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Testament. The apostle John wrote:
"... sin is the transgression of the
Iaw" (I John 3:4). Wherever sin ex–
ists, then, law must a1so exist!
The apost1e Pau1 added ,
" ... where no 1aw is, there is no
transgression" (Romans 4: 15) -
that is, no sin! And yet we read the
words of Pau1, " For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God"
(Romans 3:23). If
all
have sinned,
and sin is the transgression of the
law, then sorne law has existed at
least from the time of Adam down
to the 20th century.
This means two things: (1) there
was law in force before the time of
Moses and the giving of the Ten
Commandments at Mount Sinai;
and (2) law has been in force since
the death of Jesus Christ.
The question is then - what law?
Let's see.
The Law Before Moses
To find out what Iaw existed be–
fore Moses, let's examine the bíbli–
ca! record.
The ftrst command listed in the
Ten is, "Thou shalt have no other
gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Did
this command originate amidst the
smoke and tire of Mt. Sinai?
In the book of Genesis, we find
that Jacob, who lived almost three
hundred years before Moses, made
a vow to serve the true God (Gen–
esis 28: 10-22). Later, when he had
acquired a fami1y and a large
household, he commanded every–
body with him: "Put away the
strange gods that are among you,
and be clean, and change your gar–
ments: and let us arise, and go up to
Beth-el; and I will make there an
altar unto God ..." (Genesis 35:2-
3).
Thus idolatry was recognized as a
sin - the transgression of a law -
long before Sinai! We read, "And
they gave unto Jacob all the strange
gods which were in their hand ..."
(verse 4). Two kinds of idolatry are
involved in the first and second
commandments, as they are listed in
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1973
the King James Version and most
other versions of the Bible (Exodus
20:3-6). This is the division pre–
served among the Jews and re–
corded as far back as the time of
Josephus (A.D. 37-100). (See
Antiq–
uities,
book III, section 5, paragraph
5.) However, in later times the Ro–
roan Catholic church adopted the
custom of treating the first and sec–
ond commandments as one com–
mandment and dividing the last
command into two. The Lutheran
church followed suit. Most Protes–
tant denominations, however, pre–
serve the original division set forth
in Exodus 20.
The specific kind of idolatry for–
bidden in the first commandment is
having other gods than the true
God. An entirely different kind of
idolatry is forbidden by the second
commandment. This commandment
forbids using any representations or
statues as reminders of God or ven–
erated human beings.
It
forbids
bowing down to such statues or
serving them in any manner. This
is a sin - one of the ten capital
sins!
The Next Commandment
The next commandment, "Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord
tby God in vain" (Exodus 20:7), was
also in effect long before Moses.
Prior to the time of Moses, the
Canaanites were profaning and
blaspbeming the name of God,
using it in vain. God commanded
tbe people of Israel: " ... after the
doings of the land of Canaan,
whither
1
bring you, shall ye not
do .... neither shalt thou profane
the name of thy God. ... (For all
these abominations have tbe roen of
the land done, which were before
you, and the land is defiled)" (Levi–
ticus 18:3, 21 , 27).
Notice! God told Moses and
Israel that the previous generations
living
in
Canaan had defi1ed the
land; and one of the acts by which
tbey defiled tbemselves was the pro–
faning of the name of God!
The Sabbath Command
The fourth command states: "Re–
member the sabbath day, to keep it
holy ..." (Exodus 20:8). Notice that
God said ,
"Remember
the sab–
bath...." This alone indicates that
the Sabbath was a1ready part of a
law preceding Moses.
The first mention of the Sabbath
day is found in Genesis 2:2-3: "And
on the seventh day God ended his
work which he had made; and he
rested on the seventh day from all
his work which he had made. And
God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctified it (that is, set it apart for a
ho1y purpose]...."
Here is evidence that the Sabbath
commandment was in force from
the time of creation. Jesus con–
firmed this fact. He told his dis–
ciples: "The sabbath was made for
man (mankind], and not roan for the
sabbath" (Mark 2:27).
There is more proof. In Exodus
16, severa! weeks before the people
of Israel carne to Mount Sinai, God
told them: "Tomorrow is the rest of
the holy sabbath unto the Lord . .."
(Exodus 16:23). Israel had been en–
slaved by the Egyptians for many
years. They had been forced to work
on the Sabbath day as well as on
every other day of the week and had
1ost track of when the Sabbath was.
So God revealed the Sabbath to
them by miracles ,
before
they
reached Mount Sinai (see Exodus
16). When sorne went out to gather
manna on the Sabbath day
(before
reaching Mount Sinai),
in
spite of
God's command, God declared :
"How long
refuse ye to keep my com–
mandments
and my laws?" (verse 28.)
Here, then, is more unequivocal
evidence that the Sabbath - and a
whole code of law - was in effect
before Moses received the Ten
Commandments at Sinai.
Parents, Murder, and
Adultery
Tbe oext commandment given is:
" H onour thy father and thy
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