Read Exodus
19-21 & Matthew
20:1-16
To discover:
As you read note how God’s holiness is displayed.
To ponder:
Fifty days after the
Exodus, God establishes what’s termed the “Mosaic covenant.” The nation will spend
a year at Sinai. Moses is the go-between (mediator). He relates God’s words.
God reminds Israel of his grace and care for them (19v4). His covenant promise?
They will be especially his: cherished and precious like treasure, and set-apart
for his service (holy) like priests - perhaps hinting at their role of
instructing the world in God’s ways. God’s covenant proviso? They must “fully”
obey and so “keep” the covenant. The elders and people enter the covenant by
their commitment to obey (9v7-8). Wonderfully these terms are used of us in our
calling to “declare God’s excellencies” to the world (1 Pet 2v9-12).
The obedience required is summed up in covenant “words” (20v1-17)
to be written on stone. This is followed by “laws” (21v1-23v19), comprising “the
book of the covenant” (24v3-4,7). To ensure Israel
rightly fear, trust and obey however, God first displays his holiness (19v9, 16,
20): Three days of safeguards (abstaining from sex may have stressed devotion
to the LORD) are followed by the climax of God’s awesome presence descending to
“meet” with the people.
In this context Moses leads the people to the mountain. God
calls Moses up and reiterates the need to keep the people back. Moses then
descends, and God speaks audibly to the people (20v1, Deut 4v19-13). They are
so terrified they beg Moses to relay God’s word from that point (20v19). There
could be no more powerful way to stress the weight with which we should treat
God’s word. We are even more responsible (read Heb 12v18-29).
The Ten Commandments are singled out, summing God’s will.
Again, obedience is a response to grace received (10v2, 19v4-5). Like a loving
husband, God is jealous, wanting Israel’s
faithfulness. He warns that their personal response will implicate subsequent generations
(20v5-6). They are not to call on God’s name flippantly, treating him at their
beck and call (20v7). Especially, they are to devote a day of rest to
remembering him. The call to honour parents has a prominent position. God’s
purposes were to be fulfilled through offspring and parents were to pass on the
faith. So honouring them was a key indicator of Israel’s
faithfulness to God and whether they would therefore remain in the land (Eph
6v1-4).
Following the commandments, the importance of simple and
pure worship is stressed (20v22-26) – even though it would become elaborate.
Dressed stones were used by pagans and nakedness after the fall was a sign of
shame. God looks for uniquely Christian and modest worship from us also (1 Tim
2v9-10).
Hebrews might be sold into servitude to pay debts or
protect against poverty. In 21v2-11 God’s law ensured the rights of male
servants to eventual freedom and to remain with their families. Female servants
married to their masters were protected against being discarded or deprived – a
word for relationships today.
The laws in 21v12-36 stress retribution – punishment must
match the crime (21v23-25); restitution – loss must be compensated; and
responsibility – intent or negligence makes actions more serious. The death
penalty applies Genesis 9v5-6. 21v15 and 17 are addressed to adults with
respect to their parents, referring to attempted murder and contemptuous
speech. They reflect the critical importance of the family mentioned above.
Praying it home:
Praise God for the wisdom and goodness of his commands
throughout scripture. Pray that we would hear his word with due reverence and
awe.
Thinking further:
For space we will not be able to comment on all laws. Two
things need being said however. First, God’s law is given to a specific
context. Israel
are not in a position to manage prisons where life sentences may be served, nor
to deal with complex legislation printed in numerous volumes of books. Rather
they are a primitive society that have to survive in the desert and in Canaan
against all the odds if God’s purposes are to be fulfilled. Critical to this is
the cohesion of society and the family. Certain laws may seem too permissive
like the legislation for slavery, or too harsh like the death penalties. But we
must trust God’s wisdom in knowing what was necessary for Israel
then, recognising our inability to judge these things from this distance and
our own culture. Second, for these reasons we cannot just apply the law
directly to our context. What it reflects are the principles of God’s character
and creation applied to Israel’s
circumstances (20v11, 1 Pet 1v14-16). As those made in God’s image, these
principles were originally imbedded in human beings, and they are now written
on the Christian’s heart by the Spirit (Heb 8v10, Eph 4v24). Our need is therefore
to consider what these principles are, and any parallel circumstances they can
and should be applied to today. This is somewhat easier where the New Testament
does this for us.
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