The law of God teaches us on the seventh day. Close king. historical fact. Blessings of God's Law

The well-known commandment of God's Law teaches us to honor the seventh day of the week - Saturday. "Sabbath" comes from Hebrew. “shavat” - finish work, rest. According to the biblical account of the creation of the world, after six days of creation, God “rested” on the seventh day and sanctified it. A person also had to complete his earthly affairs for six days in order to dedicate the seventh to God. The biblical understanding of the Sabbath rest differed from the understanding of its meaning among other ancient peoples who used a seven-day weekly cycle. For example, the Babylonians also knew the seventh day of rest - Saturday, but according to their superstitious beliefs, this day of the week, dedicated to Saturn, was unfavorable for any enterprises and therefore rest was prescribed.

“Dedicating” the seventh day to God meant in the Old Testament religion to set it aside for glorifying the Creator. To prevent thoughts from wandering to everyday worries, on this day it was prescribed to stop all work, not to cook or fry food, to sow and reap, to light a fire and collect firewood, to carry heavy loads, to trade and transport goods. Work was prohibited in Israeli society not only for Jews, but also for slaves, foreigners, and livestock. A special motive for honoring the Sabbath is indicated in Deuteronomy: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out from there... therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15). Thus, the Sabbath became a reminder of God’s special election and care over the people of Israel.

“Saturday is in the Christian Church,” says the “Orthodox Catechism” of St. Philaret of Moscow - is not celebrated as a perfect holiday (a real holiday). […] The seventh day is also celebrated every six days, but not the last of seven days, or Saturday, but the first day of each week, or Sunday.” This tradition continues throughout the Christian world, despite attempts by individual sectarian movements (for example, Seventh-day Adventists) to spread the Jewish practice of honoring the Sabbath. With all the recognition of the enduring significance of the Sinai legislation, given from God through Moses, the Church preserves not so much its form as its meaning, devoting all the days of the week to the service of God and especially celebrating the Resurrection. “The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath”, “you can do good on the Sabbath”, “the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath” - the Gospel gives many examples of understanding the fourth commandment, free from the narrowness of formalism. The Apostolic Council in Jerusalem (49) abolished the observance of the ritual prescriptions of the Old Testament law for those converting from the pagans, and therefore the external rules of honoring the Sabbath. The Council of Laodicea (c. 343), with its 29th rule, already directly condemns the celebration of the Sabbath according to Jewish customs.

Saturday acquired its own special symbolic meaning in Orthodox worship. In one psalm, David exclaims: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the time of murmuring, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted Me... wherefore I swore in My wrath that they should not enter My rest. "(Ps. 94: 7-11). In the Epistle to the Hebrews these words are understood prophetically: “the rest of God” is the Kingdom of Heaven preached by Christ. For this reason, “discipline one another every day, as long as you can say “today,” lest any of you become hardened by being deceived by sin” (Heb. 3:13). “Enter into rest”, “calm down”, “rest” means to move from earthly life to heavenly - “whoever entered into His rest, he himself rested from his works, just as God did from His” (Heb. 4:10). Therefore, Saturday in Orthodox worship has become the day of remembrance of all the departed righteous people and the day of prayer for the departed. The expectation of a future life is a joyful expectation, and therefore Saturday acquired its festive statutory features and certain relaxations even during periods of multi-day fasts.

DAY SEVEN

REST IN THE LORD

“So the heavens and the earth and all their hosts were finished. And God finished on the seventh day His works that He had done, and on the seventh day He rested from all His works that He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He rested from all His work, which God created and created" (Genesis 2:1-3).

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; six days you shall work and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor thy servant, neither thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Exodus 20). :8-11).

This is the most important outcome of creation and the reason for its celebration. All the days of creation were simply designated by serial numbers (first, second, third, etc.), but the day to celebrate the completion of creation was specifically designated by the presence of a name. The name of the seventh day is “Saturday”! The fact that all the other days were simply numbered, but not named, sets the Sabbath apart from all other days, and shows that the Sabbath is a day of definite return, a day which must repeat itself with all precision. The text tells us in detail the history of this day, which became one of the sure commandments of God, which “stand for ever and ever” (Psalm 111:8). Therefore, all we must do now is to pay attention to the spiritual lessons that the Sabbath, given to man, teaches us.

Christ, as we well know, is our great Creator. He is the wisdom and power of God. “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers—all things were created by Him and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” ( Colossians 1:16, 17). “Without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). Therefore, when the record says that in six days God created heaven and earth, then it is God in Christ that is meant, for Christ alone is the only revelation of God given to man.

That is why we know for sure that it was Christ who rested on the seventh day after all the works of creation were completed, that it was Christ who blessed the seventh day, and it was He who sanctified it. This is why the Sabbath is literally "the Lord's day."

Why was the Sabbath created? “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). “For” a person, and not against him! This means that the Sabbath is not at all an arbitrary restriction that a person MUST observe simply because GOD SAID SO. On the contrary, the SATURDAY is something that is given FOR a person, to HELP him! This is a BLESSING that the Lord offers! It is one of those things "necessary to life and godliness" which are given to us by His divine power (2 Peter 1:3).

Why was the Sabbath given? The Lord, through the prophet, gives the answer in the following words: “And sanctify My Sabbaths, that they may be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God” (Ezekiel 20:20). A sign is a sign, a symbol through which people should know and remember God. There is therefore no basis for the current opinion that the Sabbath was given for the simple purpose of distinguishing Jews from other people. The Sabbath was created long before the very first Jew appeared. It was given that they might know and remember God, and that which served as a sign of their knowledge of God was to serve the same purpose for all other people. It was for this same purpose that the Sabbath was first given to Adam - so that he could know and remember God.

But how can the Sabbath serve as a means of knowing God? The answer to this we find in the Epistle to the Romans: “For what can be known about God is manifest to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creatures, so that they unrequited" (Romans 1:19,20). Here it is enough just to remember everything that has already been said above on the previous pages of this book in order to see how you can know God through His creations.

And yet the question remains: How does the Sabbath help us know the true God? We have just read that the eternal power and Divinity of the Creator is seen through the viewing of His creations. The Sabbath is the great memorial of creation. The Lord blessed and sanctified this day, because after six days of the week of creation He rested from all His works. About these deeds we read: “Great are the works of the Lord, desired by all who love them. His work is glory and beauty, and His righteousness endures forever. He made His miracles memorable; the Lord is merciful and generous.” Some translations are more literal: “He has made a monument to His wonderful works” (Psalm 110:2-4).

The only knowledge that a person needs in this life is the knowledge of God. Poets and philosophers in their works assert that the proper object of study for all mankind should be man himself; but the Lord says that the proper object of study for all mankind should be God alone. “Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty boast in his strength, let not the rich man boast in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises mercy, judgment and righteousness on earth For THIS ONLY is pleasing to Me, says the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:23,24). Knowing Him, we have everything we need to know, for He is the truth, and the whole truth. Jesus Christ is God's wisdom and contains “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

The Sabbath is given to keep in constant memory the creative power of God, which is His distinctive feature. But since the creative power is also the power of the gospel, it follows that he who celebrates creation also celebrates redemption. Christ is the Redeemer, because all things were created by Him and in Him. With His creative power, He still gives people the grace of God for timely help. He does this with the same incomprehensible and powerful force with which He created this world, and with which the rays of the sun transmit life to all plants on earth.

Notice how inseparably Christ is connected with the Sabbath. It was by Him that everything was created, and by Him everything is contained. But since the works of God show His eternal power and divinity, therefore the works of creation clearly show the power and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Sabbath is a great memorial of the wonderful works of God in Christ, and a great sign of the divinity of Christ. To keep the Sabbath as God ordained it at creation is to acknowledge the deity of Christ and to take full advantage of it.

This is clearly indicated in the words of Christ Himself, who, in response to the unjust accusations of the Pharisees that He was breaking the Sabbath, said: “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). To be Lord of the Sabbath means that He is the Creator of heaven and earth, that He is Lord of all.

And there is a special blessing associated with keeping the Sabbath. Scripture states that God blessed and sanctified the seventh day. It is true that there is not a day in the week when people cannot be blessed by the Lord. Every day both the evil and the good are blessed by Him. It is also true that those who seek the Lord can find special blessings at any time. The Lord is always there and always ready to bless. But the blessing that comes with the Sabbath cannot be found anywhere else. God placed His blessing on the Sabbath, and therefore the blessing of the Sabbath only comes with the Sabbath. No one can find a thing where it doesn't exist. The Sabbath blessing was not placed on any day other than the seventh, so it cannot be found anywhere else.

What is the purpose of this blessing? For the same one for whom all God's blessings are given. “God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to you first to bless you, turning everyone from your evil deeds” (Acts 3:26). God blesses people not because they are already good, but so that they can become good. All His blessings are designed to turn people away from sin and draw them to Himself. If people have already known the Lord, then He gives them His blessings in order to attract them even closer to Him. The same is with Saturday. It should turn people to God, reminding them of His power and goodness. The power with which this world was created is the power of Christ. Christ is God, who Himself became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption for us. And the power with which He gives us all this is the power with which this world was created. This is why we find deeper meaning in the words of the Lord, who said, “I have given them also My sabbaths, that they might be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them” (Ezekiel 20:12). The blessing of the Sabbath is primarily a blessing of sanctification. Since the Sabbath is a monument to God's creation, its main purpose is so that we can experience the power of God and through this become a new creation in Christ. .

On November 10, 1796, the recruitment announced under Catherine II was canceled, and a month later - the grain tax, ruinous for the peasants; next year, the arrears for the poll tax were removed from the peasants and townspeople. Russian serfs were forbidden to be sold without land at public auction, and Ukrainian serfs were prohibited in any case.

Of course, Pavel did not intend to fundamentally change the position of the serfs; moreover, it seems that he sincerely believed that they lived better with the landowners. During his short reign, he managed to distribute almost 300 thousand souls and ordered, with the help of army units, to suppress the unrest that broke out in 1796-1797 in thirty-two provinces, caused by his order to swear in the serfs (they thought that they were being transferred from their owners to treasury, and refused to obey the owners). Most often, the men themselves “blamed”; in other cases, it came to rifle and cannon fire: in the Oryol region, a regiment under the command of the governor “turned peasant huts into ashes,” and in the village of Brasovo, over the grave of thirty-four peasants killed by grapeshot, an inscription was placed: “Here there lie criminals against God, the sovereign and the landowner, justly punished with fire and sword according to the law of God and the sovereign.”

But the noble class regarded the tsar’s manifesto of April 5, 1797 as an encroachment on their privileges, which prohibited forcing peasants to work on Sundays, and recommended limiting corvee to three days a week (in practice, on some estates, corvee was even less).

“We announce to all our loyal subjects. The Law of God, taught to us in the Decalogue, teaches us to devote the seventh day to Him; why on this day, glorified by the triumph of the Christian faith, and on which We were honored to receive the sacred anointing and the royal wedding on our ancestral throne, we consider it our duty to the Creator and the giver of all good things to confirm throughout our entire empire about the exact and indispensable fulfillment of this law, commanding everyone and everyone should watch so that no one under any circumstances dares to force the peasants to work on Sundays, especially since for rural products the remaining six days a week are generally divided according to an equal number, both for the peasants themselves and for work in favor of the following landowners, if disposed of well, they will be sufficient to satisfy all economic needs” 51 .

Paul's ideal was regulated serfdom. This is evidenced by the organization of “commander’s estates” received by holders of the Maltese Order of St. John of Jerusalem. They were not sovereign landowners - the estates were managed by officials, peasant duties were strictly regulated - but only used the income.

Contemporaries saw in the royal will “an attempt to prepare the lower class of the nation for a less slavish state.” In addition, the supreme power declared its right to regulate relations between peasants and landowners, in which it had not previously interfered (although in reality this was only a good wish, the fulfillment of which was left to the good will of the landowner). The men decided that the emperor was equating them with “masters.” The young metropolitan nobleman Pyotr Poletika recalled that once, hiding behind a fence from Pavel passing by just in case, he heard a watchman standing nearby say: “Here is our Pugachev coming!” “I turned to him and asked: “How dare you speak about your sovereign like that?” He looked at me and answered without any embarrassment: “Why, master, you apparently think so yourself, because you’re hiding from him.” There was nothing to answer..."

Such a course inevitably equalized all classes before the will of the emperor, to whom the phrase was attributed: “In Russia, a nobleman is the one with whom I speak and while I speak with him.” In 1798, nobles were forbidden to sell serfs and peasants without land. Paul risked doing what his mother refused until the last years of his reign: increasing the main direct tax - the poll tax. Only in 1794, in conditions of inflation and budget deficits, Catherine raised it from 70 kopecks to 1 ruble 2 kopecks. Pavel began by raising the quitrent tax from 3 rubles to 3.5-5 (depending on the province), and the poll tax to 1 ruble 26 kopecks; In this way, the state redistributed peasant money to the treasury by cutting quitrents to landowners. It is no coincidence that after the murder of Paul, one of the first demands of dignitaries was to lower the poll tax to its previous size, although it was motivated by complaints about the burden on the peasants.

The main goal of the emperor was to strengthen the monarchy. It was Paul in 1797 who, for the first time in Russian practice, adopted the “Act on the Order of Succession to the Throne,” which introduced the principle of inheritance by primogeniture in the male tribe, which was in force until 1917; women could take the throne only after the death of all male representatives of the dynasty. The “Institution on the Imperial Family,” adopted at the same time, strengthened the power and authority of the monarch among members of the imperial family: he determined their property status and income, and gave permission to marry.

As for the nobility, on May 4, 1797, the sovereign prohibited the submission of collective petitions to the highest name; Now delegations from noble societies were not allowed to come to the capital to meet with the monarch. Provincial noble assemblies were abolished, and the circle of persons who had the right to participate in district assemblies was reduced: those expelled from military service were deprived of the right to vote, and those dismissed could not be elected to office. Elections to the district and lower zemstvo courts were cancelled; Some elected positions in judicial and administrative institutions have been replaced by officials appointed from the crown. Much of what was introduced by Catherine’s “Institution on the Provinces” was also abolished: governorships and governors, orders of public charity, court courts, lower reprisals, and all provincial class courts were abolished. City administration was merged with law enforcement agencies - since 1799, military-police bodies - ordinances - began to open in all provincial and district cities. In the villages of state peasants, volost boards and volost heads appeared, who were ordered to implement the decisions of the authorities.

Once upon a time, Paul, with the help of Panin, made plans to create a Senate, elected by noble assemblies, which had the right to monitor compliance with laws in the country and submit representations to acts issued by the monarch. But now he had to pursue a completely different policy... He clearly did not believe in any reasonable “initiative from below” and self-government; in society he saw only a complex machine, the mechanic of which God appointed him...

It was apparently not just a matter of fear of a revolution like the French one. Paul feared that representation and election would give the nobility a legal instrument of legitimate resistance to the alteration of the socio-political structure of the monarchy that he had begun. We cannot claim that he understood that the privileges of the noble class hampered the development of the country, but it is obvious that the leading idea of the emperor was the bureaucratization and centralization of the state apparatus.

At the end of the century, Catherine’s liberalism was not only hated by Paul - it seemed to be a manifestation of weakness, evidence of which he saw even in the style of his mother’s decrees. He himself ordered that the papers given to him be written “in a clean and simple style, using all possible precision and trying to explain the matter itself, and always avoid high-flown expressions that obscure the meaning.”

Paul sought to raise the rank of autocrat to an unattainable height, to surround him with almost divine veneration. Contemporaries recalled: “Never was there such splendor at court, such pomp and severity in ritual. On major holidays, all court and civil ranks of the first five classes were required to wear French caftans, glazed, velvet, cloth, embroidered with gold or at least silk, or with rhinestone buttons, and ladies in ancient robes with a long tail and huge sides ( fishbey-us), which were already forgotten by their grandmothers. The emperor’s exit from the inner chambers to listen to the liturgy in the palace church was preceded by a loud command word and the sound of guns and broadswords, which was heard in several rooms, along which, on both sides, tall cavalry guards were lined up in front, under helmets and in armor.”

The Law of God for every Christian is a guiding star that shows a person how to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. For many centuries now, the importance of this Law has not diminished. On the contrary, human life is increasingly complicated by conflicting opinions, which means that the need for authoritative and clear guidance from God’s Commandments increases. That is why many people turn to them in our time. And today the commandments and the seven major deadly sins act as regulators of our lives. The list of the latter is as follows: despondency, gluttony, lust, anger, envy, greed, pride. These are, naturally, the main, most serious sins. The 10 commandments of God and the 7 deadly sins are the basis of Christianity. It is not necessary to read the mountains - it is enough to avoid what leads to the spiritual death of a person. However, this is not as easy to do as it seems at first glance. It is not easy to completely eliminate all seven deadly sins from your life. And keeping the Ten Commandments is also not an easy task. But we must at least strive for spiritual purity. God is known to be merciful.

Commandments and laws of nature

The foundations of Orthodoxy are the commandments of God. You can compare them with the laws of nature, because the source of both is the Creator. They complement each other: the first give the human soul a moral basis, and the second regulate soulless nature. The difference lies in the fact that matter obeys physical laws, while man is free to obey moral laws or ignore them. God's great mercy lies in giving each of us freedom of choice. Thanks to her, we improve spiritually and can even become like the Lord. Nevertheless, moral freedom also has another side - it imposes responsibility on each of us for our actions.

We will not dwell in detail on the meaning of the first three commandments. They are connected with the attitude towards God and, in general, are understandable. Let's look at the other 7 commandments of God in detail.

Fourth Commandment

According to it, it is necessary to remember the Sabbath day in order to spend it holy. For six days a person should work and do all his work, and the seventh day should be dedicated to God. How should we understand this commandment? Let's figure it out.

The Lord God commands you to do the necessary things and work for six days - this is understandable. It's unclear what to do on the seventh day, isn't it? It must be devoted to holy deeds and service to the Lord. The works pleasing to Him include the following: prayer at home and in the temple of God, concern for the salvation of the soul, enlightenment of the heart and mind with religious knowledge, helping the poor, religious conversations, visiting prisoners in prison and the sick, consoling the mourning, as well as other works of mercy.

The Sabbath in the Old Testament was celebrated as a remembrance of how God created the world. It says that on the seventh day after the creation of the world, “God rested from His work” (Gen. 2:3). Jewish scribes after the Babylonian captivity began to explain this commandment too rigoristically and formally, prohibiting any deeds on this day, even good ones. It is clear from the Gospels that even the Savior was accused by the scribes of “breaking the Sabbath,” since Jesus healed people on that day. However, it is precisely “the man for the Sabbath”, and not vice versa. In other words, the peace established on this day should benefit spiritual and physical strength, and not deprive us of the opportunity to do good deeds and not enslave people. Weekly withdrawal from everyday activities provides an opportunity to collect thoughts, think about the meaning of earthly existence and one’s work. Work is necessary, but the salvation of the soul is the most important matter.

The fourth commandment is violated not only by those who work on Sunday, but also by those who are lazy and shirk their duties on weekdays. Even if you do not work on Sunday, but do not dedicate this day to God, but spend it in entertainment and amusements, indulging in excess and revelry, you also do not fulfill God’s Covenant.

Fifth Commandment

We continue to describe God's 7 commandments. According to the fifth, one should honor one’s father and mother in order to live long and happily on earth. How can we understand this? Honoring parents means loving them, respecting their authority, not daring to offend them with actions or words under any circumstances, obeying them, taking care of them if they need something, helping parents in their labors, praying to God for them, as in life. , and after the death of parents. Not respecting them is a great sin. Those who slandered their mother or father were punished by death in the Old Testament.

Being the Son of God, Jesus Christ treated his earthly parents with respect. He obeyed them and helped Joseph with carpentry. Jesus reproached the Pharisees for denying the necessary maintenance to their parents under the pretext of dedicating their property to God. By doing this they violated the fifth commandment.

How to treat strangers? Religion teaches us that it is necessary to show respect to everyone, in accordance with his position and age. One should respect spiritual fathers and shepherds; civilian leaders who care about the well-being, justice and peaceful life of the country; teachers, educators, benefactors and elders. Young people who do not respect old people and elders sin, considering their concepts obsolete, and themselves as backward people.

Sixth Commandment

It says: "Thou shalt not kill." The Lord God with this commandment prohibits taking the life of oneself or other people. Life is the greatest gift, only God can set its limits for each person.

Suicide is a very serious sin, because in addition to murder, it also involves others: lack of faith, despair, murmuring against God, as well as rebellion against His providence. It is also terrible that a person who has violently ended his own life does not have the opportunity to repent of the sin committed, since repentance after death is invalid. A person is guilty of murder even when he does not kill himself personally, but contributes to it or allows others to do so. In addition to physical murder, there is also spiritual murder, which is no less terrible. It is committed by the one who seduces his neighbor to a vicious life or to unbelief.

Seventh Commandment

Let's talk about the seventh commandment of God's law. “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” it says. God commands to remain mutually faithful to wife and husband, to be chaste when unmarried - pure in words, deeds, desires and thoughts. In order not to sin against this commandment, one should avoid everything that arouses unclean feelings in a person, for example: “piquant” jokes, foul language, shameless dances and songs, reading immoral magazines, viewing seductive photographs and films. The seventh commandment of God's law indicates that sinful thoughts should be stopped at their very appearance. We must not let them take over our will and feelings. Homosexuality is considered a grave sin against this commandment. It was for him that famous cities of antiquity were exterminated.

Eighth Commandment

God's 7 commandments concern various aspects of human life. The eighth is devoted to the attitude towards the property of other people. It says: "Thou shalt not steal." In other words, appropriation of property belonging to others is prohibited. There are various types of theft: robbery, theft, sacrilege, bribery, extortion (when, taking advantage of the misfortune of others, they take a lot of money from them), parasitism, etc. If a person withholds an employee’s wages, weighs and measures during a sale, conceals what was found, evades payment of a debt , then he commits theft. In contrast to the greedy desire for wealth, faith teaches us to be merciful, hardworking and selfless.

Ninth Commandment

It says that you cannot bear false witness against your neighbor. The Lord God thus prohibits all lies, including: slander, denunciations, false testimony in court, slander, slander, and gossip. Slander is a devilish thing, since the very name “devil” means “slanderer.” Any lie is unworthy of a Christian. It is not consistent with respect and love for others. We should refrain from idle talk and watch what we say. The Word is God's greatest gift. We become like the Creator when we speak. And the word of God immediately becomes action. Therefore, this gift must be used only for the glory of God and for a good purpose.

Tenth Commandment

We have not yet described all 7 of God's commandments. You should stop at the last, tenth. It says that it is necessary to abstain from impure desires and envy of one's neighbor. While the other commandments focused primarily on behavior, the last one focuses on our desires, feelings and thoughts, that is, what happens inside a person. It is necessary to strive for spiritual purity. It should be remembered that a bad thought is where every sin begins. If a person dwells on it, a sinful desire appears, which pushes him to commit the corresponding act. Therefore, in order to fight various temptations, it is necessary to nip them in the bud, that is, in thoughts.

For the soul, envy is poison. If a person is subject to it, then he will always be dissatisfied, he will always lack something, even if he is very rich. In order not to succumb to this feeling, we should thank God for being merciful to us, sinners and unworthy. For our crimes we could be exterminated, but the Lord not only endures, but also sends His mercies to people. The task of every person's life is to acquire a pure heart. It is in him that the Lord rests.

Beatitudes

The commandments of God and the Gospel discussed above are of great importance for every Christian. The latter are part of Jesus' commandments that he spoke during the Sermon on the Mount. They are included in the Gospel. They received this name because following them leads to eternal bliss in eternal life. If the 10 Commandments prohibit what is sinful, then the Beatitudes tell us how one can achieve holiness (Christian perfection).

Seven Commandments for the Descendants of Noah

Not only Christianity has commandments. In Judaism, for example, there are 7 laws of the descendants of Noah. They are considered the necessary minimum that the Torah imposes on all humanity. Through Adam and Noah, according to the Talmud, God gave us the following 7 commandments of God (Orthodoxy, in general, states approximately the same): the prohibition of idolatry, murder, blasphemy, theft, adultery, as well as the prohibition of using flesh that has been cut off from a living animal, and the need to create a fair judicial system.

Conclusion

Jesus Christ, when asked by a young man about what should be done in order to inherit eternal life, answered: “Keep the commandments!” After that he listed them. The Ten Commandments above give us the basic moral guidance we need to create life, both public, family and private. Jesus, speaking about them, noted that they all essentially boil down to the teaching of love for neighbors and God.

In order for these commandments to benefit us, we must make them our own, that is, allow them to guide our actions and worldview. These commandments must be rooted in our subconscious or, figuratively speaking, must be written on the tablets of our hearts by God.

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9. Read excerpts from documents on Russian history. Try to determine what event they are associated with (indicate the date if possible).

1. “...By the decree of... Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich... before the boyars... thieves, rebel Muscovites, and policemen of all ranks, people, both Reitar and foot soldiers... people... who came to the village of Kolomenskoye of the great sovereign to the court from Moscow with Gilem, rosprashtvans and tortured..."

2. “We announce to all our loyal subjects. The law of God... teaches us to dedicate the seventh day to him [God]... The remaining six days in the week, generally divided according to an equal number, both for the peasants themselves and for their work in favor of the next landowners, with good management will be sufficient to satisfy all economic needs needs."

3. “Boris Petrovich... it is not suitable to lose everything in a misfortune, and therefore we command you to be at the beginning of the work, with the cavalry, to take care of nearby places, and to go further, for greater harm to the enemy. Let there be no excuse: there are enough people, the rivers and swamps are frozen. Don't make excuses with anything; and if I am sick, it was received [by you] among the fugitives [during flight].”

4. “...According to the power given to us by the Almighty, from our highest imperial alms, from now on, for eternity and in hereditary generations, we grant liberty and freedom to the entire Russian noble nobility...”

5. “... And our great sovereign..., seeing such annoyances on the royal side. And the eternal violation, and the persecution of the Orthodox Christian faith and the holy churches of God, and you don’t even want to hear that you of the same faith... were desecrated by the Latins, under your high hand... the entire Zaporozhye army, with cities and lands, from the royal citizenship by crime of oath to him free, ordered to accept.”

6. “We are establishing a spiritual board, that is, a spiritual council government, which, according to the following regulations, has the authority to manage all spiritual affairs in the Russian Church.”

7. “By our most merciful dismissal of Count Razumovsky at his request from the hetman’s rank, we command our Senate, for the proper administration of Little Russia, to establish a Little Russian Collegium there...”

8. “Boyars and okolnichy, and duma and close people and stewards and solicitors and noblemen of Moscow and clerks and tenants and all ranks, serving and clerks and merchant people in Moscow and in the cities wear a dress, Hungarian caftans, outer ones, long, and the underwear is shorter than the upper..."

9. “We also promise that since the integrity and well-being of every state depends on good advice, for this reason we will always maintain the now established Supreme Privy Council of eight persons even without it... council of consent: not to start a war with anyone and not to make peace; do not burden our faithful subjects with any new taxes...; estates and villages are not to be liked..."

10. “...And now our first desire is to see our people happy and contented...; In order for us to better understand the needs... of our people, we command that deputies be sent... to our capital city of Moscow... to prepare a draft of a new Code to present to us for confirmation.”

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10. Here are excerpts from the works of historians, memoirs, diaries relating to the events of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

In the first column of the table, enter the serial numbers of these passages in chronological order. In the second column of the table, enter the words missing in the text (names of military leaders, names of geographical objects), which are marked with numbers in accordance with the order of the passages.

1. From the work of O.R. Airapetova:

“Early in the morning, the Turks under the command of (1) tried to break out of the fortress. They attacked in complete silence and took the first line of Russian defense by surprise. However, immediately after this success, the Turkish advance was stopped at the fortified positions prepared by the general (2). In just a few hours of battle, the attackers lost 6 thousand people, 10 pashas, 128 senior and 2,000 junior officers and 41,200 soldiers surrendered.”

2. From a letter from Alexander II to E.M. Dolgoruky:

“It was a big mistake on the part of General Krudener that, knowing

numerical superiority of the Turks, he nevertheless decided to attack 1) upon receiving the order of the commander-in-chief. By accepting the responsibility of not carrying out this order, he would have saved more than a thousand lives and avoided the complete defeat that, we must admit, we received."

3. From the speech of I.S. Aksakova:

“Should we really recognize at least some truth in all these correspondences that are now spreading from (1) shameful news about our concessions.”

4. From the work of historian A.A. Kornilova:

“In the peaceful city of Thessaloniki, the French and German consuls were killed, and in 1) the massacre reached enormous proportions and was expressed in no less than 12 thousand killed of both sexes and different ages.”

5. From the report of General N.G. Stoletova:

“The entire corps of Suleiman Pasha, visible to us in full view, is lined up against us 8 versts from (1). The enemy’s forces are enormous, I say this without exaggeration; We will defend ourselves to the utmost, but reinforcements are urgently needed.”

6. From the diary of A.A. Polovtsova:

“This morning at 5 o’clock the sovereign left with a huge retinue for (1), where, as they say, a manifesto on war will be announced. Apparently it's all over and

Only force will resolve the conflict between people’s egos.”

11. Imagine that you are the editor of a collection of works by Ya.P. Polonsky. Read excerpts from two versions of his poem, written in the late 1870s. and answer the questions.

1. What is she to me! Not a wife, not a lover,

And not my own daughter!

So why is her fate cursed?

Doesn't let me sleep all night!

Doesn't let me sleep because I'm dreaming

Youth in a stuffy prison

I see vaults... a window behind bars,

A bed in the damp semi-darkness...

Neither the lips nor the pale ones move

Hands on pale chest

Weakly pressed to the heart without trembling

And without hope ahead...
2. Prisoner What is she to me? - not a wife, not a lover

And not my own daughter,

So why is her fate unfortunate?

Follows me day and night. Well, now I’m with guests, but I’m imagining

Hard prison bed

Doors with locks, windows with bars,

Dead shadow of twilight...

As if calling me, innocent of evil,

To answer for it in court -

As if she was bewitched by suffering

My poor heart...

They take revenge on her for her poverty - without humility,

Revenge for freedom of mind -

They take revenge on her for her passion, for her impulse of impatience

And... for love without a yoke...

ABOUT! Something - or a broken life

Let me breathe and bloom,

Or before the trial - hurry to finish her off,

To satisfy your revenge.
1. To whom was this poem personally dedicated? What event in the public life of Russia was it dedicated to?

2. Which version of the poem was then published in the journal “Bulletin of Europe”, and which one was passed around in lists? Why?

3. Why did the poem cause a wide public response?

12. In the process of research, the historian came across documents that were important for clarifying the facts of the life of his hero D.A. Milyutina. Unfortunately, the materials were not dated. Analyze them and try:

date documents;
explain what events they are talking about.

A) From the memoirs of D.A. Milyutina:“My assumption of the post of Comrade Minister of War was announced in the Highest Order on November 1... Despite this categorical order, General Sukhozanet continued to be directly involved in all matters... The winter in the new year was extremely harsh... A new direction of government activity attracted a lot of developed and enlightened people to the common cause... Those individuals who in the past were under disgrace as dangerous liberals now became useful figures and cheerfully completed the great work.”

B) From the diary of D.A. Milutina:

“On the last day of the year, thoughts involuntarily turn back... In none of the previous years have I endured so much trouble, annoyance and failure. The intrigue against me, which had long since begun, had fully matured and burst out in all its vileness... After the sad outcome of the secret meeting on military affairs that took place at the beginning of the year... it was no longer possible for me to conduct the affairs of the military system with the independence and energy with which I had conducted it before. still for more than 12 years...

The Emperor... greeted me in the same way as usual on the first day of the new year: he hugged me, wished me a happy year..., and then announced that he had signed and marked the manifesto on the new law with the current date... The new law is a great thing, not enough inferior to other major reforms of the present reign. It was carried out for three years under my direct supervision...”

A) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. Read the text about the battle. Name the battle and its date. Look at the portraits of the commanders. Sign their names and pass numbers in the text that talks about their participation in the battle.

This battle lasted more than 12 hours. Napoleon started it by throwing his main forces against the left wing of the Russian troops. Here, the 2nd Russian Army under the command of (1)_____ defended earthen fortifications in the form of a corner - flushes near the village of Semenovskoye. During one of the attacks, the commander was wounded, and General (2) __________ took command of the 2nd Army. Somewhat later, Napoleonic troops just as fiercely attacked the center of the Russian defense, where the battery was located under the command of General (3)________. Two attacks were repelled. Taking advantage of the relative calm on the right wing of the Russian army, the commander-in-chief (4)______ organized a counterattack there: the cavalry regiments of General (5) ______ and the Cossacks of General (6)___________ delivered a daring blow to the enemy’s rear. Only by repelling it, Napoleon was able to complete the main task of the battle: at the end of the day, the French troops managed to overcome the desperate resistance of the battery defenders (7) ________. After this, the Russian army retreated, leaving the battlefield behind the French.

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