21. Matt., xxv. 30. 24. Ps. xlviii. 15. 22. Ps. xlix. 21. 25. Isa., lxvi. 24. 23. Wis., v. 3.
EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS I. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, 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. II. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. III. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. IV. Honour thy father and thy mother. V. Thou shalt not kill. VI. Thou shalt not commit adultery. VII. Thou shalt not steal. VIII. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. IX. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, nor his field, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his.[1] ENDNOTE 1. Exod., xx. 2-17, and Deut., v. 6-21. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: "Thou Shalt Not Have Strange Gods Before Me." The entire law of Christ depends upon charity. And charity depends on two precepts, one of which concerns loving God and the other concerns loving our neighbour. Now God, in delivering the law to Moses, gave him Ten Commandments written upon two tablets of stone. Three of these Commandments that were written on the first tablet referred to the love of God; and the seven Commandments written on the other tablet related to the love of our neighbour. The whole law, therefore, is founded on these two precepts.[1] The First Commandment which relates to the love of God is: "Thou shalt not have strange gods." For an understanding of this Commandment, one must know how of old it was violated. Some 54