Deuteronomy 5:1-21 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day… Moses here recalls the Sinaitic covenant, and wishes the Israelites to remember that, though given to their fathers primarily, it was also applicable to them. They were in many cases present as children then, and they were represented by their parents. Moses speaks with authority as having been mediator (ver. 5) on the occasion. There are the following lessons to be learned from the Decalogue as here given: - I. THE COVENANT IS BASED UPON A MERCIFUL DELIVERANCE. God gives his Law to his people after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. It is intended to be a rule of life for those already redeemed. The gospel precedes the Law - Moses the deliverer precedes Moses the lawgiver; the Lord was first known as the fountain of freedom, and then as the fountain of that Law within whose bounds freedom is to be realized. II. THIS LAW COVERS OUR RELATIONS BOTH TO GOD AND MAN. 1. The Laws relating to God. These embrace the four which come first, i.e. (1) the law against polytheism or atheism. This law is broken when we live "without God in the world," ascribing to luck, chance, or fortune what is due to God's providence. It is broken when we worship self, or fame, or ambition (cf. 'The Life and Letters of J. H. Thorn-well, D.D., LL.D.,' p. 142; also) Dale's 'Ten Commandments;' Washburn's 'Social Law of God;' and Crosby's 'Thoughts on the Decalogue'). (2) The law against sensuous worship. For the second commandment is broken in so far as our worship is not "in spirit and in truth." (3) The law of reverence. Any spirit of undue familiarity which leads to the least trifling before God is a breach of this third commandment. (4) The law of consecrated time. This fourth commandment is an acknowledgment that all time is God's by right, and the seventh portion should be by special obligation. In Deuteronomy the Sabbath is based, not on creation, as in Exodus, but on the deliverance from Egypt. Each great providence increases our obligation thus to acknowledge God. Hence the Lord's day is made commemorative of our Lord's resurrection. 2. The laws relating to man. These embrace the succeeding six, thus: (1) The law of the family. This is the first commandment with promise (Ephesians 6:2). (2) The law of social love. For we are to avoid not only murder, but the unholy anger of which it is the manifestation (Matthew 5:22). (3) The law of social purity. We must be pure in thought, as well as in act, as our Lord has shown us (Matthew 5:28; also Mark 7:21-23). (4) The law of honesty. This must be in God's sight and in man's (2 Corinthians 8:21). (5) The law of veracity. Restraining the turbulent tongue (James 3:6, 9). (6) The law of contentment. The curbing of covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). - R.M.E. Parallel Verses KJV: And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. |
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