02.07. The Ten Commandments

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS LESSON text:Exodus 20:1-17. time: B. C. 1491. place: Mount Sinai.

MEMORY verses:Galatians 3:23-25. mount sinai. It is not known that the mountain now known as Mount Sinai is the identical mountain from which the Ten Commandments were given. It is about midway between the Gulf of Suez and Akabah. It is a rock-ribbed mountain, composed largely of granite, about two miles long and a mile wide. It is about 7,500 feet above sea level. The descendants of Abraham, the Israelites, were in Egypt four hundred and thirty years (Galatians 3:17). Fifty days after they crossed the Red Sea they reached Mount Sinai, where they received the Ten Commandments. This was about twenty-five hundred years after Adam sinned and was cast out of the garden.

MORAL LAWS

Moral laws are laws which have to do with man’s relationship to his fellows and his moral life. In this class are "Thou shalt not kill," "steal," "lie," etc. Had Jehovah never given a law covering these and kindred matters, it would have been wrong to steal, kill, etc. Such laws are right within themselves.

POSITIVE LAWS.

Positive laws are laws which God has enacted and which depend wholly on Jehovah’s authority to make them right. Among such laws is the one relating to the passover (Exodus 12:1-51), purifying (Numbers 19:1-22), and kindred laws. They were right—to be observed because God commanded them. Had he not commanded them, there would have been no ground for their observance. TO WHOM WERE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS GIVEN? When Jehovah called Abraham, he bade him leave his relatives and go to a land to be shown him. The descendants of Abraham became a special people unto Jehovah (Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 14:2); and to these people the Ten Commandments were given, as is plainly stated in the lesson text:

Exodus 20:1-2. "And God spake all these words, saying, I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Then follows the Ten Commandments. Let it be remembered that these words were addressed to the descendants of Abraham. Not a Gentile was in the number. Gentiles were never slaves in Egypt. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

From bondage Jehovah delivered the Israelites; no other could have delivered them. He is Creator, Preserver, Deliverer. This commandment forbids idolatry, and it should be remembered you do not have to erect an image of wood or stone to have an idol. For centuries the Jews had been in Egypt, where there were idols on every hand, and were on their way to Canaan, where the land was filled with idols. We are influenced by our environments.

graven images. This does not forbid paintings, sculpture, etc., as is evidenced by Jehovah’s directing that cherubims be placed in the most holy place (Exodus 25:17-22). The prohibition is against making images to be worshiped. The first images made and worshiped were most likely not regarded as gods, but only as representatives of gods. This Jehovah forbids. nor serve them. Soon after giving this commandment the people made a golden calf, worshiped it, made sacrifices to it (Exodus 32:1-35). They broke the second commandment. jealous God. It is not good for any people to worship a being, or image, inferior to Jehovah. The effect is debasing. Our homage must be paid one who is worthy of our adoration and praise. visiting iniquity. You know something of the law of heredity. There are diseases entailed in the natural body (Exodus 34:7; Jeremiah 32:18). Surely you know the result of sin may not end with you. The abuse of your body may be seen in your offspring. A vicious family is a hindrance to the country. Though one may have had vicious parents, each individual has within himself the making of a character which will adorn society and honor Jehovah. third and fourth generation. It should be remembered that this is no more than a weakened condition of the body entailed on us, and for such conditions we are not condemned (Ezekiel 18:20). showing mercy. Often you hear quoted: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy." Certainly, but on whom does he have mercy? "He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

The first mention of the Sabbath is Exodus 16:1-36, when manna was given. There is no proof that it existed as a formal institution before the time of Moses. The Jews were commanded to do all their labor within six days, and to rest on the seventh day. They were not allowed to do any kind of work on the Sabbath day (Exodus 31:14). They were not allowed to pick up sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-35), nor were they allowed to make a fire (Exodus 35:3). In a subsequent volume we will discuss at length the Sabbath, and why Christians do not "keep it."

honor.Honor means more than to obey. Though you reach maturity, and have a home of your own, you must always honor your parents. By your conduct you reflect honor or discredit on your parents. To do or say things you would not have them know is to dishonor them. Do not wait until your parents are dead, and then engage in bitter lamentations because you failed to honor them. that thy days may be long. The child who disregards filial authority, failing to honor parents, will develop into a man who will disregard the law of State and society; he becomes an evildoer, and comes to death by disease resulting from a profligate life or dies by the Hands of the executor of the law.

covetousness. Covetousness is an inordinate desire to possess that which belongs to another—it is the mother of theft. Aside from the law of Jehovah, there is not a system of laws under heaven which forbids covetous-ness. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS —THE OLD COVENANT.

"Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:31-34). (1) This covenant was made with Israel when they were brought from the land of Egypt—the Ten Commandments were then given. (2) A new covenant is promised, which is not to be like the old covenant. THE COVENANT — EVEN TEN COMMANDMENTS. "And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the Ten Commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone" (Deuteronomy 4:12-13). tables of the covenant. "When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water. And Jehovah delivered unto me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which Jehovah spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Jehovah gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant" (Deuteronomy 9:9-11). words of the covenant. "And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments" (Exodus 34:28). That the Ten Commandments is the covenant that Jehovah made with them when they came from the land of Egypt cannot be successfully denied. THE OLD COVENANT, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS TAKEN AWAY. "But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he said, Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their minds, and on their hearts also will I write them: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins will I remember no more. In that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old" (Hebrews 8:6-13). Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant than the one made at Mount Siani. It is a covenant which is established upon better promises. The covenant from Mount Sinai is called the "old covenant." Christ is mediator of the "new covenant" (Hebrews 9:15). written and engraven in stone. "And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables" (Exodus 32:15-16). "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (Exodus 31:18). THAT WHICH WAS ENGRAVEN IN STONE HAS BEEN DONE AWAY. Paul affirms that God had made them "ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away: how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. For if that which passeth away was glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory. Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, and are not as Moses, who put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel should not look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away: but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the- reading of the old covenant, the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ" (2 Corinthians 3:6-14).

How long was the law to be in force? "What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come" (Galatians 3:19). THE LAW A SCHOOLMASTER—TILL CHRIST CAME. "But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Galatians 3:23-25). Do not become alarmed because the Ten Commandments have been repealed. Remember, a new covenant has been made. Texas was at one time a republic, with constitution and laws. The constitution and laws of the Republic of Texas are not binding in the State of Texas; but, as a State, Texas now has a constitution and laws. In the new covenant which Jehovah has made we find nine of the points covered by the Ten Commandments are incorporated and enlarged on; and they are binding, not because they were in the old covenant, but because they are in the new.

There is not a command in all the New Testament to keep the Sabbath day holy. Gentiles were never commanded to keep the Sabbath day. In a later volume we will discuss the Sabbath and the Lord’s day. The student should review the lesson on "The Covenants," in Vol. I. of "Sound Doctrine."

* * * TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND DISCUSSION.

• Positive and Moral Laws.

• Were the Ten Commandments a Perfect Law?

• Law and Grace.

• How is the New Covenant Written in the Heart?

• Moses.

QUESTIONS