Jesus In Exodus
Chapter 20
In His Olivet discourse Jesus said:
· Matthew 24:12, Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,…
Anyone with an ounce of perception can see that this prediction is now being fulfilled. Wickedness abounds on all sides. People are determined to seek pleasure. Authority is being ignored. Discipline by parents is more and more a thing of the past. The institution of marriage is under attack as never before. Nations disregard treaties between themselves. The Bible is being disparaged as a meaningless myth.
Yes, wickedness is on the increase and love is growing cold. Jesus said these things as a prelude to describing the end times.
The primary test of love is the desire to do that which pleases the one loved as measured by the wishes of the other. Love of God is expressed by our obedience to what He has commanded us to do.
· Psalm 40:8, I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
And
· John 14:21, Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Some Bible scholars maintain that the Law was only for Israel so it is important that we get a Scriptural view. Like everything else that God has given, the Law is an expression of His love. Love is the fulfillment of the Law from the human side and love provided the Law from the Divine side. What then should be our response to such a Law? David said that he loved God’s Law. Can we do any less?
The purpose of God giving the Law was that His authority be maintained and that His people were under His government. This was true from the beginning when He gave His commands to Adam and Eve.
In chapters 19 and 20 we see God’s double claim on the Israelites: They were not only His by creation, but they were His by purchase. He had purchased them out of Egypt. In chapter 20 He presses both of these claims on Israel.
· Exodus 20:1, And God spoke all these words:
It was their Creator who spoke the words that were to follow. Up to this point God had been very gracious and patient with His people, but now He teaches them that they have an obligation to obey His authority over them.
D. L. Moody said the following:
“The commandments of God given to Moses in the Mount of Horeb are as binding today as ever they have been since time when they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people. The Jews said the Law was not given in Palestine (which belonged to Israel), but in the wilderness, because the Law was for all nations.”
They are still binding for a variety of reasons.
· First, because it is right that the Creator‘s authority should be proclaimed by Him and acknowledged by His creatures.
· Second, because the Ten Commandments have never been repealed. They were written in stone by the hand of God. They are permanent.
· Third, because we need them. Human nature has not improved enough that it would be wise to repeal the Law.
· Fourth, Because Jesus Himself respected them. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus said that He had not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it.
· Fifth, because of the teaching in the New Testament Epistles.
· Sixth, God has threatened to chastise those who disregard His Law.
The Ten Commandments have been designated as the moral law because they lay down a standard for human behavior.
The order of them is most significant. The first four concern human responsibility toward God. The last five are our obligations toward mankind. The fifth is a bridge, for in a certain sense parents occupy the place of God to their children.
· Exodus 20:2-3, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
God reminds the Israelites of who He is and what He has done for them.
· Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
If this first commandment received the respect it is due, obedience to the other nine would follow as a matter of course. There were to be no other objects of worship before the Creator God. He was to be supreme in all our worship. It is significant that this commandment is #1 where God claims His supremacy above all other objects of worship.
There are other gods besides idols of wood and stone. There is money, pleasure, fashion, fame, pride, and many more. But none of these was to come before the true God.
· Exodus 20:4-6, "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. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Two is the number of witness and in this second commandment man is forbidden to attempt any visible representation of Deity. We should notice that there is a serious threat included in this second commandment. Those who break this Law will bring down judgment on their children.
I can tell you that I used to be very concerned about this commandment, maybe more than any of the others. But then I read the commandment carefully. Follow this: for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. And the opposite is true for those who keep it.
· Exodus 20:7-11,"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
God requires that the majesty of His name be sacred to us. His name must not be used with contempt, irreverently or needlessly. You will remember that the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer as taught to the disciples is, “Hallowed be thy name”.
I am constantly offended today when at every turn you hear people using the expression, “Oh my God”. It makes me wonder if they know who they are speaking of, and if He is really their God.
· Exodus 20:8-11, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Here is a commandment that for all practical purposes our society has repealed. Notice two things: first, man should work six days a week, and second, on the seventh day work is to cease and it is to be a day of rest. We have moved to a five day work week instead of a six day work week. And it should be pointed out that the commandment does not say that Sunday is to be a day of rest. It says that the “seventh” day is to be a day of rest. But even with that interpretation we still are far short of the intention of this part of God’s Law. The home ought to be the scene of the true Sabbath observance.
· Exodus 20:12, "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
To honor a parent is to give him/her the place of superiority, to hold him/her in high esteem, and to reverence them. How sad to the almost universal disregard for this commandment. It surely is a sign of the times. Paul said eighteen hundred years ago in his second letter to Timothy:
· 2 Timothy 3:1-5, But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
Much of the blame for this situation must rest on parents, but not all. a fair share of responsibility rests with influences outside the home. The church is swimming upstream in an effort to instill the importance of this commandment on children. Consider the percent of time that the children are exposed to church versus the time they are exposed to other influences outside the home.
· Exodus 20:13, "You shall not murder.
Some versions of the Bible say “kill”. The NIV, as written above, is probably a more correct rendition. This number six raises all kinds of moral questions. Here God seems to be clearly emphasizing the sacredness of human life, and His sovereignty over it. He alone has the right to say when it shall end.
How does this commandment relate to capital punishment?
Jesus’ words in 1 John 2:15 says that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. So this would suggest that the state of mind and intent of the mind is a controlling factor. So where does this leave us in the case of the executioner in what we call legal executions?
I have always favored the death penalty but I think there is ample room to question it according to the sixth commandment. Some seem to legitimately argue that God Himself ordered the Israelites to kill men, women and children. But remember that we have said that God is sovereign and He never errs. Plus, we have said that it was God who determines when a person’s death shall occur. You decide.
· Exodus 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.
The marriage relationship was instituted in Eden. It is superior to all other human relationships and obligations.
· Genesis 2:24, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
This commandment says that a person shall not be unfaithful to the marriage partner. Unfaithfulness is not limited to the overt act, but as Jesus Himself said that even lusting in your heart after another is sin. Further, He said that unfaithfulness was the only basis for divorce.
· Exodus 20:15 "You shall not steal.
Stealing covers more than pilfering. It deals with honesty in all our dealings with people. Misrepresenting an article for sale violates this commandment. I suspect that most of us would be amazed if we sat down with Jesus and asked Him to comment on this Law.
· Exodus 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Few forms of behavior do more harm than to invent lies about people and spread falsehoods about others. Gossiping people cause more damage and frequently the gossiper fails to investigate the facts before passing along hurtful information. False testimony may also be borne by deliberately leaving a false impression of the facts.
· Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
This commandment differs from the others in that while it prohibits the overt act, it condemns the very desire to act. The word “covet” means to “desire”, and the commandment forbids us to covet anything that is our neighbor’s. Notice that this commandment has never been placed on any law book because it could not be enforced. But there is one exception to this commandment. Do you know what that exception is? Try 1 Corinthians 12:31.
· Exodus 20:18-19 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
The Ten Commandments outlined the obligations of man in his original state, while he enjoyed free and open communication with God. But this condition changed when sin entered. You remember that after the fall, Adam and Eve hid themselves because they were afraid of God. Now here at Sinai they were also afraid of God as the verses 18 and 19 show. They demonstrate here that they were unable to deal with God directly based on what they have learned form the law that God has just laid down.
A mediator was necessary. Moses was going to have to deal with God on their behalf. This would meet the needs of the situation from their side, but not from God’s side. Now at that stage, the sinner could not be dealt with simply by a mediator. Satisfaction must be made for a holy God. This points us ahead to the coming of Jesus and His sacrifice.
· Exodus 20:22-24, Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. 24 "'Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.
The next thing we see mentioned here is an altar. The altar tells us of the provision that would meet the condition of God’s governmental claims which made it possible for a sinner to approach God.
The Sinaitic Covenant was an agreement wherein God proposed to deal with Israel on the ground of their obedience. Governmentally this provision has never been set aside. But provision has been made for their failure. It is important to see the relation between the two great subjects of this chapter: God giving the Law and God furnishing instructions concerning the altar.
Now if it was possible for Israel to directly enter into the Sinaitic Covenant (a mediator being necessary), and if they (as sinners) were unable to keep the commandments, why propose the one and then give the other? There are three reasons:
· First, to show Israel that man is a sinner.
· Second, to bring to light man’s moral inability.
· Third, to show man’s need for a Savior.
It should be clear that the Ten Commandments were never given to men or to Israel as a means of salvation. But the enactment, by God, of the Commandments was a measure of sin. The Law now defined sin.
A very interesting commentary on this situation is that the Israelites were insistent on Moses acting as their mediator between themselves and God. And yet when God sent The Mediator, they rejected Him.
Please observe what God said in response to the people.
· Deuteronomy 18:16-18 For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." 17 The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
· Exodus 20:25-26 If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26 And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'
Now I suspect that many people in the process of reading the Bible would read these verses and then more or less skip over them because they don’t seem to have any particular meaning. But wait, let’s look carefully. This altar which Israel was to build to God must not be made of that which man had manufactured, nor beautified by his skill. There should be in it no excellence which the human hand had given it.
Remember this would be an altar for worship. This altar was clearly a reference to Jesus who could not have been improved by human handy work. He was created perfect, just as the stones were not to be dressed by the stone mason. The picture here is that Jesus retained the “form” which God had given Him. And all the pressure of circumstances and all the efforts of man and Satan could not alter it.
Notice too that they were not to climb up steps on the altar. It is not clear whether there were steps or not. The idea of not “going up to the altar on steps” suggests that we cannot ascend up to God; He came down to us. Further, we cannot “work our way up to God”. You may remember this was the problem the Babylonians had in their effort to build the Tower of Babel.