This vertical integration is the fruit of the living virtue of hope. Although love is the force of integration for the four cardinal commandments, this integration can only occur in the vertical dimension. The virtue of hope raises the follower of the way above the way of the slave, releasing the individual to begin climbing the mountain.
Above this, the believer encounters the commandment dealing with the sabbath rest:
Above this, the believer encounters the commandment dealing with the sabbath rest:
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day as a sabbath for Yahweh your God. . . . . For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that these hold, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why Yahweh has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred.
The sabbath day corresponds to the cloud on the mountain, shielding the top of the mountain from those below. It brings together the six principles below it into a completeness and serves as a veil to the Holy of Holies above. God is not to be found in earthquake or storm but in the gentle breeze, as Elijah was to later find when he went in search of God on the mountain.
Beyond the veil, lie the most mysterious commandments of all. The last three commandments deal with the Trinity. “You shall have no gods before me.” This final commandment is the counter balance to the initial one “You shall not covet . . .” Desire is the father of false gods in our lives. This commandment focuses on spiritually honouring God the Father.
The second deals with trust in the power of the Holy Spirit:
Beyond the veil, lie the most mysterious commandments of all. The last three commandments deal with the Trinity. “You shall have no gods before me.” This final commandment is the counter balance to the initial one “You shall not covet . . .” Desire is the father of false gods in our lives. This commandment focuses on spiritually honouring God the Father.
The second deals with trust in the power of the Holy Spirit:
You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.
In other words, do not trust in the power of the occult, or worldly power, but remain united through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, the third commandment deals with the person of Jesus, the “Word Made Flesh”:
You shall not utter the name of Yahweh your God and misuse it, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name to misuse it.
Jesus is the “Word made flesh” and the object of this final commandment. In Hebrew scripture, to name someone is to recognize them. When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdelane, after he rose from the dead, she did not recognize him till he called her by name. It is through Jesus that we recognize the true face of God and it is through Jesus that we become adopted sons and daughters of God:
“To have seen me is to see the Father” [John 14.9]
and . . .
