not a barrier to happiness and joy but the temptations to use that wealth unwisely can get us in great trouble. We must be the master of our possessions not its slave. Wealth and prosperity are our divine heritage. Learning to use them wisely is a challenge. As we learn the flow increases. Coveting causes our prosperity and our wealth to decrease. Finally, the 7th Commandment of prosperity is “Thou shalt not debase thy wealth to idle or evil uses.”

Namaste,

Barbara