Sabbath School Lesson by E.J. Waggoner
The Signs of the Times April 8, 1886
THE LAW OF GOD.
The Giving of the Law.
(Lesson 1.— Sabbath, April 24.)
1. To what place did the Israelites come about two months after they left Egypt?
" In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt,
the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai." Ex. 19:1.
2. What did the Lord say he would do on the third day afterward ?
"And be ready against the third day; for the third day the Lord will come in the sight
of all the people upon Mount Sinai." Verse 11.
3. What preparations were the people required to make for this event?
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, 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." Verses 10, 11.
4. What precaution was taken to keep the people from touching the mountain ?
"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." "And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up
to Mount Sinai; for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it." Verses 12, 23.
5. What was said to be the result if any one should touch it ?
"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 a 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." "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."
Verses 12, 13, 21.
6. What dreadful things did the people hear and see on the third day?
"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." Verse 16.
7. What caused these things?
"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." Verse 20.
8. How was the mountain affected by the presence of the Lord?
"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." Ex. 19:18.
9. Who attended the Lord on this occasion ?
"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels; the Lord is among
them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." Ps. 68: 17.
10. For what purpose did the Lord come down on Sinai?
"Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments." Nehemiah 9:13.
"And he said, 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." Deut. 33:2.
11. Where do we find that which the Lord spoke from Sinai ? Ex. 20:1-17.
12. When the Lord had spoken these words, what did the people do ?
"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." Ex. 20:18.
13. What request did they make?
"And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak
with us, lest we die." Ex. 20:19. "And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us
his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire; we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it." Deut. 5:24-27.
"And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard
entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more." Heb. 12:19.
14. Did the Lord grant their request?
"And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the Lord said
unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto
thee; they have well said all that they have spoken." Deut. 5: 8.
15. In what manner did he give them subsequent instruction ?
"Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by me,
and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments,
which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it." Deut. 5 : 30, 31.
" The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Ps. 19: 7
This article is also found in:
THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, APRIL 7, 1886.
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Sabbath School Lesson by E. J. Waggoner
Signs of the Times April 15, 1886
THE LAW OF GOD.
The Ten Commandments Delivered to the People.
(Lesson 2,—Sabbath, May 1.)
1. What preparations were required to be made before the Lord came down on Mount Sinai?
Read Ex. 19: 10-25.
2. Describe the appearance of the mount when the Lord descended upon it.
" 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." Ex. 19:18.
3. By whom was the Lord accompanied?
"And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Sier unto them; he shined
forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of his saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them." Deut. 33:2.
4. For what purpose did he come?
As stated in the verse last quoted, he came for the purpose of giving a law to the people.
The preparations which the people were required to make, and the awful majesty attending the giving of the law, were designed to impress the people with a sense of its importance.
5. How did the Lord make known this law to the people ?
"And God spake all these words." Ex. 20:1.
" And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice." Deut. 4:12.
6. When the people begged that they might not hear the voice of God any more, how did they afterward receive instruction ?
7. Soon afterward what did the Lord say to Moses ?
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will
give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou
mayest teach them." Ex. 24:12.
8. How long was Moses in the mount?
"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." Ex.24:18.
9. When the Lord had finished the instructions which he gave to the people through Moses,
what did he give to Moses?
" And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon
Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Ex.31:18.
10. Whose workmanship wore the tables?
"And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables." Ex. 32:15,16.
11. How and by whom was the law written on these tables?
12. When Moses saw the people dancing around a golden calf, what did he do with the
tables of stone?
"And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing; and Moses's anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." Ex. 32:19.
13. After the people had been punished for their wickedness, what command did the Lord
give Moses?
"At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and
come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood." Deut. 10:1.
14. What did the Lord say he would write on these two new tables?
"And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest,
and thou shall put them in the ark." Deut. 10:2
15. Did Moses do as he was commanded?
"And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first,
and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand." Deut. 10:3.
16. What did the Lord then do?
"And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which
the Lord spake unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them unto me." Deut. 10:4.
17. What does Moses call that which the Lord wrote on these tables?
18. Then what was it the Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire on the mount?
19. After Moses had rehearsed the ten commandments to the people (Deut. 5:7-21), what did he say to them?
" These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 5:22.
20. If the Lord "added no more," then could anything else than what was on the tables be
any part of the ten commandments ?
When Moses was in the mount, God gave him two tables of stone made by himself, on
which he had graven the " testimony " (Ex. 31:18; 32:15, 16); after these tables had been
broken, Moses, at the command of God, went up into the mount, having in his hand two tables like the first (Deut. 10:1-3); on these two tables the Lord wrote the same matter that was on the first two tables, and that was the " ten commandments" (Deut. 10:4). Those words, say's Moses, " the Lord spake ""in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly;" therefore that which was spoken from Mount Sinai and written on the tables of stone was the ten commandments. Further: Moses, after rehearsing in substance (Deut. 5:7-21) that which is given in full in Ex. 20:1-17, said: 'These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice, and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 5:22. Therefore we must conclude that nothing that was not written on the tables of stone can form any part of the ten commandments. In other words, the law of God, or ten commandments, is limited to that which God spoke with his own voice, and wrote with his own finger, and which is found, as so spoken and written, in Ex. 20:3-17.
21. Repeat the ten commandments. Repeat the fifth, the second, the eighth, the third, the
sixth, the ninth, the fourth.
This article is also found in:
THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, APRIL 14, 1886.
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Sabbath School Lesson by E. J. Waggoner
THE LAW OF GOD.
Perfection of the Law.
(Lesson 3.—Sabbath, May 8.)
1. UNDER what circumstances were the ten commandments spoken ?
"These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice." Deut. 5:22.
2. What steps were taken for their preservation?
"And he wrote them on two tables of stone."Ib.
3. Where do we find them recorded? In Ex.20 :3-17.
4. In what two precepts are these ten commandments summed up?
"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. 22:35-40.
5. In making this statement did Christ utter a new truth ?
"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord." Lev.19:18. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deut 6:5 (He quoted from the law. See Matt. 22:36.)
6. Can there be any duty outside of what we owe to God and our fellow-creatures?
It is evident that there cannot be.
7. Then what may be said of the ten commandments?
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; or this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12:13.
8. What does David say of the ten commandments?
"My tongue shall speak of thy word; for all thy commandments are righteousness." Ps.
119:172.
9. What does the Lord, through one of his prophets, say of his own righteousness?
'Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall
vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." Isa. 51:6.
10. Who are they who know (or have) this righteousness?
"Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear
ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings." Isa. 51:7.
11. Then what is the law of God?
The righteousness of God.
12. Since the law of God is his righteousness, what may be truly said of it?
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple." Ps. 19:7.
13. Quote other statements from the psalms concerning the nature of the law.
"The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure." Ps.111:7.
"All thy commandments are faithful." "Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful." "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." "Thou art near. O Lord, and all thy commandments are truth." Ps. 119:86, 138, 142, 151.
14. What did Paul say of it?
"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12.
15. Since the commandments are an expression of the righteousness of God, is it possible to speak of them in too exalted terms?
No; every epithet expressive of character, that may be applied to God, may also be applied to his law, since that is the expression of his character.
Love and Justice.
That God should seek to provide salvation for men is, of course, the proof of his love— that he should save them by the cross is a proof of his justice. That when justice made this necessary he did not give up man to ruin, enhances amazingly the proof of his love. But, still, it was his justice that required the sacrifice. But men shrink back appalled at an attribute that requires such a remedy. An attribute that can only be appeased by blood is too harsh, they say, to describe him whom we are taught to call Father. But now suppose we call it truth: is not a new face put upon the question? Can any one demand that God should violate his truth in the salvation of men? If the martyr's crown is the brightest guerdon one can win, because he bears witness to the truth even unto death, does not the glory of God appear more glorious when we find that God, rather than swerve one hair's breadth from his eternal truth, even to save a world, lets the fires of his wrath smite and curse the Son of the Beloved, his only begotten Son? And this is the Scripture conception; for justice is but one aspect of righteousness, and righteousness is but rectitude, conformity to rule or standard. Hence, righteousness is but one aspect of truth, and truth is violated whether one errs by deficiency or excess; truth demands perfect conformity to standard; the balance that weighs too little is as untrue as the balance that weighs too much, and the balance is the symbol of justice. A deviation from justice is a violation of truth. The eternal truth of God's nature required the sacrifice of Christ, and to this end was he born, and for this cause came he into the world, that he might bear witness of the truth.—Rev. Peyton H.~Hodge.
"I WILL praise thee, O Lord, among the people; and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations." Ps. 108:3.
This article is also found in:
The Youth's Instructor April 21, 1886
This article is also found in:
The Youth's Instructor April 21, 1886
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