The Way of Faithfulness
Notes
Transcript
Exodus 19-20
Exodus 19-20
Who in here is familiar with the declaration of independence? As anyone in here read the document? In its most basic form what was that document?
The most famous paragraph from that is this, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
We like to quote that and sometimes people confuse that with the Constitution but its a good document. However, if you were living at the time of its writing it meant so much more to you. If you were one of the people being affected by the 27 grievances that they laid out in that document, it was a rally cry and a hope of liberation.
Now what about the US Constitution? Has anyone read that? In its most basic form what is that document?
That document obviously starts out with: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Now if you were born and raised in Kumbamitwe, Uganda, would those documents mean much to you? Would they have nearly the same power and respect as they do to us? Now I would argue that in 2024 America we don’t appreciate and respect those documents nearly as much as we should or as we did in 1787.
In the right context with the right lens the meaning of these documents doesn’t change but your understanding and appreciation of them does.
As we continue in the book of Exodus we come to one of the most misused or misrepresented passages in the Old Testament if not the bible. Who in here has ever read Exodus 20? I assumed we all have. How many of us have ever read Exodus 20 without reading Exodus 19—as in you dropped in and read that passage and thats it? Its not wrong to do that, obviously at some level you have to do that or you would never have time to read anything—if you had to read all the chapters before and after it would take you forever. However its very important for us to understand Exodus 19 before we get to chapter 20.
The 10 commandments are not a set of does and don’ts that result in salvation. If you adhere to this law you will be made right with God. I think its important that we acknowledge that though because we are American’s like lists, we like to have a standard or a rubric and we use that to compare ourselves and make ourselves right in our own eyes. And we have pushed for these rules and for the commandments to be posted in every classroom and in every church and every church classroom. And I am not against that—I think its good and worthy to want to follow these. However, we set our young people up for failure if we make them believe that by completing this list they will be made right before a Holy God and then they get discouraged and fret everytime they fail.
We are not made right with a Holy God by any set of rules or regulations not even considering the fact that we could never keep any sort of rules or regulations. We enter into heaven because to quote Alistair Begg, “The man on the middle cross said I could come.”
Turn to Exodus 19 lets jump in. We are going to look at three reasons why God has given us His law.
God gave the law to show His love
3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Interesting right away Moses has to ascend the mountain to meet God—fitting that God in his supreme majesty meets Moses at the top of a mountain.
Psalm 36:6 (ESV)
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Also God told him this would happen:
12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
The Lord rescued and PROTECTED His people in the exodus so they could have FELLOWSHIP with Him.
To set the 10 commandments in the proper context we have to remember who we are talking about and where this is taking place on the timeline. God quickly reminds the Israelites of what has happened.
a) Remember you are of the house of Jacob—the line of Abraham whom I made a promise with, don’t forget that.
b) Remember what I did to the Egyptians
They are just 3 months out of slavery and God is reminding them what they have gone through. Remember what I did to your captors.
Its also important to remember that when they are hearing this they had already been saved. R. Kent Hughes shares this,
“Realize that this statement was made to people who were already saved. The Israelites had been delivered from bondage and redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb. This is crucial for understanding how God’s law works in the Christian life. The order of the exodus is important: First God delivered his people from bondage, then he gave them his law. Imagine what would have happened if it had been the other way around. Suppose God had said to Moses, “Tell my people: ‘If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, i will carry you away from Egypt on eagles wings.” In that case, there never would have been an exodus at all. God’s people would still be in bondage due to their failure to keep covenant with God. But God is a God of grace. So he saved his people first, then he called them to obey his law. The history of the exodus thus helps us understand the function of the Law in the Christian life. First God rescues us from our sin; then he teaches us how to live for his glory. If personal obedience had to come first, we would never be saved. But as it is, God saves us in Christ be he calls us to live for Christ.”
To summarize:
God made His covenant with the Israelites by giving them His law, expecting their OBEDIENCE to it. But we cannot miss the fact that God’s GRACE preceded His law, and yet both reflected His LOVE.
We see this pattern in redemption and in Israel. I got his from somewhere; i don’t remember where:
Bringing out
Lifting Up
Drawing Close
We are saved out of something, restored and then able to draw close to God. This is the covenant relationship of God with His people.
Remember what I did to the Egyptians:
a) Dismantled their gods one by one through the 10 plagues
b) Drowned their army in the sea
c) Delivered Israel (YOU) from them
God brought his people out of captivity and into freedom.
At this point you can imagine they are confused—you delivered us out of Egypt—and not we are wandering? We know that at times and I would guess quite frequently they questioned what was going on. If you read Numbers 11 they could go as far to say you know in Egypt we at least had good food. Sure you delivered us God but all we have is manna—we were in chains but at least we had melons and cucumbers.
There is a song we sang at the conference that I can’t get out of my head and thats okay—”I don’t know what your doing, but I know what you’ve done.”
This should be Israel’s song and God reminds them of that—remember what I have done.
4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
Eagles are symbol of courage and strength. They are independent and feared which is why it is Americas symbol (much to the dismay to Benjamin Franklin—he would rather have a Turkey).
The Eagle is used twice in the Hobbit as the rescuer.
The wings of eagle depict God’s protective nature and tender care
9 But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. 10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,
God delivered them from slavery and now they were vulnerable to starvation and attack in the wilderness but God lifted them on is mighty wings. God brought them to himself.
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
A kingdom of priests, a holy nation.
You know we have been described in a similar way, haven’t we?
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
In John’s greeting to the seven churches in Revelation he says this:
6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We have to move on but what have you seen God do?
God delivered from bondage to sin through the death of Jesus, He has carried us—provided what we need. What have you seen him do in your life?
I wanted to stress this because in postmodern times this isn’t assumed like it once was. In the book “The Day America Told the Truth” James Patterson and Peter Kim dish out what they believe is the new law of postmodern times. The ten commandments don’t cut it anymore.
“Today there is absolutely no moral consensus at all..everyone is making up their own personal moral codes—their own Ten Commands.”
They go on to list what they call “ten real commandments”
These were the result of a survey they took of people actually living by them:
I don’t see the point in observing the Sabbath
I will steal from those who won’t really miss it
I will lie when it suits me, so long as it doesn’t cause any real damage
i will cheat on my spouse—after all, given the chance, he or shee will do the same.
I will procrastinate at work and do absolutely nothing about one full day in every five.
People are actually living this way because they live by a code of moral relativism, the belief that we are free to make up our own rules, based on our own personal preferences.
God again reminds them of this,
1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Because of what God has done for us, He expects something from us.
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
They were commanded to obey because of what God had done for them. I hate to break it to you, first of all moral relativism doesn’t work, its not supported by any scripture and is the exact contrary to God’s commands. But even if that was the law of the land if you indeed have been chosen by God you have a new law, a new commanding instruction
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Because this has happened, because you have been hidden with Christ—obey my commandments. He goes on in Colossians 3 to list the things you are to put to death and those things you are to put on.
2. God gave the law to show how to love Him
3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
God’s people are to love Him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. This entails worshiping God ALONE, worshiping Him as Himself, and always honoring His NAME.
We don’t have as much time as I would like so lets quickly work through this. John MacArthur has something very helpful in his study bible which is the comamndment along with a restatement of that command in the New Testament which we may not cover all these but they are on your paper.
Vertical Commands:
Polytheism—one God—You shall have no other God’s before me.
The gospel project has a helpful quote here, “One’s identity, happiness, security, and meaning in life cannot be found with any certainity apart from God because He is our Creator. Fearing the opinions of others, worrying about someone’s approval, and seeking divine comfort from a relationship or employment are all ways humans worship false gods.”
15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
2. Carved Image—make no idol to replace God or to represent God. Also, don’t worship anything in the created order; anything that God made should not be worshipped but rather God alone. We don’t have time to get into what is or is not appriorate to have as a representation of God and I think there is some liberty there but this is one of the main ways Catholism has broken off in the last 500 years; there worship of images or relics truly takes away from the wonder and awesomeness of God.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
3. Swearing—use the Lord’s name properly. What we say and do should honor the Lord, his name is not to be taken lightly.
12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
4. Sabbath—devote a day of the week to rest.
12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
I don’t want to go too far down this path because it can be a lengthy conversation but the bible is very clear that this, and only this commandment, was nullified in the new covenant. The new testament reaffirms each of the commandments in their essence and yet this one Paul would write:
16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
The only way we can be excused from passing judgement, or to put it another way it would be right for others to believe differently would be for it to no longer be expected or required to be followed or observed. Again we are limited by time but the point can be made that the sabbath was on Saturday now we celebrate the Lord’s Day on Sunday.
We have to move on.
3. God gave the law to show how to love one another.
The last six commandments show how we are to HONOR God in our CONCERN for the interests of others, not merely our own.
Commandments 5-10 are horizontal.
God could have easily just said love God and love people which Jesus essentially did when asked what the greatest commandment was. And yet there is something necessary and right in spelling out the many ways they were to act. Keeping in mind that they just came out of Egypt and the culture they were immersed with—yes love people but this is what it should look like, it encompasses so many different things.
5. Obedience to Parents—respect the authority God has delegated to parents. Speak honorably of ones parents, submit to their authority if consistent with the Lord’s aways.
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
6. Murder—putting someone to death improperly for selfish reasons rather than with authorization. It is an act of anger becoming uncontrolled and seeking vengeance. In just the OT there were times where God decreed or commanded for people to be killed. He commanded the Israelites to destroy villages. David slayed Goliath which was just and yet his treatment of Uriah was murder.
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
We see murders listed on more than one occasion of those who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
7. Adultery—sexual immorality and impurity. A marriage is designed to be holy with a husband and wife devoted and set apart to one another. We see in Matthew 5 lust leads to lustful actions and so this takes place outside of the marriage too.
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Obviously the James passage is proceed by whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point is guilty of all.
8. Theft—respect for others belongings. Taking what doesn’t belong to you is a result of discontent. This can include so much including honest financial dealings (using proper weights and measures), not moving property markers, paying what is due, etc. There are so many ways we are dishonest and take from others or want to take from others.
28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
9. False Witness—speak the truth. Tell the truth, tell the whole truth, tell nothing but the truth. Consider their legal system—you were convicted often solely by the witness of others, if that witness is not true it has great consequences.
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Speak the truth, be known as a truth speaker.
10. Coveting—selfish desires and covetousness. Addresses the heart and what you desire, even if you don’t act outwardly on it. This one is tied to the first—seek God and fulfillment in Him, this is the oppioste of that.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
As we leave I want to leave you with three questions to thing about:
How might obedience to God’s commandments put believers at odds with the world?
What are some ways God’s commandments are revealing sin in your life? (REPENT)
How ill you live differently so that your words and actions point to the glory of the Lord who loves us and gave Himself for us?