The Israelites who now stood round Mount Sinai and heard the voice of God saying, “I am the Lord thy God,” were the same who a very short time before had been slaves in Egypt; they were delivered from slavery, and saw their cruel taskmasters perish in the waves of the Red Sea. Pharaoh, the king of the Egyptians, and his people had believed that they were the masters of the Israelites, and that they could do with them as they pleased. And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should listen to his voice? I know not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” It has now been shown that Pharaoh and his people were not the true masters; that there was a higher Being that ruled over all men, over kings and their peoples. After the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, they sang with Moses: “This is my God, and I will praise him, the God of my father, and I will exalt him.” They all felt that their liberty was not obtained by human strength and skill; that there must be a higher Being who is All-powerful, All-wise, and All-good; and that it was He who freed them, and punished the wicked Egyptians by whom they had been kept in slavery. What the Israelites at first felt in their hearts they were now, when standing round Sinai, taught by God Himself, in plain, clear, and intelligible words: “I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” This is the first commandment; it is only one commandment, but it contains several important lessons:— 1. God has shown great kindness to our nation; we Jews must therefore more than other people show ourselves grateful to Him, love Him as our Deliverer and Benefactor, and do willingly all that He commands us to do. 2. When we are in trouble we must trust in God, pray to Him, and hope that He will help us when our fellow-men cannot do so. When they give us up as lost we need not despair; for the Almighty can help where human wisdom and power are insufficient. 3. The wicked may for a time succeed in doing wrong, whilst the good and just suffer; but this does not last for ever. There is a Master above all of us, who in due time punishes the wicked and saves the good. SECOND COMMANDMENT. “Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing loving-kindness to the thousandth generation of them that love me and keep my commandments.”