Obeying God’s Law

October 15, 2017 Background Scripture: Exodus 20 Lesson Passage: Exodus 20:18 – 26 In last week’s lesson, God stated His intention to make Israel His special people. God acknowledges that all nations of the earth are His because He is the creator; however, as a result of the covenant He established with Israel, Israel would become a kingdom of priests that would be peculiar among all the nations of the earth. The elders of Israel agreed to the covenant by declaring that all that the Lord asked of them, they would do. That was indeed a noble statement on their part but perhaps they should have asked for a few more details prior to their declaration. In essence, the covenant required holiness on their part and yet they did not know what it meant to be holy. The Law would detail the requirements of holiness for them. The elders of Israel had wholeheartedly adopted a covenant that placed conditions on them that would prove to be strenuous. I believe they were right to accept the covenant because certainly God had already proven Himself to them by delivering them from a bondage that their race had endured for over four hundred years. The covenant is not at all in question but the conditions required to uphold their end of it needed a lot of attention and some divine help. History shows that Israel’s greatest failure relative to keeping the covenant was their failure to seek divine help in upholding the covenant. The covenant required that they become a holy people and that was only possible with divine help to overcome the frailty of human nature. Unregenerate human nature tends towards sin and away from holiness. This was not obvious until the Law was given. The Law was given to be used like a “spiritual” mirror. The Law describes holiness. When we look into the Law with sincerity of heart, it is clear that the Law is good but our nature tends to not be so. First and foremost the Law describes the proper relationship between God and mankind. God is first in everything. The unregenerate human heart follows its own law. The first law of nature is self-preservation. That is a clear declaration that self is first in nature. The second law of nature is preservation of the species. That would require that “human” relationships should be the first priority after a person feels secure in and of oneself. The way we are born into this world places two priorities ahead of God in our lives. This is evident before we get pass the first two commandments—and yet there are eight more of them! Add to this challenge the fear that was struck in the hearts of the people at the sight and sound of the presence of God descending on Mt. Sinai. They begged Moses to not let God speak to them but they were willing to listen to Moses instead. God’s presence was awe-inspiring. It was as clear as ever that God’s presence is to be feared. God used that demonstration to reveal Himself to them so that they would not attempt to make material things into objects to bow down to and worship. God alone is to be worshiped. This stands supreme among all the commandments and is essential to obeying God’s Law. Robert C. Hudson September 11, 2017