Exodus 20 · The Lantern

And G-d spoke all these words, saying:

I am HaShem thy G-d, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Everyone who has learned to despise the present age, which "is figuratively called Egypt", and who through the word of God has—to speak according to the Scriptures—"been translated, and is not found", because he hastens and presses on toward the age to come: concerning a soul of this kind God says, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt".

In the first commandment of the Decalogue, just as the worship and service of the one Lord God is most clearly commanded, so for adoration and service to be shown by the faithful to any creature is most vehemently forbidden.

For knowing the Creator, he says: I am the Lord your God. In that he says Lord, he intimates the power of the Father. In that he says God, he intimates the wisdom of the Son. In that he says your, he intimates the benevolence or goodness of the Holy Spirit.

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

The first commandment, then, is: "there shall be for you no other gods besides me". And after this there follows: "you shall not make for yourself an idol nor any likeness, whatever things are in heaven above and whatever are in the earth below and whatever are in the waters under the earth; you shall not adore them nor worship them.

God commands us by His prophet not to esteem any new God to be God, and not to worship any strange God. Now it is clear that that is called new which is not from everlasting, and on the contrary, that is called everlasting which is not new.

The entire law of Christ depends upon charity. And charity depends on two precepts, one of which concerns loving God and the other concerns loving our neighbor. Now God, in delivering the law to Moses, gave him Ten Commandments written upon two tablets of stone.

Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

After these things let us see what the second commandment also seems to contain: "you shall not make for yourself an idol nor any likeness of the things that are in heaven or that are in the earth or that are in the waters under the earth". Idols are one thing, and gods far another, as the Apostle himself likewise teaches us.

IF, WHEN JOHN OR THE SAVIOR WAS PREACHING, THE LAW CEASED, HOW DOES THE SAVIOR SAY, “I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW OR THE PROPHETS, BUT TO FULFILL” (Matt. 5:17)? FOR IF IT HAS BEEN FORBIDDEN, HOW IS IT NOT ABOLISHED, SINCE IT HAS LOST THE AUTHORITY TO BE CARRIED OUT?

Concerning the third clause of the first commandment, in which God prohibits worshipping corporeal nature, the Jews say that we worship a morsel of bread; and this seems to them most absurd.

thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I HaShem thy G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;

"For I am the Lord your God, a jealous God". See the kindness of God, how, in order to teach us and make us perfect, he himself does not refuse the frailty of human affections. For who, hearing of a "jealous God", would not straightway wonder and think it a fault of human frailty?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT GOD, WHO IS PROCLAIMED AS JUST, HAS PROMISED TO REPAY THE SINS OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN TO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION? — Anyone who doubts that God does nothing and says nothing unjust is out of his mind.

There are certain things which avail for the observance of the commandments, and these must be subjoined. It should be noted here that all commandments are either affirmative or negative. Affirmative ones indeed are that man should do good; negative ones, that man should avoid evil.

and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of HaShem thy G-d in vain; for HaShem will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

Although making a variety of suppositions about him, we all know something of God but do not all know what he is, for few indeed and fewer (if I may say so) than few are they who grasp his holiness in all things. Thus we are rightly taught to pray that our concept of God may be hallowed among us.

The second commandment: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for whoever takes the name of the Lord his God in vain will not be purified." The name of the Lord our God Jesus Christ is Truth: he himself said, "I am the truth." So truth purifies; futility defiles.

This is the Second Commandment of the law. Just as there is but one God whom we must worship, so there is only one God whom we should reverence in a special manner. This, first of all, has reference to the name of God. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." "In vain" has a threefold meaning.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

To teach a Christian anything about the observance of the sabbath would seem to be rather superfluous. On the contrary, not only is it not superfluous, but it is in fact basic, bedrock doctrine, because it is a shadow of things to come. The people, you see, are forbidden to perform servile works on the sabbath. Now are we, I ask you, not forbidden to perform servile works?

Under the law the people were ordered to work for six days and to rest on the seventh, [and] to plow and reap for six years and desist during the seventh, because the Lord completed the creation of the world in six days and desisted from his work on the seventh.

This is the Third Commandment of the law, and very suitably is it so. For we are first commanded to adore God in our hearts, and the Commandment is to worship one God: "You shall not have strange gods before Me." In the Second Commandment we are told to reverence God by word: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." The Third commands us to reverence God by a…

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;

but the seventh day is a sabbath unto HaShem thy G-d, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;

for in six days HaShem made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore HaShem blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which HaShem thy G-d giveth thee.

And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: [Exodus 20:12] But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall b…

The formation of the children is then the prerogative of the parents. Therefore honor your father, that he may bless you. Let the godly man honor his father out of gratitude and the ingrate do so on account of fear.

Perfection for man consists in the love of God and of neighbor. Now, the three Commandments which were written on the first tablet pertain to the love of God; for the love of neighbor there were the seven Commandments on the second tablet. But we must "love, not in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth" [1 Jn 3:18].

Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

And that you may learn that we know this from the first, the Lawgiver, when He afterwards gave laws, and said, "Thou shalt not kill," did not add, "since murder is an evil thing," but simply said, "Thou shalt not kill;" for He merely prohibited the sin, without teaching.

And God also gave the law by the hand of Moses, which was filled with many and divers commandments, and to all the commandments He linked fear, for without fear the commandments would not be kept. "Thou shalt do no murder", and "whosoever slayeth shall be slain;" for the sickness He ordained the medicine of fear, that it might not increase and grow strong in iniquity.

In the divine law which tells us we must love God and our neighbor, it is commanded that we not only do good but also avoid evil. The greatest evil that can be done to one's neighbor is to take his life. This is prohibited in the Commandment: "You shall not kill." In connection with this Commandment there are three errors.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Therefore whatsoever things God commands (and one of these is "You shall not commit adultery") and whatsoever things are not positively ordered but are strongly advised as good spiritual counsel (and one of these is, "It is a good thing for a man to not touch a woman")—all of these imperatives are rightly obeyed only when they are measured by the standard of our love of God and…

The law cuts away sins of the flesh, but our Redeemer condemns even unlawful thoughts. If therefore they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if someone rises from the dead, because when will those who neglect to fulfill the lesser precepts of the law grow strong enough to obey the higher commands of our Savior?

After the prohibition of murder, adultery is forbidden. This is fitting, since husband and wife are as one body. "They shall be," says the Lord, "two in one flesh" [Gen 2:24]. Therefore, after an injury inflicted upon a man in his own person, none is so grave as that which is inflicted upon a person with whom one is joined.

And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the horn, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off.

"You shall not steal:" [Exodus 20:15] for Achan, when he had stolen in Israel at Jericho, was stoned to death; [Joshua 7:1] and Gehazi, who stole, and told a lie, inherited the leprosy of Naaman; [2 Kings 5:27] and Judas, who stole the poor's money, betrayed the Lord of glory to the Jews, [John 12:6] and repented, and hanged himself, and burst asunder in the midst, and all his…

The seventh plague was the destruction of temporal goods, by which thieves are struck, because he who takes what belongs to others deserves to lose what is his own. This was the plague of hail, which destroyed everything.

The Lord specifically forbids injury to our neighbor in the Commandments. Thus, "You shall not kill" forbids us to injure our neighbor in his own person; "You shall not commit adultery" forbids injury to the person to whom one is bound in marriage; and now the Commandment, "You shall not steal," forbids us to injure our neighbor in his goods.

And they said unto Moses: 'Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not G-d speak with us, lest we die.'

In the Decalogue itself it is written, "You shall not bear false witness," in which classification every lie is embraced, for whoever pronounces any statement gives testimony to his own mind.

But we cannot possess these three in relation to others unless we have them first in relation to ourselves. Wherefore there are three more commandments: one that straightens all deeds, another that straightens all speech, and yet another that straightens all affective dispositions.

The Lord has forbidden anyone to injure his neighbor by deed; now he forbids us to injure him by word. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." This may occur in two ways, either in a court of justice or in ordinary conversation. In the court of justice it may happen in three ways, according to the three persons who may violate this Commandment in court.

And Moses said unto the people: 'Fear not; for G-d is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not.'

And the people stood afar off; but Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where G-d was.

And HaShem said unto Moses: Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

Ye shall not make with Me--gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you.

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless thee.

And if thou make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast profaned it.

Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.

Exodus20