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God Gives His Law on Mount Sinai
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heavens and the earth, it tells the difference between the true God
from false gods, so the Sabbath is the sign of our allegiance to God.
The fourth commandment is the only one of the ten in which we
find both the name and the title of the Lawgiver—the only one that
shows by whose authority the law is given—as it contains the seal
of God.
God has given us six days in which to work, and He requires
that we do our work in those six days. Acts of necessity and mercy
are permitted on the Sabbath. The sick and suffering are always
to be cared for, but we should strictly avoid unnecessary work. To
keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell
on things of a worldly character. And the commandment includes
everyone within our “gates” (meaning our homes). All the members
of the household are to set aside their worldly business during the
sacred hours. All should unite to honor God by their willing service
on His holy day.
(5) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be
long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
Parents are entitled to a degree of love and respect owed to no
other person. To reject the rightful authority of one’s parents is also
to reject the authority of God. The fifth commandment requires
children not only to respect, submit to, and obey their parents, but
also to give them love and tenderness, to lighten their cares, to guard
their reputation, and to care for and comfort them in old age. It also
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requires respect for ministers and rulers and for all others to whom
God has given authority.
(6) “You shall not murder.”
All acts of injustice that tend to shorten life—the spirit of hatred
and revenge, or indulging any passion that leads to injurious acts
toward others (even to wish them harm, for “whoever hates his
brother is a murderer”), a selfish neglect of caring for the needy,
self-indulgence or overwork that tends to injure health—all these
are, to a greater or less degree, violations of the sixth commandment.
(7) “You shall not commit adultery.”
God’s law demands purity not only in the outward life but in
the secret intents and emotions of the heart. Christ, who taught
the far-reaching obligation of the law of God, declared that the evil
thought or look is as truly sin as is the unlawful deed.