And God spoke all these words (Exod. 20:1). He spoke them all simultaneously. He causes death and restores life at the same time; He wounds and He heals simultaneously; He answers a woman in travail, those who travel on the sea and wander on the desert, and those who are imprisoned in the east, the west, the north, and south. He forms the light and creates the darkness, makes peace and fashions evil (Isa. 45:17), all at the same time. Dust is turned into man, and man is turned back into dust, as it is said: And bringeth on a shadow of death in the morning (Amos 5:8). What is meant by a shadow of death in the morning? It means that He restores man to his original state by morning.15According to tradition, the soul leaves the body when it is sleeping and returns in the morning, when it awakens.
It says: And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood (Exod. 7:20), but later the blood reverted back to water. Living flesh was turned into rancid flesh, and the dead were restored to life. The staff became a serpent, and the serpent was converted into a staff again. The sea was converted into dry land, and later the dry land became a sea once more. Likewise it says: That calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is His name (Amos 5:8). Thus it is said: And God spoke all these words.
What is written prior to this verse? Now Mount Sinai was altogether on smoke (Exod. 19:18). Altogether is stated, for otherwise one might believe that only the place where the Glory rested is meant here. Scripture says: Because the Lord descended upon it in fire (ibid.). This informs us that the entire Torah was of fire. It emanated from fire and it is compared to fire. As in the case of fire, if a man draws close to it he is warmed, and if he withdraws from it he becomes cold. Thus a man can warm himself at the fires of the wise.