The 1st and 2nd Words
The 10 Words • Sermon • Submitted
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Personal intro:
Jamie Stinemetz
Elder
It’s going to be an amazing 5 weeks as we begin this series today, each elder of Exodus preaching over the next 5 weeks. On a passage that is dangerously familiar. That might sound a bit dramatic but sometimes the stories, the truths, the verses of scripture become so familiar, so unaffecting that we gloss over them as we read and study. Our eyes and minds glaze over because we’ve heard this one so many times before. It’s like the basketball team with mostly Exodus kids I’m coaching this season. These 6th grade boys are so excited to play like superstars that at practice where do they go on the court to warm up? Three point line, of course. Throwing shots up with all their might, and watching it fall woefully short or offline. And I call them in to begin with a simple right hand layup. Oh, coach, we've done so many of those we don’t need to do those again…. This is how unaffected by scripture at times, particularly when passages in front of us are so thoroughly repeated that we can’t imagine getting anything more out of them. Our series these next five weeks can be one of those passages, so I’m excited to dive in, explore, look with fresh eyes and hear from several worthy men how this passage is anything but mundane, ordinary or over-played. We are talking of course about the 10 commandments from Exodus chapter 20. Now your mind is instantly filled with images, yes? Moses, who looks a lot like Charlton Heston for some reason, is holding two enormous gray marble slabs in his hands. Do we think of the 10 commandments as a rigid demand list of moral codes from God meant to keep Israel, who was always on the verge of sinning, from those very sins. Do we attach feelings of negativity, condemnation to our thoughts of the 10 commandments? Most assuredly. Do we also see what king David saw? Oh how i love your law he says, i put the hope of my life in your law he says, the unfolding of your law gives light he says. In God 's commands do we find life and love and freedom? Do we see christ in the law behind above before beneath every word? My prayer for this series is that our hearts will be trained to see the law as David saw, so let's jump in.
To place ourselves historically remember, Israel has been set free from captivity in Egypt after 430 years of slavery. They ritualized the first passover meal, they were saved passing through the waters of the Red Sea, they were fed manna from heaven, quail from a sea-bourne wind They were given water to drink from the rock at Horeb. and they have camped in the wilderness of Sinai opposite Mount Sinai. God has gathered Moses and his people at the foot of the mountain and has spoken these 10 commandments to them by overshadowing the mountain. We see this in chapters 19 and 20.
What are some things we may not know about this passage?
The 10 commandments aren’t the first place in scripture God speaks 10 things. In Genesis Chapter 1, 10 times “God said” as he spoke all things into creation.
Likewise these commandments were first spoken by God from the mountain, not written by Moses and later delivered to the Isrealites.
The 10 commandments are never referred to as the 10 “commandments” in Exodus 34 and Deutoronomy 4, the Hebrew for our english commandments, is Dabar—-word. So better would be to say God’s 10 words. These ten words, naturally 2 sets of 5, eventually will end up in the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle and the temple. 5 by 5 patterns are all over the tabernacle and temple. 10 lampstands in two rows of 5, 10 tables of showbread in two rows of 5 and 10 water stands in the court of the temple in two rows of 5. So there are some deeply special things we are beginning to see about the 10 words. And that’s just the beginning. I'm excited for this series, excited to see and to show you that God's law like all scripture is living and active. May it do a work on us over these next 5 weeks.
I think it will be helpful as we introduce this series to view the 10 words through two frames. Two structural truths that can help us as we look at our passage with more insight and meaning over the next 5 weeks.
First, we’ll use the frame of the incarnational reality of God through his Law.
What do I mean by this? What do God and Law and incarnation have to do with one another?
Modern theologian Olivier Clement stated it this way, “ Everything exists in an immense movement of incarnation which tends toward Christ and is fulfilled in him - Olivier Clement ”. What we must come to realize through our time in God’s law is that it is not a transactional treaty from a curmudgeon who likes rules. Rather, it is the beginning of an intimate relationship that God chooses to reveal himself in a fuller way to his people through the law than he has ever done to this point in history. God continually and more fully reveals himself throughout scripture until He reached down to us as the incarnate Christ, fully known, completely revealed. We see this pattern in every facet of life. This movement towards incarnation, making known what is unknown, a full revelation of what is first not fully revealed.. A man and a woman meet and fall in love. They don’t just think about their love for one another, they reveal themselves to each other with words, long talks, staring into one another's eyes for hours, they move toward a fuller revelation/ incarnation of their love. They marry, and as Genesis says, the two become one flesh. Love between husband and wife is incarnational, it is completed in their union as one flesh. We will see as we move through the 10 words that even God’s act of giving the law is a movement of incarnation. A movement towards more fully revealing himself and his character to his people. Think back to the garden. God’s most revealing, most tangible, most incarnate movement, is the final act of creation, his crowning glory, mankind. You see how this moves? Ultimately then, the Law finds the full and final and true incarnation, completion, fulfillment, in the God Man Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said, he came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. To make it fully and completely all of what it was pointing towards, moving towards, aiming at being. So the incarnational reality of the Law will be front and center to help frame our view of the 10 words. What an intense and amazing thought, that if we began at the end of all things where God as father son and spirit are dwelling with his people in the new heavens and the new earth, a relationship fully incarnate ,and we moved backward, a little bit less incarnational as we go, a little less realized, a little more veiled by symbol or type, we’d start with Revelation 21, God dwelling with his people in the new heavens and new earth, Christ as our light; we’d fly past the church at Pentecost, soar thru the gospels and Jesus’ miracles, carry through the years of silence, past the prophets, and make a stop on the mountain of Sinai, then land at the start where God spoke at creation. This is One immense incarnational movement. The law is incarnational.
Secondly, we can shape our view of the 10 words, framed with the relational reality of the Law. The law is relational because for Israel, to know God and to be known by God starts with God's covenantal terms of that relationship. In the first four commandments we will see how we are to relate to God. And in the final six, we will see how we are to relate to one another rightly.
The first way we see the relational reality of the Law is as between a Father and his Son. Think of the 6th,8th, and 9th commandments, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness. These all sound very proverbial. Like Solomon when he speaks to his son. Like I would speak to my sons, we say bear false witness all the time believe me. And this is especially relevant for Israel at Sinai, because God actually calls Israel his son in Exodus chapter 4:22-23. In fact all of Israel’s exodus story can be seen in the father-son relationship. As we just read, Israel, God’s son is in captivity, God wants them free from Pharaoh. Pharaoh refuses and his ‘first born sons’ suffer the consequences. God’s son is given instructions for the passover of the angel of death. The son obeys and is given freedom from slavery. Shortly the son will sit at the feet of the Father at the foot of Mt Sinai and receive more instructions. Fathers, we love our sons, do we not? And sons, we love our fathers, do we not? And yet apart from Christ and his perfect law of liberty, we cannot restore the inherent brokenness in our relationships. When we see the law rightly, we see the restorative relational work of the 10 words.
We also see God relate to his people as a bridegroom to his bride. This relationship of bridegroom and bride highlights the way God always relates to his people, which is by covenant. A relationship with attendant blessings and curses. From Psalm 19 to Isaiah 62 God is seen as the bridegroom and Israel his bride. Adam and Eve entered a covenant relationship with the LORD in the garden, Noah covenanted with God in the new creation after the flood. Abraham receives a covenant of seed and land, Moses, as we arrive at our current passage receives a covenant of law, of word. The 10 commandments are covered in covenant language from start to finish, most easily seen in the 7th and 10th. Do not commit adultery and do not covet the wife of your neighbor. This frame will be particularly helpful as we look into the first two commandments this morning, as the appearance of the covenantal marriage relationship may seem more subtle at first glance but they will brighten as we look in.
WIth these two frames: the incarnational and relational reality of God and his Law let’s begin a closer look at the 10 commandments.
Starting in verse 1 of Chapter 20, it is written, EXODUS 20:1-2
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 slavery.
We could stay on verse 1 all morning now that we have some helpful frames to refer to. Hear verse one again. And God spoke.. Incarnationally, God is moving. This is the first time God has spoken to his whole congregation since speaking with Adam and Eve (his entire congregation) in the garden. So verse 1 tells us to listen up, to pay attention, something big is happening here. God is speaking to his people. And unsurprisingly he begins with covenant language in verse 2. I am the LORD (that’s the covenant name for God – Yahweh) your God. And then he tells them what he’s done for them. And this is crucial because he has not only done something that hasn’t been done in 430 years but God has done for Israel what was impossible for them to do. That is, to no longer be slaves but to be free. This is an identity change for Israel and it is a shadow of something more profound to come. An identity more fully realized when God’s plan for his people will include an ultimate rescue from slavery to freedom, that we find in Christ, GALATIANS 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Powerless and impotent to free ourselves, we rely on the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth to rescue us.
I can’t help but see the remarkable moment we are witnessing here. God is speaking this over his people from the mountain as it smokes, they hear God’s voice as thunder and lightning ruptures from the Glory Cloud, piercing trumpet blasts accompanying his every word. They are no doubt remembering the pagan worship of the Egyptians with their hundreds of deities and gods. They watched Egypt celebrate, fear and worship their gods, as they slaved away building bricks for Pharoah’s empire. And now they stand at the mountain of God’s presence. Undone by the true and unmatched power of THEIR God. So God begins with his first word. In verse 3. Exodus 20:3
“You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall have no other gods before And Isaiah 44:6
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
From past and to future there is no God but the LORD. Even this morning, if we would hold this truth close to our weak and feeble hearts, enlightened by faith, we would be a people of great courage and contentment. For in his fullness, God, in Christ is the first and the last. The Alpha and the Omega. And because this is true, we obey the Lord, that never forever will we have other gods before him.
We move then to the end of the verse here where we see a footnote. Exodus 20:3
“You shall have no other gods before me.
It is helpful because there is a complexity to the Hebrew language here and any one translation of the word doesn’t get at it perfectly. We may first read it as before me, which can connote simply a timeline. You should have no other gods before you have me as your God. Secondly we may read it as besides me, which connotes plurality. You should not have a bunch of gods and me. Both of these readings help us to the truth. The actual word there in the Hebrew is PANA which means face. When Genesis says, Moses spoke face to face with God, that's PANA and later when Jacob wrestled with God and said I have seen God face to face, that’s PANA. So as we look at the end of verse three how does that help us? It gives us a third way to read this verse. Never forever should there be gods in my presence, in my face. Now we are looking categorically at dominion, at hierarchy. God says that there should be no gods in front of him, facing him like an equal opponent might face a warrior in battle. As God reveals himself to his people more fully, the incarnation of who he is by this commandement shows God to be without equal. He is of the first order, there is none to compare to him, none is equal to him. Israel is now to understand that gods and God do not compare, that to assume that gods can face, or match, or rival God is not possible. Recall the story of the ark of God, taken by the philistines and placed in the temple of Dagon. Dagon, a god of the Philistines, is face to face with the Ark, the dwelling place of God; he is in the presence of the manifestation of the Almighty God of Israel. And it doesn’t go well for poor little Dagon. The first day and night alone with God, he falls over on his face; the second night things get rougher and the Philistines find Dagon face down again, this time his head and hands broken away from his body. In the face of God, no one stands. We know this to be true. For us this morning, our liturgy does this work on us. In him, we confess our sins of placing other gods equal to him. We say our fear, our circumstances, our trials are equal to God, we sometimes even need to confess the lie that our sin is equal to God. We must faithfully confess that these little gods we’ve placed on par with God are wrong and we enter the throne room of God with assurance and rejoice in freedom. Now modernity would affirm this commandment, Exodus 20:3
“You shall have no other gods before me.
with only slight manipulation. Modern culture, the spirit of our current age would say, You man/woman/child should have no other gods besides YOU! You man/woman/child get to be god. You set the standards, the foundation for knowledge and truth, you determine right and wrong, good, evil. You see how all lies try to contain some slice of truth in our age? It sounds so good, it's so tempting, particularly for our children to be led astray, because their hearts are especially restless to hear this and be fooled. We must fight with the truth. Secondly, our culture would simply change it slightly once more. Shorten it and simplify it. You should have no God. Another lie of our current age, that no God is necessary to be human. This however cannot be true, for whatever ethos you live by, whatever morality you have, whatever it is that you worship, you have submitted to as god. Modernity attempts to exist under the myth of neutrality. The lie that atheism is without religious elements. But it is simply not true, atheism is simply exchanging the one holy and righteous God for another god, pagan or gnostic, intellectualism or self-deification; our current culture, is no less subject to a god than the Philistines were subject to ruin in the face of the LORD God. The culture will fall flat on its face, church. We know this. Live in hopeful obedience and believe the first commandment; that never forever shall there be gods before our God.
Let’s look at the second commandment in verse 4.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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.
The first thing we see here is the ugly consequences of idolatry. The Lord is telling his son Israel, Do not make yourself an image of anything in all creation, because if you do, your heart and mind will further tempt you to the next sin, which is worship. As He continues, son do not bow down to them, for if you do you will be ultimately tempted to the next sin, which is slavery. This is such a dad logic statement. Listen son, I just got you out of that leg cast three months ago. Don’t climb that high in the tree again because if you do, you’ll fall and if you fall you’ll be a slave to a cast again! I brought you out of slavery three months ago. Sin has a way of growing, spreading or as James in the new testament would say, it tends to give birth and mature.
The incarnational movement of everything in God is from creation to Christ. This verse, this commandment reveals the destruction of the man who begins with an idol and by sin moves away from life and God and moves toward the condemnation of death. If we fashion an idol of anything created it cannot in itself contain life. It is dead, it is nothing from the start, and it can only lead to further death to the one who bows down and serves it. From dead things comes death. From idols with eyes that can’t see comes blindness. From idols with ears that can’t hear comes deafness. From Idols with mouths but no voice comes silence. There is only one perfect image of God, one perfect imprint of God in nature and substance. He does not come from the sky, the earth or under the earth as our verse says, he has always been, he is uncreated and the only begotten of the Father. Our purpose for obedience to this commandment is so that we might worship in Spirit and in truth. If we attempt to cast an image of God as a thing that we can craft by our own power we bring low what is exalted. When we bow we lift up what we bow to. Only Jesus, who is high and lifted up, is worthy of our knelt posture.
Why do we keep this command then?
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
For I the Lord your God am a Jealous God. The word for jealous is full of vivid imagery. It’s where we get our word for livid. It is most connected with the word for red dye, like in clothing. Ever heard of red in the face? God is the jealous husband, not the controlling husband who is angry that his bride is beautiful and that others notice, but rather he is jealous for her that she would not be tempted by or be led astray by an insufficient unrighteous husband, namely an idol, an imposter that would attempt to steal her heart. His jealousy calls to account the iniquity of the fathers on the sons to the grandsons (literally the word here) and the fourth generation of those who hate me.It is further imagery of the relational reality of the law and the relational reality of generational sin. Sin is not a solo sport. There is no isolated, insulated sin. There is no spot in the desert or map dot out over the ocean that you can drop sin like an atomic bomb and expect no collateral damage. As Leviticus 26:39 says, they rot like their fathers because of THEIR iniquity. The sins of the father become the sins of the sons. But we are given another set of numbers so we should consider why they are here and if we look at them as a comparison to the first set we will find something very hopeful here. Verse 6 Showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation. I see why the english isn’t written that way, its really hard to say. But to those who Love God he shows love to the thousandth generation. That is a long, long time. If sins of fathers and sons and grandsons and great grandsons are arrested after 4 generations and love is carried out to the thousandth, we clearly see another incarnation of God’s character here. Namely his mercy. It is a promise that once God has forgiven the sins of his people he will love them for thousands of generations. They will not know or remember a time when God did not show steadfast love to those that love him.
The last phrase deserves some attention as well, which says of those that keep my commandments. Exodus 20:6
but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Keep (somere) is loaded with meaning. It’s a vocational word that is like to keep watch or to guard. In the immediate context, Israel has just escaped Egypt, 430 years to the day after they became slaves, Exodus 12:40-42
The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.
So just as the LORD was a night watchman for his son Israel, now Israel is to be a keeper and guardian of this very memorial meal. We can see the same vocational charge given to Adam back in the garden. Genesis 2:15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Today we’ve been given a vocational charge as well. Christ has instituted a new passover, which he began at his Last supper and he commissions us to be watchful guards and to teach the nations to observe his commandments. Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
That word observe is to watch over, to guard his commands. Church if we love God and keep his commandments we are living vocationally as guardians as watchers over his Word. may that spur us to greater study and mediation and never fail to stay vigilant and zealous for the Law of God.
The Ten Words are taking shape for us. We've see that God moved ever closer to the incarnate one Jesus through the Law, and his covenantal love is spoken to us with his divine voice at the mountain. Let the 10 words form you, your faith, your relationships and your view of God. Let them remake your broken habits, and your complacency for holiness. Let God’s commandments, transform your children, your parenting, your mission and vocation, let them encourage you and give you victory over sin. We serve the Only God and he is worthy of praise and honor and glory. Amen?