EGW WritingsExodus 20

Sermons and Talks, vol. 2

Manuscript 126, 1901

2SAT 180.1

Adam was required to render perfect obedience to God, not only in his own behalf, but in behalf of his posterity. God promised him that if he would stand the test of temptation, preserving his allegiance to the Creator during the great trial to which he would be subjected, his obedience would insure his acceptance and favor with God. He would then be forever established in holiness and happiness, and these blessings would extend to all his posterity.

2SAT 180.2

But Adam failed to bear the test. And because he revolted against God’s law, all his descendants have been sinners.

2SAT 180.3

God’s law had once been written in the hearts of men and women. But their cherished sins dimmed and nearly effaced that writing. The impressions made by sin gradually wore away the impressions of the law.

2SAT 180.4

The Lord wrought wonderfully in delivering the Israelites from Egypt. He revealed Himself to them as the living God, the Lawgiver.

2SAT 180.5

The tabernacle was the dwelling-place of God upon the earth. It was divided into two parts. A vail separated the holy place from the most holy place. Here after the fall God met with man. Here the voice of God was often heard.

2SAT 180.6

The cloud that guided Israel stood over the tabernacle. The glory of the cloud emanated from Jesus Christ, who from the midst of the glory talked with Moses as He had talked with him from the burning bush. The brightness of God’s presence was enshrouded in the darkness of the cloud which He made His pavilion, that the people could endure to look upon the cloud, as seeing Him who is invisible. This was God’s plan whereby He might approach man.

2SAT 180.7

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes” [Exodus 19:10]. They were commanded to wash their clothes. Sanctification to God admits of no untidiness or uncleanliness of the body or of the clothing. Concerning those who are engaged in the service of God it is written, “Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified” [Leviticus 10:3]. [Exodus 19:11-13, quoted.]

2SAT 181.1

The Lord gave special directions to the Israelites regarding the preparation they were to make for this occasion when He was to talk to man. That He might fill the people with awe and lead them to realize the sacredness of the declarations He was about to give them, He expressly commanded them to take heed to themselves, and not to break through the barrier placed round about the mount.

2SAT 181.2

If the mount where the Lord manifested His glory and majesty, and from the summit of which the glory of the Lord appeared, was so sacred that one who merely touched it would have been punished by death, how sacred must be the law which the Israelites prepared to hear proclaimed from Mount Sinai! How can anyone treat it indifferently! Shall it be trampled upon, scorned, and derided?

2SAT 181.3

In connection with religious services and our worship of God, we should consider the directions that He gave to the Israelites. All those who come into His presence should give special attention to the body and the clothing. Heaven is a clean and holy place. God is pure and holy. All who come into His presence should take heed to His directions, and have the body and the clothing in a pure, clean condition, thus showing respect to themselves and to Him. The heart must also be sanctified. Those who do this will not dishonor His sacred name by worshiping Him while their hearts are polluted and their apparel is untidy. God sees these things. He marks the heart-preparation, the thoughts, the cleanliness in appearance, of those who worship Him.

2SAT 181.4

The ten commandments were spoken from Mount Sinai. With awful grandeur the King of kings, the infinite God, declared His law and enjoined obedience to it. The commands, “Thou shalt,” and “Thou shalt not,” are plain and positive. He who has given life and preserves life, has the right to command and control those who are dependent on Him for every breath they draw.

2SAT 181.5

The first words that God spoke were, “I am the Lord thy God.” By this declaration He asserted His authority to present His claims before the people. He had freed them from their bondage, and they owed their service to Him.

2SAT 181.6

The first commandment is a requirement in reference to man’s worship.

2SAT 181.7

The second commandment prohibits man from worshiping the true God through any creature or image. It forbids the making of any image which man might try to liken to the Creator. It forbids the making of an image of any creature to represent God or to be associated in any way with the worship of God.

2SAT 182.1

[Isaiah 40:18-28, quoted.]

2SAT 182.2

The Lord urges His supremacy. But Satan well knows that the worship of the living God elevates, ennobles, and exalts a nation. He knows that idol-worship does not elevate, but that it degrades man’s ideas, by associating with worship that which is base and corrupt. He is at work constantly to draw the mind away from the only true and living God. He leads men to give honor and glory to objects that human hands have made or to soulless creatures that God has created. The Egyptians and other heathen nations had many strange gods—creatures of their own fanciful imagination.

2SAT 182.3

The Jews, after their long captivity, would not make any image. The image on the Roman ensign or banner, they called an abomination, especially when these emblems were placed in a prominent place for them to respect. Such respect they regarded as a violation of the second commandment. When the Roman ensign was set up in the holy place in the temple, they looked upon it as an abomination.

2SAT 182.4

The use of images by the Roman Catholic Church is antichristian. Those who worship them are commandment-breakers. Image worship is contrary to God’s positive commands. The second commandment is entirely opposed to such practices. But the popes have tampered with the commandments. In all the books of devotion given to the people the second commandment is omitted. The third they call the second, the fourth the third; and the tenth they have divided into two. Thus in the place of conforming their practices to God’s commands, they have altered His commandments to harmonize with their practices. To suit their worship they have taken away from and added to God’s Word.

2SAT 182.5

By their treatment of His Word, the popes have exalted themselves above the God of heaven. This is the reason that in prophecy the papal power is specified as the “man of sin.” Satan is the originator of sin. The power that he causes to alter any one of God’s holy precepts, is the man of sin. Under Satan’s special direction the papal power has done this very work. Although those standing at the head of the papacy claim to have great love for God, He looks upon them as haters of Him. They have turned the truth of God into a lie. Tampering with God’s commandments and placing in their stead human traditions, is the work of Satan, and will divorce the religious world from God; for He declares, “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.” God will fulfill this word. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Pharaoh sowed obstinacy, and reaped obstinacy. He himself put this seed into the soil. There was no more need for God by some new power to interfere with its growth, than there is for Him to interfere with the growth of a grain of corn. All that is required is that a seed shall be left to germinate and spring up to bring forth fruit after its kind. The harvest reveals the kind of seed that has been sown.

2SAT 183.1

When light from God, strong and convincing, came to make known the great I AM, Pharaoh was compelled to yield. But as soon as the pressure was removed, his unbelief returned, and counteracted the great light which God had given. When he refused the evidence of the first miracle, he sowed the seed of infidelity, which left to its natural course produced a harvest after its own kind. Afterward the king would not be convinced by any working of God’s power. The monarch hardened his heart, and went on from one step to another of unbelief, until throughout the vast realm of Egypt the firstborn, the pride of every household, had been laid low. After this he hurried with his army after Israel. He sought to bring back a people delivered by the arm of Omnipotence. But he was fighting against a Power greater than any human power, and with his host he perished in the waters of the Red Sea.

2SAT 183.2

The despisers of God’s law are practicing the same sin that Pharaoh practiced. They are hardening their hearts. The voice of God is rejected for human theories, for Satanic suggestions and delusions. The Holy Spirit is resisted and set aside. The iniquities of the fathers are visited upon the children. The seeds that they sow by precept and example are reproduced in their children.

2SAT 183.3

The Spirit of God keeps evil under the control of conscience. When man exalts himself above the influence of the Spirit, he reaps a harvest of iniquity. Over such a man the Spirit has less and less influence to restrain him from sowing seeds of disobedience. Warnings have less and less power over him. He gradually loses his fear of God. He sows to the flesh; he will reap corruption. The harvest of the seed that he himself has sown is ripening. He has a contempt for God’s holy commandments. His heart of flesh becomes a heart of stone. Resistance to truth confirms him in iniquity. It is because men sowed seeds of evil that lawlessness, crime, and violence prevailed in the antediluvian world.

2SAT 183.4

All should be intelligent in regard to the agency by which the soul is destroyed. It is not because of any decree that God has sent out against man. He does not make man spiritually blind. God gives sufficient light and evidence to enable man to distinguish truth from error. But He does not force man to receive truth. He leaves him free to choose the good or the choose the evil. If man resists evidence that is sufficient to guide his judgment in the right direction, and chooses evil once, he will do this more readily the second time. The third time he will still more eagerly withdraw himself from God and choose to stand on the side of Satan. And in this course he will continue until he is confirmed in evil, and believes the lie he has cherished as truth. His resistance has produced its harvest. By his example he leads others to follow the same course of resistance against God.

2SAT 184.1

Those who transgress the law of God are teaching their children to show disrespect for this law and to rebel against the Lawgiver. They place their children in the enemy’s ranks, where they are cut off from the blessings of God’s covenant and are brought under His judgments. If parents die while they are transgressors of God’s law, their children will be inclined to do as they have done. By precept and example children of ungodly parents receive an education in evil-doing. When their measure of disobedience and transgression is full, God reckons with them. Both parents and children are held accountable for their idolatry. God bears long with perverse resistance, but He will surely punish iniquity.

2SAT 184.2

God announces Himself as “showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.”

2SAT 184.3

Those who obey these precepts, sow seed for a bountiful and glorious harvest; for the mercy of God is shown to their children and their children’s children to the third and fourth generations. This principle is of as much force today as it was when God spoke the words from Mount Sinai. The Lord loves and honors obedience now just as much as when He gave His law.

2SAT 184.4

All false worship is spiritual adultery. The second precept, which forbids false worship, is also a command to worship God, and Him only serve. The Lord is a jealous God. He will not be trifled with. He has spoken concerning the manner in which He should be worshiped. He has a hatred of idolatry, for its influence is corrupting. It debases the mind, and leads to sensuality and all kinds of sin.

2SAT 184.5

To make an image of God dishonors Him. No one should bring into service the power of imagination to worship that which belittles God in the mind and associates Him with common things. Those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. They must exercise living faith. Their worship will then be controlled not by the imagination, but by genuine faith.

2SAT 185.1

Let men worship and serve the Lord God, and Him only. Let not selfish pride be lifted up and served as a god. Let not money be made a god. If sensuality is not kept under the control of the higher powers of the mind, base passion will rule the being. Anything that is made the subject of undue thought and admiration, absorbing the mind, is a God chosen before the Lord. God is a searcher of the heart. He distinguishes between true heart-service and idolatry.

2SAT 185.2

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Those who are brought into covenant relation with God are pledged to speak of Him in the most respectful, reverential manner. Many refer to God and mention His name in their religious conversation much as they would mention a horse or any other common creature. This dishonors God. By precept and example parents should educate their children on this point, lest by irreverence they grieve away God’s Spirit from their hearts and the hearts of their children.

2SAT 185.3

Ministers, by carelessly introducing the name of God into their conversation, may teach lessons of irreverence. By mingling His holy name with common matters, they show that they are not spiritually-minded; for they mingle the sacred and the common. They are not living up to their holy profession. While claiming to be worshipers of God, they walk contrary to His law.

2SAT 185.4

Swearing, and all words spoken in the form of an oath, are dishonoring to God. The Lord sees, the Lord hears, and He will not hold the transgressor guiltless. He will not be mocked. Those who take the name of the Lord in vain will find it a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

2SAT 185.5

In a special sense the first four commandments reveal the duty of man to his Maker. These four precepts were written on the first table of stone. Man has a God who is the Author of his being—a God whom he must love and obey with heart, mind, soul, and strength.

2SAT 185.6

The last six commandments, written on the second table of stone, point out man’s duty to his fellow man. He who is true to his God, loving and obeying him, will be true to his neighbor. Those who keep the first four commandments will keep the last six.

2SAT 185.7

After giving the ten commandments, the Lord more explicitly enlarged upon them, laying down the principles that should be carried out in the practical life. These specifications are called judgments, or statutes, because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them. God did not speak them with an audible voice to the Israelites, but gave them to Moses, who communicated them to the people. In several instances difficult cases had arisen upon which Moses felt incapable of rendering a decision. He had supplicated the Lord to decide them for him. The Lord now gave general statutes that would govern decisions in these particular cases.

2SAT 186.1

The Lord desired to guard the interests of servants. He commanded the Israelites to be merciful, and to bear in mind that they themselves had been servants. They were directed to be mindful of the rights of their servants. In no case were they to abuse them. In dealing with them they were not to be exacting, as the Egyptian taskmasters had been with them. They were to exercise tenderness and compassion in the treatment of their servants. God desired them to put themselves in the place of the servants, and deal with them as they would wish others to deal with them under the same circumstances.

2SAT 186.2

Because of poverty, some were sold into bondage by their parents. Others who were sentenced for crimes by the judges were sold into bondage. The Lord specified that even these were not to be held as bondservants for more than seven years. At the end of that time every servant was given his freedom or, if he chose, he was allowed to remain with his master. Thus God guarded the interests of the lowly and the oppressed. Thus He enjoined a noble spirit of generosity, and encouraged all to cultivate a love for liberty, because the Lord had made them free. Anyone who refused liberty when it was his privilege to have it, was marked. This was not a badge of honor to him, but a mark of disgrace. Thus God encouraged the cultivation of a high and noble spirit, rather than a spirit of bondage and slavery.

2SAT 186.3

God desires Christians to respect the liberty that He has in so marvelous a manner given them. In Christ is vested the ownership of every man. Man should not be another man’s property. God has bought mankind. One man’s mind, one man’s power, should not rule and control another’s conscience. In the sight of God wealth and position do not exalt one man above another. Men are free to choose the service of God, to love the Lord, and to keep all His commandments.

2SAT 186.4

How carefully God protects the rights of men! He has attached a penalty to wilful murder. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6). If one murderer were permitted to go unpunished, he would by his evil influence and cruel violence subvert others. This would result in a condition of things similar to that which existed before the flood. God must punish murderers. He gives life, and He will take life, if that life becomes a terror and a menace. Mercy shown to a wilful murderer is cruelty to his fellow men. If a wilful murderer thinks that he will find protection by fleeing to the altar of God, he may find that he will be forced from that altar and be slain. But if a man takes life unintentionally, then God declares that He will provide a place of refuge, to which he can flee.

2SAT 187.1

“He that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 21:17). Thus God expressed His mind in regard to rebellious children. He made it a capital crime for children to curse or to smite their parents. And He will punish the parents, if they do not govern and control their children. How many children are lost to all virtue! How many are abandoned to vice and iniquity! How many abuse their own parents!

2SAT 187.2

It was Jesus Christ Himself who gave special directions to Israel. Do these specifications testify of a Christless dispensation? Is this code of statutes of a lower order than are the statutes which are given in this age? The Lord guards the interests of His people. He gives special directions concerning the poor. How impartial are His ways! How exalted are all His requirements.

2SAT 187.3

The Lord gave many other statutes or judgments, which were to be strictly obeyed. These are recorded in the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third chapters of Exodus.

2SAT 187.4

The Lord also specified the conditions on which his people, the Israelites, would receive the promised blessing: [Exodus 23:20-33, quoted].

2SAT 187.5

These promises are given on condition of obedience. God will bless and honor those who honor Him. The living God pledges Himself by promises to those whom He lays under obligations to Himself. His people must take Him as their Ruler. They must obey the laws of His government. They must not only refrain from worshiping all other gods, but overthrow them utterly, thus evidencing their great abhorrence of idolatry.

2SAT 187.6

After God had given Moses various laws and ordinances, He directed him to go down to the people and acquaint them with these laws. Moses was instructed to read them to the people. While in the mount he had written them just as they had been spoken by the Son of God. “And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do” (Exodus 24:3).

2SAT 188.1

Preparation was now made for the ratification of the covenant, according to God’s directions. [Exodus 24:4-8, quoted.]

2SAT 188.2

Here the people received the conditions of the covenant. They made a solemn covenant with God, typifying the covenant made between God and every believer in Jesus Christ. The conditions were plainly laid before the people. They were not left to misunderstand them. When they were requested to decide whether they would agree to all the conditions given, they unanimously consented to obey every obligation. They had already consented to obey God’s commandments. The principles of the law were now particularized, that they might know how much was involved in covenanting to obey the law; and they accepted the specifically-defined particulars of the law.

2SAT 188.3

If the Israelites had obeyed God’s requirements, they would have been practical Christians. They would have been happy; for they would have been keeping God’s ways, and not following the inclinations of their own natural hearts. Moses did not leave them to misconstrue the words of the Lord or to misapply His requirements. He wrote all the words of the Lord in a book, that they might be referred to afterward. In the mount he had written them as Christ Himself dictated them.

2SAT 188.4

Bravely did the Israelites speak the words promising obedience to the Lord, after hearing His covenant read in the audience of the people. They said, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” Then the people were set apart and sealed to God. A sacrifice was offered to the Lord. A portion of the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled upon the altar. This signified that the people had consecrated themselves—body, mind and soul—to God. A portion was sprinkled upon the people. This signified that through the sprinkled blood of Christ, God graciously accepted them as His special treasure. Thus the Israelites entered into a solemn covenant with God.

2SAT 188.5

As representative of the fallen race, Christ passed over the same ground on which Adam stumbled and fell. By a life of perfect obedience to God’s law, Christ redeemed man from the penalty of Adam’s disgraceful fall. Man has violated God’s law. Only for those who return to their allegiance to God, only for those who obey the law that they have violated, will the blood of Christ avail. Christ will never become a party to sin. Bearing the penalty of the law, He gives the sinner another chance, a second trial. He opens a way whereby the sinner can be reinstated in God’s favor. Christ bears the penalty of man’s past transgressions, and by imparting to man His righteousness, makes it possible for man to keep God’s holy law.—Manuscript 126, 1901 (MR 900.37).

Ellen G. White Estate Washington, D. C. November 7, 1985. Entire Manuscript.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 2, 1904

19LtMs, Ms 2, 1904, par. 18

“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.” [Exodus 20:1-17.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 61, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 61, 1910, par. 9

By His life and death Christ taught that only in obedience to all of God’s commandments can man find safety and obtain an healthy experience, for “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” [Psalm 19:7.] God’s law is the transcript of His character. I might dwell upon this subject, but I cannot present all I would gladly present. At Sinai the law was given a second time in awful grandeur. The Lord spoke His precepts. And let all ever bear in mind that God not only spake the law, but engraved the law with His own finger upon tables of stone. Exodus 20th chapter, verses 1-20.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 141, 1906

21LtMs, Ms 141, 1906, par. 10

Exodus 20:1-3 quoted.

21LtMs, Ms 141, 1906, par. 11

That is the Word of God. It is the Word of the living God. Verses 4-8 quoted. “To keep it holy.” We are trying to do it here. That is why we are here, to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

21LtMs, Ms 141, 1906, par. 12

Verses 10, 11 quoted.

21LtMs, Ms 141, 1906, par. 14

Verses 12-21 quoted. Now the Lord still converses with Moses and gives him the law of right between one and another, how they shall treat one another, all through the chapter after He has given the line that they should follow in dealing with one another—what is justice, what is mercy, what is necessity.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Ms 93, 1908

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 11

“And the Lord spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” [Exodus 20:1-3.]

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 14

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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 the 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.” [Verses 4-11.]

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 15

When did the Lord remove His blessing from the day He hallowed? “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth.” [Verse 11.] On the seventh He rested, and He sanctified the day on which He rested. Let us teach these things to our children, that they may honor God and learn to serve Him.

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 16

“Honor thy Father and thy mother: that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” [Verse 12.]

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 24

“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.” [Verses 13-17.]

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 26

“And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness, where God was.” [Verses 18-21.]

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 28

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.” [Verses 22, 23.]

23LtMs, Ms 93, 1908, par. 30

The Lord continues: “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen: in all places where I record My name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” [Verse 24.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 84, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 8

“And the Lord spake all these words, saying, ... Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:1-3.] Will we obey it? Are we obeying it, giving it every sanctified impulse of mind and soul and strength? We are living in the very last days of this earth’s history. If it were not so, I would have said today, I have not strength; I cannot come; I cannot speak. But if there is one soul that will hear the word of the Lord and will be wrought up in heart to obey His word, [even] if I should lose my life I would have nothing to regret. For the Lord God means all that He hath said.

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 9

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything 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.” [Verses 4-6.]

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 11

“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.” [Verse 5.] Of course, He could not promise and pledge Himself that He would let His blessing rest upon the fathers and mothers and the children when they were transgressing His requirements, which are plainly written in the Book that He has given us, and forbidden that anything should be changed in that Word.

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 12

“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.” [Verse 7.] “In vain”—that means something to every one that has a tongue and a voice. We are to remember that there will be a settlement with every case to decide whether they are worthy, whether they have sanctified heart and soul [so] that they will be fit to come into the presence of God, whether they will see the King in His beauty, whether Christ, whom He has given to the world, has died in vain for them.

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 13

Oh, if we can only be overcomers! If we can only understand that there is to be a grand and critical review by the God of heaven, of every case, that there shall not be a second rebellion in heaven. He says, “Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” [Verse 6.]

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 15

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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.” [Verses 8-11.] This is the Sabbath that God has ordained. After He had created the world in six days, He rested the seventh day, and then what? Why, His people were standing in review before God, as obedient children, and thus we are to stand.

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 21

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” [Verses 12-17.]

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 23

“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightning, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” [Verses 18-20.]

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 26

“And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” [Verse 19.]

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 32

[Verse 18.] Here it says that “when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off,” afraid of God. “And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” [Verse 19.] How many would plead that today? How many who are here would plead that if they were in that very company today?

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 33

“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” [Verses 20-24.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Ms 117, 1909

24LtMs, Ms 117, 1909, par. 1

Exodus 20:1-6. Shall we bear that in mind, every one of us, that it means something to us to keep the commandments of God?

24LtMs, Ms 117, 1909, par. 2

Verses 7, 8. Now here is an importance attached to the Sabbath, therefore we are to know just what is specified as to God’s holy day. We are to understand it.

24LtMs, Ms 117, 1909, par. 3

Verses 8-10. It says at the commencement of the chapter that God spake all these words, saying—. Now, I have been reading to you what the Lord has been saying.

24LtMs, Ms 117, 1909, par. 5

Verses 9-12. Here is a very remarkable point. Repeated verse 12. If the children honor their parents, the parents must fulfil the requirements of God to their children. They must educate their children in the line of this education that God has spoken to the people. He had told them what commandments to keep, and therefore they must search the Scriptures and understand what is the will of God, and obey Him. This is the true light for us all, and there will be no excuse for any one of us if we make a mistake, and if we are willing to go on venturing in that mistake, not hearing what saith Jehovah. We can see that we have a sad mistake upon us. We want to know what is right.

24LtMs, Ms 117, 1909, par. 6

Verses 11-24. Here we know there is a very definite specification of what day the seventh day is. God has given us that. But there are two parties in our world. There are those that want to defraud, divert the minds of the people, that they shall not obey the commandments of God, that they shall not follow in the footsteps of Jesus and obey His words.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Ms 125, 1909

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 22

Verses 15-19. There is God talking with the people through Moses. Verses 20-25; Exodus 20:1. He wants all of us to understand what He was telling them.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 23

Verses 2, 3. They were in the habit of having gods, a good many things that they ought to have had.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 24

Verses 4-6. There is the pledge God has made for every living soul upon the face of the earth.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 25

Verses 7, 8. Remember, now here is what He wants you to remember, the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Verses 9, 10. Here is the reason. Verse 11. Now He gives them the commandments—you know what they are.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 26

Verse 12. That throws a responsibility upon the father and the mother. Just as surely as you educate your children to obey the commandments of God, to honor their father and their mother, and just as surely as you do that, you will not have very much scolding to do. You can tell them what the Bible says, just what God says, to them, and then lay the responsibility upon them, and yourselves. The parents and the children to see that that responsibility is really a pledge to these children all their lifetime.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 27

Verses 13, 14-20. You are to obey the words of the Lord, and teach them to your children that they may teach them to their children.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 28

Verses 21-23. O, if every one could remember that there need not be sinners, coveting, murdering, doing everything possible to obtain money. Money is not everything. It is something. We want it, and what do we want it for? Just what we have been doing with it. We want it to send our missionaries to foreign countries. We want it to provide the education that is essential in this part of our world, that we may give them a fitness to go into the foreign countries, and there learn the languages.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 30

Verses 20-22. And the Lord will talk with us from heaven in a great many ways if we will cultivate the grace of humility, if we will practice it in all our dealing in our churches and out of our churches.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 34

Now, here is what the Lord has spoken. Verses 18-23. How many are mocking their God, and selling their souls for gold and for silver, when there is an eternity of bliss that is presented to them if they will keep His commandments? He shows them there is some importance to keeping His commandments. It is verity and truth that He wants them to keep. Why? That they may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world through lust. How? He gave His only begotten Son to come to our world. Why? That humanity might have the example of sinless humanity. That it might grasp the divinity in Christ Jesus, and every sinner that could come to God through Christ, and believe His arm would encircle them to care for them, to protect them.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 36

Verse 22. I think of this when I go into houses in different places, and I see all the things that are created there for sightseeing, and to amuse, and to enrich this home and that home and the other home, when there are souls perishing in our cities; and I lie awake nights. I cannot sleep many nights. I lie awake crying unto God. What will bring them out that they will, every one, heed the word of the Lord? It means everything to you and to me, that they follow on to know the Lord, that they may know His going forth is prepared as the morning.

24LtMs, Ms 125, 1909, par. 37

Verses 24, 25. Here we have lessons that are given unto us, and I want to still go on and give the evidence.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Ms 131, 1907

22LtMs, Ms 131, 1907, par. 5

(Exodus 20:1-11): “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, of 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 generations of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.

22LtMs, Ms 131, 1907, par. 9

(Verses 18-21): “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.”

22LtMs, Ms 131, 1907, par. 13

I have read from the record in the second of Genesis and the twentieth of Exodus. Now I will read from the thirty-first chapter of Exodus: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.” [Verses 1-3.]

Manuscript Releases, vol. 11 [Nos. 851-920]

MR No. 920—The Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son

11MR 373.1

The word given from the beginning is the holy law, spoken from Sinai in majesty and glory. (Exodus 20.) In the words of Christ to the lawyer, we see how important it is that we keep the commandments of God. Said Christ, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:27).

The Story of Redemption

The Judgments and Statutes

SR 150.1

Moses had this in view when he said to Israel, “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” Deuteronomy 4:5-8.

Sermons and Talks, vol. 1

Keep the Commandments

1SAT 233.1

Did Christ die to let loose the whole of humanity to worship idols instead of God, when the commandment said, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”? “And the Lord made the heaven and the earth,” and what then? “And rested the seventh day and sanctified it,” and gave it to you to observe as God’s memorial—a memorial that He is the living God that created the heavens overhead and the earth upon which we stand. (See Exodus 20.) He made the lofty trees, and put the covering upon every flower. He gave to each one its tints, and the Lord of heaven made man and gave him the Sabbath. What for? For all the posterity of Adam. It was a gift to all his posterity.

1SAT 233.2

If man had always obeyed the fourth commandment there never would have been an infidel in the world, because it testified that the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that in them is; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. (See Exodus 20:11.)

The Review and Herald

January 28, 1909

RH January 28, 1909, par. 17

We need to understand clearly the divine requirements that God makes of his people. The law, which is the transcript of his character, no one need fail to understand. The words written by the finger of God on tables of stone so perfectly reveal his will concerning his people that none need make any mistake. The laws of his kingdom were definitely made known, to be afterward revealed to the people of all nations and tongues as the principles of his government. We would do well to study those laws recorded in Exodus 20 and in the thirty-first chapter, verses 12-18.

From Eternity Past

Chapter 27—God Gives His Law on Mount Sinai

EP 209.1

Soon after the encampment at Sinai, Moses was called up into the mountain to meet with God. Israel was now to be taken into a close and peculiar relation to the Most High—to be incorporated as a church and a nation under the government of God. “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”

EP 209.2

Moses returned to the camp, and to the elders of Israel he repeated the divine message. Their answer was, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Thus they entered into a solemn covenant with God, pledging themselves to accept Him as their ruler, by which they became, in a special sense, the subjects of His authority.

EP 209.3

God purposed to make the occasion of speaking His law a scene of awful grandeur. Everything connected with the service of God must be regarded with the greatest reverence. The Lord said to Moses, “Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, ... for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.” All were to occupy the time in solemn preparation to appear before God. Their person and their clothing must be freed from impurity. They were to devote themselves to humiliation, fasting, and prayer that their hearts might be cleansed from iniquity.

EP 210.1

On the morning of the third day, Sinai’s summit was covered with a thick cloud, black and dense, sweeping downward until the entire mountain was wrapped in darkness and mystery. Then a sound as of a trumpet was heard, summoning the people to meet with God. From the thick darkness flashed lightnings, while peals of thunder echoed among the surrounding heights. “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: ... and the whole mount quaked greatly.” The hosts of Israel shook with fear and fell upon their faces before the Lord. Even Moses exclaimed, “I exceedingly fear and quake.” Hebrews 12:21.

EP 210.2

Now the thunders ceased; the trumpet was no longer heard; the earth was still. There was a period of solemn silence; then the voice of God was heard. Speaking out of the thick darkness as He stood upon the mount, surrounded by angels, the Lord made known His law.

EP 210.3

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” He who had brought them forth from Egypt, making a way for them through the sea, and overthrowing Pharaoh and his hosts—He it was who now spoke His law.

EP 210.4

God honored the Hebrews by making them the guardians and keepers of His law, but it was to be held as a sacred trust for the whole world. The precepts of the Decalogue are adapted to all mankind, and they were given for the instruction and government of all. Ten precepts, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, cover the duty of man to God and to his fellowman, and all based upon the great fundamental principle of love. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Luke 10:27. In the Ten Commandments these principles are made applicable to man.

EP 211.1

(1) “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god.

EP 211.2

(2) “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything 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.”

EP 211.3

Many heathen nations claimed that their images were mere symbols by which the Deity was worshiped; but God has declared such worship to be sin. The attempt to represent the Eternal One by material objects would lower man’s conception of God. The mind would be attracted to the creature rather than to the Creator. As his conceptions of God were lowered, so would man become degraded.

EP 211.4

“I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” The close relation of God to His people is represented under the figure of marriage. Idolatry being spiritual adultery, the displeasure of God against it is fitly called jealousy.

EP 211.5

“Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and forth generation of them that hate Me.” Children are not punished for parents’ guilt, except as they participate in their sins. It is usually the case, however, that by inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father’s sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation.

EP 211.6

“Showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” To those who are faithful in His service, mercy is promised, not merely to the third and fourth generation as is the wrath threatened against those who hate Him, but to thousands of generations.

EP 212.1

(3) “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.”

EP 212.3

(4) “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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.”

EP 212.4

The Sabbath is not introduced as a new institution but as having been founded at creation. Pointing to God as the Maker of the heavens and the earth, it distinguishes the true God from false gods. Thus the Sabbath is the sign of man’s allegiance to God. The fourth commandment is the only one of the ten in which are found both the name and the title of the Lawgiver, the only one that shows by whose authority the law is given. Thus it contains the seal of God.

EP 212.5

God has given men six days wherein to labor, and He requires that their own work be done in the six working days. Acts of necessity and mercy are permitted on the Sabbath. The sick and suffering are at all times to be cared for; but unnecessary labor is to be strictly avoided. To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character. And the commandment includes all within our “gates.” The inmates of the house are to lay aside their worldly business during the sacred hours. All should unite to honor God by willing service upon His holy day.

EP 213.1

(5) “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

EP 213.2

Parents are entitled to a degree of love and respect due to no other person. He who rejects the rightful authority of his parents is rejecting the authority of God. The fifth commandment requires children not only to yield respect, submission, and obedience to their parents, but also to give them love and tenderness, to lighten their cares, to guard their reputation, and to succor and comfort them in old age. It also enjoins respect for ministers and rulers.

EP 213.3

(6) “Thou shalt not kill.”

EP 213.4

All acts of injustice that tend to shorten life; the spirit of hatred and revenge, or the indulgence of any passion that leads to injurious acts toward others (even to wish them harm, for “whoso hateth his brother is a murderer”); a selfish neglect of caring for the needy; self-indulgence or excessive labor that tends to injure health—all these are, to a greater or less degree, violations of the sixth commandment.

EP 213.5

(7) “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

EP 213.6

Purity is demanded not only in the outward life but in the secret intents and emotions of the heart. Christ, who taught the far-reaching obligation of the law of God, declared the evil thought or look to be as truly sin as is the unlawful deed.

EP 213.7

(8) “Thou shalt not steal.”

EP 213.8

This prohibition condemns manstealing and slave dealing, wars of conquest, theft and robbery. It demands strict integrity in the minutest details of life. It forbids overreaching in trade and requires the payment of just debts or wages. Every attempt to advantage one’s self by the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another is registered as fraud in the books of heaven.

EP 213.9

(9) “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

EP 213.10

An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood. By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually as by words. Even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehood. Every effort to injure our neighbor’s reputation by misrepresentation, slander or talebearing, the intentional suppression of truth by which injury may result to others is a violation of the ninth commandment.

EP 214.1

(10) “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.”

EP 214.2

The tenth commandment strikes at the very root of all sins, prohibiting the selfish desire, from which springs the sinful act. He who 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.

EP 214.3

God proclaimed His law with exhibitions of His power and glory, that His people might never forget the scene. He would show to all men the sacredness and permanence of His law.

EP 214.4

As God’s great rule of right was presented before them, the people realized as never before the offensive character of sin and their own guilt in the sight of a holy God. 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.”

EP 214.5

Blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, the people were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God’s ten precepts. Additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments. These laws were called “judgments” because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them. Unlike the Ten Commandments, they were delivered privately to Moses.

EP 215.1

The first of these related to servants. A Hebrew could not be sold as a slave for life. His service was limited to six years; on the seventh he was to be set at liberty. The holding of slaves not of Israelitish birth was permitted, but their life and person were strictly guarded. The murderer of a slave was to be punished; an injury inflicted upon one by his master, though no more than the loss of a tooth, entitled him to his freedom.

EP 215.2

The Israelites were to beware of indulging the spirit of cruelty from which they had suffered under their Egyptian taskmasters. The memory of their own bitter servitude should enable them to put themselves in the servant’s place, to be kind and compassionate.

EP 215.3

The rights of widows and orphans were specially guarded. “If thou afflict them in any wise,” the Lord declared, “and they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” Aliens who united themselves with Israel were to be protected from wrong or oppression. “Thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

EP 215.4

The taking of usury from the poor was forbidden. A poor man’s raiment or blanket taken as a pledge must be restored to him at nightfall. Judges were warned against perverting judgment, aiding a false cause, or receiving bribes. Slander was prohibited, and acts of kindness enjoined even toward personal enemies.

EP 215.5

The people were reminded of the sacred obligation of the Sabbath. Yearly feasts were appointed, at which all the men of the nation were to assemble before the Lord, bringing to Him their offerings of gratitude and the firstfruits of His bounties. The object of all these regulations was stated: all were given for the good of Israel. The Lord said, “Ye shall be holy men unto Me.”

EP 215.6

These laws were to be recorded by Moses and carefully treasured as the foundation of the national law, and, with the ten precepts, the condition of the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel.

EP 216.1

The message was now given, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him, and obey His voice, provoke Him not.” Christ in the pillar of cloud and of fire was their Leader. While there were types pointing to a Saviour to come, there was also a present Saviour, who gave commands to Moses for the people and was set forth before them as the only channel of blessing.

EP 216.2

Upon descending from the mountain, “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.”

EP 216.4

Moses had received the command, “Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel.” The seventy elders were to assist Moses in the government of Israel, and God put upon them His Spirit. “And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” They did not behold the Deity, but they saw the glory of His presence. They had been contemplating His glory, purity, and mercy, until they could approach nearer to Him.

EP 217.1

Moses and “his minister Joshua” were now summoned to meet with God. The leader appointed Aaron and Hur, assisted by the elders, to act in his stead. Moses waited for a summons to the presence chamber of the Most High. Though his patience and obedience were tested, he did not forsake his post. Even this favored servant of God could not at once approach into His presence and endure His glory. Six days must be employed in devoting himself to God by searching of heart, meditation, and prayer.

EP 217.2

Upon the seventh day, which was the Sabbath, Moses was called up into the cloud. “And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, ... and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.” He fasted during the entire forty days.

EP 218.1

From a race of slaves the Israelites had been exalted above all peoples to be the peculiar treasure of the King of kings. God had separated them from the world, He had made them the depositaries of His law, and He purposed, through them, to preserve among men the knowledge of Himself.

EP 218.2

Thus the light of heaven was to shine out to a world in darkness. A voice was to be heard appealing to all peoples to turn from idolatry to serve the living God. If the Israelites would be true to their trust, God would be their defense, and He would exalt them above all other nations.

From Eternity Past

Conceptions of God Affect Human Behavior

EP 212.2

This commandment forbids us to use the name of God in a light or careless manner. By the thoughtless mention of God in common conversation, and by frequent, thoughtless repetition of His name, we dishonor Him. “Holy and reverend is His name.” Psalm 111:9. It should be uttered with reverence and solemnity.

From Eternity Past

How the “Old Covenant” Was Made

EP 216.3

Then followed the ratification of the covenant. An altar was built at the foot of the mountain, and beside it twelve pillars were set up, “according to the twelve tribes of Israel,” as a testimony of their acceptance of the covenant. Moses “took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people.” All were at liberty to choose whether they would comply with the conditions of the covenant. They had heard God’s law proclaimed, and its principles had been particularized, that they might know how much this covenant involved. Again the people answered with one accord, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” “When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood ... and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.” Hebrews 9:19, 20.

From Eternity Past

God Exalts a Race of Slaves

EP 217.3

During his stay in the mount, Moses received directions for the building of a sanctuary in which the divine Presence would be specially manifested. “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them,” was the command of God. For the third time the observance of the Sabbath was enjoined: “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever,” the Lord declared, “that ye may know that I am Jehovah that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: ... whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” Exodus 31:17, 13, 14.

EP 217.4

Henceforth the people were to be honored with the abiding presence of their King. “I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God,” “and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.” Exodus 29:45, 43.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Ms 110, 1893

8LtMs, Ms 110, 1893, par. 1

The words of God are valid. Exodus 20:8-11: “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God,” etc. Verse 11: “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.” [See also] Exodus 20; 31:12-18.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 132, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 132, 1898, par. 1

The Bible lies at the foundation of all true education. The faithful student finds that Scripture can only be tested by Scripture. There is no contradiction in the Word of God. The entire revelation which Jesus Christ gave to John is rehearsed by Moses in the Exodus, and in the plagues which the Lord brought upon Egypt.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 80, 1898

13LtMs, Lt 80, 1898, par. 18

The word given from the beginning is the holy law, spoken from Sinai in majesty and glory (Exodus 20). In the words of Christ to the lawyer we see how important it is that we keep the commandments of God. Said Christ, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.” [Luke 10:27.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 77, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 77, 1899, par. 11

The twentieth chapter of Exodus should be studied by everyone who professes to keep the commandments of God. The proclamation of that law from Sinai will stand to witness against the world in the day of judgment; its principles will decide the destiny of every soul. In the twenty-first and twenty-second chapters also, the keeping of the law is plainly enjoined. Those who keep the law of God in truth and righteousness will obey every command. God requires that His people shall respect the laws He instituted in Eden. In the bosom of the Decalogue He has placed the fourth commandment which declares who is the living God.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 145, 1899

14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, par. 2

God declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” [Exodus 20:3-6.]

14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, par. 5

Some things have been presented to me which I must set right. In my own home, one after another, pictures have accumulated. I see the same in every home to which I go. Is the Lord in this matter? Does not the charge in the twentieth chapter of Exodus prohibit this multitudinous picture-making which will continue to increase unless there is a decided reform, unless the people of God shall see that they are becoming idolaters? What shall be done in this matter?

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 176, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 176, 1903, par. 3

This day is the Sabbath and I read quite frequently (Exodus 20) where the commandments of God are specified. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai and repeated His commandments given in Eden. The Father and the Son were upon Sinai’s holy mount.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 11, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 11, 1903, par. 6

We do not make enough of Deuteronomy and Exodus. These books record the dealings of God with Israel. God took the Israelites from slavery and led them through the wilderness to the promised land. They had almost reached the end of their journey. Spies were sent over the Jordan to view the land and bring back a report.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 131, 1903

18LtMs, Lt 131, 1903, par. 8

After the meeting a lady came up to me, and addressing me with cordiality as a friend, asked me with tearful emotion if I thought that she could be saved and not keep the Sabbath. I answered, “My sister, you have the Word of God. This answers your question. Please read the twentieth chapter of Exodus; also the thirty-first chapter, from the twelfth to the eighteenth verses. Then read the last chapter of Revelation. There we find the promise, ‘Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.’ [Revelation 22:14.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 308, 1903

18LtMs, Lt 308, 1903, par. 6

In having these books come to the people, [and their] reading them, a far greater work would be done for the one reading by the angel who had given me the light and bid me write them out quickly; for the enemy was having an influence upon minds that had not investigated the Bible to see what positive [instruction] the great I AM had given to His people in the Word. Exodus, chapter 20. The Lord Himself came upon Sinai’s mount and spoke in awful grandeur His law; again He gave directions that Moses should give to the people. Exodus, chapter 31, verses 12-18. And what could be more positive? Well, these two books were in vindication and magnifying of the law of God. The attention of the people would be called to this subject, and angels of God would impress the minds just as minds have been impressed with the book, Christ’s Object Lessons.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 167, 1904

19LtMs, Ms 167, 1904, par. 7

I shall be seventy-seven years old next November. I have waited a good while for the Saviour’s coming, but I shall wait until I see the King in His beauty. I shall not give up the hope, because He said He would come. “Let not your heart be troubled.” That is what we are looking for. “I will come again. I will receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be.” [John 14:1, 3.] And this is why we are Adventists. Well, what makes you keep the Sabbath day? Why don’t you keep the day that all the rest of the world keeps? Have you studied your Bible to see what is the very day that God has said that you should observe? You read in the twentieth chapter of Exodus where the law is given.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Lt 21, 1905

20LtMs, Lt 21, 1905, par. 6

For a long time I have carried a heavy burden regarding the work to be done in Washington. Not one in a thousand of the people there knows what the Bible says about the Sabbath. The instruction given me is that the ten commandments should be printed in plain letters in a prominent place in the Review. Had these commandments been obeyed, the wickedness now seen in our world would never have existed. Appeal to the people to study the special directions given to Israel regarding the sacredness of the law, as recorded in Exodus, chapter twenty.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 151, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 151, 1905, par. 10

Suppose that for a time the students cannot be sent out as fully accredited physicians. They can work in connection with other physicians; and if they follow the Lord’s guiding, such valuable opportunities will present themselves that they will gain a better experience perhaps than if they had gone out with a diploma. It is the man’s real value that will give him standing room and influence. The nurse or physician who works with the Lord Jesus will gain success. Read the history of the children of Israel as given in the book of Exodus, and let each soul place himself fully on the Lord’s side. The experience of the Israelites is to be considered by the people of God living in these last days.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Lt 154, 1906

21LtMs, Lt 154, 1906, par. 28

In the twentieth of Exodus we find the commandments that God has given as Ruler of the world. All who set one of these aside, and present in its place the observance of a day that bears no sanctity, will be dealt with by Jehovah as usurping an authority that infringes upon His divine prerogatives. The Sunday Sabbath, a child of the Papacy, is set forth to be observed as the Lord’s Sabbath; and to obey this human law would compel men to transgress the laws of Jehovah. Human enactments that conflict with the laws of God bear not the stamp of divine approval.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 142, 1906

21LtMs, Ms 142, 1906, par. 34

Verse 12 quoted. I might go on, but we want to know whether you have made up your mind to believe in the commandments of God. These commandments you will read in (Exodus 20), and be sure to let it carry you to (Exodus 31), and there you read from the 12th to the last verse.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 43, 1906

21LtMs, Ms 43, 1906, par. 5

Let all read the law as given in the twentieth of Exodus. God has specified, in His law, the day that is to be observed as a memorial of creation. He who created the world and made man gave to man the laws of His kingdom. After He had created the world in six days and finished His work, He rested on the seventh day, and was refreshed, and sanctified the day on which He rested.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 146, 1906

21LtMs, Ms 146, 1906, par. 3

Let us turn to the twentieth chapter of Exodus. Here we find recorded the Ten Commandments.

21LtMs, Ms 146, 1906, par. 4

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” [Verses 1-4.]

21LtMs, Ms 146, 1906, par. 8

“Remember”—now here is something that is particularly enjoined on every one of us: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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.” [Verses 5-11.]

21LtMs, Ms 146, 1906, par. 14

I desire to say to you that I have realized the blessing that comes from keeping the Sabbath. At the beginning of my Christian experience I knew nothing about God’s holy Sabbath; but soon after the period of disappointment in 1844, additional light came; and as we began to inquire into matters, the light of the Sabbath broke in upon us, and we have been teaching this truth ever since that time. We have no doubt but that these commandments of God are given to perfect Christian character through obedience. This is why we are here today—as an evidence that we keep the seventh-day Sabbath, not the first day of the week. The first day is not the Sabbath that the Lord has specified. In the commandment is specified the seventh day. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.” What is the conclusion? “Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” [Verse 11.]

21LtMs, Ms 146, 1906, par. 22

“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.” [Verses 12-17.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 17, 1906

21LtMs, Ms 17, 1906, par. 3

If men had studied the Bible, if they had read the book of Exodus, they would have seen that in the proclamation of God’s law, the seventh day was specified as the day that is to be observed as the memorial of creation. In the fourth commandment, the true and living God is shown to be the one who created the world in six days; and the seventh day is pointed out as the day on which God rested, blessing and hallowing it.

21LtMs, Ms 17, 1906, par. 39

“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.” [Exodus 20:1-17.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Lt 202, 1907

22LtMs, Lt 202, 1907, par. 9

Satan has tried, through the working of His deceptive powers, to cause the great humiliation of Christ to exalt sin and to invite rebellion in the world. He would have the cross of Calvary testify to a falsehood. The enemy has not gained his purpose. The truth stands fast forever. Read the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The law which God spoke in awful grandeur from the Mount will endure throughout eternity, despite the efforts of Satan to counterwork the work of God by instituting the observance of the first day in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Ms 185, 1907

22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 5

And there will be many discouraging things. The helpers may sometimes feel a spirit to rise against this or that or the other. I have found whole institutions nearly ruined by one talking with another, and another talking with another, and stirring up the jealousy and evil surmisings. Now, do not let this come in, because if you do, you are not learning of Christ. What we want is to be preparing for that city—that is out of sight now, but by faith we can view it—that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Now, if we expect a place in that city, we can have it if we will be obedient to the requirements of God. He has given us the special direction to denominate us as His people. In Exodus we read the conditions.

22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 6

Chapter 20:1-3. The glory of God is to be kept in view. We are to see light in His light. We are to look upon things as He has presented it to us in the Word. Then He gives them the Ten Commandments, and tells them commandment after commandment. Now the Lord would have His people in these last days be in a position that they can glorify His name, and He wants every soul to search the Scriptures.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Ms 117, 1908

23LtMs, Ms 117, 1908, par. 17

We need to understand clearly the divine requirements that God makes of His people. The law which is the transcript of His character no one need fail to understand. The words written by the finger of God on tables of stone so perfectly reveals His will concerning His people, that none need make any mistake. The laws of His kingdom were definitely made known to be afterward revealed to the people of all nations and tongues as the principles of His government. We would do well to study those laws recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Ms 103, 1908

23LtMs, Ms 103, 1908, par. 27

The Sabbath question is one that will demand great care and wisdom in its presentation. Much of the grace and power of God will be needed to cast down the idol that has been erected in the shape of a false Sabbath. Lift up the standard, lift it up, higher and still higher. Point the people to the twentieth chapter of Exodus, in which the law of God is recorded. The first four of the ten commandments outline our duty to our Maker. He who is false to his God cannot be true to his neighbor. He who loves God supremely will love his neighbor as himself. Pride lifts itself up unto vanity, leading the human agent to make a god of himself. The gospel of Christ sanctifies the soul, expelling self-love.

23LtMs, Ms 103, 1908, par. 28

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” [Verse 8.] The Sabbath was instituted in Eden, after God had created the world. “Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” [Genesis 2:1-3.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Lt 168, 1909

24LtMs, Lt 168, 1909, par. 17

The nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Exodus are of great importance. They should be often repeated, and the instruction given should be sacredly observed. The Lord is the only true God, and He demands that His people shall be obedient to His Word. At this time when Satan is using every device to draw people away from truth and righteousness, let all who would stand on the Lord’s side keep holy the memorial of creation.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Lt 143, 1909

24LtMs, Lt 143, 1909, par. 14

The nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Exodus are of great importance. They should be often repeated, and the instruction given should be sacredly observed. The Lord is the only true God, and He demands that His people shall be obedient to His Word. At this time when Satan is using every device to draw people away from truth and righteousness, let all who would stand on the Lord’s side keep holy the memorial of the Sabbath. Satan is working to place before the people the first day of the week and by its observance exalt a power that is opposed to God.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Lt 161, 1910

25LtMs, Lt 161, 1910, par. 3

The heaviest evidences are to be brought in now on the verity and confirmation of the great test question—Exodus 20 and 31:12-18. Here is the important testing question, and the enemy is trying his best to get minds diverted to make a world of an atom. These words were spoken and are placed in print in Testimonies, Vol. 6, No. 34. In our large meetings—camp-meetings and tent efforts—in or near the large cities, there should be abundance of ministerial help so that one or two ministers will not become overwearied and give the trumpet an uncertain sound. It is high time that the clean, pure, testing truths, that mean life to the receiver, shall be brought to the front in Washington.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Lt 164, 1910

25LtMs, Lt 164, 1910, par. 6

Now comes the Word to the truly sanctified souls, every soul in the family that is living the Word of God. They will be educated, taught of God. “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” Verses 20, 21. All who are transferred from this world to the highest grade of education above will have learned their lessons not from human, unsanctified teachers who refuse to accept the higher education—which is obedience to all of God’s commandments, but from the highest, grandest court, from God’s law, pronounced in awful grandeur from Sinai’s Mount. Read Exodus 19 and 20.

Patriarchs and Prophets

Chapter 27—The Law Given to Israel

PP 303.1

Soon after the encampment at Sinai, Moses was called up into the mountain to meet with God. Alone he climbed the steep and rugged path, and drew near to the cloud that marked the place of Jehovah’s presence. Israel was now to be taken into a close and peculiar relation to the Most High—to be incorporated as a church and a nation under the government of God. The message to Moses for the people was:

PP 303.2

“Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”

PP 303.3

Moses returned to the camp, and having summoned the elders of Israel, he repeated to them the divine message. Their answer was, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Thus they entered into a solemn covenant with God, pledging themselves to accept Him as their ruler, by which they became, in a special sense, the subjects of His authority.

PP 303.4

Again their leader ascended the mountain, and the Lord said unto him, “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever.” When they met with difficulties in the way, they were disposed to murmur against Moses and Aaron, and accuse them of leading the hosts of Israel from Egypt to destroy them. The Lord would honor Moses before them, that they might be led to confide in his instructions.

PP 303.5

God purposed to make the occasion of speaking His law a scene of awful grandeur, in keeping with its exalted character. The people were to be impressed that everything connected with the service of God must be regarded with the greatest reverence. The Lord said to Moses, “Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.” During these intervening days all were to occupy the time in solemn preparation to appear before God. Their person and their clothing must be freed from impurity. And as Moses should point out their sins, they were to devote themselves to humiliation, fasting, and prayer, that their hearts might be cleansed from iniquity.

PP 304.1

The preparations were made, according to the command; and in obedience to a further injunction, Moses directed that a barrier be placed about the mount, that neither man nor beast might intrude upon the sacred precinct. If any ventured so much as to touch it, the penalty was instant death.

PP 304.2

On the morning of the third day, as the eyes of all the people were turned toward the mount, its summit was covered with a thick cloud, which grew more black and dense, sweeping downward until the entire mountain was wrapped in darkness and awful mystery. Then a sound as of a trumpet was heard, summoning the people to meet with God; and Moses led them forth to the base of the mountain. From the thick darkness flashed vivid lightnings, while peals of thunder echoed and re-echoed among the surrounding heights. “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.” “The glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount” in the sight of the assembled multitude. And “the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder.” So terrible were the tokens of Jehovah’s presence that the hosts of Israel shook with fear, and fell upon their faces before the Lord. Even Moses exclaimed, “I exceedingly fear and quake.” Hebrews 12:21.

PP 304.3

And now the thunders ceased; the trumpet was no longer heard; the earth was still. There was a period of solemn silence, and then the voice of God was heard. Speaking out of the thick darkness that enshrouded Him, as He stood upon the mount, surrounded by a retinue of angels, the Lord made known His law. Moses, describing the scene, says: “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints: from His right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand: and they sat down at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words.” Deuteronomy 33:2, 3.

PP 305.1

Jehovah revealed Himself, not alone in the awful majesty of the judge and lawgiver, but as the compassionate guardian of His people: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” He whom they had already known as their Guide and Deliverer, who had brought them forth from Egypt, making a way for them through the sea, and overthrowing Pharaoh and his hosts, who had thus shown Himself to be above all the gods of Egypt—He it was who now spoke His law.

PP 305.2

The law was not spoken at this time exclusively for the benefit of the Hebrews. God honored them by making them the guardians and keepers of His law, but it was to be held as a sacred trust for the whole world. The precepts of the Decalogue are adapted to all mankind, and they were given for the instruction and government of all. Ten precepts, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, cover the duty of man to God and to his fellow man; and all based upon the great fundamental principle of love. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Luke 10:27. See also Deuteronomy 6:4, 5; Leviticus 19:18. In the Ten Commandments these principles are carried out in detail, and made applicable to the condition and circumstances of man.

PP 305.3

“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”

PP 305.4

Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the Source and Sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship. Man is forbidden to give to any other object the first place in his affections or his service. Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god.

PP 305.5

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything 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.”

PP 306.1

The second commandment forbids the worship of the true God by images or similitudes. Many heathen nations claimed that their images were mere figures or symbols by which the Deity was worshiped, but God has declared such worship to be sin. The attempt to represent the Eternal One by material objects would lower man’s conception of God. The mind, turned away from the infinite perfection of Jehovah, would be attracted to the creature rather than to the Creator. And as his conceptions of God were lowered, so would man become degraded.

PP 306.2

“I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” The close and sacred relation of God to His people is represented under the figure of marriage. Idolatry being spiritual adultery, the displeasure of God against it is fitly called jealousy.

PP 306.3

“Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me.” It is inevitable that children should suffer from the consequences of parental wrongdoing, but they are not punished for the parents’ guilt, except as they participate in their sins. It is usually the case, however, that children walk in the steps of their parents. By inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father’s sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation. This fearful truth should have a solemn power to restrain men from following a course of sin.

PP 306.4

“Showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” In prohibiting the worship of false gods, the second commandment by implication enjoins the worship of the true God. And to those who are faithful in His service, mercy is promised, not merely to the third and fourth generation as is the wrath threatened against those who hate Him, but to thousands of generations.

PP 306.5

“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.”

PP 306.6

This commandment not only prohibits false oaths and common swearing, but it forbids us to use the name of God in a light or careless manner, without regard to its awful significance. By the thoughtless mention of God in common conversation, by appeals to Him in trivial matters, and by the frequent and thoughtless repetition of His name, we dishonor Him. “Holy and reverend is His name.” Psalm 111:9. All should meditate upon His majesty, His purity and holiness, that the heart may be impressed with a sense of His exalted character; and His holy name should be uttered with reverence and solemnity.

PP 307.1

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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.”

PP 307.2

The Sabbath is not introduced as a new institution but as having been founded at creation. It is to be remembered and observed as the memorial of the Creator’s work. Pointing to God as the Maker of the heavens and the earth, it distinguishes the true God from all false gods. All who keep the seventh day signify by this act that they are worshipers of Jehovah. Thus the Sabbath is the sign of man’s allegiance to God as long as there are any upon the earth to serve Him. The fourth commandment is the only one of all the ten in which are found both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It is the only one that shows by whose authority the law is given. Thus it contains the seal of God, affixed to His law as evidence of its authenticity and binding force.

PP 307.3

God has given men six days wherein to labor, and He requires that their own work be done in the six working days. Acts of necessity and mercy are permitted on the Sabbath, the sick and suffering are at all times to be cared for; but unnecessary labor is to be strictly avoided. “Turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and ... honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure.” Isaiah 58:13. Nor does the prohibition end here. “Nor speaking thine own words,” says the prophet. Those who discuss business matters or lay plans on the Sabbath are regarded by God as though engaged in the actual transaction of business. To keep the Sabbath holy, we should not even allow our minds to dwell upon things of a worldly character. And the commandment includes all within our gates. The inmates of the house are to lay aside their worldly business during the sacred hours. All should unite to honor God by willing service upon His holy day.

PP 308.1

“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

PP 308.2

Parents are entitled to a degree of love and respect which is due to no other person. God Himself, who has placed upon them a responsibility for the souls committed to their charge, has ordained that during the earlier years of life, parents shall stand in the place of God to their children. And he who rejects the rightful authority of his parents is rejecting the authority of God. The fifth commandment requires children not only to yield respect, submission, and obedience to their parents, but also to give them love and tenderness, to lighten their cares, to guard their reputation, and to succor and comfort them in old age. It also enjoins respect for ministers and rulers and for all others to whom God has delegated authority.

PP 308.3

This, says the apostle, “is the first commandment with promise.” Ephesians 6:2. To Israel, expecting soon to enter Canaan, it was a pledge to the obedient, of long life in that good land; but it has a wider meaning, including all the Israel of God, and promising eternal life upon the earth when it shall be freed from the curse of sin.

PP 308.4

“Thou shalt not kill.”

PP 308.5

All acts of injustice that tend to shorten life; the spirit of hatred and revenge, or the indulgence of any passion that leads to injurious acts toward others, or causes us even to wish them harm (for “whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer”); a selfish neglect of caring for the needy or suffering; all self-indulgence or unnecessary deprivation or excessive labor that tends to injure health—all these are, to a greater or less degree, violations of the sixth commandment.

PP 308.6

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

PP 308.7

This commandment forbids not only acts of impurity, but sensual thoughts and desires, or any practice that tends to excite them. Purity is demanded not only in the outward life but in the secret intents and emotions of the heart. Christ, who taught the far-reaching obligation of the law of God, declared the evil thought or look to be as truly sin as is the unlawful deed.

PP 308.8

“Thou shalt not steal.”

PP 309.1

Both public and private sins are included in this prohibition. The eighth commandment condemns manstealing and slave dealing, and forbids wars of conquest. It condemns theft and robbery. It demands strict integrity in the minutest details of the affairs of life. It forbids overreaching in trade, and requires the payment of just debts or wages. It declares that every attempt to advantage oneself by the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another is registered as fraud in the books of heaven.

PP 309.2

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

PP 309.3

False speaking in any matter, every attempt or purpose to deceive our neighbor, is here included. An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood. By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an 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.

PP 309.4

“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.”

PP 309.5

The tenth commandment strikes at the very root of all sins, prohibiting 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.

PP 309.6

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.

PP 309.7

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, 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.”

PP 310.1

The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God’s ten precepts. That the obligations of the Decalogue might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments. These laws were called judgments, both because they were framed in infinite wisdom and equity and because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them. Unlike the Ten Commandments, they were delivered privately to Moses, who was to communicate them to the people.

PP 310.2

The first of these laws related to servants. In ancient times criminals were sometimes sold into slavery by the judges; in some cases, debtors were sold by their creditors; and poverty even led persons to sell themselves or their children. But a Hebrew could not be sold as a slave for life. His term of service was limited to six years; on the seventh he was to be set at liberty. Manstealing, deliberate murder, and rebellion against parental authority were to be punished with death. The holding of slaves not of Israelitish birth was permitted, but their life and person were strictly guarded. The murderer of a slave was to be punished; an injury inflicted upon one by his master, though no more than the loss of a tooth, entitled him to his freedom.

PP 310.3

The Israelites had lately been servants themselves, and now that they were to have servants under them, they were to beware of indulging the spirit of cruelty and exaction from which they had suffered under their Egyptian taskmasters. The memory of their own bitter servitude should enable them to put themselves in the servant’s place, leading them to be kind and compassionate, to deal with others as they would wish to be dealt with.

PP 310.4

The rights of widows and orphans were especially guarded, and a tender regard for their helpless condition was enjoined. “If thou afflict them in any wise,” the Lord declared, “and they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” Aliens who united themselves with Israel were to be protected from wrong or oppression. “Thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

PP 311.1

The taking of usury from the poor was forbidden. A poor man’s raiment or blanket taken as a pledge, must be restored to him at nightfall. He who was guilty of theft was required to restore double. Respect for magistrates and rulers was enjoined, and judges were warned against perverting judgment, aiding a false cause, or receiving bribes. Calumny and slander were prohibited, and acts of kindness enjoined, even toward personal enemies.

PP 311.2

Again the people were reminded of the sacred obligation of the Sabbath. Yearly feasts were appointed, at which all the men of the nation were to assemble before the Lord, bringing to Him their offerings of gratitude and the first fruits of His bounties. The object of all these regulations was stated: they proceeded from no exercise of mere arbitrary sovereignty; all were given for the good of Israel. The Lord said, “Ye shall be holy men unto Me”—worthy to be acknowledged by a holy God.

PP 311.3

These laws were to be recorded by Moses, and carefully treasured as the foundation of the national law, and, with the ten precepts which they were given to illustrate, the condition of the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel.

PP 311.4

The message was now given them from Jehovah: “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him, and obey His voice, provoke Him not; for He will not pardon your transgressions: for My name is in Him. But if thou shalt indeed obey His voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.” During all the wanderings of Israel, Christ, in the pillar of cloud and of fire, was their Leader. While there were types pointing to a Saviour to come, there was also a present Saviour, who gave commands to Moses for the people, and who was set forth before them as the only channel of blessing.

PP 311.5

Upon descending from the mountain, “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” This pledge, together with the words of the Lord which it bound them to obey, was written by Moses in a book.

PP 312.1

Then followed the ratification of the covenant. An altar was built at the foot of the mountain, and beside it twelve pillars were set up, “according to the twelve tribes of Israel,” as a testimony to their acceptance of the covenant. Sacrifices were then presented by young men chosen for the service.

PP 312.2

Having sprinkled the altar with the blood of the offerings, Moses “took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people.” Thus the conditions of the covenant were solemnly repeated, and all were at liberty to choose whether or not they would comply with them. They had at the first promised to obey the voice of God; but they had since heard His law proclaimed; and its principles had been particularized, that they might know how much this covenant involved. Again the people answered with one accord, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” “When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood, ... and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.” Hebrews 9:19, 20.

PP 312.3

Arrangements were now to be made for the full establishment of the chosen nation under Jehovah as their king. Moses had received the command, “Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord.” While the people worshiped at its foot, these chosen men were called up into the mount. The seventy elders were to assist Moses in the government of Israel, and God put upon them His Spirit, and honored them with a view of His power and greatness. “And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” They did not behold the Deity, but they saw the glory of His presence. Before this they could not have endured such a scene; but the exhibition of God’s power had awed them to repentance; they had been contemplating His glory, purity, and mercy, until they could approach nearer to Him who was the subject of their meditations.

PP 313.1

Moses and “his minister Joshua” were now summoned to meet with God. And as they were to be some time absent, the leader appointed Aaron and Hur, assisted by the elders, to act in his stead. “And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai.” For six days the cloud covered the mountain as a token of God’s special presence; yet there was no revelation of Himself or communication of His will. During this time Moses remained in waiting for a summons to the presence chamber of the Most High. He had been directed, “Come up to Me into the mount, and be there,” and though his patience and obedience were tested, he did not grow weary of watching, or forsake his post. This period of waiting was to him a time of preparation, of close self-examination. Even this favored servant of God could not at once approach into His presence and endure the exhibitions of His glory. Six days must be employed in devoting himself to God by searching of heart, meditation, and prayer before he could be prepared for direct communication with his Maker.

PP 313.2

Upon the seventh day, which was the Sabbath, Moses was called up into the cloud. The thick cloud opened in the sight of all Israel, and the glory of the Lord broke forth like devouring fire. “And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.” The forty days’ tarry in the mount did not include the six days of preparation. During the six days Joshua was with Moses, and together they ate of the manna and drank of “the brook that descended out of the mount.” But Joshua did not enter with Moses into the cloud. He remained without, and continued to eat and drink daily while awaiting the return of Moses, but Moses fasted during the entire forty days.

PP 313.3

During his stay in the mount, Moses received directions for the building of a sanctuary in which the divine presence would be specially manifested. “Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8), was the command of God. For the third time the observance of the Sabbath was enjoined. “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever,” the Lord declared, “that ye may know that I am Jehovah that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you.... Whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” Exodus 31:17,13, 14. Directions had just been given for the immediate erection of the tabernacle for the service of God; and now the people might conclude, because the object had in view was the glory of God, and also because of their great need of a place of worship, that they would be justified in working at the building upon the Sabbath. To guard them from this error, the warning was given. Even the sacredness and urgency of that special work for God must not lead them to infringe upon His holy rest day.

PP 314.1

Henceforth the people were to be honored with the abiding presence of their King. “I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God,” “and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory” (Exodus 29:45, 43), was the assurance given to Moses. As the symbol of God’s authority and the embodiment of His will, there was delivered to Moses a copy of the Decalogue engraved by the finger of God Himself upon two tables of stone (Deuteronomy 9:10; Exodus 32:15, 16), to be sacredly enshrined in the sanctuary, which, when made, was to be the visible center of the nation’s worship.

PP 314.2

From a race of slaves the Israelites had been exalted above all peoples to be the peculiar treasure of the King of kings. God had separated them from the world, that He might commit to them a sacred trust. He had made them the depositaries of His law, and He purposed, through them, to preserve among men the knowledge of Himself. Thus the light of heaven was to shine out to a world enshrouded in darkness, and a voice was to be heard appealing to all peoples to turn from their idolatry to serve the living God. If the Israelites would be true to their trust, they would become a power in the world. God would be their defense, and He would exalt them above all other nations. His light and truth would be revealed through them, and they would stand forth under His wise and holy rule as an example of the superiority of His worship over every form of idolatry.

Selected Messages Book 1

Chapter 28—Satan’s Enmity Toward the Law

1SM 225.1

We need to understand clearly the divine requirements that God makes of His people. The law, which is the transcript of His character, no one need fail to understand. The words written by the finger of God on tables of stone so perfectly reveal His will concerning His people that none need make any mistake. The laws of His kingdom were definitely made known, to be afterward revealed to the people of all nations and tongues as the principles of His government. We would do well to study those laws recorded in Exodus 20 and in the thirty-first chapter, verses 12-18.

The Story of Redemption

Chapter 18—The Law of God

SR 137.1

After the children of Israel left Rephidim, they came to the “desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.”

SR 137.2

The people here entered into a solemn covenant with God and accepted Him as their ruler, by which they became the peculiar subjects of His divine authority. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.” When the Hebrews had met with difficulties in the way, they were disposed to murmur against Moses and Aaron, and accuse them of leading the host of Israel from Egypt to destroy them. God would honor Moses before them, that they might be led to confide in his instructions, and know that He had put His Spirit upon him.

SR 138.1

The Lord then gave Moses express directions in regard to preparing the people for Him to approach nigh to them, that they might hear His law spoken, not by angels, but by Himself. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.”

SR 138.2

The people were required to refrain from worldly labor and care, and to possess devotional thoughts. God required them also to wash their clothes. He is no less particular now than He was then. He is a God of order, and requires His people now upon the earth to observe habits of strict cleanliness. And those who worship God with unclean garments and persons do not come before Him in an acceptable manner. He is not pleased with their lack of reverence for Him, and He will not accept the service of filthy worshipers, for they insult their Maker. The Creator of the heavens and of the earth considered cleanliness of so much importance that He said, “And let them wash their clothes.”

SR 138.3

“And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: there shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.” This command was designed to impress the minds of this rebellious people with a profound veneration for God, the author and authority of their laws.

SR 139.1

“And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.” The angelic host that attended the divine Majesty summoned the people by a sound resembling that of a trumpet, which waxed louder and louder until the whole earth trembled.

SR 139.2

“And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.” The divine Majesty descended in a cloud with a glorious retinue of angels, who appeared as flames of fire.

SR 139.3

“And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them.”

SR 140.1

Thus the Lord, in awful grandeur, spoke His law from Sinai, that the people might believe. He then accompanied the giving of His law with sublime exhibitions of His authority, that they might know that He is the only true and living God. Moses was not permitted to enter within the cloud of glory, but only draw nigh and enter the thick darkness which surrounded it. And he stood between the people and the Lord.

SR 140.2

After the Lord had given them such evidences of His power, He told them who He was: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” The same God who exalted His power among the Egyptians now spoke His law:

SR 140.3

“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

SR 140.4

“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.

SR 140.5

“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.

SR 140.6

“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.

SR 141.1

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

SR 141.2

“Thou shalt not kill.

SR 141.3

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.

SR 141.4

“Thou shalt not steal.

SR 141.5

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

SR 141.6

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s.”

SR 141.7

The first and second commandments spoken by Jehovah are precepts against idolatry; for idolatry, if practiced, would lead men to great lengths in sin and rebellion, and result in the offering of human sacrifices. God would guard against the least approach to such abominations. The first four commandments were given to show men their duty to God. The fourth is the connecting link between the great God and man. The Sabbath, especially, was given for the benefit of man and for the honor of God. The last six precepts show the duty of man to his fellow man.

SR 141.8

The Sabbath was to be a sign between God and His people forever. In this manner was it to be a sign—all who should observe the Sabbath, signified by such observance that they were worshipers of the living God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. The Sabbath was to be a sign between God and His people as long as He should have a people upon the earth to serve Him.

SR 142.1

“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

SR 142.2

“And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.” The majestic presence of God at Sinai, and the commotions in the earth occasioned by His presence, the fearful thunderings and lightnings which accompanied this visitation of God, so impressed the minds of the people with fear and reverence to His sacred majesty that they instinctively drew back from the awful presence of God, lest they should not be able to endure His terrible glory.

SR 142.3

Again, God would guard the children of Israel from idolatry. He said unto them, “Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.” They were in danger of imitating the example of the Egyptians, and making to themselves images to represent God.

SR 143.1

God would have His people understand that He alone should be the object of their worship; and when they should overcome the idolatrous nations around them, they should not preserve any of the images of their worship, but utterly destroy them. Many of these heathen deities were very costly, and of beautiful workmanship, which might tempt those who had witnessed idol worship, so common in Egypt, to even regard these senseless objects with some degree of reverence. The Lord would have His people know that it was because of the idolatry of these nations, which had led them to every degree of wickedness, that He would use the Israelites as His instruments to punish them and destroy their gods.

SR 145.1

The law of God existed before man was created. The angels were governed by it. Satan fell because he transgressed the principles of God’s government. After Adam and Eve were created, God made known to them His law. It was not then written, but was rehearsed to them by Jehovah.

SR 145.2

The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was instituted in Eden. After God had made the world and created man upon the earth, He made the Sabbath for man. After Adam’s sin and fall nothing was taken from the law of God. The principles of the Ten Commandments existed before the fall and were of a character suited to the condition of a holy order of beings. After the fall the principles of those precepts were not changed, but additional precepts were given to meet man in his fallen state.

SR 145.3

A system was then established requiring the sacrificing of beasts, to keep before fallen man that which the serpent made Eve disbelieve, that the penalty of disobedience is death. The transgression of God’s law made it necessary for Christ to die a sacrifice, and thus make a way possible for man to escape the penalty, and yet the honor of God’s law be preserved. The system of sacrifices was to teach man humility, in view of his fallen condition, and lead him to repentance and to trust in God alone, through the promised Redeemer, for pardon for past transgression of His law. If the law of God had not been transgressed, there never would have been death, and there would have been no need of additional precepts to suit man’s fallen condition.

SR 146.1

Adam taught his descendants the law of God, which law was handed down to the faithful through successive generations. The continual transgression of God’s law called for a flood of waters upon the earth. The law was preserved by Noah and his family, who for right-doing were saved in the ark by a miracle of God. Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments. The Lord preserved a people for Himself from Adam down, in whose hearts was His law. He says of Abraham, He “obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5.

SR 146.2

The Lord appeared unto Abraham, and said unto him:

SR 146.3

“I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.” Genesis 17:1, 2. “And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” Genesis 17:7.

SR 146.4

He then required of Abraham and his seed, circumcision, which was a circle cut in the flesh, as a token that God had cut them out and separated them from all nations as His peculiar treasure. By this sign they solemnly pledged themselves that they would not intermarry with other nations, for by so doing they would lose their reverence for God and His holy law, and would become like the idolatrous nations around them.

SR 147.1

By the act of circumcision they solemnly agreed to fulfill on their part the conditions of the covenant made with Abraham, to be separate from all nations and to be perfect. If the descendants of Abraham had kept separate from other nations, they would not have been seduced into idolatry. By keeping separate from other nations, a great temptation to engage in their sinful practices and rebel against God would be removed from them. They lost in a great measure their peculiar, holy character by mingling with the nations around them. To punish them, the Lord brought a famine upon their land, which compelled them to go down into Egypt to preserve their lives. But God did not forsake them while they were in Egypt, because of His covenant with Abraham. He suffered them to be oppressed by the Egyptians, that they might turn to Him in their distress, choose His righteous and merciful government, and obey His requirements.

SR 147.2

There were but a few families that first went down into Egypt. These increased to a great multitude. Some were careful to instruct their children in the law of God, but many of the Israelites had witnessed so much idolatry that they had confused ideas of God’s law. Those who feared God cried to Him in anguish of spirit to break their yoke of grievous bondage and bring them from the land of their captivity, that they might be free to serve Him. God heard their cries and raised up Moses as His instrument to accomplish the deliverance of His people. After they had left Egypt, and the waters of the Red Sea had been divided before them, the Lord proved them to see if they would trust in Him who had taken them, a nation from another nation, by signs, temptations, and wonders. But they failed to endure the trial. They murmured against God because of difficulties in the way and wished to return again to Egypt.

SR 148.1

To leave them without excuse, the Lord Himself condescended to come down upon Sinai, enshrouded in glory and surrounded by His angels, and in a most sublime and awful manner made known His law of Ten Commandments. He did not trust them to be taught by anyone, not even His angels, but spoke His law with an audible voice in the hearing of all the people. He did not, even then, trust them to the short memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements, but wrote them with His own holy finger upon tables of stone. He would remove from them all possibility of mingling with His holy precepts any tradition, or of confusing His requirements with the practices of men.

SR 148.2

He then came still closer to His people, who were so readily led astray, and would not leave them with merely the ten precepts of the Decalogue. He commanded Moses to write, as He should bid him, judgments and laws, giving minute directions in regard to what He required them to perform, and thereby guarded the ten precepts which He had engraved upon the tables of stone. These specific directions and requirements were given to draw erring man to the obedience of the moral law, which he is so prone to transgress.

SR 148.3

If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved in the ark by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a token or pledge, they would never have gone into idolatry or been suffered to go down into Egypt, and there would have been no necessity of God’s proclaiming His law from Sinai and engraving it upon tables of stone and guarding it by definite directions in the judgments and statutes of Moses.

SR 149.1

Moses wrote these judgments and statutes from the mouth of God while he was with Him in the mount. If the people of God had obeyed the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the specific directions given to Moses, which he wrote in a book, relative to their duty to God and to one another. The definite directions which the Lord gave to Moses in regard to the duty of His people to one another, and to the stranger, are the principles of the Ten Commandments simplified and given in a definite manner, that they need not err.

SR 149.2

The Lord instructed Moses definitely in regard to the ceremonial sacrifices which were to cease at the death of Christ. The system of sacrifices foreshadowed the offering of Christ as a Lamb without blemish.

SR 149.3

The Lord first established the system of sacrificial offerings with Adam after his fall, which he taught to his descendants. This system was corrupted before the Flood, and by those who separated themselves from the faithful followers of God and engaged in the building of the tower of Babel. They sacrificed to gods of their own [making] instead of the God of heaven. They offered sacrifices not because they had faith in the Redeemer to come but because they thought they should please their gods by offering a great many beasts upon polluted idol altars. Their superstition led them to great extravagances. They taught the people that the more valuable the sacrifice the greater pleasure would it give their idol gods, and the greater would be the prosperity and riches of their nation. Hence, human beings were often sacrificed to these senseless idols. Those nations had laws and regulations to control the actions of the people, which were cruel in the extreme. Their laws were made by those whose hearts were not softened by grace; and while they would pass over the most debasing crimes, a small offense would call forth the most cruel punishment from those in authority.

The Story of Redemption

The Peril of Idolatry

SR 142.4

The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him, and obey His voice, provoke Him not; for He will not pardon your transgressions: for My name is in Him. But if thou shalt indeed obey His voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; for Mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.” The angel who went before Israel was the Lord Jesus Christ. “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Exodus 23:24, 25.

SR 143.2

“I will send My fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand: and thou shalt drive them out before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against Me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.” Exodus 23:27-33. These promises of God to His people were on condition of their obedience. If they would serve the Lord fully, He would do great things for them.

SR 144.1

After Moses had received the judgments from the Lord, and had written them for the people, also the promises, on condition of obedience, the Lord said unto him, “Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” Exodus 24:1-3.

SR 144.2

Moses had written, not the Ten Commandments, but the judgments which God would have them observe, and the promises on condition that they would obey Him. He read this to the people, and they pledged themselves to obey all the words which the Lord had said. Moses then wrote their solemn pledge in a book and offered sacrifice unto God for the people. “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” The people repeated their solemn pledge to the Lord to do all that He had said, and to be obedient. (Exodus 24:7, 8.)

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 117, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 117, 1903, par. 16

The same one that said to Moses, “Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever” [Exodus 19:9], condescended to come to our world in the garb of humanity. The only begotten Son of God became a helpless babe in Bethlehem. It was He who was now speaking to the Jewish people, but they knew Him not. From the mount He had spoken, saying, “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” [Exodus 20:2.] He was now standing before them in His assumed humanity, giving them a lesson that they would never forget, whether they heeded it or disregarded it.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 126, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 126, 1901, par. 13

The first words that God spoke were, “I am the Lord thy God.” [Exodus 20:2.] By this declaration He asserted His authority to present His claims before the people. He had freed them from their bondage, and they owed their service to Him.

16LtMs, Ms 126, 1901, par. 20

By their treatment of His Word the popes have exalted themselves above the God of heaven. This is the reason that in prophecy the papal power is specified as the “man of sin.” [2 Thessalonians 2:3.] Satan is the originator of sin. The power that he causes to alter any one of God’s holy precepts is the man of sin. Under Satan’s special direction the papal power has done this very work. Although those standing at the head of the papacy claim to have great love for God, He looks upon them as haters of Him. They have turned the truth of God into a lie. Tampering with God’s commandments and placing in their stead human traditions is the work of Satan and will divorce the religious world from God; for He declares, “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.” [Exodus 20:5.] God will fulfil this word. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” [Galatians 6:7.] Pharaoh sowed obstinacy, and he reaped obstinacy. He himself put this seed into the soil. There was no more need for God by some new power to interfere with its growth than there is for Him to interfere with the growth of a grain of corn.

16LtMs, Ms 126, 1901, par. 29

God announces Himself as “showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” [Exodus 20:6.]

16LtMs, Ms 126, 1901, par. 35

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” [Verse 7.] Those who are brought into covenant relation with God are pledged to speak of Him in the most respectful, reverential manner. Many refer to God and mention His name in their religious conversation much as they would mention a horse or any other common creature. This dishonors God. By precept and example, parents should educate their children on this point, lest by irreverence they grieve away God’s Spirit from their hearts and the hearts of their children.

Conflict and Courage

Idolatry Then and Now, July 23

CC 210.1

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3.

That I May Know Him

Cast Out Every Idol, November 12

TMK 322.2

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).... It is not alone in denying the existence of God or in bowing down to idols of wood and stone that this first commandment is broken. By many who profess to be followers of Christ, its principles are infringed, but the Lord of heaven does not acknowledge those as His children who are cherishing in their hearts anything that takes the place which God alone should hold. With many the gratification of appetite holds sway, while with others dress and love of the world are given the first place in the heart....

The Acts of the Apostles

Chapter 15—Delivered From Prison

AA 151.4

Herod was acquainted with the law of God, which says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3); and he knew that in accepting the worship of the people he had filled up the measure of his iniquity and brought upon himself the just wrath of Jehovah.

The Kress Collection

God’s Design in Establishing Sanitariums

KC 12.3

To the same work He has called His people in this generation. To them He has revealed His will, and of them He requires obedience. In the last days of this earth’s history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still saying to men, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3. Man has set his will against the will of God, but He cannot silence this word of command. The human mind can never fully comprehend its obligation to the higher power, but it cannot evade the obligation. Profound theories and speculations may abound, may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with the law of God: but stronger and still stronger will the Holy Spirit bring before them the command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10.

Testimony Treasures, vol. 2

God’s Purpose in the Church

2TT 365.1

To the same work He has called His people in this generation. To them He has revealed His will, and of them He requires obedience. In the last days of this earth’s history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still saying to men: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3. Man has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence this word of command. The human mind can never fully comprehend its obligation to the higher power, but it cannot evade the obligation. Profound theories and speculations may abound, men may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with the law of God; but stronger and still stronger will the Holy Spirit bring before them the command: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886)

Ms 89, 1886

4LtMs, Ms 89, 1886, par. 11

But let us see in regard to this law that is so terrible and so much against man that it is pronounced a yoke of bondage. Take the first commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” [Exodus 20:3.] Is this a type or shadow? Must this go with the types and the shadows? It is true, it seems to be binding in its character, for it leads man to the one living God and permits him to look to no other gods for help, to reverence and adore. Nevertheless, “Thou shalt” shows that the will of man is interfered with, so it is [perceived as] a yoke.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Ms 49, 1895

10LtMs, Ms 49, 1895, par. 2

This matter is of eternal importance, and it is urged upon you to save you from the sin of idolatry. Blessing would come to your souls if you would obey the Word spoken by the Holy One of Israel, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:3.] You are creating unnecessary cares and anxieties for yourselves by devoting your time and thoughts to the images of your friends. The power of God is needed to arouse you from this devotion, for to all intents and purposes it is idolatry.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 11 (1896)

Ms 57, 1896

11LtMs, Ms 57, 1896, par. 24

All who love God and are loyal to His government will be tempted to change leaders. But God has said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” [Exodus 20:3.] “Thou shalt love the Lord God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” [Luke 10:27.] The Lord accepts no half heart. He demands the whole man. Religion is to be brought into every phase of life, carried into labor of every kind. The whole man is to come under God’s control. He must not suppose that he can take supervision of his own thoughts. They must be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. Self cannot manage self; it is not sufficient for the work. Whoever tries to do this will be worsted. God alone can make and keep us loyal.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 49, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 49, 1897, par. 33

The last great day will be a triumph of law. The Lord is preparing for His last great work, and He will rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity. Then the earth will disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Who will prepare to hold up a light amid the moral darkness that exists in our world. The wretchedness that has been accumulating for ages and that is degrading humanity is not sensed as it should be. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” is the command of God. [Exodus 20:3.] Idolatry exists in the churchgoers today as verily as in the days of Noah. But when this command is obeyed, the human family will be elevated, ennobled, and exalted.

Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students

A Deeper Consecration

CT 248.2

None need concern themselves about those things which the Lord has not revealed to us. In these days, speculation will abound, but God declares, “The secret things belong unto the Lord.” Deuteronomy 29:29. The voice that spoke to Israel from Sinai is speaking in these last days to men and women, saying, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3. The law of God was written with His own finger on tables of stone, thus showing that it could never be changed or abrogated. It is to be preserved through the eternal ages, immutable as the principles of His government. Men have set their will against the will of God, but this cannot silence His words of wisdom and command, though they may set their speculative theories in opposition to the teachings of revelation, and exalt human wisdom above a plain “Thus saith the Lord.”

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Lt 133, 1897

12LtMs, Lt 133, 1897, par. 13

But one thing we must learn. God has declared, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:3.] He will never allow any people called by His name to bring reproach upon Him without punishing them. He is dishonored when they look to human agencies, and trust in and depend for counsel upon finite men. The Lord desires to be sought in council for the very things we need. He bears long with His purchased possession. He gives the ministration of angels to be their efficiency; but when men disregard His mercy and His love, and carry themselves proudly as if all things were their own, to do with as they will, He will remove the blessings and send adversity. He looks with abhorrence upon human pride.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 194, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 194, 1898, par. 13

The great temptation comes from Satan to make the kingdom of this world first. If any soul does this, making the things of this life first, he will learn to his sorrow that his life, his happiness consists not in the abundance of the things he shall acquire in worldly goods, that the kingdom of God does not consist in meat and in drink; for then the Bible, the Word of God, would be discarded and the god of this world would assume the supremacy and become the object to be worshiped. The commandment of God declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”—Christ. [Exodus 20:3.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 163a, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 163a, 1898, par. 5

Man is not to dishonor his Maker by having any other gods. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” is the command. [Exodus 20:3.] Self is to be brought into entire obedience to God. This is the first great command, and upon this hang all the rest, because this is the substance of all obedience.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 166, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 166, 1899, par. 4

To the same work He has called His people in this generation. To them He has revealed His will, and of them He requires obedience. In the last days of this earth’s history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still saying to men, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3. Man has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence this word of command. The human mind can never full comprehend its obligation to the higher power, but it cannot evade the obligation. Profound theories and speculations may abound, men may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with the law of God; but stronger and still stronger will the Holy Spirit bring before them the command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 160, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 160, 1899, par. 3

In the last days of this earth’s history, the voice that spoke from Sinai is still saying to men, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:3.] What man, however much he may set his will against the will of God to hush this word of command, can separate himself from the consciousness of his past life? The human mind can never fully comprehend its obligations to the higher power. Profound theories and speculations may be abundant, but God is true. You may set science in opposition to revelation, and try to do away with the law of God, but stronger and still stronger will the Holy Spirit bring before you the command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” [Matthew 4:10.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 209, 1899

14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, par. 24

Herod exalted himself as a god, and denied not the adulation given him when the admiring throng declared, “It is the voice of a god and not of a man.” [Acts 12:22.] But an avenging angel, jealous of Jehovah’s honor, smote the blasphemous king, and he was eaten of worms while life was in him. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” the Lord declares. [Exodus 20:3.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 63, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 63, 1901, par. 19

This making and exchanging photographs is a species of idolatry. Satan is doing all he can to eclipse heaven from our view. Let us not help him by making picture-idols. We need to reach a higher standard than these human faces suggest. The Lord says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:3.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Lt 197, 1902

17LtMs, Lt 197, 1902, par. 7

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:3.] This command must be more sacredly observed if we would fulfil the grand purpose of God for us in our creation and redemption. We must rise heavenward, making God first and last and best in everything. He is our sole, supreme, and everlasting good. Before we are ready to enter His kingdom, self must be crucified. When self is made first, God is put aside, and the sweet sense of His presence and His love is lost.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Lt 69, 1904

19LtMs, Lt 69, 1904, par. 31

Only a few days had passed since the Hebrews had made a solemn covenant with God to obey His voice. They had stood trembling with terror before the mount, listening to the words of the Lord, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” [Exodus 20:3.] The glory of God still hovered above Sinai in the sight of the congregation; but they turned away and asked for other gods. “They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox.” [Psalm 106:19, 20.] How could greater ingratitude have been shown, or a more daring insult offered, to Him who had revealed Himself to them as a tender Father and an all-powerful King.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 45, 1904

19LtMs, Ms 45, 1904, par. 13

It is time for the people of God to come to their senses and to dig deep and lay the sure foundation upon the Rock of Ages. Dr. Kellogg knows not where he stands. Why? Because he has lost his spiritual eyesight. His associates in the so-called medical missionary work are deceived and being deceived. The commendation of God does not rest upon the rebuilding of the sanitarium in Battle Creek. Warning after warning has been given that the work should not be centralized there, but that plants should be made in many places. Dr. Kellogg has now become so dazed by satanic agencies that he has no power from the snare to go from Battle Creek. He has no moral power to carry on the work at Battle Creek as a missionary enterprise under the sanctification of the Holy Spirit of God. He has so long defied God in doing his own will that he knows not God nor Jesus Christ through a sanctified, pure, righteous character. The Lord says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” [Exodus 20:3.] The idolatry of his own devising is yet to appear. The divine Lawgiver Himself is not respected and is not obeyed, and dummies are placed on the throne. For years moral darkness has been gathering around him and becoming more dense, his intense purpose being to devise ways of concealing his ingenious methods of unsanctified devising until his own sinful devising has been becoming exhausted and the divine displeasure has been increasing, ready to discharge upon him any moment. Those who have linked themselves with him need to break from the fellowship at once. I have no words from the Lord to commend a course of action which will lead him to suppose that they are in full sympathy with him. None of these physicians will hold up a light amid the moral darkness, by which the deluded people could see that they had been imbued by a spirit not of God, but from satanic agencies.

Lift Him Up

The First Great Commandment, May 8

LHU 142.6

The voice that spoke to Israel from Sinai is speaking in these last days to men and women, saying, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). The law of God was written with His own finger on tables of stone, thus showing that it could never be changed or abrogated. It is to be preserved through the eternal ages, immutable as the principles of His government. Men have set their will against the will of God, but this cannot silence His words of wisdom and command, though they may set their speculative theories in opposition to the teachings of revelation, and exalt human wisdom above a plain “Thus saith the Lord” (Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 248).

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Ms 31, 1908

23LtMs, Ms 31, 1908, par. 2

None need concern themselves about those things which the Lord has not revealed to us. In these days speculations will abound, but the Lord declares, “The secret things belong unto the Lord.” [Deuteronomy 29:29.] The voice that spoke to Israel from Sinai is speaking in these last days to men and women, saying, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” [Exodus 20:3.] The law of God was written with His own finger on tables of stone, thus showing that it could never be changed or abolished. It is to be preserved through the eternal ages, immutable as the principles of His government in heaven and in earth. Men have set their will against the will of God, but this will not silence His words of wisdom and command, though they may set their speculative theories in opposition to the teachings of revelation and exalt human wisdom above a plain “Thus saith the Lord.”

Lift Him Up

No Other Gods, May 9

LHU 143.1

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3.

Lift Him Up

Teachers to Uphold God’s Law, May 31

LHU 165.7

In the last days of this earth’s history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still declaring, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Man has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence the word of command. The human mind cannot evade its obligation to a higher power. Theories and speculations may abound; men may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with God’s law; but stronger and still stronger comes the command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10) (Prophets and Kings, 623-625).

Prophets and Kings

Chapter 51—A Spiritual Revival

PK 624.3

In the last days of this earth’s history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still declaring, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3. Man has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence the word of command. The human mind cannot evade its obligation to a higher power. Theories and speculations may abound; men may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with God’s law; but stronger and still stronger comes the command, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”Matthew 4:10.

Selected Messages Book 2

Chapter 33—“No Other Gods Before Me”

2SM 317.2

This matter is of great importance, and it is urged upon you to save you from the sin of idolatry. Blessing would come to your souls if you would obey the word spoken by the Holy One of Israel, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Many are creating unnecessary cares and anxieties for themselves by devoting time and thought to the unnecessary ornaments with which their houses are filled. The power of God is needed to arouse them from this devotion; for to all intents and purposes it is idolatry.

Sons and Daughters of God

We Shall Have No Other Gods, February 19

SD 56.1

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3.

Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6

Chapter 1—God’s Purpose in the Church

6T 10.1

To the same work He has called His people in this generation. To them He has revealed His will, and of them He requires obedience. In the last days of this earth’s history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still saying to men: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3. Man has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence this word of command. The human mind can never fully comprehend its obligation to the higher power, but it cannot evade the obligation. Profound theories and speculations may abound, men may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with the law of God; but stronger and still stronger will the Holy Spirit bring before them the command: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10.

Manuscript Releases, vol. 21 [Nos. 1501-1598]

MR No. 1585—The Importance of the Law of God

21MR 408.5

The salvation of men and women depends upon their obedience to every word of God. Then should not His commandments be made prominent by every soul who believes the sacred truth? He declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” [Exodus 20:3, 4]. Do we give these words the consideration they demand?

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 133, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 133, 1899, par. 8

The salvation of men and women depend upon their obedience to every word of God. Then should not His commandments be made prominent? He declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth.” [Exodus 20:3, 4.] Do we give these words the consideration they demand? Would it not be safe, wholly safe, for us to bind about our inclinations in regard to photographs, lest by our carelessness in regard to the Lord’s instruction we educate our children to desire only the pictures which will be consumed in the fire of the last day? In view of the plain, decided utterances of the Lord, would it not be well for us to bind about our desires?

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Lt 78, 1894

9LtMs, Lt 78, 1894, par. 3

This overflowing affection for each other must be guarded. Sister Starr is in positive danger of placing her husband where God should be. This quality of affection grows into selfishness and blind idolatry. There is a snare in all this. Its diverts the affections from God. Sister Starr and Sister Daniells both need to consider carefully what is the real texture of their love. Is Christ placed first? “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” [Exodus 20:5.] He will not accept a divided heart; He must be worshipped with the undivided affections, then nothing will be missing in our life. The joy of grace makes the life even; it gives hope to the hopeless; it gives assurance to faith, for its foundation is Christ, the solid Rock. God commands us, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” [Verse 3.] And Jesus says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” [Luke 9:23.]

Manuscript Releases, vol. 15 [Nos. 1136-1185]

Mr No. 1156—Overuse of Pictures a Species of Idolatry

15MR 114.2

God declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments” [Exodus 20:3-6].

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 198, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 198, 1899, par. 36

The law proclaimed from Sinai by the voice of Christ declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me;” “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image;” “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain;” “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” [Exodus 20:3, 4, 7, 8.] The command concerning the day which God sanctified and blessed, setting it apart as a memorial of creation, is placed in the bosom of the Decalogue. The first four commandments, which define man’s duty to God, and the last six, which define man’s duty to his fellow-men, are joined by a golden link.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 11 (1896)

Ms 79, 1896

11LtMs, Ms 79, 1896, par. 7

God is supreme, and finite man must not question his right to govern the universe, and rule the moral agents which he has created. God asserted his right to rule when he declared, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me;” “for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is.” [Exodus 20:3, 11.] He is Creator and preserver of the worlds, upholding the universe by the word of his power. Nature and science bear witness that he has a right to govern his own creation; angels are subject to God’s moral government; therefore let man bow in adoration before him.

Prophets and Kings

Chapter 7—Jeroboam

PK 100.1

In arranging this transfer, Jeroboam thought to appeal to the imagination of the Israelites by setting before them some visible representation to symbolize the presence of the invisible God. Accordingly he caused to be made two calves of gold, and these were placed within shrines at the appointed centers of worship. In this effort to represent the Deity, Jeroboam violated the plain command of Jehovah: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.” Exodus 20:4, 5.

Sons and Daughters of God

We Shall Not Serve Any Graven Images, February 20

SD 57.1

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. Exodus 20:4, 5.