God Gives His Law on Mount Sinai
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God has given men six days wherein to labor, and He requires that
their own work be done in the six working days. Acts of necessity and
mercy are permitted on the Sabbath. The sick and suffering are at all
times to be cared for; but unnecessary labor is to be strictly avoided.
To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell
upon things of a worldly character. And the commandment includes
all within our “gates.” The inmates of the house are to lay aside their
worldly business during the sacred hours. All should unite to honor
God by willing service upon His holy day.
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(5) “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
Parents are entitled to a degree of love and respect due to no other
person. He who rejects the rightful authority of his parents is rejecting
the authority of God. The fifth commandment requires children not
only to yield respect, submission, and obedience to their parents, but
also to give them love and tenderness, to lighten their cares, to guard
their reputation, and to succor and comfort them in old age. It also
enjoins respect for ministers and rulers.
(6) “Thou shalt not kill.”
All acts of injustice that tend to shorten life; the spirit of hatred
and revenge, or the indulgence of any passion that leads to injurious
acts toward others (even to wish them harm, for “whoso hateth his
brother is a murderer”); a selfish neglect of caring for the needy; self-
indulgence or excessive labor that tends to injure health—all these are,
to a greater or less degree, violations of the sixth commandment.
(7) “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Purity is demanded 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 the evil thought or look to be as
truly sin as is the unlawful deed.
(8) “Thou shalt not steal.”
This prohibition condemns manstealing and slave dealing, wars of
conquest, theft and robbery. It demands strict integrity in the minutest
details of life. It forbids overreaching in trade and requires the payment
of just debts or wages. Every attempt to advantage one’s self by the
ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another is registered as fraud in
the books of heaven.
(9) “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”