October 7, 2002

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Oct. 20

Ten Commandments are keys to right living
___ Exodus 19:4­6
___By Rick Willis
___First Baptist Church, Roscoe
___Exodus 19­20 describe the defining moment in Old Testament revelation. Everything else leads up to or follows from the spectacular coming of God.
___We can feel the magnitude of the occasion in the language of these chapters--in the stormy, almost volcanic signs of God's presence on Mount Sinai. The speech of the Lord in Exodus 19:5­6 constitutes the very heart of the relationship that gave Israel birth.

___Eagles' wings
___God's covenant speech begins with a beautiful reminder of his liberating love (Exodus 19:4). He had taken the initiative to free the people from slavery. His guiding presence sustained them in the desert. Like a mother bird, he gathered them to himself at this mountain.
___When the Israelites were helpless in Egypt, God rescued them with power. He sent Moses to Pharaoh with an ultimatum: Israel is my firstborn son; release him to worship me, or I will take your firstborn son (Exodus 4:22­23). With the last of the awesome plagues, God did strike all the firstborn of Egypt. Then God sealed his miraculous deliverance by parting the waters for the Israelites and drowning their pursuers in the sea.
___In the desert, the Lord heard the people's complaints of hunger and thirst. God showered the community with bread from heaven, meat, and water from the rock. In spite of the people's constant presumption, bickering and disobedience, God gave them freely what they did not deserve. Now he had guided them to Mount Sinai (Horeb), where he would bring his covenant with them to its climax.
___Verse 4 emphasizes that the people had personally witnessed all God's mighty acts on their behalf. The pronouns "you yourselves," and "you" are emphatic. God called the exodus community, as he calls all who have received his grace, to let the truth sink in. He carries us on eagles' wings. Like Lazarus from the grave, we owe our lives to the Lord.

___The response required
___Exodus 19:5 shifts the emphasis from God's initiative in giving the Israelites a new life to the people's responsibility for living in the covenant. Their liberation from Egypt was at the same time their election to be a distinctive people, requiring their response.
___The verse begins with an expression of a choice offered to the people. "If" they will respond to God's initiative faithfully, then God will give them a unique status.
___God's wonderful deliverance of this "mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38) was for the sake of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (2:24; 6:8). At Mount Sinai, it was up to them to accept the conditions of God's covenant.
___Their full obedience was required. Like Abraham before them, the Israelites were required to "walk blameless" before the Lord, in step-by-step consciousness of his presence and guidance (Genesis 17:1). Now, however, God's requirements were clearly spelled out in the gift of the Ten Commandments from God's own voice (Exodus 20:1­17).
___The 10 words summarize God's covenant principles for the birth of Israel. All the laws of Moses and the words of the prophets are applications of these profound commands to love God and love your neighbor. Christians still are bound by this holy standard (Mark 12:28­34).
___Israel would see generations plucked up and remnants planted, but God would be faithful to his promise. At every juncture, the people of God are told to "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15; compare Deuteronomy 30:19).

___The status given
___By accepting God's covenant, Israel would receive a unique status. They would be God's "treasured possession," a "kingdom of priests," and a "holy nation" (Exodus 19:5­6).
___A collector steps into her library and turns on the light. She casts her eyes over the shelves. All of the books and objects there belong to her. None is unfamiliar, and she is pleased to have them all. But she came into the room to pull one specific volume from its place and admire it again. It's a rare book she was happy to pay a premium price to buy. It is her treasured possession.
___That scene provides a picture of God's delight in Israel to the degree that the people obeyed and kept his covenant.
___God also counts those who receive his covenant as a "kingdom of priests." That is, the community would define themselves in the world as mediators of God's presence to all nations. They would fulfill God's promise to Abraham that through his seed all the nations would be blessed (Genesis 26:4).
___The covenant people were also a "holy nation." By keeping God's holy commands, they would become set apart from the rest. They would showcase what obedience to God produces in the lives of people.
___The Bible now assigns this same covenant status to all who put their faith in God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:9).

___Questions for discussion
___ How has God "carried you on eagles' wings" and brought you to this place in your life?
___ What place do the Ten Commandments have in Christian life? Do you hear them taught, preached and discussed in your church?

Send this story to a friend



News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook