Introduction to the Decalogue
G. S. Barrett, D. D. Deuteronomy 5:6 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. The Ten Commandments stand alone, not only in the Old Testament, but in the moral development and education of our race. They form the groundwork, the bedrock, on which all goodness and morality are built. I. SOME INTERESTING PARTICULARS IN THE RECORD OF THESE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 1. There are two distinct versions, differing considerably in detail, yet in substance identical. Inspiration is concerned with great realities, not with trivialities; and both Exodus and Deuteronomy are right when they tell us these were the words God spake, if we do not interpret that statement to mean that it pledges us to believe the verbal accuracy of each record. Two accounts of the same occurrence may be absolutely true, and yet differ considerably in mere verbal correctness. 2. They are never called the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, usually "The Ten Words," or "The Testimony." This fact is not unimportant, for the term "word" conveys a richer idea of a revelation from God than the word "commandment." A commandment is a law binding on those who hear it, but is not necessarily a revelation of the character of the person who gives it; but "the word of the Lord" is not merely an utterance of God, but a revelation from God. The same truth is conveyed in the name most frequently given to the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, "The Testimony." It is God's own utterance of His will to His people, of His revelation concerning Himself, of what He bids them do. 3. The number of the commandments is significant. There are ten, and ten is the only complete number. After we count ten we begin again, for ten completes the number of the primary digits. (1) The law God gives to His people is a complete code of moral goodness. "The law of the Lord is perfect," as the Psalmist sings; it lacks nothing; it is full, and rounded, and complete; and if we keep this law we shall be perfect men. (2) The natural division of the number ten into two halves of five each suggests, I think, a second truth. If ten be the symbol of completeness, five must necessarily be an incomplete number, for it wants the other five to make it complete; and so the one half of the Decalogue is incomplete without the other. No one who is religious without morality is a good man; no man who is moral without being religious is a good man. 4. It is hardly correct to say that the first five commandments relate to duty to God, and the second five to the duty to man, for the Fifth Commandment touches the honour due to parents; but, on the other hand, there is another simple and underlying principle that explains and justifies the division of the Ten Commandments into two equal halves of five each. There was a well-known and rational division in ancient ethics between piety and justice. Piety always included in ancient morals the idea of filial reverence. Reverence itself is perhaps the better word for the goodness in the first five commandments; righteousness is the better word for the goodness commanded in the second five. If we bear this in mind we shall at once discern the reason for the division of the two laws into two equal halves. The first five inculcate reverence to God, and to those who on earth represent God in the human relation; the second five teach the duty of righteousness — that is, of right conduct as between man and man. And notice that not one of the commandments of the second table, as it is called, that which touches human duty, has any sanction attached to it. On the other hand, in the first half, the commandments which concern reverence, we find a sanction attached to the second, third, fourth, and fifth laws, while in the second table there is none. The reason for this is obvious. All human duty and human rights are reciprocal. They need nothing more than their own statement to secure their obligation. II. THE LIMITATIONS, FROM AN ETHICAL STANDPOINT, OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 1. With the exception of the last, the Tenth Commandment, all deal with actions alone, and it is remarkable that the only one of the ten that does pass beyond external action, and forbids evil thought, "Thou shalt not covet," was the commandment that led to St. Paul's conversion, or at any rate to his conviction of sin (Romans 7:7). 2. The Ten Commandments, with two exceptions, are negative in form. "Thou shalt not" occurs eight times, "Thou shalt" only twice. To forbid wrong-doing is absolutely necessary, but the not doing of wrong is not the highest ideal of morality. III. The incompleteness and limitations and defects of the Ten Commandments are best seen if we TAKE ONE OF THEM AND COMPARE IT WITH THE LAW OF CHRIST. "Thou shalt do no murder," for example, is one of these Jewish laws as necessary and as binding today as when it was first spoken. But now compare it with the law of Christ, as declared in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21, 22). We see at once the contrast. Christ's law is higher and more spiritual than the law of Moses. And so with all these Ten Commandments. The Decalogue does not from any point of view represent an ideal and perfect code of ethics. As moonlight or starlight is to sunlight, so the Ten Commandments are to the law of Christ. One often wonders what would be the effect on the moral life of the Church if at the regular services on the Sunday there was the recital, week by week, of the laws of Christ, or, at any rate, of some of them, followed each one, it may be, by the prayer, "Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law," IV. Notice the significant fact that THE LAW OF GOD WAS NOT GIVEN TO HIS PEOPLE UNTIL THEIR REDEMPTION FROM EGYPT WAS COMPLETED. This is the Divine order — redemption by the passover sacrifice, and shedding of the blood of the innocent lamb, then the giving of the law. This was the order in Judaism, and in Christianity the same significant order is preserved. We are first redeemed by the precious blood of Christ from the curse and power of sin, from death; and then we are bidden to keep the law of Christ. The Divine order is not, "Do this and live," but, "Live and do this": redemption first, obedience afterwards. This order is not an arbitrary and unmeaning one. It lies in the eternal necessities of our being. Can a dead man do anything? Can a corpse obey a single command? Can it even hear one? And if we are "dead in trespasses and sins," our first need is not a law, but a life: first deliverance from the doom of sin, first redemption, and then, and not till then, the sinner, saved from the prison house of death, falls at his Lord's feet and cries, "Lord, I am Thy servant, I am Thy servant, Thou hast loosed my bonds." (G. S. Barrett, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. WEB: "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.