Grace and Law

Grace and Law

Exodus 20: 1 – 21.

Introduction

For the past few weeks, we have been reading from the Book of Exodus. As the name of the book suggests, it tells the story of how God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt. The word “exodus” means a “sudden escape of a large group of people.” And that is what happened. God sent Moses to redeem God’s people from slavery. God used Moses to confront Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, and to announce the ten plagues.

However, I want you to notice something about the format of the Book of Exodus. Yes, the book does describe an exodus. But, all of the events leading up to the Exodus happen before chapter 12. That is less than half of the Book of Exodus. The majority of the Book of Exodus doesn’t describe an exodus at all. The majority of the book describes what God’s people did after they were rescued from Egypt.

With that in mind, I want you to notice that we are reading from Exodus 20 today. It contains the story of what happened when God’s people gathered at Mount Sinai. God fulfilled his promise to Moses. God spoke to his people gathered at the foot of the mountain. And, God gave the Ten Commandments. This is significant, because it happens in chapter 20 of a book with 40 chapters. The events of Mount Sinai stand at the center of the Book of Exodus. These events are a kind of focal point.

Another way to say this is to say, the Book of Exodus can be divided into three sections. 1) The events leading up to Mount Sinai. 2) What happened on Mount Sinai—the Ten Commandments. 3) The way God’s people lived in response to the Ten Commandments.

I can think of two reasons why the Ten Commandments occupy such a prominent place in the Book of Exodus. On one hand, this is the moment when the Hebrew people became the nation of Israel. God took a people who had no identity of their own—they were slaves / property of the nation of Egypt—and formed them into his own people. On the other hand, this is the moment when God revealed himself to his people. Before Mount Sinai, the people knew about God through what Moses had told them about God. They also knew God as the God who had heard their cries for help and had redeemed them from slavery. But, now God tells them something about his character.

We should not think about the Ten Commandments as merely rules to govern our lives. We should think of this as rules which reflect the character of God.

Exodus 20: 1 – 21.

1 And God spoke all these words:

2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

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.

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 of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 "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.

12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

13 "You shall not murder.

14 "You shall not commit adultery.

15 "You shall not steal.

16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

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."

18 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."

20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."

21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

(NIV)

The Bible tells us that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he was carrying two tablets. Traditionally, we believe there were four commandments written on the first tablet and six commandments written on the second tablet. The Bible doesn’t tell us how the commandments were divided into two tablets. This is just what we think, because the Ten Commandments can be divided into two sections—our relationship with God and our relationship with other people.

The first four commandments describe how we are supposed to relate to God. The last six commandments describe how we are supposed to relate to other people.

Do not worship other gods… This commandment is significant in the fact that God’s people have just left the land of Egypt where the people worshipped many false gods. Now, they were getting ready to enter the land of Canaan where the people worshipped other false gods. God has demonstrated his power over the false gods of Egypt and will demonstrate his power over the false gods of Canaan.

But this raises a question for our modern minds. If these false gods are false and powerless, doesn’t that mean false gods don’t really exist? Yes, false gods do not exist. But, the worship of false gods is very real. There is no such thing as Baal. But, Baalism is very real. In our modern world, we can make the same point about various world religions. Their gods don’t exist, but the temptation to worship false gods is very real. Or, we can say that money and wealth are not real gods; yet, materialism is a powerful force and temptation even for many Christian people.

Do not make idols… Since ancient people used idols to worship their false gods, it is tempting to read this commandment as the same as the first commandment. But if this is a separate commandment, it will have a separate meaning.

I think the difference between the first and second commandment can be described as the “who” of worship and the “how” of worship. The first commandment tells us to worship the God of salvation. The God who rescued his people from slavery is the only God worthy of worship. The second commandment tells us how we ought to worship the One, True God.

Our worship is to be distinct from the worship of other people. They use idols. We do not use idols. Instead, we worship God in the way God has revealed himself to us. Since God did not appear to Moses at the burning bush and God did not appear to his people at Mount Sinai, we do not worship an image of God. God revealed himself to Moses through his word and revealed himself at Mount Sinai through his word. Therefore, we worship God by hearing his word and living in obedience to what God has said.

Do not take the LORD’s name in vain… Name in the Bible is very closely associated with character. An example of this is found when God gave his name to Moses. Moses asked God, “What is your name?” God answered, “I am who I am.”

The name of God reflects the faithfulness of God. God is unchanging. He was the same God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. He was the same God to Peter, Andrew, James and John. He was the same God to Barnabas, Paul, Timothy and Titus. He is the same God to us today. He is the only God who can save us from our slavery to sin, death and evil. He is the only God who is perfect in righteousness and holiness.

To use the name of God in a vain (or empty) way is to disparage the character of God. We are to speak of God only in the context of adoration and worship. Anything else would take for granted God’s holiness and his salvation.

Remember the Sabbath day… In many ways, this is a commandment for us to imitate God in the ways we live our lives. Since God did his work of creation in six days and rested on the seventh day, God’s people are to imitate God by working six days and resting one day.

But the most important way to interpret this is that we are to order our lives around God. Don’t order your life around your work week. Don’t order your life around your husband or wife. Don’t order your life around your children (or their soccer games, baseball games, softball games, dance recitals…). Order your life around God by spending a day in worship and service to God every week.

Honor your father and mother… At this point, the commandments shift from our relationship to God to our relationships with other people. For the ancient Hebrews, the home was the primary human relationship. If you can’t get along with your parents, you won’t be able to get along with anyone else.

Honor was an important part of ancient culture. To honor your parents means more than “children obey your parents.” Children bring dishonor on their parents by disobeying them or rebelling against parental authority. But children also bring dishonor on their parents by abandoning them when they are older.

Do not murder… This is a fairly obvious commandment. It doesn’t need much explanation, and the Bible does not even try to explain it.

Murder only refers to human life. It does not refer to animal or plant life. You cannot use this commandment to rationalize a vegetarian lifestyle.

But I want you to notice that this is one of God’s commands. To break this command is not a sin against society. This is a sin against God. It is contrary to the character of God. God is the giver of all life. We are not to take what God has given.

Do not commit adultery… Again, this is another obvious commandment. The Bible does not take time to explain what adultery is or even why adultery is wrong.

It seems that we can make a similar point to the fifth commandment. The family is instrumental in forming God’s people. Therefore, the family is to be protected.

Or, we can make the same point as the sixth commandment. This is not given in a civil context—as if adultery is contrary to societal norms. Instead, this is given in a religious context. Adultery, like murder, is a sin against God. It is contrary to the character of God. The husband and wife relationship is used in both Old Testament and New Testament to describe the faithfulness of God to God’s people (the nation of Israel and the church). Therefore, we are to be faithful as God himself is faithful.

Do not steal… This is another obvious commandment. While we are tempted to interpret this in light of capitalism, we need to remember this is another religious commandment. Stealing does violate the rights of others. But, it is ultimately a sin against God. It is contrary to the character of God. God is the God of grace, who gives good gifts to his people. Everything comes to us as a gift from God. Therefore, we are to reflect the character of God by being givers and not takers.

Do not bear false witness… This commandment contains several technical words which can lead to a narrow interpretation. It is possible to interpret this to mean “do not falsely testify under oath against another member of God’s people.”

I prefer to read it in the broadest possible interpretation, “do not lie.” Once again, this reflects the character of God. God is true, and God is truthful. As God’s people, we are to be people committed to telling the truth and living the truth in all aspects of our lives. We should not have to be under oath to be trustworthy.

Do not covet… A remarkable fact about this commandment is the way it focuses on the heart and mind, not on our actions. Sin does not have to be an external action. It is possible to have sinful thoughts and sinful desires. God is concerned that our internal lives match our external actions. Refusing to steal while desiring to have someone else’s stuff is still a sin. Refusing to commit adultery while lusting after another man’s wife is still a sin.

Interpreted in this way, we can think of the tenth commandment as a summary statement. God wants us to control the internal thoughts and desires which eventually lead to sinful, external actions.

Progression of Commandments.

It is important to note the order of the Ten Commandments. Traditionally, we have placed a dividing line between the fourth commandment and the fifth commandment. The first four commands describe how we are to relate to God. The final six commandments describe the way we relate to other people. However, it is also possible to divide the commandments into three sections by holding out the fifth commandment as separate from all others.

Separating the fifth commandment reminds us that the way most of us first understood God was through the influence of our parents. We come to know God through our parents, and we learn how to relate to other people by the way we relate to our closest family members.

It also demonstrates the way God wants us to prioritize out lives. Your relationship to God must come before all other relationships. Your relationship to your family is more important than any other relationship—other than your relationship with God. If you love other people and demonstrate kindness and compassion to others, but your relationship with God is not your first priority…You are a humanitarian, but your life is not a godly life.

Character of God.

One way to interpret the Ten Commandments is to think of them as rules for living. If everyone would live out the Ten Commandments, the world would be a better place to live. I cannot argue with that, because it is certainly true.

However, we need to keep in mind that God always has a purpose for his words. As Christians, we believe that God reveals himself in his word. And that is what we see in the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 20: 2, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Notice that God used his name when he addressed his people. “LORD” in all capital letters always translates the Hebrew name Yahweh. God is reminding the people who he is, “I am who I am,” before he gives them the Ten Commandments. In other words, God is saying to his people, “I am who I am so that you can be who you are.” God wants his people to reflect God’s own character in the ways they live.

Since we know God created humanity in the Image of God, and that Image was marred when sin entered into creation; then we can interpret the Ten Commandments as God’s plan to recover the Image of God in humanity. We live out the Ten Commandments, not because they will create a better society. We live this way so we can reflect the character of the God who has redeemed us from slavery.

Purpose of the Ten Commandments.

If the Ten Commandments describe the character of God, then we need to pay special attention to people who received the Ten Commandments. God’s word was not given in a vacuum. These commandments are not to be understood in the abstract. We need to pay close attention to the context. Who gave these commandments? When were they given? To whom were they given?

Exodus 20: 2 answers all these questions. The Ten Commandments were given by the One, True God who had demonstrated his worthiness by redeeming his people from slavery. The Ten Commandments were given AFTER God had already redeemed his people. The Ten Commandments were given to redeemed people.

Notice that God did not say, “If you want to be saved, this is the way you need to live your life.” God had already saved his people. God never intended the Ten Commandments to be the way of salvation. Grace always comes before the Law. The Law is the way we respond (in gratitude) to the God who has already saved us.

Conclusion

This continues to be the purpose of the Ten Commandments. When we have been redeemed, we respond by following God’s rules for the redeemed life. The redeemed life is different from the world around us. The redeemed life reflects the character of the One who has redeemed us. Grace always precedes the Law.

As Christians, we have been redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Law does not save us. God is the one who saves. But he changes our desires that we want to live the redeemed life that pleases God.

We are not surprised when non-Christians do not follow the Ten Commandments. People who have not been redeemed do not live the redeemed life. To expect non-Christians to live the Ten Commandments is discounting the work of Christ on the cross. It is placing Law in the place of Grace.