Lesson #22

EXODUS 20:1-17
Lesson #23
THE BEGINNING OF THE LAW

• Memory verse: : Mark 12:30

• We have arrived at the place in our study with which everyone is familiar, the ten commandments. This is only the beginning of the covenant of law given to Moses. The Bible calls this the Book of the Covenant. (Exo 24:7)
• We have already seen that the Mosaic Law was not intended to replace the covenant God made with Abraham but to come in alongside it for a period of time.
• Introduction:
• Before we consider these ten commandments, we need to understand two things: God’s perspective of the Law and God’s purpose for the Law.
• =1= God’s perspective of the Law as expressed in His Word:
• The Mosaic Law consists of 3 parts with a total of 639 ordinances:
• Civil and Judicial
• These are the many laws that govern how man was to live with other men on a daily basis. We will see some of this in the book of Exodus.
• Religious and Ceremonial
• These are the laws that govern how man was to worship a Holy God and include the design of the tabernacle and the priesthood.
• Moral
• These are the laws that are the moral character of holiness and are the essence of the character of our Holy God, Jehovah.
• God’s attitude toward the Law:
• The Law is the expression of the mind of God in regards to what man ought to be. It is the Holy will of God that expresses His Holy character.
• The Law does not express any grace or mercy.
• The Law does not express any love.
• Therefore, you cannot mix Law and Grace together as some people attempt to do.
• To try to mix the two robs the Law of its majesty and its purpose.
• To try to mix the two robs grace of its mercy and love.
• The sinner’s needs are not met when the two are mixed together.
• It does not take faith to keep a list of rules, but God wants the believer to learn how to trust God by faith.
• God’s intent is not fulfilled when the two are mixed together.
• God intended that the Law point out sin and man’s inability to keep it. If man thinks he can keep the Law, he will never see his need of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
• Jesus’ attitude toward the Law (Mat 5:17-20)
• Read Mat 5:17-20
• The Law was of supreme importance.
• The Law explained God’s permanent standards.
• The Law was relevant to man and his relationship with a Holy God.
• The Law served God’s purpose.
• Paul’s attitude toward the Law and his explanation of it:
• Read Rom 7:7-14
• The Law reveals sin and lust (7:7)
• The Law gives sin a base of operation to stir up more lust (7:8)
• The Law requires death even though it could produce life if perfectly kept. (7:11)
• The Law was Holy, just, good, and perfect.truth. (7:13)
• We can see these attributes of the Law in Psa 19:7.
• Read Psa 19:7-11
• Read Gal 3:24-26
• The Law was temporary.
• The Law was a “schoolmaster”
• The “schoolmaster” was not a schoolteacher.
• In the wealthy Roman household of Paul’s day, there was a servant or slave. When a child was born into that family, the parents appointed that servant to watch over that child. That servant took care of the child, disciplined him, and raised him until he went to school. Every day the servant took him to school. He made sure he arrived there and did not stray from the path. This “schoolmaster” servant constantly watched the child to make sure he did everything he was supposed to do. He taught him what was right and what was wrong until he went to school. Then the teacher continued the child’s education. When the child was in the school, he no longer needed the “schoolmaster” during the hours he was in school. He learned from the teacher.
• The Mosaic Law was the “schoolmaster”. It taught man what was right and what was wrong. The Law did not make man a sinner, it only revealed what was already in man’s heart. The Law made man feel guilty every time he broke the law. In the same way, the child felt guilty every time the servant caught him breaking the law of the household. When Jesus Christ came, the Holy Spirit continued the education of the child of God, the believer. Therefore, the believer in Jesus Christ does not go back to the “schoolmaster” (the Law) for his guidance.
• Read Gal 3:10-12
• The Law is a curse to those who try to live under it.
• The Law is not of faith.
• The covenant with Abraham was a covenant of faith and promise.
• The covenant with Moses was a covenant of performance and a curse.
• =2= God’s purpose for the Law:
• God intended that the Law be like a mirror that helps man see his own filthy self. (Jam 1:22-25)
• The problem is that some people try to wash themselves with the mirror, when that is impossible.
• The mirror was intended only to point out sin and not to cleanse man of it.
• It revealed man’s sinful nature.
• It revealed the hideous nature of sin.
• The mirror was intended to be in force until Christ came to cleanse man of sin.
• God intended that the Law be like a mirror to show man the holiness of God and His high perfection.
• God intended that the Law be a restrainer like the “schoolmaster”.
• The Law was to restrain the sinner until Christ came.
• The Law was to restrain sin for the moral protection of society in general.

• Read Exo 20:1-11 The Ten Commandments
• The first 4 commandments refer to man’s relationship to God:

• #1 =

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (3)

• God restricts His people to belief in one God and condemns any belief in more than one God.
• The Israelites have just come out of Egypt where God defeated the thousands of Egyptian gods in the ten plagues.
• Because this is the first commandment, its position in the list makes it the most important.
• God knew that this one commandment would be Israel’s downfall for all of its history as a nation. The Jews continually gave themselves over to the worship of every sort of god that came their way.
• The phrase, “before me” means = in addition to or in opposition to.
• #2= “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…”

(4-5)

• God forbid the making of idols and the worship of them. Because the Jews were so prone to the worship of other gods, they naturally fell into idolatry. This idolatry began with the making of the golden calf. Eventually the Jews even brought idols into the temple that Solomon had dedicated to God Jehovah. Because of this rampant idolatry, God finally brought the Babylonians to destroy His holy temple in Jerusalem and permitted His people to be taken into slavery in Babylon.
• Finally the Babylonian captivity succeeded in breaking Israel’s desire for idolatry.
• So that we don’t think that the Jews were any different than anyone else, we can still see idolatry in many forms in society today.
• A good definition of idolatry is anything to which a person gives himself completely with a disregard of Almighty God.
• Read Col 3:5
• This passage in Col 3:5 tells us that covetousness is idolatry. Therefore, materialism in all its forms is equally the sin of idolatry.
• You don’t have to worship the Greek and Roman god of wine (Bacchus) to commit the sin of idolatry. Alcoholism is idolatry.
• You don’t have to worship the Greek and Roman god of love and sex (Aphrodite or Venus) to commit this sin. Social sex is equally the sin of idolatry.
• “…for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,…”

(5)

• God gives a reason for this commandment. He will not share the glory, the worship, or His power with any other God.
• He is a jealous God. That means He is not tolerant and not inclusive. Instead He is exclusive of all other worship, all other religions, and all other gods.
• “…visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”

(5)

• This verse does not mean that God punishes children for the sins of their parents.
• The sin of Idolatry carries with it a generational curse. Parents teach their children how and what to worship by their actions and attitudes.
• You can see this generational curse in families today in the form of alcoholism, sex, materialism, witchcraft, etc.
• However, Jesus Christ came to set us free from this generational curse. (6)
• #3=

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…” (7)

• This commandment deals with blasphemy by using the name of God in a disrespectful manner.
• Why is this commandment important?
• Names in the Old Testament were extremely important. The name of a person was part of a person’s being. It was an extension of his character, who he was, and who he would become. Therefore, names were also prophetic in that their meaning conveyed a person’s life message, his potential, and his future.
• God’s names are no different. This is why God revealed himself to man gradually through the book of Genesis by using various names for Himself. These names reveal God’s character, His potential, His acts, etc.
• To disrespect God’s name is to disrespect God Himself and to bring Him down to man’s level.
• This commandment also deals with taking an oath falsely using the name of God.
• #4= “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

(8)

• This commandment deals with keeping the seventh day holy and free from work.
• We have already discussed several aspects of this commandment given specifically to Israel as a type or prefigure of the “rest” that is mentioned in the book of Hebrews. (See Lesson #19)
• We have already seen that the Sabbath was linked to the Passover and to the gathering of manna in the wilderness.
• Now we see that the Sabbath was part of the Mosaic Law.
• We will see the Sabbath mentioned again in the book of Exodus.
• God says that creation is the basis for the Sabbath (11), and now God makes it part of the Law.
• The significance:
• The basic meaning of the Sabbath was to point to the full blessings and provision of God that believers have in Jesus Christ through grace.
• Believers do not obtain those blessings and provisions through keeping the Law. Instead, the full “rest” (blessings and provisions of God) are obtained by grace which was present before God gave the Law to Moses.
• Read Exo 20:12-20
• The last six commandments refer to man’s relationship to man:

• #5=

“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land…” (12)

• This is the first commandment dealing with man’s relationship to man. Therefore by its position in the list, God makes it the most important.
• This is the only commandment that comes with a promise. If you want to live a long life, honor your parents. This is not a guarantee of a long life, but a general probability.
• What does it mean to honor them?
• The word, honor, means = to put a high value on them, to give respect to them, to treat them with dignity, and to elevate them to a high position of praise.
• Notice that it does not say to honor them only if they are worthy of honor.
• Why is this commandment so important?
• We have already seen in the book of Exodus that the family is the building block of a nation. This commandment is part of the importance that God places on the family.
• God’s relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus’ relationship with God, the Father is seen in this commandment.
• Continually in the book of John, Jesus told us of His obedience to God, the Father. He is the model for this commandment. (Joh 17:4)
• #6=

“Thou shalt not kill.” (13)

• This commandment speaks of God’s view of the sanctity of life and includes a prohibition of suicide.
• This commandment is frequently misunderstood and mis-applied. Therefore, we need to understand its meaning and how God intended that it be applied.
• The meaning:
• The word, “kill”, means = murder.
• The correct and consistent application:
• God intended these commandments for individuals and not nations.
• Therefore, this commandment does not refer to soldiers in war. How do we know?
• Later in the period of Law for which this Mosaic covenant was to apply, God told the Israelites to enter the promised land and kill (in warfare, not murder) all the inhabitants in the land and occupy that land. God does not contradict Himself.
• Therefore, this commandment does not refer to capital punishment. How do we know?
• In the permanent covenant that God made with Noah, God gave human governments the authority over capital punishment for the capital crime of murder. (Gen 9:1-7) God does not contradict Himself.
• #7=

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (14)

• The definition of the word, adultery, is = any form of sexual relations with a married person who is not your spouse.
• This commandment, also, shows us the importance of the family in God’s economy.
• #8=

“Thou shalt not steal.” (15)

• The nature of this commandment is one of defrauding another person and protecting the right of private ownership. In other words, we usually think this commandments refers only to stealing objects. However, this commandment covers the taking of anything that rightfully belongs to another person. That not only refers to things or objects, but also refers to time stolen from your employer, prestige, honor, or reputation stolen from a neighbor by means of gossip, etc.
• #9= “Thou shalt not bear false witness…”

(16)

• Usually we have a tendency to think this commandment refers to the court room or the legal system. However, in reality this commandment refers to lying in any situation.Therefore, it is the protection of the truth in all areas of life that is important.
• #10= “Thou shalt not covet…”

(17)

• The word, covet, means = to desire or to wish for eagerly with the intention of obtaining something either legally or illegally.
• The basic root word means = to be greedy.
• Application:
• What should be the Christian’s relationship to the Ten Commandments during this time of grace in which we now live?
• Some New Testament understanding of the Law:
• Because all scripture is given by God for instruction in righteousness (2Tim 3:16), the believer in Jesus Christ can learn something from the Law..
• Clearly the New Testament teaches us that in this age of grace in which we now live, the believer is not bound by the Mosaic Law or obligated to keep it.
• Read Rom 6:14-15
• Read Gal 5:18
• Read 1Cor 9:20
• Because the Old Testament believer and the New Testament believer are saved by faith in the Messiah, the Law was never intended to save anyone.
• It was a means of governing man’s external conduct.
• The Christian’s relationship to the Law:
• The civil and judicial part of the Mosaic Law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is no longer binding on the New Testament believer. (Rom 6:14 Eph 2:14)
• The religious and ceremonial part of the Mosaic Law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is no longer binding on the New Testament believer. (Col 2:14 Heb 9)
• The moral part of the Mosaic Law has in some sense been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in some sense is no longer binding on the New Testament believer.
• We are no longer under its legal code or under its conditional condemnation and curses. (Rom 7:6)
• No penalty of the Law or its power is over the believer.
• The moral part of the Mosaic Law is in some sense still binding on the believer.
• The believer is still under the standards and principles of holiness that exemplified the holiness of God. These standards existed before the Mosaic Law was given because they are based in the character of God. When the Mosaic Law came, these pre-existing standards of God’s holiness were incorporated into the Law. (1Cor 9:21 Rom 8:2-4)
• The believer, however, is not encouraged to legalistically keep the moral Law in his own strength, but to allow the Holy Spirit to change him inwardly to conform him to the standards of God by means of love.

HOMEWORK
EXODUS 20:18-26
This is a self-study. Please do not send the homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Exo 20:1-17
• What new truths have you learned about the Mosaic Law that demonstrate to you the freedom we have in Jesus Christ?

• Preparation for Exo 20:18-26
• Read Exo 20:18-26
• Why were all altars where tools were used unacceptable to God?
• Why were altars with stairs unacceptable to God?
• What is the symbolic message in all of this for us today?

• Memory Verse: Titus 3:5