The Story of Redemption

GOD'S LAW GIVEN

After God had shown His power, He told the people who He was. "'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves'" (Ex. 20:2). The God who had shown His power to the Egyptians now spoke His law: SRme 1.578

"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. SRme 1.579

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments. SRme 1.580

"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. SRme 1.581

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it 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: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. SRme 1.582

"Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. SRme 1.583

"Thou shalt not kill. SRme 1.584

"Thou shalt not commit adultery. SRme 1.585

"Thou shalt not steal. SRme 1.586

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. SRme 1.587

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, not his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's" (Ex. 20:3-17). SRme 1.588

The first and second commandments spoken by Jehovah forbid the worship of idols. Idol worship leads people deep into sin and rebellion. Sometimes idol worship results in the offering of human sacrifices. God wants to guard against the smallest beginning of such wickedness. SRme 1.589

The first four commandments tell us of our duty to God. The fourth commandment is special because the commandment connects the great God with His people. The Sabbath day was given to benefit everyone and to honor God. The last six commandments outline the duty of people to each other. SRme 1.590

All who keep the Sabbath show that they worship the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The Sabbath is a sign between God and His people for as long as God has a people upon earth to serve Him. SRme 1.591

"When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. They said to Moses, 'If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die.' SRme 1.592

"Moses replied, 'Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying Him, so that you will not sin.' But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was. SRme 1.593

"The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites: 'You have seen how I, the Lord, have spoken to you from heaven'" (Ex. 20:18-22). SRme 1.594

The people were terrified by the glorious presence of God at Sinai, the violent movement of the earth caused by His presence, and the fearful thunderings and lightnings. They felt a deep SRme 1.595

reverence for God, but they drew back from His sacred presence. They were afraid of His great glory. SRme 1.596