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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Moses calleth unto all Israel, and saith unto them, 'Hear, Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I am speaking in your ears to-day, and ye have learned them, and have observed to do them. |
O Israel – The Ten Commandments were given to Israel alone. R971:4
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| 2 Jehovah our God made with us a covenant in Horeb; |
Made a covenant – The Ten Commandments are the "covenant" of the Law. R542:3
The Ten Commandments alone are declared to be the covenant; the ordinances merely went with them. R974:2
With us – The Law covenant was made with the people of Israel, not with Moses. Moses was the Mediator. R4999:3, R4370:5
God dealt only with one man, Moses, in the making of the Law covenant. He stood in the position of a father to the nation, the nation being regarded as children under age. R5046:4
The Jews eagerly accepted the arrangement but, being imperfect, they could not keep this perfect law. PD35/46
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| 3 not with our fathers hath Jehovah made this covenant, but with us; we these here to-day all of us alive. |
With our fathers – Not with any one else previously. F356
But with us – The blessings of that covenant and its promises were only to the one nation; so also its curses. R1725:1, R5046:1
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| 4 Face to face hath Jehovah spoken with you, in the mount, out of the midst of the fire; |
Talked with you – Not through the intervention of priests. A54
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| 5 I am standing between Jehovah and you, at that time, to declare to you the word of Jehovah, for ye have been afraid from the presence of the fire, and ye have not gone up into the mount; saying: |
I stood between – Proving that the Law was conditional. R4370:5
It was the Law of God because it came from him; and it is the Law of Moses in that it came through him. HG583:6*
Moses was the Mediator of the Law covenant. As Mediator he stood between the two parties, God and Israel. On the one hand he represented God, and on the other, Israel. R4681:3, R2858:3, R5000:1; Q185:2
So the antitypical Moses, the Christ (Head and Body), as Mediator, will stand between God and the world and will for a thousand years shield the people from the requirements of absolute justice. R4646:1, R5000:1
The title of Mediator applied to Moses only while the covenant was being made. In future renewals, Aaron represents the Mediator in his sacrificing and subsequent blessing the people, while Moses represents the Law. R4570:3*
Not only to satisfy the claims of justice but to instruct, correct and restore as many of the fallen race as so desire. E18
Into the mount – Type of the Kingdom of God. R4037:5
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| 6 'I Jehovah [am] thy God, who hath brought thee out from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants. |
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| 7 'Thou hast no other gods in My presence. |
Thou shalt have – The Decalogue is a synopsis of the whole Law. A45
Neither the angelic sons nor the New Creation are under the Law, nor do they need it. F365; R4014:2
The wonderful Law of God, represented by the Ten Commandments, has a depth of meaning not seen on the surface, and was apparently seen by none until Jesus "magnified the law and made it honorable." (Isa. 42:21) R5286:2
None other gods – Mighty ones, my equals. E40
God properly puts himself first; the true God shall have first place in the human heart. R4014:3, R5286:3
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| 8 'Thou dost not make to thee a graven image, any similitude which [is] in the heavens above, and which [is] in the earth beneath, and which [is] in the waters under the earth; |
Any graven image – With spiritual Israel this goes so far as to include father, mother, self, wealth, ambition; anything that would prevent the Lord from having the first place. R3038:2, R4014:4, R5071:5
Waters beneath – The waters are below, beneath, the level of the "dry land," called the earth. R1813:1
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| 9 thou dost not bow thyself to them nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on children, and on a third [generation], and on a fourth, to those hating Me; |
Bow down thyself – Shaw-kaw, worship. E73
Unto them – To images or to rival gods. E73
Am a jealous God – Wanting all the affections, confidence and trust of my creatures, for their own good. R3038:3, R4789:2
God's jealousy is just and is sure to bring to the sinner a just punishment. R4789:2
The impropriety of jealousy is when it leads to bitterness and other like qualities to which the fallen human mind is subject. R4789:2
Upon the children – By the law of nature under which, in wisdom, God has placed humanity. R3038:3
The tendency of sin is to break down the moral character and to impair the physical system. R2668:2
Suffering for the fathers' sins. R527:6*
Unto the third – Darwin considered that species had been and were being built up by the process of natural selection, but no species is being built up, and deviations from the prototype are corrected in the course of three generations. R4859:6*
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| 10 and doing kindness to thousands, to those loving Me, and to those keeping My commands. |
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| 11 'Thou dost not take up the Name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah doth not acquit him who taketh up His Name for a vain thing. |
Taketh his name – The only ones who may properly take Christ's name are those who really become his disciples. R5404:6
As a child adopted into a family takes the name of the family, so we have taken upon ourselves the name of the sons of God. R4014:5
To take the name of God without careful effort to represent him is a sin against God. R1527:6
So the Jews, going to the extreme, avoid the covenant name of God-Jehovah. R3038:6
In vain – Lightly, frivolously, or in any other than a sacred and reverential manner. R3038:5, R1527:3
"Thou desirest truth in the inward parts." (Psa. 51:6) R1527:3
"Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." (2 Tim. 2:19) R1527:3
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| 12 'Observe the day of the sabbath to sanctify it, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee; |
The sabbath day – Type of the Millennial age. B40; R5071:6; Q607:4
Typifying the rest which spiritual Israelites now enter by faith in Christ. R4015:1, R5071:6, R5360:1
Sanctify it – Observance as a day of rest, and no more. R4995:3
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| 13 six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work, |
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| 14 and the seventh day [is] a sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thine ox, and thine ass, and all thy cattle, and thy sojourner who [is] within thy gates; so that thy man-servant, and thy handmaid doth rest like thyself; |
But the seventh day – Not the first day; if this commandment is binding at all, it is binding as stated and cannot be changed. R1727:2
Not do any work – It prohibits all kinds of work, secular or religious. R1727:1
"We which believe do enter into rest." (Heb. 4:3) R3753:4 Deuteronomy 5:15
Keep the sabbath day – This was something new to the Israelites, not previously known among them or their fathers. R1731:3
The Jewish Sabbath and its system of sabbaths are types of the greater Sabbath-the heavenly. Q759:3
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| 15 and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God is bringing thee out thence by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm; therefore hath Jehovah thy God commanded thee to keep the day of the sabbath. |
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| 16 'Honour thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee, so that thy days are prolonged, and so that it is well with thee, on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee. |
Honour thy father – To the spiritual Israelite this would mean our Father in heaven. R4019:3
If our forefathers were monkeys, as so many now teach, why should we have much honor or respect for them? R4019:3
Quoted by Jesus in Mark 7:10 and attributed to Moses. HG583:6*
And thy mother – To the spiritual Israelites this would mean God's original covenant with Abraham, typified by Sarah. R4019:5
In the land – The fact that the Jews did not dwell long in the land given them is evidence that they did not keep this commandment properly. R3044:6
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| 17 'Thou dost not murder. |
Thou shaft not kill – Hatred of a brother is the spirit of murder. R3045:1, R4019:6, R5286:3
We should not even kill animals wantonly. R3045:1, R4019:5, R5287:6
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| 18 'Thou dost not commit adultery. |
Commit adultery – Not even "in the heart." (Matt. 5:28) R4020:4, R5286:3
The Church is to be uncontaminated, unadulterated, separate from the world. R3045:3
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| 19 'Thou dost not steal. |
Neither shalt thou steal – By any method deprive another of that which is properly his. R4020:5
Making false returns to tax assessors, attempting to smuggle without payment of customs duty, failure to give agreed-upon services for wages, are stealing. R5288:1
The worst form of stealing is the filching of another's good name. "Speak evil of no man. (Titus 3:2) R5288:1,4
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| 20 'Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony. |
Bear false witness – By a nod of the head, a shrug of the shoulders, or by silence. R3045:5
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| 21 'Thou dost not desire thy neighbour's wife; nor dost thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, and his man-servant, and his handmaid, his ox, and his ass, and anything which [is] thy neighbour's. |
Desire ... covet – Wish to appropriate for yourself. R4021:4
"Godliness with contentment (absence of covetousness) is great gain." (1 Tim. 6:6) R3046:1
Covetousness caused Satan's fall. R3046:1
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| 22 'These words hath Jehovah spoken unto all your assembly, in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness a great voice; and He hath not added, and He writeth them on two tables of stone, and giveth them unto me. |
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| 23 'And it cometh to pass as ye hear the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and of the mountain burning with fire, that ye come near unto me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders, |
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| 24 and say, Lo, Jehovah our God hath shewed us His honour, and His greatness; and His voice we have heard out of the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God doth speak with man and he hath lived. |
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| 25 'And, now, why do we die for consume us doth this great fire if we add to hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more then we have died. |
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| 26 For who of all flesh [is] he who hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire like us and doth live |
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| 27 Draw near thou, and hear all that which Jehovah our God saith, and thou, thou dost speak unto us all that which Jehovah our God speaketh unto thee, and we have hearkened, and done it. |
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| 28 'And Jehovah heareth the voice of your words, in your speaking unto me, and Jehovah saith unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee; they have done well [in] all that they have spoken. |
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| 29 O that their heart had been thus to them, to fear Me, and to keep My commands all the days, that it may be well with them, and with their sons to the age! |
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| 30 'Go, say to them, Turn back for yourselves, to your tents; |
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| 31 and thou here stand thou with Me, and let Me speak unto thee all the command, and the statutes, and the judgments which thou dost teach them, and they have done in the land which I am giving to them to possess it. |
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| 32 'And ye have observed to do as Jehovah your God hath commanded you, ye turn not aside right or left; |
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| 33 in all the way which Jehovah your God hath commanded you ye walk, so that ye live, and [it is] well with you, and ye have prolonged days in the land which ye possess. |
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