The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1902-07-10
THE LESSON TEXT.


S. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep
II holy.
g. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all
thy work:
10. But the seventh day Is the Sab
bath Of the Lord thy God; In II 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:
H. For In six days the Lord made
Heaven and earth, the sea. and all that
in them is and rested ON the seventh
day; wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and hallowed 1t.
T. Honor thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the
land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee.
GOLDEN TENT.-Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart
Luke 1927.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Water from the roCk....,.......E FIX. lIl-I
Attack upon the Amalekites....EN EN. lI;S-l6
Meeting with Jethro.;,,........,EX' M:i-S.'
First table Of the law..........EX. 2Ol-l2.
TIME.-B. c. liT.
PLACES.-Meribah, Rephidim. Mount
OF God" and Sinai
PARALLEL HASSAGE-Deuteron
5:l-l6.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Tables of the Law.-The Ten
Commandments present a summary of
mans duties, first to God and then to
man. They are wonderfully brief,
simple and comprehensive. They en-
join nothing to which the monitor in
every mans breast does not respond.
rhe law as presented 10y them was writ
ten in mans heart before il was writ
ten on tables of stone. Conscience pro-
nounces them to be "huly, and righte-
Gus, and good" Rom. 7:12).
The First Table of the Law.-Com-
pare Deut. j:6-2l, and note the differ
ences. Most Biblical scholars believe
that the commandments, or "Ten
Words" as they are more properly
called, stood originally upon the tables
Of stone in their simplest and most
terse form. as 6, : and now stand. and
that the explanatory comments were
added later. OF course this is coniec.
ture. but ii is extremely probable in
view of the fact that the Ten Words
are amplifed differently in Deut. 5:6-21
and in EN 20:l-l7. Some slight adjust
ment must clearly be made. /. Thou
shalt have no other gods before (be-
sides) me-" The Hebrews had come
out of country of many gods; they
were going into country of many
gods. Let us not seek to find all re-
ligious truth in these Ten Words. Je-
hovah does not say, There is but one
God" He says, "Thou shalt have" but
one God. 1t was Gods method not to
teach the people monotheism by pre-
cept so much as to prove it by expert
ence. .. Thou shalt not make unto
thee craven image" The reason
may or may not be plain. but God never
commands without a reason. In this
case the reason could not have seemed
plain, but God is spirit" and the use
Of any image would be a misrepresen-
tation, and a materializing Of the con-
ception. :. "Thou shalt rot take the
name OF Jehovah thy God in vain:"
Gods name, to the Hebrews, was n
very sacred part Of Gods self. (See
Deut. 1875, Prov. 1S:l0, etc.) The orig
inal force Of the command was not
against profanity in the modern sense.
Hypocrisy. or the bearing of Gods
name without being his at heart. bear.
ing it meaninglessly lin vain. and also
irreverence. and the taking of Gods
name in vain in false swearing. are
nearer 10 the meaning Of the command.
:. Remember the Sabbath day. to keep
il holy" THE Sabbath was made
for man." not mans body, not mans
spirit. but ''for man" including both.
We need the Sabbath. G) to break the
dead level Of the days. (2) as dav Of
rest from work. (3) as a day for home.
love and fellowship. a. as a day for
increasing GU. intelligent interest in
the progress of the great causes of
humanity and religion. (J) for the on.
portUnity Il brings Us 10 worship puh-
Iicly. 90 for the opportunity it brings
to be still and commune with God and
draw near 10 Christ as personal
Savior. ;. Honor thy father and thv
mother" To the Hebrews the honor.
ing Of parents j. not simply neigh
sorly" virtue. The parent stands TO
the child as the representative of God.
and 50 this command was put on the
first table with the religious laws
rather than on the second with those
regarding our relations 10 our fellow