Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/335

Rh God has mercy in store for such; even they need mercy, and cannot plead merit; and mercy they shall find with God; merciful protection in their obedience, and a merciful recompense of it. Thirdly, This mercy shall extend to thousands, much further than the wrath threatened to those that hate him, for that reaches but to the third or fourth generation. The streams of mercy run now as full, as free, and as fresh, as ever.

3. The third commandment concerns the manner of our worship, that it be done with all possible reverence and seriousness, v. 7.

We have here, (1.) A strict prohibition; Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. It is supposed, that, having taken Jehovah for their God, they would make mention of his name; (for thus all people will walk every one in the name of his God;) this command gives a needful caution not to mention it in vain, and it is still as needful as ever. We take God's name in vain, [1.] By hypocrisy, making a profession of God's name, and a value for it, but not living up to that profession. They that name the name of Christ, but do not depart from iniquity, as that name binds them to do, name it in vain, their worship is vain, (Matth. 15. 7..9.) their oblations vain, (Isa. 1. 11, 13.) their religion vain, Jam. 1. 26. [2.] By covenant-breaking; if we make promises to God, binding our souls with those bonds to that which is good, and yet perform not to the Lord our vows, we take his name in vain, (Matth. 5. 33.) it is folly, and God has no pleasure in fools, (Eccl. 5. 4.) nor will he be mocked, Gal. 6. 7. [3.] By rash swearing, mentioning the name of God, or any of his attributes, in the form of an oath, without any just occasion for it, or due application of mind to it, but as a by-word, to no purpose at all, or to no good purpose. [4.] By false swearing, which, some think, is chiefly intended in the letter of the commandment; so it was expounded by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, Matth. 5. 33. One part of the religious regard the Jews were taught to pay to their God, was, to swear by his name, Deut. 10. 20. But they affronted him, instead of doing him honour, if they called him to be Witness to a lie. [5.] By using the name of God lightly and carelessly, and without any regard to its awful significancy. The profanation of the forms of devotion is forbidden, as well as the profanation of the forms of swearing; as also the profanation of any of those things whereby God makes himself known, his word, or any of his institutions; when they are either turned into charms and spells, or into jest and sport, the name of God is taken in vain.

(2.) A severe penalty; The Lord will not hold him guiltless; magistrates, who punish other offences, may not think themselves concerned to take notice of this, because it does not immediately offer injury either to private property or the public peace; but God, who is jealous of his honour, will not thus connive at it. The sinner may perhaps hold himself guiltless, and think there is no harm in it, and that God will never call him to an account for it; to obviate which suggestion, the threatening is thus expressed, God will not hold him guiltless, as he hopes he will; but more is implied, namely, that God will himself be the Avenger of those that take his name in vain, and they will find it a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

4. The fourth commandment concerns the time of worship; God is to be served and honoured daily, but one day in seven is to be particularly dedicated to his honour, and spent in his service.

Here is,

(1.) The command itself; (v. 8.) Remember the sabbath-day, to keep it holy; and v. 10, In it thou shalt do no manner of work. It is taken for granted that the sabbath was instituted before; we read of God's blessing and sanctifying a seventh day from the beginning, (Gen. 2. 3.) so that this was not the enacting of a new law, but the reviving of an old law. [1.] They are told what is the day they must religiously observe, a seventh, after six days' labour; whether this was the seventh by computation from the first seventh, or from the day of their coming out of Egypt, or both, is not certain: now the precise day was notified to them, (ch. 16. 23.) and from this they were to observe the seventh. [2.] How it must be observed. First, As a day of rest; they were to do no manner of work on this day, in their callings or worldly business. Secondly, As a holy day, set apart to the honour of the holy God, and to be spent in holy exercises. God, by blessing it, had made it holy; they, by solemnly blessing him, must keep it holy, and not alienate it to any other purpose than that for which the difference between it and other days was instituted. [3.] Who must observe it; Thou, and thy son, and thy daughter; the wife is not mentioned, because she is supposed to be one with the husband, and present with him; and if he sanctify the sabbath, it is taken for granted that she will join with him; but the rest of the family are specified; children and servants must keep the sabbath, according to their age and capacity: in this, as in other instances of religion, it is expected that masters of families should take care, not only to serve the Lord themselves, but that their houses also should serve him, at least, that it may not be through their neglect if they do not, Josh. 24. 15. Even the proselyted strangers must observe a difference between this day and other days, which, if it laid some restraint upon them then, yet proved a happy indication of God's gracious purpose, in process of time, to bring the Gentiles in to the church, that they might share in the benefit of sabbaths. Compare Isa. 56. 6, 7. God takes notice of what we do on sabbath-days, though we should be where we are strangers. [4.] A particular memorandum put upon this duty, Remember it. It is intimated that the sabbath was instituted and observed before; but in their bondage in Egypt they had either lost their computation, or were restrained by their task-masters, or, through a great degeneracy and indifference in religion, they had let fall the observance of it, and therefore it was requisite they should be reminded of it. Note, Neglected duties remain duties still, notwithstanding our neglect. It also intimates that we are both apt to forget it, and concerned to remember it. Some think it denotes the preparation we are to make for the sabbath; we must think of it before it comes, that, when it does come, we may keep it holy, and do the duty of it.

(2.) The reasons of this command; [1.] We have time enough for ourselves on the other six days; Six days must thou labour: time enough we have to serve ourselves in those six days, on the seventh day let us serve God; and time enough to tire ourselves, on the seventh it will be a kindness to us to be obliged to rest. [2.] This is God's day; it is the sabbath of the Lord thy God, not only instituted by him, but consecrated to him; it is sacrilege to alienate it, the sanctification of it is a debt. [3.] It is designed for a memorial of the creation ofthe world, and therefore to be observed to the glory of the Creator, as an engagement upon ourselves to serve him, and an encouragement to us to trust in him, who made heaven and earth. By the sanctification of the sabbath, the Jews declared that they worshipped the God that made the world, and so distinguished themselves from all other nations, who worshipped gods which they themselves made. 4. God has given us an example of rest, after six days' work; he rested the seventh day, took a