THE BIG TEN

THE BIG TEN Exodus 20:1-3; Matthew 22:37-38 September 21, 2008 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction The second largest island in the Greater Antilles archipelago is Hispaniola. It is divided roughly in half. The western portion is the country of Haiti, and the eastern is the Dominican Republic. Over 200 years ago, the leaders in the nation of Haiti wanted to be free from the control of the French. So they prayed to Satan, asking him to deliver them, promising that if he would deliver them, they would worship him. Black magic, witchcraft, voodoo, violent oppression and ceaseless killing have been their lot ever since. That nation suffers under the worst poverty in the Western hemisphere. The other half of the island of Hispaniola belongs to the Dominican Republic, where the people worship Jehovah God. Through their history this people have surmounted political threats and overcome tyrannical rule. Today it is a prosperous and fertile land where democracy and freedom reign. If you were to visit the capital city of Santa Domingo today you would be greeted by a giant ultra-modern screen at the busiest intersection of the city. On that screen, running in ten second intervals, are the ten commandments right out of Exodus 20. In America, courts are systematically removing all replicas of the ten commandments in public buildings and properties, just as they did in the public schools. One judge, Chief Justice Roy Moore, who stood against this drift has been removed from office by a unanimous decision of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, and the Supreme Court has thus far refused to hear an appeal. By the way, the basis of the ruling? An “ethics” violation. This does not bode well for America. It is easier for those who think like pagans to reinforce rebellious and sinful behavior rather than thought and behaviors that are in submission to the one true God. This is precisely why the Ten Commandments are so critically and foundationally important to our lives and our nation. Am I on the stump to get the Ten Commandments posted in public places? No, but I do believe that the courts are seriously misguided in their misapplication of the principle of separation of Church and State. I also wonder what will happen when these courts come to realize that the Ten Commandments are imbedded in the floors and walls of several federal buildings and monuments in Washington, DC. There’s the statue of Moses with the Ten Commandments standing in the rotunda of the Library of Congress, and etched in the floor of the National Archives. Moses and The Ten Commandments are carved into the fa?de of the Supreme Court building in our capitol! It must be an embarrassing inconsistency for the justices to look up on the wall in their very courtroom and see the giant fresco there of Moses holding the ten commandments! The display of these physical representations of the Ten Commandments is not nearly as important as having them in our hearts, though. And throughout our discussion of the commandments, I hope to remind us of God’s perfect plan to have the righteous requirements of the law fully met in us through Christ. There are a couple different ways to organize the ten commandments. From the Jewish/Hebrew perspective, though, the first commandment is in verses 1-2. And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. It is not worded like the other commandments, but is rather the declaration of the ultimate authority of God. The world around us is often hostile to the things of God. I Am God – and nothing else is In the book of Genesis God is known by the title Elohim, actually of plural derivative of the word for God (EL). But by the time the Lord encounters Moses He begins to reveal another name by which He will be known: YHWH, “Yahweh”. In His first words to Moses on the fiery mount Sinai, He identifies Himself as Yahweh. “I am the LORD your God…” That statement includes the two titles by which He has already identified Himself to Moses: “I am” (Ex. 3:14) and “Yahweh”. In the powerful juxtaposition of these two terms, God was saying to Moses that He is God with no rivals. His existence is not dependent on anyone/anything else. Man is always trying to invent a god that He wants to worship—a god of convenience, of leniency, of love without justice, mercy without judgment, a god that is very palatable to us. But God insists that He is not the product of human making or imaginings. His existence is not dependent on us (our dependence is utterly on Him!). He is God, even if we were not here. He is God and nothing else is. Mankind has always had three different approaches to God. POLYTHEISM is the belief in the existence of many gods, each one over some domain or category (such as the god of wind or soil or fertility). The second approach is called HENOTHEISM. That is the belief that there are many gods, but this one god is MY god, or the god of my nation or philosophy, and the other gods are false (or at least false to me). Third is the approach of MONOTHEISM – the belief that there is only one true God and all other gods are not gods at all. God says in Exodus 20 that He is monotheistic. He insists that He is not one among many, nor is He even the best among many. “I alone am God alone. I am not a piece of clay for you to mold. I am the only true God and I am inviting you into a covenant relationship with me. All other so-called ‘gods’ are impostors. You are to have NO other gods before me (or instead of me).” We may learn from this that the God of the Bible is who He says He is. He is not what you want Him to be. He is self-existent. He doesn’t exist because I need Him to exist or because I want Him to exist. He exists in the power of Himself. In the commandments at Exodus 20, God says to us, “I am who I am. Therefore, I am telling you how to act.” When you get to basic training you are met by an imposing, mean guy who tells you: “I am your Drill Instructor. You will give me your undivided attention and obedience. I am your mother and your father. I am your boss. You will look to me for everything. You will not decide on your own to do anything. I will tell you when and why and how to do everything you do. Whether you live or die for the next six weeks is entirely in my hands!” Subtract the malevolent intimidation factor, and that is what God told Moses. I am God your authority, and nothing else is. A man worked for 25 years for the same company and was still only an assistant foreman. Someone asked him why, after 25 years of working at the same company he was still only an assistant foreman. He answered, “Years ago I had and argument with my supervisor – I won!” You can argue with the fact that God is God and nothing else is, if you want to, but He is still God and nothing else is! I Am Your Savior, and Nothing Else is The very next thing God says is I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. God is not malevolent like the Drill Instructor, but is gracious. In the first three chapters of Exodus we have the account of the growing misery of the people of Israel in Egypt. God hears their cries and moves to deliver them. He chooses to use Israelite Egyptian prince-turned-desert-dwelling shepherd to lead them out of slavery. Now listen, everyone has this argument against the commandments: they’re so negative…thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shat this and that… A friend of mine walked by her three-year-old’s room and heard her singing a familiar tune. She stopped in that hallway to listen and this is what her daughter sang: Old MacDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-o. And on that farm he had a mommy e-i-e-i-o With a “no-no” here and a “no-no” there; here a “no” there a “no”, everywhere a “no-no”… Let me suggest that negative commands are far more liberating than positive ones. Listen carefully: positive commands restrict life to one rigid course of action (“go here and do this”). But one negative command leaves life open to every other course of action but one. Picture a game show with three curtains. You know how it goes—there are three choices, but the host says “there are ten curtains: pick the curtain #5” “What, I don’t get a choice?” “No, I know which one is best for you, pick the fifth curtain.” A very positive command, but very limiting. Same game show, ten curtains. Host says, “there are ten curtains, you may pick any one you want, but for your own good, I warn you, do not pick curtain number 6.” Negative command, but I am free to choose any of the remaining 9. Can you imagine the Garden of Eden. God comes to Adam and Eve and says, “ Look at the literally thousands of trees I have for you here. Their fruit looks wonderful, doesn’t it? But I’m telling you for your own good, you must eat the fruit of this tree over here!” Very positive command, very limited life. Or, there’s what really happened: “Thousands of trees—lots of truly wonderful fruit. It’s all yours except this tree over here. Don’t eat from it, because you will surely die.” One negative command, a very liberating life of enjoying all the rest of the Garden. I am Inviting You Into Covenant With Me In the Ten Commandments, God is establishing a covenant with Moses and His people. He could have left the people in Egyptian bondage and said, “I am your divine D. I. – do what I say or else!” But what does He do first? He first delivers the people from the bondage of their slavery. Notice, He INITIATES covenantal relationship with His people by FIRST delivering them from their bondage. God insinuates Himself on the people benevolently, saying, “I love you. I am good and benevolent toward you. In invite you into covenant relationship with Me. Here are my conditions—these ten commandments. Waddya say?” Or, in the words of Exodus 20: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, you shall this and you shall not that…” With the sending of His Son, and the completion of the covenant message with the new and better covenant, God is doing the same thing today. He extends His grace to us when we did not deserve it, initiating a covenant relationship with us. “God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us…” He is saying the same thing today: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of sin, the land of slavery. I am your Savior—no one else is. How will you respond? Will you repent and trust in Christ my Son, or will you go on having other gods before me?” This first commandment insists that acknowledging the LORD as your God will deliver you from the grip of pretender gods that would ensnare you, make you miserable and drag you back to the Egypt of sin and condemnation. When we give our lives to God through Christ, the law becomes our friend again. Empowered by His Holy Spirit, believers are enabled to live out His law. Listen as the Bible explains our new situation when we let Christ make us new creatures: Therefore, there is now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4) Matthew 22:37-38 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. He is God, and nothing else is He is your Savior, and nothing else is He invites you into covenant relationship with Him, and It’s your move. Obey the gospel.       [Back to Top]