LESSON XII.--JUNE 19.

THE COMMANDMENTS.--EXOD. 20:12-21.

      GOLDEN TEXT.--Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.--MATT. 22:39.
      TIME.--Pentecost, in the year B. C. 1491.
      PLACE.--At the foot of Mt. Sinai, in Arabia.
      HELPFUL READINGS.--Deut. 5:1-21; Matt. 5:21-37; Matt. 15:1-9; Matt. 19:3-9.
      LESSON ANALYSIS.--1. Honor to Parents; 2. The Shalt Nots; 3. An Awe Struck People.

INTRODUCTION.

      When the Ten Commandments were "written and engraved on stone" by the divine finger, they were upon two tables; four supposed to be on the first table, and six on the second. Of these the four considered in the last lesson relate to the duties men owe to God; the second set, those to be considered in this lesson, relate to the duties that a man owes to his fellow-mortals. The first four are summed up in the Golden Text of that lesson; the second table of six in the Golden Text of this lesson.

      I. HONOR TO PARENTS.--1. Honor thy father and thy mother. Let it be noted that both parents are placed on the same footing. Honor is due to both alike. This requires not only outward respect but a cordial obedience to their commandment. No child that speaks lightly of or is ashamed of parents, or is disobedient to their will, keeps this commandment. Filial respect is the ground of national permanence. When the Jews were about to be cast out of their land, the rebuke of the prophet was that they had not walked in the old paths and had not respected the voice of their fathers as the sons of Jonadab had done. Jer. 6:16; 35:18, 19. And when in later times the land had been restored to them, and they were about to be cast out of it a second time, the great sin of which they were convicted was that they had set aside this fifth commandment for the sake of their own predictions. Matt. 15:4-6; Mark 7:10, 11. Every other nation that has a history bears witness to the same truth. Rome owed her strength, as well as the permanence of her influence after she had politically perished, to her steady maintenance of the patræ protestas. Maine "Ancient Law," p. 135. China has mainly owed her long duration to the simple way in which she has uniformly acknowledged the authority of fathers. The [176] divine words were addressed emphatically to Israel, but they set forth a universal principle of national life.--Canon Cook. That thy days may be long. There is a double promise here. So long as the nation rejoiced in the possession of obedient children it was assured of a long life or existence in the land of Canaan; but there is also included the promise of a long life, i. e., a great age, to individuals, (Comp. Deut. 6:2; 22:7), just as we find in 1 Kings 3:14 a good old age referred to as a special blessing from God.--Keil. Length of days or inheritance is a law running through the moral government of God, counteracted, no doubt, and modified by the interference of other laws that contribute no less to the ultimate, if not immediate, good of the individual; for if life be shortened to a child of God he only enters the sooner upon a better and higher life. And if the inheritance be shorter than the life, yet he cannot be deprived of that precious and present inheritance that all things, even affliction, work together for his good.--Murphy. The men who have made their mark as benefactors of the world, have not only had good parents, but have been distinguished by that filial respect and obedience. George Washington is a conspicuous example. It was his respect for his widowed mother's wishes that turned his life into a channel that made him a soldier, the General of the Revolution and the Father of his country. When a boy of sixteen he had a great passion for the sea, and some of his influential friends secured him a berth as midshipman in the British navy. Everything was in readiness. His trunk had been taken on board the boat, and he went to bid his mother farewell, when he saw tears filling her eyes. Seeing her distress, he turned to the servant, and said, "Go and tell them to fetch my trunk back. I will not go away to break my mother's heart." His mother, struck with his decision, said to him, "George, God has promised to bless the children that honor their parents, and I believe be will bless you." This decision kept him in the colonies and turned his life in the direction that schooled him for the great work to which the Lord had undoubtedly called him. It should be noted farther that one who disobeys parents will be disobedient to law, both human and divine.

      II. THE SHALT NOTS.--13. Thou shalt not kill. Life is placed at the head of these commandments, not as being the highest earthly possession, but because it is the basis of human existence, and in the life the personality is attacked, and in that the image of God. Gen. 9:6.--Keil. The peculiar sacredness of human life lies in this, that man is a responsible being, liable to be rewarded or punished according to his deeds. Life is the reward of obedience, and death is the penalty of disobedience. The circumstance that this life is to the sinner the season of invitation to return to God, who will have mercy on him, deepens immeasurably the crime of cutting short his life in the midst of his impenitence. Life is also used in a pregnant sense in Scripture. It raises from the mere natural life to the spiritual life which is rekindled in the dead soul by the spirit of life through the word [177] of life. This widens immensely the scope of this commandment, and if we now advance from the mere negation of refraining from evil to the position of abounding in good, we behold opening before us a boundless prospect of well-doing for the children of God.--Murphy. The spirit of the precept plainly interdicts all those callings, occupations, and practices which are injurious to the health or safety of the community--such as the manufacture or sale of articles of diet or beverage which we have every reason to believe will be abused to the hurt or the death of men's bodies, to say nothing of their effects on the undying soul. The Savior also prohibits the feelings of anger or malice which might lead to violence.

      14. Thou shalt not commit adultery. This commandment forbids every form of sensuality in act or thought. (1) The most fearful denunciations of Scripture are against sensuality. (2) Nature protests against it. (3) It breaks down the moral principalities. (4) It does violence to the virtues. (5) It ruins others; it involves other persons in guilt. (6) It leads to every other sin. (7) It frustrates the great end of human life. Conclusion: (1) Beware of beginnings; (2) Give this passion no allowance in your thought; (3) Be watchful against the least temptation; (4) Avoid bad associates; (5) Avoid every incentive to vice in dress, in fashion; (6) Attend to the words of wisdom; (7) Give your hearts to Christ.--W. Warren. The Savior rebukes sensual thoughts as adultery and fornication in embryo.

      15. Thou shalt not steal. This not only prohibits what the law calls theft, but much more. Fraudulent bargains, which impose on the ignorant, the credulous, or the necessitous, contracting debts which one is unable to pay, extortion and exorbitant gain, controlling the market by stratagem, and thus obtaining inordinate prices for one's commodities, entering into combinations unduly to raise or depress wages, taking unjust advantage of insolvent laws, extracting usurious interest for money, unnecessary subsistence on charity, evading the duties and taxes imposed by government, or in any way defrauding the public, whether by embezzling its treasuries, or encroaching upon its domain, using false weights and measures, removing landmarks, keeping back the wages of servants and hirelings, withholding restitution for former wrongs, refusing, when able, to pay debts from which we have obtained a legal release--all these are violations of the eighth commandment, and as such failing under the special condemnation of heaven.--Bush.

      16. Thou shalt not bear false witness. It will be evident, at a glance, that not only false witness in court, but also statements in common discourse, false promises whether deliberate or careless, exaggerations and high colorings of facts, equivocation and deceit by word or sign, hypocritical professions, and compliments, together with slandering, backbiting, [178] tale-bearing, circulating malicious reports, imputing evil designs, or making injurious representations without sufficient proof, are all direct infractions of the spirit of this command. These are all obvious methods of working ill to our neighbor, of prejudicing his reputation, and injuring or destroying his usefulness and his peace, and consequently cannot consist with the law of love.--Bush.

      17. Thou shalt not covet. The improper desire is the root of all evil. It can seldom be reached by human legislation; but it is open to the Searcher of hearts. The intent is that which, in the last resort, determines the moral character of the act. This last "word" is, therefore, the interpreting clause of the whole decalogue. Rom. 7:7. It raises the code immeasurably above every code of man who looketh on the outward appearance of conduct, and at once renders it worthy of the Lord who looketh on the heart.--Murphy. The precept reaches deep into the interior springs of action, and lays its interdict upon the very first risings of that discontented spirit, which is the prolific germ of all unhallowed lustings; to be dissatisfied with what we have is to desire something which we have not; and as most things which we have not are in the possession of our fellowmen, there is but a step between desiring what is not our own and coveting what is another's--Bush. No human eye can see the coveting heart; it is witnessed only by him who possesses it, and by Him to whom all things are naked and open. But it is the root of all sins against our neighbor in word or in deed. James 1:14-15.--Canon Cook.

      III. AN AWE STRUCK PEOPLE.--18. Thunderings and lightnings. The portentous sound of the trumpet and the thunder which had ushered in the day, and which continued to be heard while the people were assembled at the base of the mountain, probably ceased while the words of the law were pronounced in an articulate voice by Jehovah, but were again resumed, and perhaps with increased intensity, as soon as the delivery of the decalogue was completed.--Bush. By this terrible display of his glory, God desired to inspire them with the true fear of himself, that they might not sin through distrust, disobedience, or resistance to his guidance and commands.--Keil. [179]

      19. They said unto Moses. This, it appears from Deut. 5:23, was done through the medium of the elders and heads of the congregation, who came from the people to Moses, while he remained in his place. For he says in the passage just cited, that "they came near unto him," when they spake these words; which implies that they were at some distance before.--Bush. Speak thou with us. The solemnities of the divine presence beget the feelings of reverential awe, under the influence of which they retire to a respectful distance. They have no more any doubt of the divine commission of Moses; and they entreat, by their elders that God would speak to them through Moses, and not directly to them. They are filled with such terror that they fear "lest they die."

      20. Fear not . . . his fear many be before your faces. Moses encourages and comforts them against that fear of immediate death which they appear to have entertained, and at the same time assures them that from fear of another kind they were not by any means to be freed. Indeed, it was one special design of the present array of terrors to inspire them with it. The language marks very clearly the distinction between the fear which has torment, which flows from conscious guilt, which genders to bondage, and which drives away from God, and that salutary fear which prompts to a deep reverence of the divine majesty.

      21. Moses drew near. Of his own motion Moses would scarcely have durst to venture into the thick darkness from which ever and anon the appalling gleams of lightning burst forth; but being specially called and encouraged of God, he was virtually taken by the hand and lead up into the precincts of the divine presence. The incident plainly pointed to their and our need of a mediator in all our attempts to deal with a God of immaculate purity and inflexible justice.--Bush.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

      God demands reverence toward parents, as the foundation of an orderly and permanent organization of society. Ver. 12.

      God demands respect for human life, as his gift, which no man has the right to take from another. Ver. 13. [180]

      God demands purity of morals, as the great protection of the family Ver. 15.

      God demands respect for property, as an encouragement to honest labor and the enjoyment of honest earnings. In these days of socialistic schemes it is well to note the law of God.

      There is the same love in the law as the Gospel, the difference is only in expression; as when I warn one against venturing into the roaring flood, and when, on his leaping madly in, I follow to save him. In the law, love warns; in the cross it redeems. Both are, as I undertake to show, the true mirror of him who thus defines his own character--"God is love."--Guthrie.

POINTS FOR TEACHERS.

      1. Note the place and surroundings of Israel at the date of this lesson. 2. Note the circumstances of the giving of the law. 3. Note the two divisions of the law made by Christ and which this lesson considers. 4. Bring out what Honor to Parents implies and the results of obedience or disobedience. 5. Point out why taking life is the greatest of crimes and what this command implies. 6. Note the various "Shalt Nots" with the Savior's explanation of these. 7. Note what is embraced in the command "Thou shalt not covet." 9. Show how these commands are all comprehended in the Golden Text. 9. Observe the consternation of Israel at the voice of God and why. 10. Contrast the terrors of the law and the love of the Gospel.

Source: Barton Warren Johnson. The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1887. Des Moines, IA: