Mosaic Covenant

I have three very wonderful and very stonrg-willed and opiniates chiuldren. One of the things you relaize about children is that they all have a very strong sense of justice and fairness. Most of the arguments in our house revolve aorind issues of what is fair? Are we as parents being fair? Are the expecations we have for each child fair?

I’ve been wondering lately, as we seem to be havng more and more diagreements about what is fair (really the issue is are we practing justice). Where do children get this innate sense of justice and fairness? It’s not llike we, as parents, are always talking about being fair.

This sense of justice, an appeal to some agreed upon standard of what is right, is something classical philosphers used to call the law of nature. Which we may call “the law of right and wrong” C.S. Lewis uses this law of nature idea as his first point in the classic book Mere Chrsitnaity in which he argues that the human sense of morality - some innate knowledge of right and wrong is proof of God.

The classic philopsohers would say there are laws that govern all creatures - there are things like gravity - if you step off a cliff you cannot shoose if yu fall or not -you will fall. If you get a virus you cannot choose to be cick or not you just will. BUt for classi philposphers they said the law of right and worng the law of nature is one that men can break. They ooijnt to an shared sense of justice, goodness, rightness and piint ut that although most men know what is right - they can choose to break the law of nature.

C.S. Lewis puts it like this: This law was called the Law of Nature because people thought that every one knew it by nature and did not need to be taught it. They did not mean, of course, that you might not find an odd individual here and there who did not know it, just as you find a few people who are colour-blind or have no ear for a tune. But taking the race as a whole, they thought that the human idea of decent behaviour was obvious to every one.

Lewis points out that, “Every one has heard people arguing Sometimes it sounds funny and sometimes it sounds merely unpleasant; but however it sounds, I believe we can learn something very important from listening to the kind of things they say. They say things like this: "How'd you like it if anyone did the same to you?"—"That's my seat, I was there first"—"Leave him alone, he isn't doing you any harm"—"Come on, you promised." People say things like that every day, educated people as well as uneducated, and children as well as grown-ups.

Lewis says, notice how the on emaking the appeal is appealig to some kind of standard of behaviour that they expect the other perso ot kknow about. The one who has done wrong nealy always tries ot prove that what they did did not viloate the standard that is being appealed to. As Lewis puts it, “Arguing means trying to show that the other man is in the wrong. And there would be no sense in trying to do that unless you and he had some sort of agreement as to what Right and Wrong are; just as there would be no sense in saying that a footballer had committed a foul unless there was some agreement about the rules of football.”

The point being made is that everyone has some moral standard to which they appeal and there are certaing things all humans seem to intuituvely know is wrong or right. For example - You could go to any society or nation on earth, at any time in history, and if someone told you that an animal they kept on a leash was their pet you can be certain that if you grabbe it form them and kicked that pet over a bridge there is no society or civilation or person who would say, “that’s fine, that seems appropriaate. We all just do what we want os I can;t say what you did is bad or good. I would’ve done the same to you.”

There is this sense in whcih all gumans knw the good they ought do a common standard of jusytice and rightness that is understood by most. However, there are disagremments on how these loaws should apply and to whom they should apply. FOr example stealing. SOme woud say anyone strelaing is wrng and should be punished. We don;t need antyhigmore thant o say stealing is worng and thieves should be punished.

Others would say, yes, stelaing is worng and thieves should be punished but we should also ask ‘why are they stealing in the first place. Are they starving? Why are they starving? Perhaos the problem is not that theyt are stealing but that we have unjust society where people go hungry. and perhaps the piunshiment should be less severe based on the reasons for the theft. “ Still others may say, “well, stealing form other people is worng but there are these hgunge mlutinational, mulitbillion dollar companies who rip us off everye chance they get so if steal form them it;s probably ok. We’re jjust doing to them what they do to us.

Somebody has to take the human need for justgice and the natural law and codify it - make laws that epople live by - make it fair and just and enforce it. Society cannot grow or thrive without a common set of laws. This is why you hjave ancient civilizations, like the Akkadians, who had a code of laws -the law of hammurabi that is in some ways very similiar ot the law of the covanent that god gave to Isreal that we are studyuing today

The Law as a Gift

The fiurs tpoint we want to make about hte covenant we are looking at today the Msaid covanent =, or the covenant of the law -the Torah -is that we recignize God;s law as a gift. We could even recongize that all just laws are a gift. Every human society has had to have laws and in order to allow people to thrive.

So it makes snse that as God rescued His people, the isrelaites form Egypt, and led them inot the wilderness where they could become a nation that his covenat with them focused on laws. What will this people, who are god;s own chsoen pepe, look like? How will they run thier ation, how will tthey trs=eat one anothe? These isrelaites will be the ones who bear Gopd;s name -who show the nations what Yawheh is like -so laws for the nation and laws for thier own hearts will be hugely important.

The covenent we are looking at today - the Mosaic covenant is focusing on the laws, specifailly the ten commandments, gien in Exodus but these ar enot just random thou shalt’s and thou shalt nots. Laws are a gift and these laws particualry are a gift; The entirety of the law covenant is 613 laws but these instructions to the God;s people are an invitation to alife worth living. Yahwahe invites people to live thes elaws out for thier good and Yahweh makes His own commtiment o the people as well. God’s people know exatyl what is expected and how they are to live.

This is very different from how the nations around them lived when it came ot thier gods. There is an aceont prayer in Akkadian titled “prayer to any God” and it shows how humans could never know what the goids thought or how humans could please them. Here a re a few excerpts:

may the god i do not know be reconciled ot me…o goddess, whoever you are, i do not know what wrong i have dine,i dno know what sin i commitetted i do not know what taboo i have viloated…be reconciled ot me.

As opposed to this Yahweh is incredbly clear on whjat he expects, there is no guesswork. OS for us the law code of exodus - which seems long, lenthgy, exacitngly detailed, allows the peoiple to breahte a sigh of relief. They know this giod, they know what He expects, and the law is not arbitrary, random rules but an invitation to floursing and bkessed life, community and soceity. The law is not given by an unknowabvle god but is given by a God who will dweel in thie rmisdts in the Holy of Holies. A God who has told them who he is - exodus ————

Carmen Imes outs it like this: imagine a community is planning to build a new plauyground with good public acccess but it is near a busy intersection. For safety the builder has proposed a fence aorund the playground. Now wouldn;t it be odd if someone argued that children would have more fun on this playground if there was no fence to cramp thier style?

We would say the fence is actually helpful for the chidlren to play -they ccan play freely and safely wihtin the boundaries established. It keeps everyone safe and the aprents don;t have ot wathc every move thier children make. A playgroiund with no fences isn;t really freedm’it;s an accident waiting to ahppen.

Imes says, “Isreal’s laws are the fences within wich life can flourish. They make possible a distintive way of life so that toher nataions cans ee what Yahweh is like and what he epects. The law was never the means by which Isreal earned God’s favour. The Isrelaites were saved the same way we are - by grace through faith.

Always remeber grace came before the law- Isrelaites had already been resecued, chosen, made God;s treasured posession all before they ever had the law. But thier obedience ot the law expressed their covenant commitment, or allegiance, to Yahweh and allowed them to epxerince the benefits yawheh promised in that covavent relationship.

Many Christians think that the law is somehow opposed to the gospel. They assume that in the Old Testament salvation came by law, whereas in the New Testament salvation comes by grace. But the truth is that salvation has always come by grace, and that the law and the gospel work together for salvation in both testaments. The grace of the gospel has never been opposed to the proper use of the law.

We see the law and the gospel working together in Exodus, which contains both the Old Testament’s clearest example of salvation by grace and its fullest presentation of God’s law. Significantly, God did not give Israel the Ten Commandments until chapter 20. Chapters 1–19 come first, and they tell the story of salvation by grace—God fulfilling his covenant promise by bringing Israel out of Egypt. Then comes chapter 20, in which God gives his people a law by which to live.

ALL THE LAW?

No - the Torah has many types of laws and many are only for the nation of Isreal.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory The Law of Christ

three types of law: the moral, the civil, and the ceremonial. These were all given in the Old Testament, sometimes interspersed. But in order to make sense of the law—and ultimately of the gospel—they must be carefully distinguished as we see them through the clear lens of the person and work of Jesus Christ. “It is of the utmost importance,” writes Ernest Reisinger, “to discern the differences between the ceremonial law, which pertained to the worship of Israel and prefigured Christ; the civil or judicial laws, which detailed the duties to Israel as a nation (having their roots in the moral law, particularly in the second table); and the moral law, by which the Creator governs the moral conduct of all creatures for all times.”

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory The Law of Christ

The moral law is summarized in the Ten Commandments. It is the righteous and eternal standard for our relationship with God and with others.

The civil law consisted of the laws that governed Israel as a nation under God. These included guidelines for waging war, restrictions on land use, regulations for debt, and penalties for specific violations of Israel’s legal code.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory The Law of Christ

The ceremonial law consisted of regulations for celebrating various religious festivals and for worshiping God in his sanctuary. It included laws for clean and unclean foods, instructions for ritual purity, guidelines for the conduct of priests, and especially instructions for offering sacrifices—the whole sacrificial system (see Leviticus). God gave detailed regulations that covered specifics like who was supposed to cut which animal’s throat and how and what was to be done with the blood.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory The Law of Christ

The ceremonial law is no longer in effect; it has been abrogated. This is because all its regulations pointed forward to Jesus Christ. Concerning the Old Testament ceremonies, the Scripture says, “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (

we cannbot be saved by the ceremonial law, we cannot be saved by the civil law - we cannot meet the requimrents of the mroal law - so as Paul right ly saysm the law is powerless to save and if you yrust in law ot save you, you have forsaken grace- if your trust is in lawkeeping it is misplaced -it mjst be oplaced in Chrit who fulfiled the law and righteosiusness.

Ten commandments are the moral law that Jesus and New tetamant authors affirm as the standaard for god;s peole. Now, we are not aved by the law which is why Jesus needed to live the law perfectly, carryour sin in his body oin the cirss and be raised ot life in the oiwer of the OSirit so we can reciweve his righeousness.

the law was powerless to save - the law was good. The problem is not with the law but with us - we cannot meet the standards of the law.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Using the Law Today

Donald Grey Barnhouse explained it like this: “The law of God is like a mirror. Now the purpose of a mirror is to reveal to you that your face is dirty, but the purpose of a mirror is not to wash your face. When you look in a mirror and find that your face is dirty, you do not then reach to take the mirror off the wall and attempt to rub it on your face as a cleansing agent. The purpose of the mirror is to drive you to the water.” This is how the law helps us: not by saving us, but by showing us our need for a Savior. And it does this for Christians as much as for non-Christians. The law shows us our sin to remind us to praise God for saving us through Christ.

The question becomes: Now that we have received God’s grace in the gospel, what comes next? Are we free to live as we please? Can we be saved and still lead a sinful life? Of course not! What we are free to do is to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Martin Luther once explained this principle to one of his students. He had been talking about God’s free grace for sinners, how our salvation does not rest upon our own good works but upon the saving work of Jesus Christ. “If what you’re saying is true,” the student objected,” then we may live as we want!” Luther replied, “Yes. Now what do you want?”

What Luther said to his student was fully in keeping with Scripture. The Apostle Peter said, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God” (1 Pet. 2:16). It is because we have been set free by God’s grace that we are obligated to love and obey God. The Apostle Paul adds that we are also obligated to love our neighbor: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (Gal. 5:13).

Notice what Peter and Paul are doing in these verses: They are telling us to love God and to love our neighbor, which is what the Ten Commandments are all about. Paul makes this connection explicit when he goes on to say, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (v. 14). But of course Peter and Paul were simply repeating what Jesus said when he summarized the law in two Great Commandments: Love God and love your neighbor (Matt. 22:37–40). Jesus also said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). The gospel of Jesus Christ obligates us to show people what God is like and we show people what God is like when we love our nehgbour as ourselves for love is the fulfillment of the law.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Teaching Us How to Live

Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle argued, “There is no greater mistake than to suppose that a Christian has nothing to do with the law and the Ten Commandments, because he cannot be justified by keeping them. The same Holy Spirit who convinces the believer of sin by the law, and leads him to Christ for justification, will always lead him to a spiritual use of the law, as a friendly guide, in the pursuit of sanctification.” The law is useful for instructing us in righteousness. It helps us to know what is pleasing to God. It shows us how to live.

Although we will not live perfectly, we are to continaully, each day, remember that we bleong to God we were bought with the precious blood of jesus Christ and God’s law is now writnn on our hearts by the SPirit within us who has regenreated and transfomred us. God;s ways are the ways that lead to abundant and eteranl life we are free in Christ to lice abundanty. The law is both a gift and an inviation to relationship

The Law as Relationship

In additon to clear expecations this giving of the law is a rwlatinal covenant. Whereas the gods of the antion around them were unknwable and mysterious God revelas Himself to them through the giving of this covanenat of law.

law will be sign of God;s love for His people and the peoples love fo rthier God and a tangible expressio fo your live for god is how you are treating the people around you.

God’s commitment is to never abandon Isreal as his people and secondly to bless all the nations through ISreal, the decendants of Abrhaham .

The ten commandments are given to show God;s peoplle what god is like and how he expects His people to live.

GO THROUGH THE COMMANDMENTS

The Ten Commandments

see IMES for first two

THE COMMITMENT -TO BEAR HIS NAME

see post it in IMES for PAUL