The Ten Commandments
INTRODUCTORY
"And
He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which
thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that
man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of the Lord doth man live."—Deut.
8:3.
".
. . So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return
unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."—Isa. 55:11.
".
. . Jesus answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."—Matt. 4:4
These three passages are linked
together by the common thought that human life is perfectly conditioned when
it is governed by the words that proceed from the mouth of God.
Deuteronomy records the last
messages of Moses to the children of Israel. In this particular passage he
states the meaning of the varied circumstances through which God has permitted
them to pass. "He humbled thee,
suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna." (Deut. 8:3) To what purpose? "That He might make thee know that man
doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth
of the Lord."
Isaiah is the messenger of God to a
people, who, through disobedience, have passed into captivity. Isa. 55 records one of the messages in
which he contrasts their state of life in captivity with the blessedness and
joy experienced when living in perpetual obedience to Divine law. It is of this
law he speaks when he says, "So
shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth." (Isa. 55:11)
In the New Testament we see Jesus,
God's perfect man, passing through the severest temptation. Replying to the
first suggestion of the enemy, He reveals the realm in which He lives when He
says, "Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4)
Let the passages which indicate the
common thought be lifted from their setting.
1. "Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord."
2. "My word that goes forth out of My mouth."3. "Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
Thus is revealed the supreme truth
upon which the Mosaic, Prophetic, and Christian economies were based. The
methods have been different and progressive; the purpose has been forever the
same. The creation of the Hebrew nation, its preservation, and all its
magnificent ritual and organization were directed to the end of giving
expression to the first divine intention of the blessedness of man, receiving
his law from the mouth of God, and yielding unquestioning obedience to it.
The prophetic office was that of
fore-telling this Word of God principally to those who were disobedient. Its
exercise was ever characterized by fierce denunciation of rebellion, glowing
descriptions of the glory of the Divine Kingship, and passionate appeals to a
return to loyalty.
Jesus, the author of Christian
faith, lived from beginning to end without deviation or exception by the words
proceeding from the mouth of God. In His passion-baptism He bore the penalty of
the disobedience of the race, and in His resurrection took again His life,
that He might communicate it to sinful men, that in its energy they also might
obey the law of God.
Evidently, therefore, according to
the consistent teaching of Scripture, man only understands the possibility of
his being as he becomes acquainted with the law of God; and only realizes this
possibility as he lives by the words proceeding from the mouth of God.
The reason for this is found in
the fact that within the Divine intention, every human life moves through present
probation to future purpose. Men are born, not merely for today, but for God's
tomorrow. Issue and consummation are out of sight, and are perfectly known to
the Creator alone. The trouble is that so many live as though the whole purpose
of life were realized in the little day on earth. Yet men know that it is not
so, that this passing life is preparatory and probationary. Today men sow,
tomorrow they reap.
The reaping depends upon the
sowing. If the ultimate end is to be in harmony with the will of the eternal
love, they must obey the law proceeding from that love: they must live by every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
The supreme duty of every man is that he should discover and
obey these words. If he live from day to day, from week to week, from month to
month, and from year to year without reference to that law, hoping that after
being regardless of, if not rebellious against it, he will at last slip into
some happy state, then surely he must indeed be blind and foolish. He has
become Americanized in the church today.
In the close of the Book of
Ecclesiastes, the preacher says, "This
is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep His
commandments; for this is the whole of man" (Eccl. 12:13). Not "the
whole duty of man," as it was in the Authorized Version, but the "whole of man." That is to
say, if a man fear God and keep His commandments, he is a whole man. Judged by
this standard, how many there are that are not whole men. This very book of
Ecclesiastes reveals the fact. "Vanity
of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity." (Eccl. 1:2) That is the sum total of life lived "under the sun," among things material and transient;
life - in a hemisphere. The whole man is realized when man "fears God and keeps His commandments." (Deut. 6:2; 13:4; Psa. 11:10; 112:1; Eccl.
12:13) That is, when both hemispheres are recognized. He who lives without
reference to the law of God fails to fulfil the possibilities of his own being.
He is not a man until he lives by the words that proceed from the mouth of God.
In the Epistle of James is found a
word of deep significance. "Whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of
all," (James 2:10). Placing
this side by side with the passage already referred to in Ecclesiastes, there
are two phrases with a common denominator, "the
whole": "the whole man," "the whole law." Herein
lies the explanation of the apparent severity of James's utterance. Men are
apt to think that if there are 10 commandments, of which they obey 9, such
obedience will be put to their credit, even though they break the 10th. That,
however, is to misunderstand God's purpose of perfection for man, and the
consequent perfection of His law. The 10 words of Sinai were not 10 separate
commandments, having no reference to each other. They were 10 sides of the 1
law of God. The teaching of Jesus reveals the fact that these commandments are
so inter-related that if a man offend in one point he breaks the unity of the
law, and, therefore, of his own manhood. It is by "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God doth man
live." (Matt. 4:4)
If these positions are established
there need be no apology for a frank and honest facing of the 10 Commandments.
They were the comprehensive words of God, uttered for the government of a
people whose distinctive glory lay in the fact that they were a theocracy,
under the immediate Kingship of the Most High, and whose recurring shame lay in
their revolt from that authority. These words embody a perfect law of life for
probationary days. They presuppose human failure and sin; and, therefore, they
will have no place in the government of God in heaven. Not that man will do the
forbidden things there, but the glorified nature of man will have put the
committing of such things beyond the realm of possibility. In some measure the
Christian dispensation antedates the heavenly state, for its whole genius lies
in the fact that newborn souls share by that new birth in the motives and
impulses of God.
Man still lives, however, both in
his own personality and in his relation to his fellow-man, in perpetual touch
with the old nature. The words of God are, therefore, of perpetual importance
and value. He needs to be solemnly reminded that the law of the spirit of life
in Christ sets him free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2), but not from the law of God. Every word of the Decalogue
is repeated with emphasis and new power in the Christian economy.
In the series of studies now
beginning it is proposed to consider the essential law contained in the 10
words of the Decalogue, in every case endeavoring to trace the enforcement and
emphasis of that law in the light of the Christian dispensation.
The severity of the law of God is
the necessary sequence of His infinite love. The Eternal Heart purposes and
seeks the ultimate perfection of every human being. To condone sin in any way,
or excuse it would be to make impossible the realization of that purpose. There
is infinite significance in the opening words of the Swan Song of Moses, the
lawgiver:
“The Lord came from
Sinai,
And rose from Seir
unto them ,He shined forth from mount Paran.
And He came from the ten thousands of holy ones :
At His right hand was a fiery law unto them.
Yet, He loveth the peoples;
All His saints are in Thy hand:
And they sat down at Thy feet;
Everyone shall receive Thy words.”
Deut. 33:2, 3.
The fiery law is the most perfect
expression of His love for the peoples. Let men then with reverent sincerity
stand in the light of His law, that they may understand the perfection of His
love.
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