“Foundations” Text: Exodus 20 Message #5 INTRODUCTION
1.We left Moses last week in the wilderness with the children of Israel. Today we travel to Sinai as God gives the law.
2.This perhaps is among the most significant truths in our understanding of the Gospel. We cannot understand what God did to redeem us until we understand the righteous standards God demands and the fact that we are law-breakers. The law was given to show God’s righteousness and our sinfulness, proving once for all that we are sinners in desperate need of a Savior.
3.(Keep in mind what we have already discussed concerning the Bible, God, creation, the fall of man and the promises of God). We are building the foundation.
I. PREPARATION FOR RECEIVING THE LAW
A.God brought Israel to Mount Sinai (Exodus 19).
1. God determined when and where the Israelites would go.
2. God was preparing them to accept Him as the sovereign ruler, protector and provider. (Mount Sinai was the place where God had spoken to Moses in the burning bush. He had promised then to bring Moses back here). Note once again that God always keeps His promises.
B.God’s promise to Israel – The agreement was that man could come to God only according to God’s will and plan. The promise of blessing was conditioned on obedience. (The 2nd time this has occurred - the 1st was with Adam in the garden).
C.Israel’s promise to God – They promised to obey the Lord in everything. (Their track record did not indicate much hope for this!) If they obeyed God perfectly He would accept them and bless them. If they disobeyed, they would be cursed by God and punished by God. It was certain that Israel would fail, but God did this to prove to them that they were sinners and were unable to please Him.
D.The Lord’s presence on the mountain. God displayed His great power. He set a boundary around the mountain. No one was to approach it or touch or they would be killed, which was a reminder of God’s perfect holiness and man’s utter sinfulness.
E.God spoke from the mountain to the people (19:16-20). For man to presume that he can be accepted by God because of things he has done or said or given, etc., might seem right, but it is a lie from Satan and an arrogant response from man. It only takes one sin, one failure, one act of disobedience, to break the law (James 2:10). The law was that we were to obey all the commands all the time. There was no room for error. The law is exacting and impartial. (See Romans 3). Even if we were able to be perfect (which we are not) we still are sinners because of Adam’s sin. So, no matter who we are or what we do, we remain sinners. And sinners are separated from a holy God!
II. THE INITIAL CONTENTS OF THE LAW - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS Society sees the Ten Commandments as something to be considered and generally applied, but not to be a rigid standard without generous portions of excused behavior. Many Christians see the Law as obsolete, belonging to the Old Covenant, having nothing to do with us today. The Biblical view of the Ten Commandments is that they are a set of impossibly difficult statutes set forth by the holy, righteous, sovereign creator God to show sinful man his absolute inability to completely obey God or to save himself from eternal punishment. But they also establish the standard of righteousness God expects from us. (Hang on to your hats – it is His will that we keep His law)! Before we look at the 10 commandments, let me give you a quick lesson on legalism. First, legalism is trying to be saved by keeping the law. It can’t be done. Second, legalism is a series of man-made laws exceeding the requirements of Scripture. Third, legalism is external conformity without internal submission. It is not legalism to obey God. Let’s look at the Ten Commandments.
A. First Commandment – No other gods before Me. God and only God should be everyone’s God. There is no other God.
1.The God of the Bible is the only God and the only worthy recipient of our worship. (Isaiah 45:5).
2.Certainly it must be obvious that all of us have from time to time elevated someone or something else before God. We are guilty of breaking the first commandment.
B. Second Commandment – No idol must ever be made for worship
1.God is spirit. He cannot be reduced to an image. No image is worthy of Him.
2.We do not know what God looks like, so how could we make an image of Him?
3.All who worship man-made things that they think represent God have broken this commandment of God.
C. Third Commandment – No one must misuse the name of God
1.To speak of God in a careless way is to dishonor His name.
2.The Lord will not hold us guiltless if we do so.
3.All who fail to give to God the respect He deserves are condemned.
D. Fourth Commandment – Keep the Sabbath holy
1.The seventh day was to be a day of rest, a special day to honor Him. He who created everything in six days and rested on the seventh commanded His people to work six days and rest one.
2.At least part of the reason for this command was to constantly remember that God alone is the creator of everything. He is the giver of life.
F.Fifth Commandment – Honor Father and Mother
1. God called for respect from children to their parents.
2. It should be obvious that we have all broken this command at one time or another. To break one command is to be a law-breaker and thus to be condemned.
G.Sixth Commandment – Do not murder
1. Since God is the creator of life, to murder someone is a sin against God. No one has the right to take another person’s life unless God has clearly said so.
2. Jesus made it clear that just because we have never murdered someone does not mean we have kept the law perfectly. The essence of murder is hatred. See Matthew 5:21-22.
H.Seventh Commandment – Do not commit adultery
1. It is a sin to have sexual relationships with anyone other than one’s husband or wife.
2. Like murder, the essence of the sin in found in the heart as well as in the action. See Matthew 5:27,28.
I.Eighth Commandment – Do not steal
1. God gives the right to each person to own and to keep property. To take something that belongs to another without their permission is to commit sin against God.
2. Like the other commandments, the essence of this is in the heart as well.
J.Ninth Commandment – Do not bear false witness
1. God is a perfect God. He always tells the truth. We are told to do the same.
2. If we tell something less than the truth (or even that which is not untrue but is intended to lead another to assume that which is false) we have sinned against God and imitated Satan.
K.Tenth Commandment – Do not covet
1. Certainly the first sin (of Satan) was one of coveting the position God held. To be greedy and jealous of what others have is to sin against a holy God.
2. What we have is from God. To covet what we do not have is to suggest that God is holding out on us (much like Eve). To covet is to sin against a holy God. God has not changed His mind about sin or His righteous standards.
3. Concluding remarks - In some churches the 10 commandments are read every Sunday. The reason is that through the law comes the knowledge of sin. That’s important because the knowledge of sin brings us to conviction and conviction brings us to Christ. That’s why Paul called the law a tutor or schoolmaster. Unfortunately school has not been in session for a long time in many churches! But the law also gives believers the guidelines in how to walk daily in life!
III. THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW IN RELATION TO WORSHIP
A. The command to build the Tabernacle
1.Moses is again called to the mountain where God gave instructions to build the Tabernacle.
2.If the law was kept, there would be blessing; if broken, the punishment was death. Because God knows man and sin, He designed a way of escape from eternal punishment.
3.The Tabernacle would also be a place for God to dwell (at least as a visible symbol of His presence). The Tabernacle was to be built exactly as God commanded.
4.The Tabernacle was a tent with two rooms, the holy place and the most holy place. The first room was entered into from the outside. The second room was entered into only through the first room. Only priests could enter the holy place in service to the LORD. Only on one day each year could the high priest enter. The tabernacle was in the center of the camp of the Israelites.
B. The Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat
1.The ark was a box that was in the second room. It was made out of wood and covered with gold, filled with special reminders of God provision and standard.
2.The cover of the box (the mercy seat) was important. God had promised to live with the Israelites (who were sinful and worthy of the judgment of death). In order for the priest to enter, God would have to extend His mercy.
C. The veil, the coverings and the brazen altar and the sacrifices
1.The thick veil separated the two rooms of the tabernacle. The tabernacle itself was to be covered by dyed animal skins. A curtain fence surrounded the two-room tent.
2.The brazen altar would be placed inside the fence but outside the holy place. The altar was made of wood, covered with brass. In order to approach God, a burnt offering would have to be given.
3.The priest would lay his hands on the head of the animal and kill it. In doing so, he was identifying himself with the animal and recognizing that it was dying in his place. He was asking God to accept the animal’s death instead of his. See Leviticus 1:1-5. Sacrifices of sheep, goats, bulls and birds were prescribed. Each was to be perfect. The animal’s blood had to be shed. See also Leviticus 17:11 and Hebrews 9:22. The sacrifice did not pay for sin, but it reminded of the seriousness of sin and that only death could pay for sin.
D. Aaron and the priesthood
1.Aaron was the high priest and his sons were the priests. Only priests could go into the holy place and only Aaron could go into the most holy place (and only on the Day of Atonement or “day of covering”).
2.Before a priest could go in, the animal had to be sacrificed. On the Day of Atonement, the blood of an animal would be collected in a basin and then sprinkled on the mercy seat. When this was done exactly as God had commanded, He promised to forgive the sins of Israel for that past year. Though the blood of animals could not atone for sin, God extended His mercy to them when they came in the way He prescribed. God will only accept those who come to Him in His way.
CONCLUSION
1.If we were to put the remainder of the history of the OT together in a paragraph, we would have to speak of the spying out of the Promise Land, the 40-year wilderness wanderings with all of the trials and challenges that occurred. We would visit the various rebellions, judgments and mercy extended to the nation throughout her history. Who could deny that though all deserved to die, God again and again was merciful?
2.We would be introduced to the judges and the kings, whom God raised up, and through whom He would mediate His rule. We would explore the tragedy of a divided monarchy and the destruction of the northern kingdom at the hands of the Assyrians and the eventual captivity of the southern kingdom by the powerful Babylonians. We would study the return to the land under such leaders as Zerubbabel and Ezra and Nehemiah. We would listen to the thundering messages of the prophets as they warned of God’s judgment as well as told of His promised blessings.
3.All of these things were setting the stage, preparing them and all of us for the arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! But a key element in the OT revelation is the Law of God. Listen to these words from Terry Johnson, When Grace Comes Home, pp. 129-131. The law is the instructor to show us our need for Christ, but we have fired the teacher and taken over the school. It is no wonder we are so confused. We have gutted the foundation and wonder why the whole thing keeps falling down. |
