The great feature of Moses's Mount Sinai expedition, and his absence for forty days, and the production of the Ten Commandments, keeps the theological world in a constant stew of wonder and admiration. From the point of reason, common sense, and the light we have now, there is nothing remarkable or wonderful about the forty days' absence or the Ten Commandments. Moses was provided with all the food he needed, and all the assistance he needed, during his stay in the mountain. His own family, as well as his wife's relatives, knew all about the mountain, while the masses were kept at a respectful distance, on penalty of death. What are these Ten Commandments? 1. One God (the concentrated essence of the } Chaldean gods), worship him only. } Natural laws of 2. Have no other God, image, etc. } self-preservation 3. Don't swear by God. } and 4. Rest on the seventh day (economy of } self-protection. muscular forces). } 5. Honor thy parents. } 6. Do not commit murder. 7. Do not commit adultery. 8. Do not steal. 9. Do not bear false witness. 10. Do not desire another man's property. All these laws had been in existence centuries before the coming of Moses. Nations had already adopted them, as a matter of necessity. Crimes of murder and robbery, etc., were familiar among the Chaldeans and other nations. When Isaac sent messengers to Nahor in order to secure Rebeka for his wife, they had to pass through Mesopotamia, "in which it was tedious traveling, both in winter, for a depth of clay, and in summer for a want of water; and besides this, for the robberies there committed" (Jos.). It must be remembered that society had reached a degree of organization and civilization; that these fundamental principles, these natural laws, are observed to a considerable extent even among the lower animals, and that they were strictly enforced in every barbarian as well as more civilized community. In the codification of these laws by Moses there is nothing wonderful, nothing miraculous, supernatural. The whole matter consisted in the adoption of these fundamental principles, these common-law usages, and the proclaiming of them as the laws to govern this newly organized nation, as all other nations had done centuries before them. The laws incorporated in the book of Leviticus, etc., consisting in the regulation or government of the nation, appointing communities or families, dealing with food, dress, sacrifice, crime and its punishment, trade, commerce, domestic affairs, marriage, and above all church affairs, were mostly adoptions from other nations with certain modifications, written up in the manner we find them.