8859. Exodus 20

1. And God spoke all these words, saying,

2. I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves.

3. You shall not have other gods before My face.

4. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness [of things] which are in the heavens above, and which are on the earth beneath, and which are in the waters under the earth.

5. You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them; for I am Jehovah your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, ¹ on the third and on the fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,

6. And showing mercy to thousands who love Me and keep My commandments.

7. You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; for Jehovah will not render him innocent who takes His name in vain.

8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9. Six days you shall labour and do all your work;

10. And the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work - you, nor your son, nor your daughter; your male slave, nor your female slave, nor your beast, nor your sojourner who is within your gates.

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

12. Honour your father and your mother, in order that your days may be prolonged on the land which Jehovah your God gives you.

13. ² You shall not kill.

14. You shall not commit adultery.

15. You shall not steal.

16. You shall not answer as witness of a lie against your neighbour.

17. You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male slave nor his female slave, nor his ox nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbour's.

18. And all the people saw the voices and torches, ³ and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw and were violently shaken, and stood afar off.

19. And they said to Moses, Speak yourself to us, and we will hear; and do not let God speak to us, lest perhaps we die.

20. And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come in order to test you, and in order that His fear may be before your faces, so that you do not sin.

21. And the people stood afar off; and Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

22. And Jehovah said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

23. You shall not make [to be] with Me gods of silver and gods of gold; you shall not make [them] for yourselves.

24. An altar of soil ⁴ you shall make for Me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your eucharistic offerings, your flocks and your herds; in every place where I shall put the memory of My name I will come to you and bless you.

25. And if you make for Me an altar of stones, you shall not build it with hewn ones; for if you move your chisel over it you will profane it.

26. And you shall not go up to My altar by steps, in order that your nakedness may not be revealed on it.

CONTENTS

This chapter deals in the internal sense with God's truths that are to be implanted in the good which governs those belonging to the Lord's spiritual Church. The Ten Commandments are those truths; and the commandments that follow them in this chapter, regarding sacrifices and the altar, are outward truths concerned with worship.

Footnotes:

959. Verse 1. And I heard a voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, signifies manifestation by the Divine truth from the Word of the evils and falsities that have devastated the church. This is evident from the signification of "a voice out of the temple," as being the Divine truth from the Word, for a "voice" signifies the Divine truth (See above, n. 261, 668); and "the temple of the tabernacle of the Testimony," out of which the voice came, signifies the Word in which is the Divine truth both natural and spiritual n. 948. Also from the signification of "the seven angels," as being manifestations (as has often been said above). And as "the seven vials" or "plagues" which they had signify the evils and falsities that have devastated the church, therefore manifestations of all the evils and falsities that have devastated the church are here signified by "the seven angels." The manifestations of these are further treated of in the following verses.

(Continuation: The Second Commandment)

[2] In the preceding chapter the first commandment of the Decalogue is treated of at the end of the several articles. In the following articles in this chapter the other commandments of the Decalogue will be treated of; and here the second commandment, "Thou shalt not profane the name of God."

In the first place, what is meant by "the name of God" shall be told, and afterwards what is meant by "profaning" it. "The name of God" means every quality by which God is worshiped. For God is in His own quality, and is His own quality. His essence is the Divine love, and His quality is the Divine truth therefrom united with the Divine good; thus with us on earth it is the Word; consequently it is said in John:

The Word was with God, and God was the Word (John 1:1).

Thence also, it is the doctrine of genuine truth and good from the Word; for worship is according to that.

[3] Now as His quality is manifold, for it comprises all things that are from Him, so He has many names; and each name involves and expresses His quality in general and in particular. He is called "Jehovah," "Jehovah of Hosts," "Lord," "Lord Jehovih," "God," "Messiah or Christ," "Jesus," "Savior," "Redeemer," "Creator," "Former," "Maker," "King," and "the Holy One of Israel," "the Rock" and "the Stone of Israel," "Shiloh," "Shaddai," "David," "Prophet," "Son of God," and "Son of man," and so on. All these names are the names of the one God, who is the Lord; and yet where they occur in the Word they signify some universal Divine attribute or quality distinct from the other Divine attributes or qualities. So, too, where He is called "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," three are not meant, but one God; that is, there are not three Divines, but one, and this trine which is one is the Lord.

[4] Since each name signifies some distinct attribute or quality, "to profane the name of God" does not mean to profane the name itself but His quality. "Name" signifies quality for the reason that in heaven everyone is named according to his quality; and the quality of God or the Lord is everything that is from Him by which He is worshiped. For this reason, since no Divine quality of the Lord is acknowledged in hell, the Lord cannot be named there; and in the spiritual world His names cannot be uttered by anyone except so far as His Divine is acknowledged; for there all speak from the heart, thus from love and consequent acknowledgment.