AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Transcription

1 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS We are going to begin a study into an old subject. In fact, many people think it is so old it has become obsolete. It is the subject of the Ten Commandments. It is probably the title people don t like the word commandments. It offends them. Nobody likes to be commanded, - and especially when it comes to religion. According to many, religion is supposed to be something you can make your own mind up about! They seem to think God should be happy with any attention they are willing to give Him! And anyway if you want to be commanded go and join the army! Some Christians would also tell you the Ten Commandments do not apply today. They tell you they are not necessary since we do not live under the Mosaic Law and, - in a an effort to bolster their point of view, - they would point to examples that obviously do not apply today, such as eating pork (Lev. 11:7) or wearing clothing made of linen and wool (Lev. 19:19). We are no longer under law, they say, for now we are under grace. Yes, and praise God that is absolutely true and there are some of the peripheral laws that no longer have any authority outside the Old Testament dispensation. However, the Bible gives no justification whatsoever for dismissing the Ten Commandments. In fact, the moment you do, you can open the door to serious error. For example, the so-called Christian homosexuals argue that since some of the Old Testament laws, - such as the two I mentioned, - no longer have any legitimacy (i.e. under grace), so the instructions given in Lev. 18:22 (Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination) and 20:13 (If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination) are obsolete. They belonged to a bygone age and we have progressed to a more developed understanding within modern society. (However, their argument cannot be sustained since Paul repeats God s ruling on the subject in passages such as Rom. 1:26ff.) To those Christians who claim we can disregard the Commandments as baggage from another age, we remind them of the instruction the Lord Jesus gave the rich young ruler, Mt. 19:17 if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Jesus believed they were to be upheld. In fact, Isaiah tells us Jesus would actually magnify the law, and make it honourable (Is. 42:21). Jesus did not do away with the law, He fulfilled it!

2 2 When you read how Paul speaks about the law, he does not condemn the law but he upholds it in Christ. He was brought up in the Law, - he knew all the arguments from a Jewish perspective, and yet within the realms of his faith in Christ he asked, Rom. 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. This is because Christ is the fulfilment of the Law its complete perfection. The Law is consummated in Christ! Paul emphasised, Rom. 7:12 the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Then he went on to explain how the fault was not with the law, the fault was with the sinner, v.13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. In other words, for my good, and to show me my need, God confronted me with the unattainable demands of the Law, and He demonstrated to me how powerless I was to achieve those demands and then He showed me through Christ how grace alone could satisfy His requirements the requirements of the perfect law. In other words, there is nothing wrong with the Law, and the Ten Commandments but it is me who has fallen far short of what God requires in my life. Only by believing in Christ, - the Law s fulfilment, - can I reach the standard God insists upon. So why do we need to study the Ten Commandments? Because it presents how God intends us to be, - and it defines our duty to Him. It describes the depth of the Glory God demands that Paul in Rom. 3:23 says we have fallen so short of. In these commandments God s highest standards require us to totally obey His Word, and to worship Him alone in holy reverence and adoration. Such a high degree God demands! Then He explains to us how He unstintingly requires us to keep His day holy (different from all the rest), even if we are the only ones in our street who do. It is His day specifically. Then He commands us to honour and respect our parents, - that is not always lived up to, as once it might have been. And murder, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness and coveting are all activities that have taken on new names and concepts. What is abortion, but murder! Adultery condemns almost two in every three marriages to divorce. Stealing has so many ways of looking at it that it can be made justifiable. When these basic fundamentals are rejected society becomes careless and ultimately out of control. Do we not see evidence of this around us? And

3 3 that is how important it is to stand up for God s Word, and to commend these Ten Commandments He gave to Moses. Every society, group of people, association and civilization necessitates a conscientious and orderly practice of duty to live by. We cannot live without rules! We might not like them all but we need the most of them! We cannot drive anyway we choose on our roads, - we must stay on the left-hand side; we walk on the footpath, - we don t walk down the middle of the street we must obey the rules. Rules are endemic throughout the whole of life, regardless of how advanced or primitive the society! That was why God instituted His rule of law for His people in the Old Testament, and Jesus emphasised the point under the new covenant, Mt. 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. In other words, He was saying we are not under the Law meaning that our salvation depends upon whether or not we can obey every instruction, but yet, the Law of God is the standard He requires as much today as ever He did, and it is the means of our sanctification and spiritual progress. Let s look at the background to the preparations that were made prior to Moses receiving the Law. Three months after the people of Israel left captivity in Egypt, they arrived in the desert of Sinai where they pitched their tents at the bottom of the mountain (Ex. 19). In the wonderful experience that was to follow, Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain (v.3) He left his people behind and, - at over eighty years of age, - he made his way up the tracks of the mountain to meet with God. The Lord showed him how valued the people were, v.3 tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. He came down the mountain again and spoke to the elders of the people, and then he brought their response back to the Lord, v.8 All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. What a tremendous commitment! The Lord then told Moses that He was coming to the people in a thick cloud (v.9) but before He came, they had to make some very careful preparations, v.10 sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount

4 4 Sinai. 12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. 14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. These were severe instructions, and there was no room left for discussing them and trying to ease the people s responsibility no, God s Word had to be obeyed to the very letter! There was no place for personal interpretation. God made it clear how the day would unfold. On the morning of the third day, - not a moment earlier, and not a moment later, - the sky over the mountain lit up, and the heavens pounded a most magnificent sound Over the mountain there was a thick cloud and another sound, - v.16 the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, - made the people tremble. Then, Moses began to walk in front of the Israelites as they made their way out of the camp to meet with God (v.17) and they stood in awe at the foot of the mountain. Not a word would have been spoken. They were all transfixed, - their eyes would have been wide open and then, all of a sudden, the Lord came upon that mountain almost like a volcano but it wasn t a volcano this was God in action The Lord descended in fire, and the mountain was covered in smoke and it shook. The sound of the trumpet got louder and louder and v.19 Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. We don t know what Moses said, or how the Lord replied but the next thing we know v.20 the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. How good it is to obey the Word of the Lord even when you are over eighty! The Lord then instructed him to tell the people to stay where they were and to take great care not to desecrate the holiness of the Lord (vv.21-23). Then, he and his brother Aaron were told to come and meet the Lord on the mountain. Such holiness, authority, and reverence in the presence of God! No dancing. No glibness. No making a show. No telling God how He was going to be worshipped. No, the way Moses and Aaron and the people worshipped was the way God instructed. We can only approach Him in the same manner He has always been approached with the greatest of Holy Spirit-driven adoration, and with the highest of esteem. It is a privilege to worship Him. It is a privilege granted only to His people. When He is not the focus, it is not

5 5 worship. Religious men and religious artefacts placed appropriately in a beautiful cathedral do not constitute worship. I have flown over and I have been in the Sinai desert and there is no tall building of man s architectural genius, - there are no cathedral s it is a wilderness it is unappealing and rugged and yet, it was the place God demonstrated His sovereign glory to His people. It was not the place a king or a queen would have chosen as a venue, but it was the place God gave His people His Ten Commandments those same Ten Commandments, - with His signature upon them, - that continue to be the rule of His authority today! It is called the Law of Moses, but this was not Moses Law, - he merely received it. This was the Law of God! God was its Author! This was thus saith the Lord! This was not a cruel or a wicked God and evil despot who wanted to subjugate His people and place them under some kind of cruel tyranny. This was pure Heavenly love that brought God down to man in order to offer them the very best, Ex. 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. This is what I have done for you! For four hundred years you were enslaved to a people who treated you wickedly, disgracefully and cruelly. You worked all those years for absolutely no reward. Generations of you died in that land but I have brought thee out of the house of bondage. What a wonderful testimony of God s saving grace! [I]have brought thee out of the house of bondage you are Mine and here is how I would have you live! You see, these were instructions to God s people, - not to the Egyptians, or the Canaanites but to the people of God, the children of Abraham. It did not matter how the other populations conducted themselves but it mattered how the people of God behaved! Yes, it is good when governments and nations base their laws on the Word of God but it is the believer who has the greatest responsibility to God for being faithful to His commandments. As a Christian, you don t have a choice to live as you please I Cor. 6:20 ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God s. It is as simple as that! Christ has saved you, therefore God expects the highest standards from you. If you don t obey God s Word, it is disobedience, - you and I can call it whatever we like, but that is what He calls it!

6 Why was God taking it all so seriously? Because He had invested the future in these people! He had brought them out of Egypt, they had embarked on a journey that even continues until this day and God had made His mind up, Dt. 7:6 thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. And as long as God is God, His Word and His instructions do not change, and His people are responsible for them! Jer. 31:33 this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. This is the covenant every child of God belongs to, Ezek. 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. This is the promise that rewards obedience! The Lord has redeemed us, - taken us out of the bondage of Egypt, - He has privileged us with sharing in the wonderful majesty of His Name, - coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, - and in doing all this, He has created me unto His glory. That is my purpose, - to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Obeying His commandments, therefore, is not a drudgery, it is not a struggle or something I don t want to do. The desire to obey His commandments, - throughout His Word, - is the natural inclination of every faithful believer. I don t want to contradict His Word. I want to be obedient to it! And don t you see the rewards Ex. 20:6 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. A.W. Pink speaks about how the rest of the Scriptures are but a commentary on the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the bedrock of the promises and precepts of the New Testament. They remain God s standard for His people today. You and I are responsible for keeping them. Matthew Henry, explained it in this way, When the Law of God is written in our hearts, our duty will be our delight. Yes, the Ten Commandments make great demands, and it is the reason the carnal Christian does not like them and if you do not like them, you need to be careful for if you do not want to keep the commands of God you need to examine if you truly know and love Him. 6

7 A.W. Pink put it like this, Christ has redeemed His people from the curse of the Law, and not from the command of it. The Law, - the Ten Commandments, - are the benchmark of the Christian s behaviour. I wonder if you are asking what relevance will this study of the Ten Commandments have on my life? Calvin explained it simply, Only if we walk in the beauty of God s law do we become sure of our adoption as children of the Father. One of Calvin s co-workers in Geneva was John Flavel, he wrote, The Law sends us to Christ to be justified, and Christ sends us to the Law to be conformed [to His image]. Yes, this is the standard God requires, - regardless of who we are, where we live, what language we speak, the colour of our skin It is the same as John wrote, I Jn. 5:3 this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous [burdensome, heavy to carry, cruel or violent against us, they don t make our lives a misery] 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth [me,nw, abides, cf. Jn. 15:4] in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us. May God have all the glory as we seek to live in obedience to Him! Amen. 7