Moses brought the Law, Jesus brought Grace

Opener

Theo at the beach: Where is bubba, I want bubba, I want to get bubba, I want to give this cookie to bubba, I want my bubba

The Law is our security blanket

Review

The Ten Commandments are intuitive and universally applicable. Natural Law

You shall have no other gods before me

No idols

Do not take the Lord’s name in vein

Keep the Sabbath holy

Honor your father and mother

Do not murder

Do not commit adultery

Do not steal

Do not bear false witness

Do not covet

After our 2 week break from the book of Exodus, we return to the people of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, hearing directly from God, the Ten Commandments. Of the 613 laws held by the Jewish Tradition, these 10 are easily applied to us today. There is an argument made by many theologians beginning with the writings of Paul, recognized by Irenaeus(2nd), followed on by Augustine(4th) and Aquinas(13th) that these laws found in the 10 commandments were the same “Natural Laws” that the ancient greek and roman philosophers talked about. This idea of a set of universal moral values that are known to all mankind. We can easily observe the moral values found in the Ten commandments throughout all sorts of societies today and in history. About murder, adultery, stealing, lying. Even atheists and agnostics can agree that these things are wrong.

God ordered the world with the Law written on the heart of man.

Law can refer to Decalogue, the whole Law, or all of the OT

The Ten Commandments are the revelation of these Natural Laws by the finger of God himself, but they have always existed. This Natural Law is a part of the way God ordered this world when He created it. He has left His finger print everywhere, to be found by us, that we may be led to Him.

The other 603 laws are not as easily applied

Moral- what it looks like to obey God, summarized with the whole Law in Jesus’ two commandments, love God, love others

Ceremonial- pointed to Christ, fulfilled in Him

Judicial- For a particular people at a particular time, in a particular society. David and Bathsheba, parapet

I bring this up because the other 603 laws, dozens of which we will read here in Exodus, are not as easily applicable to our modern society. These other laws are built off of the foundation of the Ten Commandments, but they have a different scope. The Ten were made to of the people as general moral laws that will be held about how people are to deal with God and other people. This particular chapter is full of case-law, commonly called the judicial law. This judicial law was made specifically for Israel to learn how to be a covenant people of God. God has given them a schoolmaster to teach them the way. These laws were fulfilled in and by Christ. There are moral truths that undergird each of these laws that as we read, you can take and apply to life today. There are some laws which will translate easily, and others that take some more work.

Book of the Covenant, Covenant Code

As we open our bibles to ch. 21, we find ourselves at the start of a mini-book, found within the book of Exodus. It is commonly called the Book of the Covenant or the Covenant code. The rest of Exodus is just simply God explaining to the people, that He just redeemed, what it looks like to be in covenant with God. What it looks like for God to be their God, and for them to be His people. They are best summarized with the words that Jesus spoke. Love God and love others.

Reveal our sin, teach us the ways of righteousness, point to Christ

These laws we read about a few weeks ago, and now these laws we will read today reveal to us our sin, teach us the ways of righteousness and holiness before God, and point to Christ. We know the heart of man apart from the Law of God is wicked. All throughout the OT, particularly in Judges, we read multiple times that every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Proverbs 21:1–3 “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”

OT Law did not save, redemptive lenses show us that Jesus fulfilled the Law and God wants the heart

We see even here, that the Law was never the point. The sacrificial system we read about in the OT was never the point. God cares about the heart. These laws and sacrifices always pointed to Jesus, who would come to save. Through our redemptive lenses, we can clearly see that these laws were the shadow, or the picture of the thing to come, but the heart of these laws has never changed. When Jesus came to fulfill the Law, He did so by living the perfectly righteous and holy life that we never could. Jesus showed us that the law was never about the outward acts of obeying the Law, but always about the inward worship of the heart through service and obedience.

These laws are foreign to our society

With all this said, lets jump into the chapter. A quick side note, these laws are completely foreign to our society. It’s hard for us to imagine a world where things like slavery were not just normal, but approved of by God. When we read of slaves and masters, we can only think of the brutal mistreatment of men in the African Slave Trade. Men of this time used scriptures like these to prove that they were morally right in what they were doing. I want to unpack all of this more after this first set of laws.

Exodus 21

1-12

Contract slave

Indentured slave

Bondservant

Chattel slave

v.1-6 Protects slaves within Israel from that which they were rescued from in Egypt.

v.7-11 We see that of female slaves, these were more like arranged marriage than slavery, though there surely were still some female slaves, there are many protections put in place for them, showing God’s high value of women in a middle eastern society, where then, and even today, women are seen as second class citizens.

12-21

v.12-14 This shows us two things about the 6th commandment. God does not treat all death caused by man the same, and that vengeful killing, taking matters into your own hands, is not the way of God, yet God still allows for justice to be brought through a judicial system, in this case, through capital punishment or banishment.

v.15 5th commandment

v.16 Kidnapping- Joseph’s brothers

v.17 5th commandment

v.18-19 If you choose to fight, you might get hurt, and if you don’t, you might have to pay for the damage you’ve done. This promoted restraint in argument

v.20-21 This law is specifically speaking to the intent. If murder was the intention, the man was punished, but if it was not the intention, he has lost his worker and that is seen to be punishment enough. This will make more sense after the next set of laws.

22-36

v.22-25 Following directly after some laws that are difficult to apply to our society, we see a few that are quite clear. God’s love for a human life begins at conception. God’s love for the unborn is put on full display here.

God does not desire retributive justice, but with the life of the unborn, he is clear, and the punishment severe.

v.26-27 We see here very clearly that mistreatment of slaves was not accepted in any way

v.28-32 We rarely see ox goring cases go through our current judicial system, but the point here was clear, care for your neighbor. Love them in such a way that you watch out for them.

v.33-36 More love of neighbor

Moses brought the Law, but Jesus brought Grace

Romans 7:12 “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

Psalm 19:7 “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;”

Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.”

“The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted; the introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer view much of what is in it but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before.”

B.B. Warfield

John 1:17 “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Matthew 5:17–20 ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.”

Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”

Psalm 119:33–37 “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.”

Psalm 119:73 “Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.”

Psalm 119:105–108 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word! Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules.”

God’s law is perfect, even today, but in the OT, we only have the drawing of the true thing that was to come. We have the shadow, or the image. You can write down each of these 613 laws, practice them perfectly, and be sorely disappointed when you meet God face to face on that day. The Law didn’t save then, and it doesn’t save now. There is not one thing on this Earth that you can do to earn your spot in Heaven. Praise God for that because I lost mine long ago. It is through Jesus Christ alone that we can turn from the wicked ways of this world, repent of our sin, believe in God, and live forever before the Glory of God Almighty.