A rabbi and a pompous woman who were attending a luncheon were conversing. "One of my ancestors," boasted the woman, "signed the Declaration of Independence." "Is that so?" asked the rabbi. "One of mine wrote the Ten Commandments."

It was on Mount Sinai that Moses received the Ten Commandments. He didn''t write them. He received them from God, and these commandments have become a reliable guide to behavior for millions of people on this earth.

The great preacher, Dr. Phillips Brooks, tells the story of a church member who was going to visit Mount Sinai where the Ten Commandments were given by Almighty God to his servant Moses. In fact, he told Dr. Brooks that he planned to actually climb the mountain and when he reached the top to read aloud the Ten Commandments.

Thinking this would ple…