Law Given to Israel
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expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually
as by words. All intentional overstatement, every hint or insinuation
calculated to convey an erroneous or exaggerated impression, even
the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehood.
This precept forbids every effort to injure our neighbor’s reputation by
misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale bearing. Even
the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to
others, is a violation of the ninth commandment.
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his
ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
The tenth commandment strikes at the very root of all sins, pro-
hibiting the selfish desire, from which springs the sinful act. He who
in obedience to God’s law refrains from indulging even a sinful desire
for that which belongs to another will not be guilty of an act of wrong
toward his fellow creatures.
Such were the sacred precepts of the Decalogue, spoken amid
thunder and flame, and with a wonderful display of the power and
majesty of the great Lawgiver. God accompanied the proclamation of
His law with exhibitions of His power and glory, that His people might
never forget the scene, and that they might be impressed with profound
veneration for the Author of the law, the Creator of heaven and earth.
He would also show to all men the sacredness, the importance, and the
permanence of His law.
The people of Israel were overwhelmed with terror. The awful
power of God’s utterances seemed more than their trembling hearts
could bear. For as God’s great rule of right was presented before them,
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they realized as never before the offensive character of sin, and their
own guilt in the sight of a holy God. They shrank away from the
mountain in fear and awe. The multitude cried out to Moses, “Speak
thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest
we die.” The leader answered, “Fear not: for God is come to prove
you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” The
people, however, remained at a distance, gazing in terror upon the
scene, while Moses “drew near unto the thick darkness where God
was.”
The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and
heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching