THE LAW, which God gave to Moses, was written on two tables of stone. “The tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.” (Ex. 32:1616And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. (Exodus 32:16).)
That our little readers may see what was written with “the finger of God” we will give the ten commandments in full.
(1.)“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”
(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; 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 that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.”
(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.”
(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 maid-servant, 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.”
(5.) “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
(6.) “Thou shalt not kill.”
(7.) “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
(8.) “Thou shalt not steal.”
(9.) “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
(10.) “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” (Ex. 20:3-173Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4Thou 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: 5Thou 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; 6And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7Thou 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. 8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 10But 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: 11For 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. 12Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 13Thou shalt not kill. 14Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15Thou shalt not steal. 16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 17Thou 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 any thing that is thy neighbor's. (Exodus 20:3‑17).)
And now let me give you a little account which will show how God used these ten commandments to turn an infidel from his dark infidelity and to make him a firm believer in the truth of Christianity. I will relate this little incident just as taken from a paper.
In a city in one of the Northern States of America lived a lawyer of eminence and talent. He was notoriously profane. He had a negro boy, at whom his neighbors used to hear him swear with awful violence. One day this gentleman met an elder of the Presbyterian Church, who was also a lawyer, and said to him, “I wish, sir, to examine into the truth of the Christian religion. What books would you advise me to read on the evidences of Christianity?”
The elder, surprised at the inquiry, replied, “That is a question, sir, which you ought to have settled long ago. You ought not to have put off a subject so important to this late period of life.” “It is not too late,” said the inquirer; “I never knew much about it, but I always supposed that Christianity was rejected by the great majority of learned men. I intend, however, now to ex-amide the subject thoroughly myself. I have upon me, as my physician says, a mortal disease, under which I may live a year and a half or two years, but not probably longer. What books, sir, would you advise me to read?”
“The Bible,” said the elder.
“I believe you don’t understand me,” resumed the unbeliever, surprised in his turn; “I wish to investigate the truth of the Bible.”
ML 08/09/1903