The Story So Far and Introduction
God has come down in chapter 3 to call a people to himself and to declare himself by a new name - Yahweh. He will rescue them out of a world of oppressive physical toil and spiritual idolatry that is represented by Egypt and Pharaoh. God begins in chapter 3 by appointing Moses, a Priest-King figure who will speak for him and lead his people.
Once released by the miracle of salvation in the midst of judgement in the Passover where they have become a nation, the Israelites nation on a journey of rebirth through the sea and a journey of faith through the wilderness. The immediate purpose of their release is to come and worship God on the same mountain where God called Moses in chapter 3.
Worship
Therefore, the subject God will primarily teach us about now is the nature of true worship for they have arrived at the place of worship. I say true worship because worship is a word that seems to have lost its particular meaning in many fellowships today where it is invariably limited to communal acts of singing and praying. This sets a bad exmple to young Christians and visitors in that it encourages them to think that Christian worship is absolutley focused in these things. Of course it is not. Worship is a whole life of sacrificial service (Romans 1) to God and others, and it is not confined to place or time, meaning that a church building or the presence of other Christians is irrelevant to the process.
It is wonderful to see the matter of worship brought centre stage in Exodus for here we see a prototype for what true wroship is. Certainly it is the ultimate expression of devotion to God for this was his initial landmark purpose in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt in the first place. But is involves the great themes of relationnship and holiness that we have seen so far Exodus. Indeed, I almsot entitled this chapter, 'Being the Holy People of the Holy God'.
Chapter 20 seems to appear rather abruptly in the flow of the book’s narrative. But its very suddenness makes a greater impact on the reader. It introduces a seminal biblical passage in the giving of the 10 Commandments. They are also known to theologians as the Decalogue meaning literally, the ten words.
Newsweek magazine once reported that just 49% of all Protestant and 44% of all Roman Catholic churchgoers could recall even four of the Ten Commandments. So much for Bible literacy in the Church! At a seminary, trainee ministers struggled to recall six! It seems many believers would argue that these Old Testament commandments are largely irrelevant to a New Testament people. Let's hope that our study of verses 1-21 will prove otherwise.
The place of worship – a gateway to relationship
The Israelites have come to the place of worship, but on the face of it it’s about the place of law-giving. In our last study on chapters 18 and 19 we began to see the significance of law.
In chapter18, the section starts with family relationships and then moves onto social relationships. Moses has to reorganise his judicial system in three spheres: arbitrating civil disputes, dispensing God’s laws and acting as priest between God and people. These all have to do with resolving relationship breakdowns and encouraging good relationships. In chapter 19, we learnt about the privilege of being God’s chosen people bringing responsibility too. Geographical restrictions are put on the people that indicate reverence and orderliness.
In the Bible God is calling a people to himself and ultimately he will call a bride for Jesus. This marriage picture is very useful. Marriage is perhaps the most basic of relationships, and yet it only thrives when it is expressed in terms of obligations and responsibilities that restrict harmful behaviour and encourage good behaviour. To enjoy the privilege of knowing our spouse so intimately, we accept the responsibility of moral 'law and order'.
We might say that the place of worship is the gateway to true relationship.
God made Known
In Exodus, as we have already noted, God is revealing himself under the new name of Yahweh, the redeeming God, and we learn more of him than was shown to the patriarchs in Genesis. The 10 Commandments help us in this regard in that they teach us about God’s own character. The place of worship is the place where we learn about God’s character.
The point of us learning about God’s character (which is the same as the character of Jesus of course) is so that we can please him by copying and obeying him. This is therefore, also the place where we learn about obedience. Jesus is the only one who perfectly obeyed the Law, and that is why he is the acceptable Passover lamb. The NT always exhorts us to emulate Jesus – what would Jesus do? Then do that!
So we’re going to learn about God’s character and we’re going to learn about obedience.
There are two important aspects of relationship in a person’s life. If we were to make the most simple two-way division of the 10 Commandments, as Jesus does in Mark 12:29-31, it would tell us what those two aspects are the vertical and horizontal. In other words, our relationship with God (commandments 1-4) and then our relationship with each other (5-10).
The order of God first and people next is important here. If we get our relationship right with God then human relationships should work properly. All politicians are bound to fail in resolving human conflicts because the majority of people do not honour God. There is no central moral authority to temper relationships.
We we will look in detail at the Commandments themselves in the next study but for now I propose to look at the first two verses that introduce the ten words. They are important.
The Basis of God’s Law (verses 1-2)
God speaking the commandments to the whole of the Israelite people and by extension, every other human being but especially his people. The Israelites heard the commandments being given as Moses reminds them in Deuteronomy 4:33 and 36. It is also implied in Exodus 20:22
When reading Scipture it is helpful to try and pick out what are the important idea in a given passage In these first two verses there are many important ideas. Here they are:
· The person speaking! These are God's word and God is the name Elohiym rather than Yahweh. Elohiym is the creator God, the God of Abraham. These commandments are not an invention of Moses for the sake of social engineering as many humanists would have it.
· God is a speaking God which means he wants to tell us things about himself for he knows we cannot otherwise know them. And we should also notice that God speaks intelligible words. There is no space for mysticism in God's plan.
· The restatement of his newly-revealed name, Yahweh. The phrase "I am the Lord your God" in the Hebrew is simply "Yahweh Elohiym", so he equates this new revelation of his character with the God pf the patriarchs. Remember that the Israelites' coming to this mountian is the proof (sign) for Moses that Yahweh is exactly the same as Elohiym.
· He is a saving God. Exodus is about the God who redeems and again we are reminded of human incapability to help themselves and their utter reliance on the all-powerful God.
It is useful to see verse 2 as an introductory line for each separate commandment with a "therefore..." added on the end. Before each of the commandments is given, the basis or reason for it is established. "Yahweh is making this demand because..." Well, because of what?
A Prior Debt
God both speaks and he acts. Israel have seen him act on and deliver on his word. So far in Exodus God has been the prime actor on behalf of Israel. Now he speaks to his people and says, "you do this and this and this." This time they are expected to do something for God in return.
Alan Cole says, "The commandments are God’s nature expressed in terms of moral imperatives". Then he clarifies this by adding, "his nature can be understood by man only in moral terms." What gives God the right to make moral demands of the Israelites is redemption (verse 2). He freed them from Egypt to be his people. In return for their freedom he makes demands. He says he is, "Yahweh – the saving, covenant God." This is also stated clearly in Exodus 19:3-6. Those he saves are in his debt. Ralph Davies makes the point that there is a rule of thumb here; what God has done precedes what he demands, and he notes a clear sequence - redemption first and obligations next.
This sequential order is important for people to understand the nature of faith and Christian salvation. We do not keep the Law in order to become God’s people but because we already are his people. It is applicable to New Testament Christians too. Our behaviour should respond to what God has done for us. In response to an action of God, albeit future judgement, Peter asks in 2 Peter 3, "What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives." What God says, he does. Likewise, we should therefore behave in response to those words and actions. Jim Spence says that in New Testament terms it is Grace before Works and Gospel before Law.
Ancient Custom
The format of the Decalogue is similar in format to the kind of declaration an ancient pagan king of the Near East would make to the social elite of the day to establish his sovereign authority. However, unlike the law of pagan kings who carried the actual law around in their heads, biblical law is public law.
Pagan kings could change their minds about the law on a whim, just as Pharaoh had done. The nature of pagan gods and idols too was such that you never knew where you stood with them. What is materially different about Yahweh’s declaration is that his law is written down publicly and easy to understand by all people. God doesn’t want us to play guessing games tha make us think we’d better do so and so just in case to keep God happy. That is exactly the kind of moral tyranny people have to cope with under superstitious Far Eastern religions even today for example. Appeasing the gods is a no-win game. You can never be sure where you stand.
We are now ready to tackle each of the commandments themselves, now that we have a few principles in place. We know that they are about order and about freeing people up to live fulfilling lives, not about unnecessarily restricting them. We know that God has established his legitimate reasons for making these moral demands of us, and we have also seen that relationship, first with God and then with other people.