Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 6 Lesson 57
As Sunday school resumes for this first Sunday of 2020, we’re continuing on in the book of Exodus by looking at Israel’s arrival at Sinai and their reception of the Ten Commandments. Under what circumstances did Israel receive these commands? Why did God give the Ten Commandments to Israel? And what do the Ten Commandments mean for us today? We’ll consider these questions and more.
For this lesson, we will overview Exodus 17-34 but will focus on Exodus 20:1-17.
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well good morning welcome back to Sunday school happy new year we are back in California of course and Seminary starting in just another another week for me my last semester there but it was so good to visit over the Christmas time and to see many of you into the intake talk with you and spend some time with you and to preach the word with you or preach the word to you but we’re back in the word this morning and we’re continuing through the book of Exodus we’re looking at the Ten Commandments today I’ll call what we’ve seen in the book of Exodus so far we’ve seen God fulfill his promise to Abraham by multiplying protecting and delivering his people the seed of Abraham from out of Egypt and God sent mighty plagues to accomplish his deliverance culminating in that deliverance at the reed sea but recall how did Israel respond to all of these amazing and gracious displays of God’s power was it with ongoing trust and obedience well when they went into the wilderness what did we see I saw complaining we saw lack of trust in God they complained about food they complained about water they complained about their leaders and these as we saw were not just complaints against Moses and Aaron but they were complaints against God as all complaining really is here God graciously and patiently provided for his people and gave them what they were complaining about God was testing his people and as they failed the tests and as he graciously provided in response they were to learn and they were to repent so then at this point in the book of Exodus God has called out and brought out his people to be his own possession but now he’s going to give them his law his rules if they are to be a special people then they must keep covenant with him and these rules of the Covenant they start with the Ten Commandments and we could spend a lot of time on the Ten Commandments in fact it would be really good if someone just did a whole series of sermons on the Ten Commandments that’s exactly what our pastor did this last year so if you didn’t get a chance to listen to those sermons I recommend you go back and do so because there’s so much about the ten commandments we won’t be able to cover today but we will look to overview and summarize some important truths about all of the 10 commandments oh and by the way if you’re looking for that sermon series if you missed it it’s on our website Calvary a morgue under the series title the law of God so what are we gonna try to accomplish today well we’re gonna examine the circumstances under which Israel received the Ten Commandments we’re going to examine the Ten Commandments themselves and then we’ll ask what is the purpose or what are the purposes of the Ten Commandments and really the rest of the rules of God both at that time and for us today let’s pray as we continue our God your word is wonderful and it it is a light to our paths we need it so open up your word to us today by your spirit apply it to our lives and our hearts and transform us help me to be able to explain it clearly and well in Jesus name Amen please take your Bibles and open up to Exodus chapter 17 we’re gonna begin over viewing the circumstances under which Israel received the Ten Commandments now it’s important for us to do this contextual overview because depending on the movies or the paintings or the cartoons that you’ve seen portraying this event because it is a famous event you might have the wrong idea in your minds so we need to recenter ourselves once again by listening to God’s history God’s accurate history of this special event now we left off last time in extra 17 with Israel complaining about the food and drink in the wilderness and God graciously and patiently providing in the second part of Exodus chapter 17 Israel has its first battle a battle against some belligerent Amalekites God gives Israel the victory and it does so by the means of Moses is raised hands and then in Exodus chapter 18 Israel receives a visit or Moses receives a visit from his father-in-law Jethro Jethro gives him some advice about delegation and and the assigning of legal cases and then a nexus 19 so you can turn there now at X is 19 Israel finally arrives at Mount Sinai now let’s actually read X is 19 1 2 6×6 19 1 2 6 is what it says in the third month after the sons of Israel have gone out of the land of Egypt on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai when they set out from Rafa deem they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness and there is your camp in front of the mountain Moses went up to God and the Lord that is Yahweh called to him from the mountain saying thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of issue yourselves have seen when I did to the Egyptians how I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself now then if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation these the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel now we’re just kind of read through these we don’t have time to observe all the different details but notice this is the beginning of their experience at Sinai after this Moses comes back from the mountain and he reports God’s words to the elders of Israel they agree to keep the Covenant of Yahweh Moses returns to God on the mountain with their affirmation God then warns Moses that no person or creature is to touch the mountain if they do they must be stoned or pierced through with arrows God also tells Moses that the people must consecrate themselves for three days in preparation for hearing God himself speak from the mountain by the way don’t miss that time detail in the beginning it says that this takes place in the 3rd month and remember ischl came out on the 14th on the fourteenth day of the first month on the Passover now let’s see what Exodus 19 verses 16 to 20 say as they get even closer to God speaking so X is 19 verse 16 now so it came about on the third day when it was morning that there were thunders and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people who were in the camp trembled and Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they stood at the foot of the mountain now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the ahwe descended upon it in fire and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked violently when the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up now this is quite a scene could you imagine being yourself yourself at at this place when these things are happening this smoking Mountain the thunder the trumpet sound you can understand why Israel was trembling in the remainder of chapter 19 God sends Moses back down the mountain to warn the people one more time about approaching the mountain and in chapter 20 God Himself speaks to all the people from the mountain and he tells them his Ten Commandments we’re gonna skip those for right now we’re still just getting the context we’ll come back to the Ten Commandments but let’s look at Israel’s reaction to the ten commandments in Exodus chapter 20 verses 18 to 21 X is 20 verses 18 to 21 the word says all the people perceived the Thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking when the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance and they said to Moses speak to us yourself and we will listen but let not God speak to us or we will die what was it said to the people do not be afraid for God has come in order to test you and in order that the fear of him may remain with you that you may not sin so the people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was now after this Moses again returns to the mountain and in chapters 21 22 and God gives Moses various laws for for the people visual to keep and he affirms his promise to them that if they will keep his covenant keep his laws that he will give them the land of Canaan and to bless them in many ways let’s now read Exodus chapter 24 Exodus 24 verses 3 to 8 again let’s see how the people react Moses is giving them the words of God it says Exodus 24 verses 3 to 8 then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the ordinances and the people answered with one voice and said all the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh and he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel he sent young men of the sons of Israel and they offered burnt offerings and sacrifices as peace offerings to Yahweh Moses took half the blood and put it in basins and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar and he took the book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people and they said all that Yahweh has spoken we will do and we will be obedient so Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said behold the blood of the Covenant which Yahweh has made with you in accordance with all these words so multiple times now the people have affirmed they will keep covenant with God after this something very strange and wonderful happens Moses Aaron Nadab Abihu and seventy elders they travel part my up Mount Sinai where they see God in a limited revelation and they eat a covenant meal in his presence we can’t go through this description right now but read it on your own it’s quite amazing it’s like a sapphire platform or this this beautiful platform on which Yahweh is sitting and right in his presence so they had this meal and then God calls Moses back to the mountain and he tells Moses that God will give Moses tablets of stone with God’s commandments on them thus Moses begins his first forty day stay on the mountain Moses is on the mountain for forty days and during this day God gives Moses instructions for building a tabernae an ongoing dwelling place for God among his people and these instructions for the tabernacle are recorded in Exodus 25 to 31 we’re not going to look at those right now that’ll be for a lesson but Exodus 31 you can turn there Exodus 31 concludes with a certain statement Exodus 31 verse 18 XS 31 18 says speaking of God when he had finished speaking with him Moses upon Mount Sinai he gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony tablets of stone written by the finger of God now oh this is very good and wonderful but while Moses is on the mountain during those first 40 days something goes horribly wrong back in the camp of Israel as you’re familiar with this part of Scripture what does Israel do Moses’s away they don’t know where he is and so what do they tell Aaron to do right make us a god that’s gonna go before us and so they build the golden cash now this is this is quite amazing because as we just saw they affirmed that they would keep covenant with Yahweh and very just so quickly they are breaking that covenant now this incident deserves its own lesson and that’s actually what we’re gonna come back to talk about next week but just notice a few things about the Golden Calf incident as recorded in Exodus 32 and following Israel is breaking covenant with God and so Moses when he comes back down he takes the two tablets of the Covenant and he shatters them before the people of Israel it’s a symbolic tax this is what you’ve done at first God tells Moses that he’s going to destroy all of Israel for their sin now Memory god has been totally patient with us go up to this point but now that they’ve affirmed they would keep covenant and they haven’t he says I’m gonna kill I’m gonna kill them all I’m destroy them all and I’ll just restart with you Moses Moses intercedes and he pleads with God he says don’t do this for your own namesake and God relents though Moses has to violently restore order among the people in the nexus 33 God says another very sad or he gives another sad declaration he says I’m not gonna travel with you anymore you people are too sinful and rebellious I can’t go with you but Moses intercedes again he pleads with God saying God if you don’t go with us we can’t go up to the promised land we need your presence we need you to sustain us all the way and God relents again and he says alright I will travel with the people it relents from Moses is sake and it shows grace to the people God then calls Moses back up to the mountain for another 40 days to remit to receive a new set of tablets and in the beginning of Exodus 34 that’s where we have the incident where Moses says to God show me your glory and God says I will show it to you in a limited way now all of that again is just overview to set the context but I want to ask a few questions that about it before we move on these are kind of observations / interpretation questions so how much time passed between the exodus from Egypt and the receiving of the law on Mount Sinai about a month and a half maybe two months because America was the 14th of the first month that they left and we’re told it’s in the third month that they received the law now the date of Moses’s reception of the law of God for Israel is or the traditional date is 50 days after Israel left Egypt this then makes the receiving of the law 50 days after Passover which is the same date as Israel’s feast of weeks one of the festivals that Israel was later required to keep and in the nut in the New Testament this feast is known by a different name 50 days after the Passover you have Pentecost and you can see the the Penta root in there signifying 50 now this was a short time after their coming out of the exodus but where did these all take place is that Mount Sinai this mountain is also called Mount Horeb in the scriptures it appears to be one of the mountains in the Sinai Peninsula in between Egypt and Israel the exact location the identity is mountains are unknown though there are several candidates today for which one would be the Mount Sinai but one other question when the Israelites were worshiping the golden calf as as the God that delivered them from Egypt it wasn’t a different God they said this is Yahweh why should they have known that it was wrong to worship an idol such as this right right that’s one aspect of it they’ve already seen the Egyptian gods I doll idols and false gods judged so that should have told them something why else it’s right there in the ten commandments he says you’ll have no other God before me and don’t make an image don’t make an image and we’ll talk about this more in just a second but don’t make an image of anything you see on the earth and what do they make they make a cow a golden calf and they say this is Yahweh actually in a section we didn’t even read in the latter part of Exodus 20 God specifically says again don’t make an idol out of silver or gold and they said this is what we’ll do all right God you say it we’ll do it yet they don’t so soon they break covenant with Yahweh now let’s actually look at the Ten Commandments look at the Ten Commandments themselves now again we’re still gonna have to kind of move quickly through them but we want to note each one of the commandments and make a few observations about them because we’re gonna ask some questions about them afterwards so look at Exodus 20 again Xtras 20 verses 1 to 17 what are the commands that God spoke to all Israel starting in verse 1 is what says then God spoke all these words saying I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery you shall have no other gods before me so the first commandment is to love and serve God only no other gods no one equal to God no one greater than God and notice even in this first command before God gets the command he reminds Israel who he is he says I am Yahweh your God the one who powerfully delivered you from Egypt now look at the second command verses 4 to 6 God says you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth you shall not worship them or serve them for Iowa your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the father’s on the children on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing loving-kindness mm to those who love me and keep my Commandments so the second commandment is not to make our worship any idle not only of false gods but also of the true God who cannot be captured his glory cannot be represented properly in any image anything that man can fashions now God specifically warns them in this command notice not to create images of deities based on what they see in heaven or on earth or in the waters of the earth I notice God also gives a reason for this command what’s the reason because I am a jealous God and then he also refers to his judgment because I am jealous I will repay with wickedness I will repay those who follow wickedness with powerful judgment even unto the third and fourth generation but for those who love me and follow me obey me I will show them blessing and kindness so God’s jealousy is wrapped up in this command don’t make an idol and there’s the third command in verse 7 he says you shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain the third command is not to show disrespect that God’s name to take God’s name in vain is to use God’s name uselessly or deceitfully now how might someone take God’s name in vain or speak God’s name in vain this is something we see around us all the time today isn’t it many people use God’s name or things related to God as a curse or as a joke I would qualify is taking God’s name in vain but also another way and this would be more common in its time it’s still common today it would be vain for those to swear rashly or falsely by God’s name I don’t hear as much these days but I used to hear it growing up oh I swear to God if somebody will say that to try and make you believe them but sometimes they weren’t telling the truth that would be taking God’s name in vain now I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this but isn’t it so sad that so many of the curse words of our society and other societies they are misuses of God’s name and what’s related to him people say oMG they refer to God Jesus Christ damn hell I refer to things as holy that aren’t holy all of this cheapens god’s name and notice the warning God gives though to those who cheapen his name he says he will not hold them guiltless they will be judged if you treat God’s name flippantly if you treat that things are related to him with contempt God will judge you and doesn’t this sound like what Jesus says in the New Testament perhaps you reminded of Matthew 12 verses 26 to 37 but I’ll just read verses 36 and 37 in Matthew 12 36 and 37 Jesus says but I tell you that every careless word that people speak they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned you know most people who use God’s name as a curse they don’t even think about it but God says those careless words I will hold you to account for this is the third commandment given to Israel now notice the fourth verse is 8 to 11 God says remember the Sabbath to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Yahweh your God in it you shall do you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter your male or your female servant or your cattle or your Sojourner who stays with you for in six days Yahweh made the heavens in the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy so the fourth command is to keep the Sabbath by resting on doing no work now which day of the week was the Sabbath for the Jews the seventh day what would be our Saturday and what is the basis for the Israelites keeping the Sabbath what’s the path right what God did it creation and this by the way as we mentioned previously in other lessons this helps us to see that the days of Genesis 1 were literal days 24-hour days because it established the weekly pattern for Israel and they’re keeping it the Sabbath now look at verse 12 the fifth command says honor your father and your mother that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you so the fifth command is to honor your parents and nurse the command does not simply say obey your parents obedience is one of the important arts or important ways that children should honor their parents but it’s not the only way consider what are other ways of honoring one’s parents acting wisely and not bringing shame upon them speaking well about your parents not complaining to them or about them helping them when they are in need showing prompt obedience not simply obedience but prompt obedience to them and obeying them from the heart this is all contained in honoring one’s parents and notice there is no qualifier given to this command here God says your parents must still receive honor from you even when they sin even when they act unwisely or even if they don’t believe in God at all you want to honor them for the Lord’s sake but notice there is a positive promise given along with this command and it’s even affirmed in the New Testament God says if you obey this command your days will be prolonged in the land that God gives you honor your parents you’ll live longer you’ll be blessed God says and who wouldn’t want that now the next commands are very brief and so we’ll take them all together liquor verses 13 to 16 G commands 6 to 9 God says you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor remember these are not coming from Moses here this is God’s speaking God’s voice coming from the mountain to all the people and it gives these commands the sixth commandment odd forbids taking innocent life the seventh forbids adultery the eighth forbids theft and the ninth forbids giving false testimony against others now if you have any background in the King James the King James Version its translation of verse 13 is that you shall not kill but does God ever permit killing he does he does and we’ve already seen this in the book of Genesis remember after the flood God said anyone who sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed god ordained that killing execution would take place capital punishment would take place as a result of those who improperly took advice also God ordains that Israel would fight wars and there are certain circumstances of self-defense where killing is a lap so it’s not right for us simply to say Oh God said you shall not kill there needs to be some nuance that it is that you shall not murder you shall not improperly take life and then the last command in verse 17 verse 17 God says you shall not covet shall not cover your neighbor’s house shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor so the last command the tenth command is not to covet what does it mean to covet it is a desire but not all desires are bad so what is a coveting we can describe it in this way I actually give you a bunch of different ways because I think this is a constant that that can be hard to understand the covet is to want something so badly that you are not happy or satisfied without it it is to lust after something to use New Testament terminology it is to make something an idol in art now coveting is a kind of desire it’s not necessarily wrong to desire or want something it is wrong to want something to the point of wanting it more than God which is what coveting or lusting or having an idol is you can usually tell if you are coveting if you become angry depressed or envious over that thing another way to think about it you are coveting if you sin to obtain something or if you sin when you do not obtain something that’s clearly a sign of coveting or another way to think about it coveting is desire without contentment you can desire something there are many righteous desires a person can have or desires that are innocent but if it causes you to no longer be content in God and you are coveting now God gives a few very common examples of coveting right in this command wanting your neighbor’s house his wife is servants his animals or anything that belongs to him do you want them in a way that causes you know long to be content that is company but notice what’s different about command number 10 verses commands to deny can you tell usually if there’s evidence if somebody has committed murder can you tell if somebody has given false testimony oftentimes you can because these are manifest manifested externally but can you always tell when people are coveting most the time you can’t it’s because coveting is something that takes place in the heart they manifest an external action to be sure but it’s something that takes place in the heart actually in this way commandment number 10 is similar to commandment number 1 because they both focus on the heart oh these are Danny you want to say something uh well you’re very very good Danny we’re actually just about to talk about that hang on there comment yeah let’s actually talk about interpretation now of what we’ve just seen about the 10 commandments number questions here first you may have noticed that Ten Commandment into two categories what are the two categories command missus I have to do with one’s relationship to God and Commandments I had to do with relationship to other people and the things of this world Commandments one before all had that vertical dimension they don’t really involve others you’re keeping the Sabbath doesn’t really involve others your your your worshipping an idol or not but commands five to ten clearly have to do with others now someone suggested because God gives two tablets to Moses their commands one to four fill up one tablet and commands five to ten fill the other tablet more likely the two tablets were exactly the same because this is the idea of covenant you give the rules you give a copy of the rules to each party of the Covenant so that they know exactly what they’re supposed to keep so one two four was probably on one side of one tablet and commands five to ten we’re on the other side of that tablet and there were two copies of those tablets given to emphasize that this is a covenant now why do commands 1 to 4 appear first that’s right this is to show that the primary yeah that’s right to show their primary aspect of obedience to God and reverence of God if you do not have a right relationship with God and then you will not be able to have a right relationship with others the bottom commands they flow out of the top commands commercially if you’re not obeying the latter commands if you can tell oh man that person is clearly coveting or I’m you know I’m caught in lying or adultery well that’s a sign that you haven’t been keeping Commandments 1 2 4 because the bottom those how we relate to others it flows out of how we’re relating to God indeed all the commands are really intervene with one another and so when James says in the New Testament James 2:10 or whoever keeps the whole law and yet stone was at one point he’s become guilty of all and actually is pretty literally true I mean if you are breaking commandment number seven well you’re also breaking commandment number 10 and commandment number five and commandment number two and command number one they all go together in perfect parallels this concept of first primarily vertical commands having to do with God and then horizontal commands secondly dealing with man listen to what Jesus says in the New Testament when he was asked about which commandment of God is the greatest Jesus says in Matthew 22 verses 37 to 40 Matthew 22 verses 37 to 40 and he said to him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind this is the great and foremost commandment the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two Commandments depend the whole law and the prophets so even Jesus saw that there’s a primary and secondary command and the Ten Commandments reflect that same that same idea now Israel was forbid from worshiping idols in the second of the Ten Commandments but how do people still worship idols today that’s right so there is worship of self and that usually manifests in the worshipping of other various things of this world you don’t need to have a physical image to be worshiping an idol in fact it’s much more common today not to have a physical image but still be an idolatry now it’s true that images idolatry in worship and in reverence of images still exist today it’s part of many religions in the world Hinduism would be one clear example but even in Christianity the reverence that some groups would in Christianity will show two statues and images it’s basically idolatry you know they’ll come up with different explanations oh no I’m not really wish being the image I meant a worshipping what the image represents but people are making the same argument back in Israel’s day and in Jesus’s day the Greeks and the Romans would have said something similar and yet that’s what Catholics and others will say today when it comes to images of Christ Mary or of the saints yeah I saw a hand on the side yeah go ahead interesting okay I wasn’t aware of that but just the being your comment burnt here’s that Catholics or some Catholics would kind of avoid making the second commandment about idols its own commandment but just kind of lump it it in with the first and then split the and about coveting that’s interesting but certainly idolatry whether you use an image or not it is very prevalent today and it is a form as as Marco saying of worship of self the many common idols of our society are money love power sexual pleasure Fame popularity success various possessions you can make and you can actually see this in children most clearly you can make it something extremely unimportant and idle oh I wanted that toy you look at a kidney like man what’s wrong with you he’s basically made in an idol would you know what as adults we can do the same thing oh I really wanted a particular deer or all I really wanted I really wanted this person to like me or something like that that’s that becomes an idol if you love something more or equal to God if you believe you cannot be satisfied without something it has become an idol in your mind a false god you set up an image and the Old Testament refers these things as idols the New Testament calls them lusts and they are sins God will not tolerate competition for glory with false gods whether they are physical or not now on the fourth commandment Israel is charged with keeping the Sabbath if you know the Scriptures Israel often does not keep the Sabbath because you might have Israel be tempted and frequently fail to keep the Sabbath fail to or that’s when God said don’t do it there won’t be any Amanda there or when God says don’t leave any of the manna over until morning it’s because we live in a society of abundance where you don’t have to worry about the future because you can always just go to the grocery store whatever it is but they didn’t live in that kind of society to not work on the Sabbath that was a big risk potentially ah but we need to keep working if we’re gonna survive to get them that we need or whatever it is so they would be tempted and often would yield to the temptation to not rest on the Sabbath it would rather work they would rather rely on what they are able to produce themselves than rely on God now do Christians need to keep the Sabbath today well the answer this is yes or no depending on what you mean though the Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments the Sabbath was just one of a greater series of ceremonial laws that were given by God to Israel and that would ultimately serve as pictures of the coming salvation in Messiah when Christ came we saw the fullness of what these Old Testament ceremonies pictured and therefore these ceremonies were no longer necessary just as we as Christians do not sacrifice animals today to cover sin because Jesus has once and for all covered sin we don’t need any other covering we also do not follow dietary laws verses about clean versus unclean animals because Christ has made all foods clean for us so also we do not keep the ritual Sabbath because in Jesus his people have entered a greater rest than simply not working one day of a week and that is the rest of God Himself to explain this a little more and to borrow what the writer FUBU says in Hebrews chapter 4 as Christians we are no longer working to perfectly keep God’s law because Christ did it for us therefore we rest in Christ’s righteousness and as Hebrew says if we persevere by faith in Christ we will also enter the blessed eternal rest of God with God so you could say in a sense that Christians do keep the Sabbath but it’s a different Sabbath we keep and enjoy a greater Sabbath than the Jews did because Christ has become for us our Sabbath and we rest continually in him but you might say well I thought that Sunday was the Christians new Sabbath and to be fair in Christian history there have been many who have treated Sunday as if it were a new Sabbath and they even forbid work or play or various activities on Sundays but to make Sunday the new Sabbath would be to contradict the very clear words of the Scriptures themselves but the Apostle Paul says in Colossians chapter 2 verses 16 and 17 Colossians 2:16 2:17 therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or to respect to a festival or a new moon or Sabbath day things which are a mere shadow of what is to come but the substance arms to Christ so there it is right there explicit all says no one can call you out for not keeping the Sabbath that was just a shadow the fullness has come now if you want to set aside Sunday as a special day of worship to God that’s fine just you don’t have to do that particular day and you don’t have to keep it the way the Jews kept their Sabbath it is interesting and I’m sure pastor Ravi I mention this there was a certain reverence that quickly became attached to Sunday’s even in revelation 1:10 sunday is referred to as the Lord’s Day so when Christians were thinking about special days for getting together they often got together on the Lord’s Day but this is not the same as keeping the fourth commandment we need to understand that to say this or to make this more clear Romans 14 Paul says further in Romans 14 verses five and six one person regards one day above another in other regards every day alike each person must be fully convinced in his own mind he who observes the day observes it for the Lord and who eats does so the Lord Bri just thanks to God and he who eats not for the Lord he does not eat and gives thanks to God so if you want to set aside a certain day as a Sabbath to God you can but you’re not required to how does this all mean then that you don’t need to be with Christians you don’t need to be in church on Sundays on that’s the wrong application but for a different reason because the Scriptures also tell us in Hebrews 10 Hebrews 10 verses 23 to 25 let us hold fast the confession or hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing air you need to be with the Assembly of your fellow believers and your assembly usually gathers on Sundays so if your debate with Hebrews says you need to be there don’t forsake the assembly of course your assembly gathers on other days of the week – and if you are able you want to be there as well because that’s part of where the Ministry of the church actually takes place so lots of stake here about the Sabbath one final thought there is still practical wisdom and taking time off each week not work this not only helps you to refresh and recharge yourself but it is also an expression of the same belief that issue was to express that God is able to provide for you even if you do not work now you know our society admires workaholism now sometimes it speaks against it but we admire hard workers but workaholism it is a sin and it’s a sign that you actually don’t trust God because you will just work work work – the neglect of other responsibilities it’s a neglect of your family often and others that you need to love now we can say more about this but we need to keep keep moving for the sake of time to get back to what Dani said earlier that God intend for these 10 commandments to be obeyed only externally or both in action and in harp and clearly the answer is the latter these are to be both inwardly obeyed and ugly a bit and how do we know this as Danny mentioned we have Christ’s words in New Testament he talks about hey if you lust in your heart or if you get angry in your heart sinful anger it’s just like murder or adult but Jesus was not giving a new spin on the Ten Commandments or on the Old Testament law when he said such things these things were always there and we can see this because of commands 1 and commands 10 into 10 commandments with these commands about coveting or about loving and worshiping God these have to do with the heart so clearly all of the commands have to do with the heart and it’s only logical right if it is wrong to actually kill someone then the desire to kill someone must be wrong as well to desire to do evil how could that be a good thing so the Ten Commandments and really all the commands of God they always had an inward aspect to them Jesus is just realized that in his sermon on them are yes Sermon on the Mount now how should we understand the Ten Commandments in relationship to the rest of God’s rules because let’s face it God gave Israel many other commands besides these and many of those commands have serious consequences commands not listed as part of the Ten Commandments yet if you don’t keep them that says you would be put to death so we cannot simply say that the Ten Commandments are the most important or the most serious commands now there are other important in serious commands so how did the Ten Commandments relate to the rest of the laws given to Israel what would you say okay so there’s certainly these are these are unique and that they’re spoken by God himself they are the words of the Covenant but I think we can also say that the other asked other parts the law they also are the words of the Covenant they also are the company that Israel’s to keep so it’s not merely that these are covenant in the rest are not how else can we understand this yeah go ahead I’m sorry right I think that’s probably the best way to understand it you could see the Ten Commandments has an introduction or a foundation or summary of the rest of the commands that are given to Israel because let’s face it when we look if you look at Exodus 21 to 24 you look at those more specific commands they’re just different versions of what God is giving in the Ten Commandments it’s kind of like this is the law in brief actually to promote the briefest version is what Jesus says the New Testament those two commands but the Covenant that Israel’s to keep it is summarized you get a framework for it right in the Ten Commandments this is not to say the other Commandments are not important they are they’re just further applications or versions of what God gives in the Ten Commandments I think that’s the best way for us to understand the Ten Commandments in relation to the rest of the Old Testament ah but why give these to Israel why give these rules these Ten Commandments this covenant what was the purpose well there are several purposes and I’m just gonna point out four of them to you or actually I want to also ask this question in terms of even the rules that we are to keep why does God give us commands as Christians a visual commands gives us commands why one reason is to do what’s good God’s laws are are not to make life terrible and hard for us to actually met do us good because they are a wise and they bring blessing and this doesn’t happen necessarily mysteriously or supernaturally the God does also bless us in that way but the laws themselves are a blessing to those who keep them if you want to live a wise life just on a practical basis then follow the commands of God because God has wise and good commands so when God says you should love your neighbor or you should love your wife or you should serve in the church that’s where your good one of the reason that God gives his commands and why he gave visual commands was to do them good and attach that is the second reason and that is to show God’s character here’s a very important truth that we all need to realize God’s commands are not arbitrary it can’t be like oh you know God just happened to say that murder was wrong but you know I could conceive of a universe where murder is actually a good thing well that would be to think of God’s commands as arbitrary but it’s not so God’s commands are what they are because of who God is really the commands are just reflections of himself their applications of who God is let’s see it another way God’s law gives us insight into the very heart of God you see who he is what he loves what he hates how he seeks to bless good and punish evil what kind of reverence he deserves and this is why God’s law is so good because it reflects him and he is good so how could any of God’s commands ever fail to be good when they are given by someone who’s good and they’re given as a reflection of that goodness this is also why and perhaps you’re already thinking of this when our mind and our consciousness are trained by God’s Word we cannot help but affirm that God’s laws are sweet and good this is why the psalmist says I love your law you know like oh wait psalmist you’ve got a lot of difficult laws to keep there in that Old Testament you sure you love them he says I do because I see God in them I see God’s ways I see God’s nature reflected and we should know that God does express his wonderful character via his commands sometimes in different ways we have to face the fact that there were some laws given to Israel that are not given to Christians and Islam was given to Christians that were not asked of Israel this is not to say that God’s character has changed but in at different times God says this is the way I’m gonna have my character reflect it and other times this is the way I’m gonna have my character reflected I think of some of the laws given about divorce in the Old Testament you say oh I thought God hated divorce why’d he give these laws about divorce well in the Old Testament you can still see the goodness of God in the divorce laws because these were meant to regulate and as much as possible protect people from being abused by divorce people were going to divorce even though that was not God’s designed for marriage and God said well when it happens though it shouldn’t happen this is the way it must happen in order to protect as much as possible usually women who were being divorced and you can see a similar goodness though we don’t have the same laws and the laws given to Christians when it comes to divorce that’s because God doesn’t change even though he has determined he would require of certain people in certain times certain commands so the law God’s laws are given to do us good they’re given to show us God they’re also given to show us the standard that God requires this is a third purpose of the law as God reveals his goodness to us in the law he is also establishing a standard and as we grapple with that standard as we try to keep that standard we realize God is completely holy we ought to be holy as he is but we are not even though all gods are look God’s laws are good and we ought to keep them perfectly all the time the fact is we simply don’t if we didn’t have God’s commands we’d still would be responsible to be holy but but wouldn’t realize that just how much we are not holy God shows us what true holiness true goodness true perfection is in his law but we’re not able to reach that standard and this is certainly obvious in Israel’s case right just less than 40 days after receiving the Covenant they’re breaking it in a pretty egregious way but God never intended for Israel or for us to be accepted made righteous justified by keeping God’s laws no one can perfectly keep God’s laws it is the right standard it’s what we ought to keep but none of us can Beach it this is God’s purpose in the light is to set that standard even though it’s one we cannot keep and why because of the fourth purpose God’s laws to do us good is to show us himself do to establish the proper standard but it also is to point us to God’s mercy in Christ we don’t have time to go through it right now but Galatians three verses 21 to 26 it goes on to talk about how the law was never meant by God to justify but it was to function like a tutor to lead us to Christ as we see our failure to keep God’s good law we say I need someone to make me right with that and of course God the only way for that to happen is through Jesus Christ Paul says something similar in Romans 3 Romans 3 verses 19 to 26 again we can’t go through that but he says the law would never justify anybody but the law shut up everybody under sin so that they might see that righteousness can become by Christ and that is that is transmitted to us by faith which is why we say salvation is by faith apart from works by grace through faith alone so the Ten Commandments and God’s commands in general they were always meant to show us that we cannot meet God’s good and required standard of righteousness it’s only on the basis of mercy the law is actually showing us it is only on the basis of God’s mercy that we can be made right with him and God’s extended such mercy in the work son now this was true for Israel it’s not like okay Israel was justified by works and were justified by faith now it’s the same for them they also were justified by faith apart from works they looked forward to the provision of God’s mercy even though they didn’t have all the details it was by faith in God’s provision that they were saved we look back with any more of the details because we have actually seen that we have the record of Christ’s coming Jesus suffered for the sins of those who believed in him who believed in him as their Lord and Savior and he gives them his perfect righteousness so they might be holy and justified before God and then God connected with that God puts his Holy Spirit and those who believe in him he makes them alive and he enables them to be obedient where they weren’t obedient before where they couldn’t be obedient before for us as Christians we do keep God’s commitments but not out of fear of oh if I don’t do this and won’t be saved now that we are motivated by the love for our Savior who has already kept the law on our behalf and though we do gratefully of obeying keep God’s commands we don’t do this perfectly we all have to admit this we don’t do this perfectly yet it should be a characteristic of believers and it should be a gradual process of improvement sanctification we are to become more and more like Christ as we see God’s grace in our life so the Ten Commandments and God’s laws as a whole they have several purposes and we need to keep them all in mind they do commands themselves are good they show us the goodness of God and His character they show us God’s right and holy standard but they also point us to mercy and salvation in Christ now again we can say a lot more about the Ten Commandments and when it comes to application we could explore application in many different areas but as their time is winding down today let me just give a couple questions to do to stimulate your thinking when it comes to how you apply what we’ve heard and read about the 10 commandments number one how do you view the Ten Commandments in relation to yourself how do you regard the commands of God even the 10 commandments are they await for you to become saved basis for comparing your own goodness with others or clear evidence that you need price to be big acceptable to God because you have to ask yourself do you keep the Ten Commandments both externally and internally if you’re honest with yourself you know you don’t and that’s why you need Christ number two if you are in Christ do you now delight to keep God’s command of course you don’t keep them perfectly but it’s obedience to God’s commands even what’s written in the 10 commitments does that mark your life and if no what do you misunderstand about God how is it that you see this Commandments I was not being good or not reflecting God’s character do you misunderstand God do you see God’s great heart reflected in his rules you see his desire to bless you in his commands and then number three how might you use God’s law in preaching the gospel now ultimately the gospel can be boiled down to bad news and good news and part of the bad news is look here’s God’s great righteous law we ought to keep it but none of us have we can get very specific with people and say look here’s a summary of God’s good laws and Ten Commandments but have you kept these have you kept them perfectly all the time internally and externally and again if people are honest and if we’re honest we we know that we haven’t and that’s why we need Christ you have to use the bad news of how our inability in our in our willful decision not to keep God’s laws has led to our condemnation and our need for rescuing Christ now people make a lot of error today when they try and share about the love of God but they never share about the holiness or the wrath of the law god I hope we need the law to lead us to Christ it’s that tutor and so it is even when we share the gospel many people think they are good enough for God but the law shows them and us know on our own we are not so that needs to even be part of how we proclaim the Gospel now again if you have comments or questions more on what we’ve said today please email me but that’s all we have time for this week next week we’ll get to that event that we’ve already alluded to right after receiving this covenant saying they’ll keep it all Israel turned to flagrant idolatry the real question is how will God respond and if he’s not going to destroy them why not I want talk about that next time that’s closing prayer Lord God we thank you for your law thank you for your commands God there was a time where we thought they were burdensome maybe even today Lord were tempted to think oh this is so difficult God why’d you have to do this way why can’t I have sinned why can’t I have this lust but God when we see the wisdom of your word we say what a fool I was Oh all your commands are good they point us to Christ they show us your goodness they’re meant to be a blessing to us and they show the righteous standard God for those who who have not yet found shelter in Christ I pray that they would even those at Calvary today and God for those who do know Christ I pray that they would know you in such a way that they delight to keep all of your lost course God they and I will not do it perfectly but help us to progress so we might know of your no more of your blessing no more of you and rejoice in you in Jesus name Amen