The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 42

of Goll, that ho specially needs to ho rcrnindctl t.hat "Go(I will not hold him g-11iltles~ that takclh his mime in vain." On the other hand, regarding the law in its positive aspect, 'l\·e must obsen•e that tho whole force and scope of the dnty which man o~rns to God under this head can only be completely expounded from tho truth, that not only hRs the "'ord o.f God tRken our nature, but a\110 the Spirit of God, who when he first came down on the Church, enabled men to speak in other tongues the high praises of God, has made our bodies and nll their members tho temples of God. Here the ncgativo pole is" false swearing," the positive "praying in the Holy Ghost.'' It st'ems, therefore, not without reason tl1at S. Augustine and otliers ho.ve regarded the first three commandments of the law, not only as speeio.lly representing man's duty to God, but also as related to the three persons of the Godhead. 39. (IV.) In the preceding commandments all the fundamental principles of the sl"n·ice of God are indicated and asserted. But this service, as rendered by man on earth, must want definiteness and form unless Divine law should determine some order and proportion in respect of time. The fourth comm,mdment expresses in the form of law the principles in regard to man's use of time which are involve.d in God's creation of man, and which hnve been already discussed under that head.I It must be noticed that, in this law, the duty of fulfilling during six days the original precept to replenish the earth and subdue it, which involves a very large and important class of practical duties and responsibilities which we owe to God, o.nd not to !)lan t;mly, 2 is as distinctly asserted as the duty of resting from such labours, after the example of our Creator, on the seventh day. The interpretation o.nd application of this law which was suited for the Mosaic dispensation we need not consider, here at least, except to observe that the sl¾!ondary laws on this subject, by increasing the proportion of days which should be given to religious worship and observed as "Sabbaths," themselves prove that this commandment, as well as all others, though given for the instruction and direction of the conscience, is to be observed by man in the spirit and not in the letter. Regarding it in this light, we must consider the fourth commandment, in its posi- tive aspect, as indicating the duty of man to devote a sufficient portion of his time to tlie ,•,orship of God and to those pursuits which belong to a spiritual world. What the proportion should be must be detennined by the enlightened spirit of the Christian, directed by the law itself, but not interpreting it jn the literal and servile spirit of Scribes 11.nd Pharisees, which, by drawing a hard and fast line between day and day, would contradict the law itself. -On the other hand, in its negative aspect, this la.w includes duties to our fellow-men, and even to the beasts of the field which labour in the service of man ; and the mention of these last proves tho.t the physical value of a periodical day of rest is a principle of. this law. It is in this aspect of tl,e Sabbath, as a day of rest for our fellow-men who serve us, that Moses, in reminding the Israelites of this commandment in his last addressee to them,3 con- nects it with their deliverance from the land of tlieir bondage, where their·Egyptian taskmasters allowed them no rest; and, in reference to this, the particular day fixed fur the Sabbath under the Mosaic bw, was the day which began with the .evening wl,en they came out of Egypt.4 40. (V.) Man's duty to God leads to that which he owes to hie neighbour, and, o.s l,as been already observed, the fifth commandment belongs o.e much to one class o( 1 See 6 12. 2 Cf. tom. xii. 11 and Coloss. iii. 23, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord &n<l not unto men." • Dcut. v.14, 15. 1 Of. Exo<l. xvi.  JNTRODGCTION TO THE PENTATEUCII. xxix