Many modern countries have some form of document recognising and protecting the “basic rights” of citizens. For the most part such man-made documents emphasise the rights that you have and that others must honour.
When God started a country, He too codified a list of basic human rights. However, His are distinctly different from the man-made attempts at such a concept. When God gave the “Ten Words” that would define basic human rights He did not phrase them in terms of your rights that others must honour. Instead, God stipulated those basic human rights in terms of the rights of others that you must honour.
God’s version of basic human rights has another important distinction—it includes not only the basic rights that you must fulfil to other people, but also the basic rights that God has over you.
To rephrase the perfect version of a basic Human Rights Act, it would go something like this.
God has the right to expect from you (as from every human being),
- to worship Him alone (Ex 20:3),
- to adhere to his self-revelation (Ex 20:4-6),
- to represent Him accurately (Ex 20:7), and
- to dedicate your time, and the time of those in your family and employ, to Him (Ex 20:8-11).
On a human rights level, every other person has the right to expect from you,
- to respect parental roles (Ex 20:12),
- to preserve their life (Ex 20:13),
- to keep their marriage pure (Ex 20:14),
- to return their possessions (Ex 20:15),
- to truly reflect their reputation (Ex 20:16), and
- to leave what belongs to them alone (Ex 20:17).
“Human rights” are not to promote pride and selfishness. Instead, we must recognise that God and others have rights over us—rights which we have an obligation to fulfill.
In terms of the New Testament summary of this “bill of rights”, we must understand that God has a right to our love, and so does every human person (Mark 12:30-31).