Proofs

[1] Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7.

Comments

When God first issued the Ten Commandments or Decalogue in written form to Moses, He inscribed it on two tablets of stone (Ex 31:18). Many modern scholars believe that all ten commandments were inscribed on each of the two tablets, so that the two tablets were duplicates rather than containing a different section of the Decalogue. This is in keeping with the ancient Near Eastern practice, wherein two covenanting parties would each keep a copy of the covenant stipulations in a safe and “sacred” place. We can see how, in the case of the covenant that God made with Israel, both copies of the covenant stipulations were kept in the Ark or the Testimony (Ex 25:21–22).

Whatever the case, there appears to be a logical division in the Ten Commandments that prompts theologians to divide the Ten Commandments into two tables or sections—the first table dealing with our duty towards God and the second our duty towards men. The Jewish historian Josephus, according to the common agreement of his age, assigns five commandments to each table. Calvin (ICR 2.8.12) and our Confession (WLC 102, 122) favour dividing the commandments into four and six. Yet others, such as Luther and the Roman Catholic Church, assign three to the first table and seven to the second. But these who do, so subsume the Second Commandment (as we understand it) under the First Commandment and quite illogically divide the Tenth Commandment into two: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house,” and “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, &c.” This makes it easy for the Roman Catholics at least to use images in their worship, for, after all, the Second Commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, &c,” now refers to worshipping of other gods rather than the mode of worship of the Living and True God.

The First Commandment teaches us what is the only and proper object of our worship, namely God. In the subsequent questions, each of the commandments will be expounded by showing us firstly, what the commandment bids us to do; secondly, what it forbids us to do; and thirdly, what reasons or motives there may be for its observance.