The Ten Commandments: A Reflection For The 3rd Sunday In Lent

The Ten Commandments: A Reflection for the 3rd Sunday in Lent

Exodus 20:1–17 NKJV

And God spoke all these words, saying:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

We come to the 3rd Sunday in Lent, a season in which we take stock of ourselves and our relation to God. It is a time in which we contemplate who God is, who we are, and how we stand before Him. One of the texts for this week comes out of the Book of Exodus where what we know as the Ten Commandments were given to Israel. We know that these commandments reflect the person of God and perfectly express His will. How do the Ten commandments apply to the Christian today? After all, does not the Apostle Paul say that we are not under Law but grace? (Romans 6:14) Let us now examine the text to see how the Law applies to us.

The first thing we read is that God spoke all these words. Sometimes we refer to the Torah in general and the Ten Commandments as the “Law of Moses.” We can see right away that this is incorrect. These words are not the words of Moses. They were given to Moses by God Himself. This means that they are totally authoritative as the LORD intended them to be used.

The parallel passage to the Ten Commandments is found in Deuteronomy 5 in which the Ten Commandments are stated to be a covenant made between Yahweh and Israel who had been called out of Egyptian slavery by the grace of God. This is stated at the very beginning of the Ten Commandments: “I AM the LORD thy God who brought thee out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” We also read from Deuteronomy 5:15 to the Sabbath Commandment:

Deuteronomy 5:15 NKJV

And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day."

This means that the basis of the Sinai covenant between Yahweh and Israel was based upon grace and mercy and not just a simple listing of things to do or not do. When the Ten Commandments were restated in Deuteronomy (Second Law), the LORD made this rationale abundantly clear. The covenant was not based upon the merit of Israel. Far from it. They were slaves in Egypt. The record also bears that Israel wanted for obedience to Yahweh who had graciously freed them solely by His grace alone.

The nature of the Covenant God made with Israel was unilateral. These commandments were not negotiated between Israel and the LORD. They were imposed. The covenant was also conditional in that the blessings of the covenant were dependent upon Israel’s obedience. It is interesting that Deuteronomy contains twice as many curses as blessings. God was giving Israel the Land of Canaan from the wicked Canaanites who forfeited their rights to it for their iniquity. But if Israel proved unfaithful to the covenant stipulations, they would also be removed from the land. the promise was an everlasting covenant so long as Israel kept it. But as we learn from history, Israel filed and was taken into Babylonian captivity. Bu grace alone by the promise of God, they were restored to the land after seventy years. But even so, they were subject to Persian, Greece, and later Rome in their own land save for a short respite under the Maccabees. Then they were removed again in 70 AD, The New Testament tells us that the second exile was due to their rejection of Jesus. The nation of Israel was again restored after World War 2. Israel, for the moment abides in the Land. But they do not have an unconditional right to it. their rights can be revoked for covenant disobedience. So let Israel beware of its conduct to the other nations around it.