Moses' Covenant

 Who can list the 10 commandments, in any order? That's what a Sunday School teacher asked Little Billy. His answer? "3, 6, 1, 8, 4, 5, 9, 2, 10, 7." The 10 Commandments are part of God's Covenant with Israel. At heart in all covenants, God says, "I'll be your God. You'll be my people." How do covenants differ? Terms, conditions, & signs. God promised Noah never to destroy the earth by flood again. No conditions. Its sign? God's rainbow. God promised Abram an heir, many descendants, land, & to bless all people on earth through one descendant. Its sign & only condition? Circumcision. For Moses, God promised many blessings-spelled out in Dt 28:1-14. The condition for all those blessings? Obey the law. Its sign? Gentiles see that they're God's people. In Mt 5:17-20, Jesus says The Law still applies. (It tells us what's sin.) So, we need to understand it. Let's look at Ex 20:1-17. 1God spoke all these words. They're his conditions for entering covenant blessings. 2"I'm the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." God saves us before any conditions. It's the same in the New Covenant. Paul says in Ro 5:10, 10...When we were God's enemies, God reconciled us to him through the death of his Son. The 1st 4 laws tell us how to love God. 1st, 3"You shall have no other gods before me." God alone is God. This is the most important law. All law hinges on this. 2nd, 4"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Let nothing come before God. Not family or friends. Not work. Not ministry. Not my interpretation of Scripture. Nothing. 5aYou shall not bow down to them or worship them. Putting anything or anyone before God is idolatrous worship. God rejects all substitutes, all neglect, & all contempt. Public or private. Why's this so important? 5bI, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. Jealous like a husband for a beloved wife, God is angry at unfaithfulness. 5cI punish the children for the sin of the fathers to the 3rd & 4th generation of those who hate me. He doesn't punish innocent generations for their fathers' sins. But we're connected to descendants. Future generations do suffer consequences from their predecessors' sins. (War? Addiction? Abuse? Generational patterns!) 6I show love to 1,000 generations of those who love me & keep my commandments." In the end, God's love wins over God's anger at sin. So, love Him by keeping His Law. He's faithful to countless generations of those who do. 3rd, 7"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." We can't separate God's name from God. So, don't take God lightly by using His name without faith or commitment. 4th, 8"Remember (keep) the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor & do all your work. 10But the 7th day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work. neither you... nor the alien within your gates. Jew & Gentile. Everyone is to keep sabbath. Why? 11For in 6 days the Lord made all creation. But he rested on the 7th day. If God needed rest, don't we? Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day & made it holy." Keeping Sabbath gives life a rhythm of work, rest, & worship. We need that rhythm. 5th, 12"Honor your father & your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." This command alone has a blessing. Parents teach us about God-in word & actions. Respect them. Listen to them. Spend time with them. Long life depends on it! And Jesus? In Mt 15:4, He affirms death for dishonoring parents (by cursing or being a curse). The 6th-8th commandments are 2 Hebrew words. 6th, 13"You shall not murder." Not, "Don't kill." (God sets death for some sins.) Of Hebrew's 6 words for killing, this is closest to murder. In Mt 5:21-22, Jesus raises the bar. "22Anyone angry will be subject to judgment." 7th, 14"You shall not commit adultery." No sex outside marriage. In Mt 5:27-28, Jesus raises the bar. 28Anyone who looks lustfully has already committed adultery in their heart. 8th 15"You shall not steal." Property or people. All property belongs to God. Only God can give it or take it away. Not us. In Mk 7:14, 21-23, Jesus says all theft is sin. Don't steal. 16"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." In Mk 7:14, 21-23, Jesus says all deceit is sin. Don't lie. 17"You shall not covet ...anything that belongs to your neighbor." In Mk 7:14, 21-23, Jesus says envy is sin. To harbor envy is to covet. Same thing. Don't covet. The 10 Commandments are moral law. Moral law can be a don't or a do. (E.g., don't murder. Do keep sabbath). Thus, moral law is always double sided. A command 'to do' or 'not to do' also commands the opposite. For example, 'don't murder' also commands us 'be kind & loving.' 'Keep sabbath' commands us 'don't break sabbath.' 'Don't covet' also commands us 'be content'. Moral law may be put positively or negatively. Either way, by rejecting it we choose evil. That's how moral law works. Here's the problem. Jesus says moral law includes our heart attitude. And Jas 2:10 says breaking any part of moral law is breaking all of it. No one can keep the moral law. And the penalty for breaking it is death. Not sure? Look at Nu 15:32-35. Even failure to keep the Sabbath is a capital offense! (Just try skipping church again! LOL) How can we best try to keep within its intent? Aim for the center of each command, not its edges. So, reflect on all the ways we fail to obey God's law. Look hard at ourselves. Realize how much we need a Savior. That's Law's purpose. It gives us a compass. We know what God expects, even if we can't obey. Law reveals our hearts. We're sinners. Great sinners. But we have a greater Savior. Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. He justified us. But in His grace & mercy, Jesus doesn't justify us & leave us in our fallen condition. The moment we accept Him as Lord, He sends His Spirit & starts to sanctify us. As we cooperate, He transforms us into people who can obey His law. As years pass, our obedience, faithfulness, personal holiness & righteousness all increase. Eternal laws govern how to walk God's way. God didn't give us 10 Suggestions! But Jesus even transforms our heart attitudes. Righteous from the inside out. Little Joey was consistently late coming home from school. Finally, Mom & Dad warned him. "Be home on time this afternoon." He arrived later than ever. Mom met him at the door & said nothing. Dad met him in the living room & said nothing. At dinner that night, Little Joey looked at his plate. A slice of bread & a glass of water. He looked at his father's plate. Full of meat & potatoes. He looked at his father. But his father remained silent. Little Joey was crushed. Dad waited for the full impact to sink in. Then Dad smiled & quietly swapped his full plate for Little Joey's barren plate. That's what Jesus does for us. His plate is full with heaven's riches & eternal life. Ours plate is empty. Our sin has earned a death penalty. Jesus smiles & swaps our empty plate for His full plate. He swaps His righteousness for our sin. By doing so, He swaps our death for His eternal life. He did it on the cross. There, He paid the death we owed. He's the Savior we need. Moses' Covenant - Exodus 20:1-17 Page 1 of 1