“God the Lawgiver” - Exodus 19 - 2/6/05
If you have your Bibles, join me in turning to Exodus 19. Exodus, the second book in the Bible, describes the events in the exodus, in the exiting, in the departure of the Jews from Egypt. Looking back to where we have come so far, we saw God create man to enjoy community with him, but we saw sin separates man from God. Throughout the Bible we see God overcoming the sinfulness of man and calling him back into fellowship with a holy God. We saw God call Abraham forward in steps of faith, and Abraham’s faith was credited to him for righteousness. We saw God with Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, even in difficult times. He showed himself as a powerful deliverer. He called Moses to set his people free. He had heard their cries, and was concerned about them. He showed his power to Pharaoh and all Egypt, and brought his people out in triumph. After two months, Moses and the few million people with him end up at Mt. Sinai, the mountain where Moses had seen the burning bush and had talked with God.
Remember in Exodus 3:12, God had promised Moses he would return to the mountain. “And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” So, now Moses has returned to the mountain. Now we come to Exodus 19. READ Ex. 19:1-3
In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:
Now, read together with me verses 4-8.
‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
I. Understanding the covenant -
What we have here is a contract, a legal document. At the end of World War I and II there were different “treaties” signed. They set the conditions for how lands would be divided, what each country would do, and how the peace would be maintained. And treaties were very common 2000 years before Christ as well. In fact, this follows exactly a typical treaty of the Ancient Near East. They would start with a preamble, as we see in the summons by God in verse 3. Then they would go into a history of what had previously happened, as we see in verse 4. Next would be the stipulations of the covenant and the blessings that would follow, as we see in verse 5 & 6. Finally, the covenant would be adopted by an assembly of people, as we see in verse 7-8.
Remember when we talked about Abraham, we saw God binding himself in covenant with Abraham, and Abraham cuts up the animals, and God walks the path of blood. God was saying, “you may do this to me if I break the covenant.” Once again, God makes a covenant, this time with Moses and the children of Israel. And as God makes this covenant, God calls Moses up onto the mountaintop to give him all the details of the covenant.
In typical Near East covenants, each party, the greater and lesser, would come together, and a brief synopsis of the main points of the covenant was put on a tablet for each party to take back to their most holy place. As Moses goes up on the mount, the finger of God writes on two tablets of stone the 10 commandments, a summary of the main premise of God’s covenant with man. Moses takes both tablets back down the mountain. Very likely one tablet did not have five and the other tablet five, but each tablet probably had all ten commandments on them, and Moses brings BOTH back to the tabernacle. God is in this saying, YOUR holy place and MY holy place are the SAME!
Ultimately, as we look at the 10 commandments, and the rest of all the laws in the Pentateuch, we tend to see them as a list of do’s and don’ts. Instead, we should see them as a reminder of God’s love for us. He loves us so much that he would bind himself to us in a covenant.
What does a woman think of a man who says, “I love you, honey, but I just don’t want to marry you.” The reply is, “If you loved me, show it, by making a commitment.” That’s what God did.
II. Applying the covenant -
So, if these laws are really about God’s love for us, then why so many picky,petty laws? And what do they mean to us today? There are a few points we need to remember as we read over the laws of the Old Testament.
First, we need to remember the age in which these laws were written. It was a barbaric age, to say the least. Remember Joseph, whose brothers want to kill him. Remember Lot, who gives his daughters to be sexually assaulted and raped by the crowd of Sodom. Infanticide was common, as people would throw their infants into the fire to be killed as an act of worship of their god Molech. Slaves were abused. Women were seen as property. Prostitution was common in pagan temples. In the face of all this barbaric behavior, God starts with where the people are and shows them there is another way to live.
Secondly, as we think of God’s teaching the people how to live, what he is really doing is giving them an understanding of his character and person. The laws he gives are really reflections of his character - showing mercy to the innocent, kindness to the poor and orphaned, providing justice to the wronged, not going beyond reasonable limits. Much of the OT law is a reflection of the character of our God. That’s why there are laws about leaving grain in the fields, because God cares about the poor. That’s why there are laws about property, because God cares about respecting the rights of others. That’s why there are laws of retribution, because God cares about justice.
Third, the law was given to show people their sinfulness. One of the simplest ways to show someone that they are a sinner in need of a savior is to take them to the 10 commandments. In fact there are some evangelists who really promote using the law to show people that they truly ARE lost. We don’t just come to Jesus because he has a wonderful plan for our lives, but we come because we are desperately lost and in need of a savior. The OT law leaves no doubt that we are sinful. And is shows us our need of a perfect Savior, Christ, who fulfilled the law in every point. Consider these verses:
Romans 3:20-22 - Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Galatians 310 -
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no-one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith . . . Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law . . . 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.
Galatians 3:19 - What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. . . For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. . . So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Far too many people get hung up with trying to keep the 10 commandments and other points of the law. What I would remind you today is that we are not saved by keeping the law. The law was given to show us we could never keep it, that we are all sinful, and we all need a savior. Ultimately, the law was given to cause us to worship God for the provision he has given for us.
III. Worshiping the God of the Covenant
Look back in Exodus 19, and we see that as God reveals himself, the response of the people is to worship. READ verses 9-15.
As the people see God binding himself to them in a covenant, they prepare to worship. And it is a serious matter. They prepare themselves, and are ready when God shows up. That’s very different from our “worship” today where we flip open our Bible during commercials or between shows and we somehow expect God to be “pleased” with our “worship.” True worship takes preparation.
Often we show up for church 5 minutes late, we rush in, find a seat, and start singing whatever song is on the screen, all the time wondering how long the sermon is going to be today. That is not worship! True worship takes preparation.
How does a husband and wife build a good sexual relationship? It starts not in the bedroom, but at the breakfast table, and all throughout the day building to times of closeness and intimacy they share. Our worship does not start when we sit down in a seat in the sanctuary or when we open our Bible, but it begins when we get up in the morning, and when we look forward all day long to the times we can spend communing with our Lord. So, let me offer a few suggestions to prepare for worship.
*Come physically prepared - don’t stay up watching Saturday Night Live, and jump out of bed at 10 AM rushing to come worship at 10:45. Start with a good night of sleep. Wake up early enough to get the family ready. Get in the car with a few minutes to spare.
*Come emotionally focused - don’t be thinking about everything you need to do today. Do get into an argument with your spouse over what you’re having for lunch. Don’t get mad if someone ran the stop sign in front of you. Listen to Christian music in the car. Come focused on the chance to worship.
*Come spiritually desirous - come looking for God to speak to you. Not matter how good a preacher is, if you don’t want to hear from God, he can’t get through to you. But no matter how poor a preacher’s sermon may be, if you are looking for God to meet with you, he will surely give you something you need, something that you can chew on all week long.
But as we think about worship, let’s remember that worship is not just what we do Sunday morning, but is to be a part of our live 24/7 - all day, every day. In verse 5 & 6 we see a few ideas of what it means to follow our God and be part of his covenant - “you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These words are echoed in the New Testament in 1 Peter 2:9 - “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Our whole purpose in life is to worship and declare the praises of the Lord. And if we are going to do that well, we need to prepare ourselves every day to worship.
Notice in verse 16 the response of the people to meeting with God - On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.” Now I’m not saying we need to be “afraid” of our God, for he is a loving God and our father; but we do not come flippantly to worship. That’s why in the passage about communion, Paul writes “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”
Worship is serious business, and we need to reverently worship. We can be very celebrative and loud, or very introspective and quiet, or any where in between, but it all needs to be reverent and sincere.
So, God gives the law to reveal himself and his character to the people. In so doing, our response is to worship our God constantly. But the third thing we see in the law is what it means to follow God.
IV. Following the God of the Covenant
In Leviticus 11:44-45 we find these words:
I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. . . I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
If there were one way we could summarize all the OT laws, it would be to take the character of God that we see reflected in the laws, and to internalize them and to be changed into a different person because of them. That’s what we see in Matthew 7:12 - So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. The Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day tried to focus on all the little details of the law - but they missed the main point. Jesus tells them in Matthew 23:23 - Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Don’t get worried about all the little laws of the Old Testament, but focus rather on being led by the Spirit to follow God in your life every day. Romans 7:6 tells us, “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
God calls us to be “holy” followers, led by the spirit. To be “holy” literally is to be “set apart” for God. It’s not the idea of doing the opposite of whatever the world is doing. That’s what the Amish tried - if everyone wore black socks, they would wear white. If everyone wore white socks, they would wear black.
Instead, we are called to be like God. We are called to internalize these laws and the character of God and show it by a changed life. So, what will it look like if we follow God? Back to Exodus 19:5 - God says, “you will be my treasured possession” - We are God’s property, valued by him, and set apart for whatever purpose he has for us. Do you have any talents? If so, thank God, because he gave them to you to use for his glory. Do you have any physical features you don’t like - in school people always made fun of me for having big ears: I don’t, but I just wore my hair short enough for my ears to show - if we are God’s possession, then HE has the RIGHT to MAKE us JUST like HE WANTS us to be. But no matter what we look like, we are treasured by him.
We are also called “a kingdom of priests” - to a people who had a priestly system, where only the priests interceded for the people, and only the high priest appeared before God, God tells them that ALL OF THEM will have a special relationship with him. Israel was not called to be isolated in a corner somewhere; rather, God’s plan for Israel was to put them at the crossroads at the center of civilization and have them as a whole nation influence their world. And that is what God desires of us as well.
Finally, God says they will be a holy nation - one that is set apart for his purposes, one that is special. And as we saw in Peter, the purpose for this is so we can bring praise to God.
Concl: This morning, don’t worry about trying to follow all the laws you read in the OT - because you CAN’T. Neither can I. Instead, focus on Christ, the one who fulfilled the law for us, taking all of our sins upon himself. Seek to be holy in all you do. Seek to worship him every day. And seek to glorify him and tell others about his wonderful salvation.
Let’s pray.
