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Exodus 20

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1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 I am Jehovah thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make thyself any graven image, or any form of what is in the heavens above, or what is in the earth beneath, or what is in the waters under the earth:

5 thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, Jehovah thy God, am a jealous ùGod, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and to the fourth [generation] of them that hate me,

6 and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

7 Thou shalt not idly utter the name of Jehovah thy God; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that idly uttereth his name.

8 Remember the sabbath day to hallow it.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;

10 but the seventh day is the sabbath of Jehovah thy God: thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy bondman, nor thy handmaid, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.

11 For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

13 Thou shalt not kill.

14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

15 Thou shalt not steal.

16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

17 Thou shalt not desire thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not desire thy neighbour's wife, nor his bondman, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's.

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw [it], they trembled, and stood afar off,

19 and said to Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God Speak with us, lest we die.

20 And Moses said to the people, Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before you, that ye sin not.

21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the obscurity where God was.

22 And Jehovah said to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: Ye have seen that I have spoken with you from the heavens.

23 Ye shall not make beside me gods of silver, and ye shall not make to you gods of gold.

24 An altar of earth shalt thou make unto me, and shalt sacrifice on it thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen: in all places where I shall make my name to be remembered, I will come unto thee, and bless thee.

25 And if thou make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy sharp tool upon it, thou hast profaned it.

26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

   

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Coronis (An Appendix to True Christian Religion) # 49

  
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49. It was stated above, that the first state with the sons of Israel, was the appearing of the Lord Jehovih, calling and covenanting; and we are taught from the Word, that these three things took place, first with Abram, secondly with Moses, and thirdly with the entire people. The appearing of the Lord Jehovih before Abraham is thus described in Genesis:

Jehovah appeared unto Abraham in the plains of Mamre; he was sitting at the door of his tent,... and when he lifted up his eyes and saw, behold! three men stood by him, and as soon as he saw them, he ran from the door of the tent to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, O Lord, if I have found grace in Thine eyes, pass not away, I pray, from Thy servant (Gen. 18:1-3).

It was the Lord our Saviour who appeared in His Divine Trinity, which the three angels represented; for the Lord said,

Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw and was glad... Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:56, 58).

There is in the Lord a Divine Trinity; and the Divine Unity was represented in Divine Trinity by the "three men," who were also called "angels" (Gen. 18:2; 19:1). But in His Divine Unity He was called "adonai" (Gen. 18:3; 19:18); and also "Jehovah," very frequently (Gen. 18:13-14, 17, 19-20, 22, 26, 33). The appearing of the Lord Jehovih before Moses is thus described in Exodus:

The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses at the mountain of Horeb, in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush;... Moses therefore said, I will turn aside and see this great vision, why the bush is not burnt. And Jehovah saw that he turned aside;... therefore God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses.... And moreover Moses said to God, . . . What is Thy name?... God said,... I AM THAT I AM. Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you (Exod. 3[1], 2-4, 14).

The appearing of the Lord Jehovih before the whole people is thus also described in Exodus:

Jehovah said to Moses, Say unto the sons of Israel, that they be ready against the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down in the eyes of all the people upon Mount Sinai.... And it came to pass on the third day,... that there were voices, and lightnings, and thick clouds upon the mount, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.... Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because He descended upon it in fire; and He promulgated the law before the people (Exod. 19:9-24, and 20:1-18).

The Lord also appeared to Joshua as Prince of the army of Jehovah, before whom Joshua fell on his face upon the earth, and called him his "Lord" (Josh. 5:13-14).

THE CALLING OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL TO THE LAND OF CANAAN, thus to the Church, also took place three times; once to Abram, that he should depart thereto out of his fatherland, and afterwards the promise that his seed should inherit that land (Gen. 12:1-7). A calling also took place through Moses (Exod. 3:16-17); and again through Joshua (Josh. 1:3, etc., and 11).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.