God who gave the Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:1-26
In Exodus 20, God gave the Ten Commandments.
- You shall have no other gods before me (3).
- You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them (4, 5a).
- You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God (7a).
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy (8).
- Honour your father and your mother (12a).
- You shall not murder (13).
- You shall not commit adultery (14).
- You shall not steal (15).
- You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour (16).
- You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour (17).
When this was happening, I think there were the thunder, lightning, trumpet sound, and smoke in the mountain. And they saw and heard them, and trembled with fear (18). They said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us or we will die.’ (19)
Moses said to them, ‘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.’ (20)
The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was (21).
Exodus 20 shows the glorious moments that the descended God gave the 10 commandments to them through Moses. He was used by God incredibly and amazingly.
Very interesting thing is the fact that previously Moses asked God more than once saying “Pardon your servant, Lord.” (Exodus 4:10, 13) or “Please send someone else.” (Exodus 4:13) His reason was he had never been eloquent.
Through the book of Exodus, I can see that Moses played the great role as the spiritual leader.
All these things – how many times and how much God revealed Himself, how greatly Moses was used by God - make God so real & close to us, make us amazed, and our heart becomes filled with faith in his power and grace.
In Exodus 21 ~ 23, God gave the laws that Moses were to set before them. Let us study them later.
Before closing, let us study about the ministry of condemnation and the ministry of righteousness.
See 2 Corinthians 3:9.
9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
2 Corinthians 3:9 says the ministry of Moses is “the ministry of condemnation”. The Law itself Moses received is good but it brings condemnation because everyone will break one law or the other in the Law. No one can keep 100% of them. So we need the ministry of righteousness that is the ministry of Jesus. The righteousness comes from the redemption.
Galatians 3:10-14 says
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’ 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’ 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’ 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Romans 7:7-13 says
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
So, the Law lets us know we are sinners. Even though we may try to observe the Law, we can’t be saved, but Instead will find ourselves condemned by the Law. Only Jesus saves us through the forgiveness of sins.
References
[1] The Holy Bible: New International Version (Anglicised Edition, 2011). (2011). (Revised and updated edition). London: Hodder & Stoughton.
