_Ye shall be holy._ THE OBJECT OF GOD’S LAWS The position of this come mand at the head of the long list of precepts which follows is most significant and instructive. It sets before us the object of the whole ceremonial and moral law, and, we may add, the supreme object of the gospel also, namely,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall fear. .. mother. .. father._ MATERNAL RULE This is a remarkable command, given by God to Moses. Not for the matter of it, for it is the same in substance with the fifth in the Decalogue. But as differing from that and other parallel passages, it is remarkable on two accounts. In those the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Turn ye not unto idols._ FOLLY OF IDOLATRY A Chinese wife was one day seen by a missionary to enter a temple. In her hands were some humble offerings, such as a twig, or rice, for propitiating the poor, blind deity. There he stood, some forty feet high, blackened and begrimed with the smoke of inc... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field._ A SERMON TO GLEANERS The subject of gleaning in the fields may appear to some to be a very lowly one, and an address delivered exclusively to those who have been engaged in it, unnecessary: but a little reflection will suffice to remove such ob... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall not steal._ STEALING DISCOURAGED The illustrious Joseph Priestley tells us in his Memoir that he was influenced in his very earliest life by an act of his mother, who died when he was seven years old. He had returned from visiting his cousins, and had brought home a pin. “Where did you g... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall not swear by My name falsely._ FALSE SWEARING All nations have severely punished perjury. The Egyptians with dentil or mutilation; the Greeks with heavy fines and ultimate loss of all civil rights; the Romans visited it with the penalty of death. These ancient nations all held that the g... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour._ AGAINST FRAUD I. The purchaser is guilty of fraud when he makes use of falsehood or low cunning to diminish the value of any commodity in the estimation of its proprietor. He likewise defrauds his neighbour when he takes advantage of his ignorance to obtain... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not curse the deaf._ THE WEAK PROTECTED I. The meanness of the conduct here rebuked. Dishonourable dealing, commercial sharp-practice, trading upon the defects of others, issuing delusive prospectuses to entrap the unwary, traducing our fellows behind their backs so that they cannot le... [ Continue Reading ]
_In righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour._ ON JUDGING OUR NEIGHBOUR IN RIGHTEOUSNESS To judge our neighbour in righteousness, it is our duty to consider those motives which may corrupt our judgment. When we set ourselves to reflect how far we have cultivated this species of justice, we dece... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer._ TALEBEARING AND SLANDER I. Character is in the keeping, and therefore at the mercy of acquaintances. 1. Therefore supremely value each other’s good name. 2. Jealously defend a worthy reputation. 3. Scornfully silence the unproved rumours of evils... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy brother._ AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER I. The ill-conduct of a neighbour demands a personal rebuke. 1. This injunction supposes cognisance of another’s actions. Man was made for society, and its value consists greatly in taking an affectionate interest in those abou... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt not avenge._ FORGIVE AND FORGET In another place we read, “For vengeance is Mine, and I will repay.” Wrest not God’s sword therefore out of His hand, sit not down in His seat, nor make thyself a god, for fear of the end. Well, let Him go then, I will not avenge, but sure I will remember... [ Continue Reading ]
_A garment mingled of linen and woollen._ UNNATURAL COMMIXTURES Most probably the reference is to different materials, interwoven in the yarn of which the dress was made; but a difficulty still remains in the fact that such admixture was ordered in the garments of the priests. Perhaps the best expl... [ Continue Reading ]
_A bondmaid betrothed._ DIVINE TOLERATION OF DEFECTIVE MORALITY It will be said, and truly, that by this law slavery and concubinage are to a certain extent recognised by the law; and upon this fact has been raised an objection bearing on the holiness of the lawgiver, and, by consequence, on the Di... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy._ THE LAW REGARDING FRUIT-TREES The explanation of this peculiar regulation is to be found in a special application of the principle which rules throughout the law--that the firstfruit shall always be consecrated unto God. But in this case the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall not round the corners of your heads._ That is, they are not to shave off the hair around the temples and behind the ears, so as to leave the head bald except a dish-like tuft upon the crown, thus imparting to their heads the form of a hemisphere. This was done by the Arabs, and other wors... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cuttings in your flesh for the dead._ The wild and frantic demonstrations of grief so common among eastern dud southern nations, included cuts and incisions in the body, among the Hebrews, the Philistines, and the Moabites, the Arabs and Ethiopians, the Babylonians and Armenians; among the early Gr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall keep My Sabbaths._ SABBATIC PAUSE Sabbath is a compound condition of the body and the soul. Misrepresentation of Sabbath, the forfeiture of its vitality, betrays itself in a negative conception of it, as restriction, deprivation, tax, and task. This allusion prevails at large, and prevail... [ Continue Reading ]
_Them that have familiar spirits._ PROHIBITION OF TRAFFIC WITH FAMILIAR SPIRITS This verse prohibits all inquiring of them that “have familiar spirits,” and of “wizards,” who pretend to make relevations through the help of supernatural powers. According to 1 Samuel 28:7, and Isaiah 8:19, the “famil... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rise up before the hoary head._ HOMAGE FOR AGE 1. Because the aged represent mature wisdom. 2. Because the aged record long years spent in our service. 3. Because the aged demonstrate God’s providential care. 4. Because the aged are solemn admonitions of life’s decay. 5. Because the aged sugg... [ Continue Reading ]
_The stranger._ ., shall be. .. as one born among you. STRANGERS BEFRIENDED I. The danger apprehended. The fear was lest they should grow too inclusive and haughty, and begin to despise and oppress the individual foreigners that should remain in the land or might enter it for a settlement. The in... [ Continue Reading ]
_Just balances, Just weights shall ye have._ BUSINESS HONESTY I. Social life is based upon commercial contracts. Each bringing to the other some product of skill or toil. We cannot supply a fraction of our own wants, we must buy; and we have also in turn something to sell. Business is the outcome... [ Continue Reading ]