 |  |
"For every one that stealeth hath been let off (is written) on the one side according to
it (the curse or the scroll), and everyone that sweareth (falsely) hath been let off (is
written) on the other side according to it."
10: Thou shalt not covet.--It has been said that covetousness breaks all the
commandments. It certainly breaks the first, for Mammon is its god. It breaks the
second, for Col. 3: 5 calls a covetous man an idolator. We can well see how many if
not all of the others can be sacrificed upon the altar of this idol. "This love of money is a
root of all evil" (I Tim. 6: 10).
This brief survey enables us to perceive something of the depth of the terms of the
covenant made by God, and entered into by Israel. Israel broke that covenant even before
Moses could reach them with the two tables of stone. It is a feature of the utmost
importance to remember that those broken tables of stone were re-written, and placed in
the ark. This ark is called the ark of the covenant (Deut. 10: 8), and the ark of the
testimony (Exod. 30: 6). Exod. 31: 18 tells us that the two tables of stone were the
tables of testimony. Exod. 34: 28 and 29 calls them both the "tables of the covenant",
the "two tables of the testimony" and the "ten words".
The ark and the mercy seat together represent the perfect redemption of Christ. The
new covenant does not set aside the ten commandments, but fulfils them. As we look
through the epistles we find practically every one of the commandments re-stated with
one exception, namely, the sabbath.
1:
No other God. |
"To us there is but one God" (I Cor. 8: 6).
2:
Idolatry.
|
"Ye turned to God from idols" (I Thess. 1: 9).
3:
The Name.
|
"That the name of the Lord be not blasphemed" (I Tim. 6: 1).
5:
Honour parents. |
"The first commandment with promise" (Eph. 6: 2).
6:
Not kill.
|
"Love . . . not as Cain who . . . slew his brother" (I John 3: 11, 12).
7:
No adultery.
|
"Adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13: 4).
8:
Not steal.
|
"Let him that stole steal no more" (Eph. 4: 28).
9:
Not false witness.|
"Speak every man truth" (Eph. 4: 25).
10:
Not covet.
|
"No covetous man hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and of God" (Eph. 5: 5).
The IVth commandment is the exception. During the Acts period Paul wrote to the
Galatians, "Ye observe days . . . . . I am afraid of you" (Gal. 4: 10, 11). To the Romans
he wrote, "One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind" (Rom. 14: 5). After the Acts period
Paul wrote to the Colossians, "Let no man judge you . . . . . in respect of the sabbath days,
which are a shadow . . . . ." (Col. 2: 16, 17). These words could not have been written
had the sabbath observance continues.
Exod. 31: 13 tells us that the sabbath is a sign between Israel and the Lord. Like the
other sign, namely, circumcision (Rom. 4: 11), and the signs, namely, the miracles
wrought during the earthly life of the Lord, and the Acts of the Apostles (I Cor. 1: 22;
14: 22), these together with the sabbath belonged to Israel, and cease with the setting
aside of that nation. Let us conclude this survey of the ten commandments with the
apostle's comment in Rom. 13::--