The Ten Commandments: 101
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever gone somewhere maybe a day trip or maybe even a vacation blind? Just jumped in the car, the bus, the plane, or the train and just went there. Those trips are definitely full of adventure and surprises and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with those trips.
However on the flip side, have you ever traveled somewhere and before you left a family member, dear friend or maybe even a stranger at the gas station said to you, OH YOU’RE GOING WHERE! Well do you know any good places to eat there...
Some trips are better when you’re given a few landmarks, a few foodie spots, or a few main attractions to visit before you get there.
This morning, we are jumping back into our journey through Exodus and we’re starting by taking several weeks passing through the one of the most important passages in the Bible, The Ten Commandments.
While the first 19 chapters of Exodus dealt mainly with God’s deliverance of Israel, the next major portion deals with God establishing the terms of His covenant with Israel and the most memorable section in those terms is the ten.
However, before we dive too deep into the Ten, I want to take this morning’s sermon to be that family member, that friend, or that random stranger you meet as you’re about to take off to your destination, and i want to share a few points of interests about our journey. A few nuggets about the Ten that you should be looking out for as we are passing through.
A Few Lessons about the Ten
A Few Lessons about the Ten
1. The Ten and the Law are an expansion of the two greatest commandments that Jesus communicates to us in the NT.
1. The Ten and the Law are an expansion of the two greatest commandments that Jesus communicates to us in the NT.
In Matthew 22:35-40 we hear this...
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
So Jesus says, Love God and Love Neighbor, on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets…And we see that fully fleshed out here in the ten commandments...
The first four commandments are mainly associated with loving and honoring God…(1) Have no other gods before me (2) Don’t make any craven images of the divine (3) Do not take the name of the Lord in vain (4) Keep the Sabbath Holy
The last six commandments are mainly associated with loving mankind…(5) Honor your parents (6) Don’t murder (7) Don’t commit adultery (8) Don’t steal (9) Don’t bear false witness against your neighbor (10) Don’t covet your neighbor’s goods.
So while God would establish over 600 laws for Israel. The entire heart of those laws are summed up in the two: Love God and Love Neighbor and expanded on in the Ten. In examining these we establish a feel for what it means to live as the people of God.
2. The Ten and the Law Flow From Deliverance Not To Deliverance
2. The Ten and the Law Flow From Deliverance Not To Deliverance
Before God begins to lay out the commandments that He is calling Israel to live by, he starts with this opening statement in verses 1 and 2. Many scholars rightly point out that these opening words serve as a preamble of sorts to the covenant that God is establishing with Israel...
In legal terms a preamble is an introduction in document or statement that gives you a preview of what’s to come or an underlying philosophy of what is to come.
Here in these first two scriptures we have the underlying philosophy that is GUIDING everything that follows.
So this law is being built upon the foundation of the philosophy being outlined in this introductory statement.
So what does the preamble say?
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.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
This is the motivation and fuel for everything that follows.
In other words, if you were to ask, why does any of this matter? Why should we pay attention to it? Why should we actually heed it. The answer is in these words.
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
The Commandments Flow From Deliverance Not To Deliverance.
Israel’s motivation for obedience is not to be delivered. It is because they have been delivered. God has rescued Israel and is declaring them as His people. Therefore, they are now called to obey his law, standards, and way.
This OT principle carries NT implications with it: We obey because we’ve been saved not in order that we might be saved.
God has set us free from the bondage of sin and brought us out of the grave. So in response, we walk in obedience to Him.
Pastor Tony Merida says.
Exalting Jesus in Exodus The Ten Words
God’s people desire to do God’s will because they have already been saved, not to earn salvation
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
So out of the gratitude that comes from our deliverance should come a pursuit and desire for obedience. Which means...
The absence of the desire to obey comes either as a result of us not fully comprehending our deliverance or us not actually having been delivered.
APPLICATION: We have the potential to cheapen great truths like “We’re saved by grace alone” when we use them as reasons for us to not pursue obedience to God’s instruction for our lives.
We typically remember the first portion of Paul’s famous words in Ephesians 2, verses 8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And those are beautiful words indeed, but we must not forget verse 10:
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
You received deliverance from bondage to enjoy the kind of freedom in Christ that leads to obedience to His commandments.
Paul told his young apprentice Titus
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Grace came APART from OBEDIENCE IN ORDER THAT YOU MAY BE GIVEN WHAT IT TAKES TO PURSUING OBEDIENCE.
Grace came in the midst of your greed in order that you may pursue selfless living by grace.
Grace came in the midst of your sexual immorality in order that you may pursue holiness in your body by grace.
Grace came in the midst of your arrogance in order that you may pursue humility by grace.
Grace came in the midst of your lying and dishonesty at home or on your job or in your social life in order that you may pursue an honest life by grace.
Grace came in the midst of your anger, hatred, and unforgiveness towards those who like you were made in the image and likeness of God in order that you may pursue peace, love, and forgiveness by grace.
The Ten Commandments are intended to remind us that deliverance came by grace not for us to return back to bondage but rather to life of obedience that demonstrates a new freedom has come.
3. The Ten and the Law Reveals The Character of God
3. The Ten and the Law Reveals The Character of God
Another very important observation we need to take from our study of the Ten Commandments is who they point to? They point to God
Remember the flows from this declaration: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
In other words, God is establishing a Law with His people that reflect His nature and character. The Law isn’t just something that the Lord hands down for kicks. The commandments He issue flow from who He actually is.
ILLUSTRATION: This shouldn’t be surprising when you think about how laws are forged in countries and nations. What a nation will outlaw and/or enforce typically says something about the character of the nation. One nation may write lots of laws on the books about child labor because they view children as more fragile and in need of care and oversight. Another nation may not say much about child labor at all because it possibly doesn’t have the same beliefs about a child’s fragility or even worse, could simply just not value the wellbeing of children.
Regardless of the reasons, the presence of laws or the absence of laws regarding children oftentimes says something about how a nation views its children.
The same can be said about our nation. Our laws and policies toward the vulnerable. The wealthy and the poor, the vocal and the voiceless such as the unborn, the immigrant and refugee, the orphan and the widow, the privileged and the underprivileged. How the laws are established and more importantly, how they play out for these different groups, gives us a glimpse until our national character.
In the same way, what God has allowed and outlawed in the commandments give us a glimpse into his character. We learn something about the character of God when we learn about his law.
For example, God tells Moses in the second commandment
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,
Because the Lord will not share His glory with an imposter, he gives the commandment for us to not bow down to such imposters.
When we look at the fourth commandment, we also learn something about God:
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 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, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Because the Lord is a God who works and rests, He gives the commandment to His covenant people to work and rest.
Finally when we look at the 6th commandment, we learn something about God:
13 “You shall not murder.
Because the Lord is the author and finisher of life, we cannot assume his role by taking life at our leisure. As we look at the law, we learn that God holds life in HIGH REGARD!
So, the law is not just given to us a set a random instructions for us to follow because God is bored. They reveal and show the layers and dimensions of the unique character and nature of the God who has delivered us.
Another thing I want you to keep in the back of your mind as we taking our journey through the Ten...
4. The Ten and the Law Come From One With Absolute Authority and Ownership
4. The Ten and the Law Come From One With Absolute Authority and Ownership
This preamble in verses 1 and 2 is intended to serve as a reminder that the law Moses is preparing to receive is coming from one with ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY AND OWNERSHIP.
It’s been a while since we’ve been in Exodus. So let me real quickly give you the scene in which these commandments are going to come from.
This moment in chapter 20 is a continuation from chapter 19 where God was flexing and showing Moses and Israel his holiness, his glory, and his power. They were all on full display atop Mt. Sinai revealing that He was not just a god but that He was THE GOD and that HE was mighty and powerful to save.
Chapter 19 verse 16 describes the scene…Thunder and Lightning, Thick Clouds and Smoke surrounding the mountain, and a loud trumpet blast that grew increasing louder, and as Moses spoke God answered him in THUNDER...
The scene was so heavy that they had to block the people from coming up the mountain because the presence of God would have killed them.
This is the context that Israel finds themselves in. And its here that we get verses 1 and 2
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.
And don’t pass too quickly over verse 1: And God spoke all these words…what words? The words of the covenant. The words of the Ten.
This moment of God speaking in and of itself was a demonstration of absolute authority. Remember how he is speaking. This isn’t some “Hey Moses! Hey Guys! How’s Everybody Been Doing!” These commandments are being spoken IN THUNDER.
The scene is so wild in fact that after Moses gets the Ten, we get this moment with Moses and the People in verses 18-19. Look with me there...
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
You see God gives Moses the Ten and how do the people respond? “Listen Moses. If God has a message for us just ask him to relay it through you because based on what we are hearing and seeing if he speaks to us, WE ARE GOING TO DIE!”
Even in the moment where the commandments are being delivered, it is such a weighty, glory-filled, horrifying moment, that every knows the one who is speaking these commandments carries absolute authority.
Pay attention to how Moses responds to them...
20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
He is delivering this message in this way so that there is no confusion about the One who is commanding you and that when he speaks you will obey Him.
And what are the first words out of his mouth...
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Not one god out of many…Not one optional god that if you don’t prefer, you can choose another. No. THESE COMMANDMENTS are coming from the One and Only True God.
This is important when we consider the cultural context in which Israel finds itself and has spent the last several hundred years in. The culture around them is very polytheistic, meaning most of the people around them believe in the idea and concepts that there are many gods that must be worshipped and appeased.
However, if you recall a few months ago, we talked about how the plagues in Egypt in many ways served as a moment for God to flex on those inferior phony gods.
While the Egyptians had a god for weather, a god for agricultural, a god for the river, so forth and so on, Israel’s God was flexing and showing himself to be the one and only true God standing head and shoulders above all the pagan idols.
So here we have him establishing covenant with Israel and starting this covenant with the declaration of this truth…I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD. Basically, saying I’m a God with the authority to call you to obedience!
This is very important for us as well as we consider our own context
APPLICATION: Our culture tends to bend in both directions depending on who you talk to. On one side, we are somewhat like Egypt with all these gods that we tell ourselves we serve and worship and no matter which one we choose the outcome will all be the same. Sort of this all roads lead to Heaven mentality. On the flip side in our culture, you have people making the claim that no road leads to Heaven because no road leads to God because there IS NO GOD!
The Lord is blowing up both of those notions here. He is not only saying that there is a God, but he is also saying that He is that God and thus when He speaks we should LISTEN!
However, he is not just THE GOD, but He is YOUR GOD. I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery...
You belong to me because I delivered you.
So, this call from obedience comes from this place. Remember who I am. Remember what I’ve done. But also Remember who I am TO YOU. Remember what I’ve done FOR YOU. Remember and obey my commandments.
APPLICATION: Our decision to obey is an announcement to the watching world that we know who He is but we also know who we belong to! How we live and act communicates to a watching world who we believe we belong to. When we live mostly in disregard for his commands, we are declaring “I don’t have to listen to Him because He does not own me!” When we treat His instruction to us as optional, we are boldly declaring to the world, “He has no claim to my life”
But fam that is not true, if Jesus Christ is your Savior then He must also be your Lord.
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
In May of 1987, Ted Koppel, the famous ABC News Anchor addressed the graduating class at Duke University using the Ten Commandments to make a point about truth and moral absolutes:
“Our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted. In its purest form, truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder. It is a howling reproach. What Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai were not the Ten Suggestions. They are commandments. Are, not were. The sheer brilliance of the Ten Commandments is that they codify in a handful of words acceptable human behavior, not just for then or now, but for all time.”
The God of the Universe has defined timeless truth and communicated it to us. It was not given for us to just casually follow when we consider it convenient. It was given to us to obey. That is why he begins his delivery of that truth with the words…I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD!
One last thing I want you to be looking for…Our Need for a Savior.
5. The Ten and the Law Show Us Our Need For A Savior
5. The Ten and the Law Show Us Our Need For A Savior
The Law gives us glimpses into the character of God, but it also gives us glimpses into our own character. As we look deeper into His law and we see how difficult it is to actually follow and obey, we learn not just about God’s nature but we learn about ours. We see just how far the gap is between God’s righteousness and our unrighteousness. We begin to get a glimpse of just how HOLY God is and how OTHER He is.
The Law Reveals God’s Character but it also viciously exposes ours. In it we see our inability to save ourselves because we aren’t able to perfectly obey. In it we see our need for a deliverer because if we can’t save ourselves, somebody will have to come and save us.
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
We have not perfectly obeyed. We seen things that others have and grew bitter that we couldn’t have or afford.
We’ve made idols in our hearts.
We disrespected our elders.
On top of that, the Lord has upped the standards and said if you carried hatred in your heart, then you’ve murdered. If you’ve carried lust in your heart towards a man or woman, than you’ve committed adultery...
In the law we find not simply a standard for our obedience…an ethic for how we as the Christian community should live. But we also find a mirror exposing every single horrible flaw in us, every sin ever committed, every wayward thought ever thought…in the law we see that we are not able to measure up...
But in the next chapter of Romans we find these words...
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Because we aren’t able to perfectly obey, this awesome and powerful God from the depths of His love for us and the abundance of grace stored up for us has sent one who did perfectly obey...
Jesus Christ did what the law could not do…HE CONQUERED SIN...