2 “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
4 “Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands, of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.
8, 9 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Golden Text.—“Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all Thy heart.” Luke 10:27.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) Where were the Israelites when the words of this lesson were spoken? Ex. 19:1, 2. (2) What preparation had been made for the occasion? Verses 10-13. (3) Who spoke the words of the law of God? Ch. 20:1. Note 1. (4) With what words were the commandments introduced? Verse 2. Note 2. (5) What is the first commandment? Verse 3. (6) What is the second commandment? Verses 4-6. (7) What shows that the Gospel is proclaimed in this commandment? Note 3. (8) What is the third commandment? Verse 7. Note 4. (9) What is the fourth commandment? Verses 8-11. Note 5.
NOTES.
1. God spake these words. Yes, “God spake all these words.” And about twenty-five hundred years later, the same Voice said that not “one jot or one tittle” of these words should pass, or fail. He said, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” See Matt. 5:17-19; Luke 16:17.
2. God’s Idea of Liberty.—The people were in bondage in Egypt because they were not permitted to serve God. They were brought out of “bondage” that they might have liberty to keep His law. Christ was their deliverer, and “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36. The natural man is in bondage, and can not keep the law of God (Rom. 8:7); but in Christ, the Spirit will “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13), and God’s law is the truth (Ps. 119:142, 151). The psalmist further proclaims, “Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them.” Verse 165.
3. Showing Mercy.—While the law of God can not justify the sinner (the transgressor of the law), it does proclaim the mercy of God. This is practically a proclamation of the Gospel in the law; for the mercy is unto those who keep His commandments, and this no one can do until he has accepted the mercy of God through Christ, in whose Spirit only lies the power to keep the law, as shown in Note 2. The R.V. with margin reads, “Showing mercy unto a thousand generations of them that love Me and keep My commandments.” This expression shows the unending mercy of God and the perpetuity of His law.
4. Taking the name of the Lord in vain does not consist only of what is generally recognized as profanity. One may take the name of the Lord in vain even in prayer. “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” Matt. 6:7.
5. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.” Read again Note 1, and remember that not one “jot” (the smallest Hebrew letter), nor one “tittle” (a small horn or point of a letter), of the law can fail. Therefore no word of the law can be changed. God has never authorized a change of the day designated by Him as His Sabbath, or rest day, and no one else has authority to change His law. God’s resting on the seventh day is a fact that no power can change; therefore as the memorial rest is based on that fact, the day could no more be changed than could the fact.
Read “Patriarch’s and Prophets,” pages 303 to 308, as the best lesson help to be obtained.
