921 Biblical Characters – Moses & the 10 Commandments
Exploring Biblical Characters • Sermon • Submitted
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- When Ros & I were in the states 2yrs ago now, we stayed for a few days at a B&B in Boulder, Colorado
- The family we stayed with were a practising Jewish family that were apart of the local synagogue
- I had some great discussions with them about Christ, politics & the Law of God
- We stayed up to 12.00 one night on these discussions
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- The whole experience was one of the richest times I’ve had in my Christian life
- Here I was confronted with the issues Paul & the apostles were dealing with in the NT & it came alive to me
- Right in front of me were the “opponents” that Paul faced
- The arguments they gave against Jesus, I had the answers from the NT
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- While we were there, a man who was nominated for the supreme court of the US, Brett Kavanaugh was being grilled about an accusation from a woman regarding an incident at a party when they were in college 30 yrs ago
- All the other friends she knew from back then had no recollection of any wrongdoing
- She alone was the accuser
- I remember the men of this Jewish family saying how he had to go & we must believe the woman
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- But I had here a great opportunity to point out the obvious
- I said to them – doesn’t it point out in the law that a man shall not be accused or condemned except on the basis of 2-3 witnesses?
6 “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
- This is the principle of the law & I pointed that out to them & said, then how can you, who abide by the law say the man should not be appointed based on one person’s accusation
- They sat there in silence – unable to answer
- At that point, I saw how wonderful is the Gospel & the teaching of the NT – it was so exciting – it seemed like I was living out the life of an apostle at that point
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- We also happened to be there on the day the Sabbath started
- As we spoke, do you know the biggest question that bothered them was with the international dateline & when the Sabbath actually begun while a person travelled across the dateline
- Yet, while they did nothing on the Sabbath, they also did nothing on the Sunday as well
- I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the Law says that they are to work 6 days
9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
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- Don’t get me wrong, they were genuine people, but you can be genuinely wrong
- The real problem here is that the human heart cannot live to please God
- It needs transformation & that is what the apostle Paul says to the Roman Christians
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
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- What we are seeing then in this passage of Scripture today is the progress of God’s revelation & a stage in how He is revealing Himself to the world – this is not a final revelation
- This is part of the scenes of, say, acts in a play – it is important because it sets the stage for the coming acts culminating in the great finale
- We happen to be the beneficiaries of this finale – we are in it now
- It has started but not yet finished – there is more to come
- I just want you to understand that what happens here must be understood from the NT perspective – it is not wrong, it is stage in God’s redemption plan
1. Bore You on Eagle’s Wings
1. Bore You on Eagle’s Wings
- Many people feel very alone in the world
- Some walk around as if they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders
- Loneliness is very real & very painful
- It was God who said “it is not good for man to be alone” - being alone is tough
- The Christian community can be a real blessing to others as they ensure that they are not on their own
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- The Lord makes clear to Moses that He cared for Israel as He brought them out from under their bondage to Pharaoh
4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
- The young of an Eagle are helped by the parent Eagle as they learn to fly. The young are able to be carried on their back rather than fall to the ground.
The Lord cares for His people & even though, like an Eagle, their young need to learn how to fly, the Lord is there, to carry His people because of their weakness & susceptibilities
- God has made them His people – which was already established through Abraham & even their stint in Israel was predicted to happen
13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
Q. Can the Lord carry enough people? Now we are the people of God – Christians from all around the world – Can He carry us all?
- The Lord is like the tide & a rising tide lifts all boats
- He can because He is Yahweh God
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Q. Notice, however, what is expected of the people?
1. If you will indeed obey My voice
2. Keep My Covenant
- Then you shall be My own possession
- So many people fail to realise that this relationship between the Lord & Israel is conditional
- Too many just do not see the IF…
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- Time & time again, Israel relied on the fact that God would never forsake them no matter what they did or however they behaved
- In this sense, they were no different from any other nation
- Nothing special except for the fact that God made a sovereign choice to set His love on them
- It could have been Australians – in other words, what I’m saying is that the Israelites had no inherent superiority in them that caused God to choose them & to use them – they were & are frail human beings like the rest of us
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- Now, let us also see that the Lord has stated that all the earth is His
- He not only has the right to pick & chose, but He also has the right to do something even greater than what He is doing here – we know that because we are recipients of that even greater thing – we know Christ!
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- Yet, He has chosen Israel for a purpose & here it is – “and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”
- A priest is a representative of God – He intercedes for people & helps bring them into a right relationship with God
- Israel are to be a kingdom of priests - & while they had their own priests that were to help led the people & keep them in a right relationship with God – as a nation they were all to be priests to the world
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- A kingdom of priests who led the nations to God
Q. Did they do that well?
- Not really – they were too intent on being the privileged & a number ended up believing that the Gentiles – the other nations - were created by God as fuel for the fires of hell
- God had made them His possession but they decided to repay the favour by making Him their exclusive possession
- God’s original intent for them was to connect the nations with God and even though some of them tried to do, overall, most of Israel wanted to keep God just to themselves
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- But God had a plan & Jesus was His plan – announced in the Garden to the serpent that the offspring of the woman would overcome the serpent’s offspring
- He was also announced to Abraham that through him all the nations would be blessed
- Jesus came & brought blessings to the whole world through His glorious Gospel which says…
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
- Here is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham that all the nations of the earth will be blessed
- The people of God is no longer ethnically based but based on anyone from all nations who believe in the name of Jesus Christ
- Ethnicity, as the apostle John makes clear here, is not the marker of the people of God
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
2. Israel Needs to Believe/Trust in Moses
2. Israel Needs to Believe/Trust in Moses
- We saw the importance of Moses in helping the people trust in the Lord & to advance them forward through the Red Sea
- Leadership is very important and God causes Moses to be distinct among the people
- He will show how his relationship with Moses is different from theirs
God will display his might and power in thunder, in an earthquake, and in lightning (fire)
- The people will not be permitted near the mountain or on the mountain or else they will die but Moses is permitted to not only be on the mountain but to go up to God
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- Amongst the many duties and roles in leadership, one of the foremost is to turn chaos into order
- Without a leader to teach the people & led the people, many people will run amuck & go astray
- God is aware of this and He elevates Moses so that the people will be kept in order and will be kept on track with Him
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- As you know, however, a leader can be a blessing or a curse
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. 8 They feed on the sin of My people And direct their desire toward their iniquity. 9 And it will be, like people, like priest; So I will punish them for their ways And repay them for their deeds.
- Here, the Lord says that you can gauge the work of the priest from the lives of the people – like people, like priest
- A very big challenge to Christian leaders
- When it’s all said and done, however, we cannot do without leaders
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- Jesus gives us the ultimate model of leadership and that has to do with his own self sacrificial life where he cares for the people more than himself
- He gives the model not only with his life but with His teaching
25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27 “For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
- Jesus is the greater, but He is a servant
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- Yet, this is how a leader should be
- A bad leader, however, as I said before does not diminish the truth that leaders are necessary
- Here, the Lord is setting a leadership apart & causing the congregation of Israel to acknowledge in a physical way, the different role that God has marked out, especially for Moses
20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.
3. Here’s How You Keep My Covenant
3. Here’s How You Keep My Covenant
- There was the big IF that we started with that has now become concrete in the form of the 10 commandments that the people are to keep
Q. Now you may think that only 10 is not a big deal – how hard could it be? After all…
10 if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. 11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. 12 “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ 13 “Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ 14 “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.
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- We can talk a lot about the problems there are in obeying the law of the Lord
- The love of the Lord is the first & foremost issue of all & if there is no love for the Lord, then these commandments will not be kept
- The Lord prefaces these 10 commandments with this
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- They were already made the people of God – keeping the law did not make them God’s people, however, maintaining the Law is what kept them as God’s people
15 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.
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- The 10 commandments are all absolute commandments – they do not deal with exceptions or unusual circumstances
- They are absolute – apodictic is the technical term used
- “You shall not…” – that’s it
- But there is a body of laws that are different from this
- They start with an IF THIS & then end with a THEN THAT
- These laws are conditional based on a person’s circumstances
- They are called case laws
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- Now these case laws spring from the 10 commandments & apply the 10 commandments to the various situations of life
- Here’s an example
5 “If a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed bare and lets his animal loose so that it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
- In this case, letting your animal graze on another man’s property so as to take away his livelihood is based on the 8th commandment, “You shall not steal”
- Whether intentionally or not, because the man was not careful enough with his animals, he has caused another man to suffer financial loss
- In one sense, he has “stolen” from the man
- Brad will be very careful with his cows now after hearing this
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12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 “But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. 14 “If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from My altar, that he may die.
- This case law is based on the 7th commandment, “you shall not murder”
- It also clarifies the difference between murder & manslaughter
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- A couple more here will do
15 “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. 16 “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death. 17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
- It deals with 2 case laws here: From the 10 commandments: “Honour your father and mother” & “You shall not steal”
- Both so grievous that the death penalty is demanded in Israel
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- Now there is another aspect to the 10 commandments
- The first 5 deal with the vertical relationship one has with God – for example, “You shall have no other gods before Me”
- The final 5 deal with the horizontal relationship we have with fellow human beings, for example, “You shall not steal”
- Now you may think, hang on David, the 5th commandment is “honour your father & mother”, how is that in the vertical relationship with God?
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- The reason is that your mother & father are in one sense, proxies for God
- Don’t get me wrong here – of course they are not God – but they operate in the real world as God’s representatives to their children
- As a parent raises a child with God’s values, as they get older, the relationship they have with you translates over into a relationship with God
- That transition should be smooth as a parent emulates the ways of God before their children
- As they have learnt to respond properly to their parents, they learn to respond properly to God
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- Young children are not capable of comprehending the things of God – not really – their understanding is very, very rudimentary
- However, their relationship with their parents is concrete
Q. What a responsibility & what a blessing God has given us as parents & grandparents to act as His counterpart on earth while the child is growing up
- So understand the severity of cursing father & mother or striking father & mother
- They stand as reflections of God to the child; therefore, honour is owed to one’s parents as it is to honour the Lord
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- Of course, not all parents will be reflecting the Lord in their life, nor in the way they raise their children
- There is always the obligation to honour your father & mother, but if they direct you to sin, then God must take front spot
- Once a child becomes an adult & is responsible for their own life, they still should not sin even if one’s parent pushes them to do so
- We should always be about honouring our father & mother & doing our best to bend & be flexible but only up to the point where serious conflict against the Lord & His ways eventuate
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- God has chosen Moses to be His appointed leader for the Israelites
- He made it clear through powerful displays of His awesome might at Mt. Sinai
- The people responded…
19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.”
- It’s hard to be a kingdom of priests & a holy nation if the nation is full of wicked sinners
- That is hardly the reflection that the Lord would want of Himself
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- As Christians, we are saved by grace, but we are not saved to enjoy a life of sin
- Sadly, that Jewish family used sinful Christians as one of the reasons for not accepting Christ – He makes no difference to a life, they claimed
- Actually, however, according to the NT that is precisely what Christ does in a person’s life
- We may not be perfect, but we are meant to reflect Jesus in our daily lives