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:

56. Saying to me, "Do not be afraid." This symbolizes a revival, and from the deepest humility then, adoration.

That it means a revival or bringing back to life follows from what we said just before this in no. 55; and it is apparent that it includes an adoration from the deepest humility, since John fell at the Lord's feet. Moreover, because upon his revival a holy fear seized him, the Lord said, "Do not be afraid."

A holy fear is sometimes combined with a reverent trembling of the interior constituents that belong to the mind, and sometimes with a standing on end of the hair, and it comes over a person when life from the Lord enters in place of one's own life. One's own life is to look to the Lord from oneself, while life from the Lord is to look to the Lord from the Lord, and yet doing so as though of oneself. When a person is seized by this life, he sees that he is nothing, and that only the Lord is anything.

Daniel was seized by this holy fear when he saw a man clothed in linen garments, whose loins were girded with the gold of Uphaz, his body like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, and his arms and his feet like the sheen of burnished bronze. On seeing him Daniel, too, became as though dead, and a hand touched him, and a voice said, "Do not fear, Daniel" (Daniel 10:5-12).

Something similar happened with Peter, James and John when they saw the Lord transfigured and He appeared with a face like the sun and garments like light, on which account they also fell on their faces and feared for themselves greatly, and Jesus then came and touched them, saying, "Do not be afraid for yourselves" (Matthew 17:2, 6-7).

The Lord also said to women who saw Him at the sepulchre, "Do not be afraid" (Matthew 28:10) And an angel, whose countenance looked like lightning and his clothing like snow, said to the same women as well, "Do not be afraid for yourselves" (Matthew 28:3-5)

An angel also said to Zacharias, "Do not be afraid" (Luke 1:12-13).

The same holy fear seized Simon Peter because of the catch of fish, so that he said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" But Jesus said to him, "Do not be afraid." (Luke 5:8-10)

And so on elsewhere.

We cite these instances to show why the Lord said to John, "Do not be afraid" - that it means a revival, and from the deepest humility then, adoration.