A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The First Covenant (Part 3)

Two weeks ago we saw God make a covenant with the people that He brought out of Egypt. The physical descendants of Abraham, through his son Isaac, through the twelve sons of Isaac’s son Jacob. God has brought these descendants of Abraham into the land He promised them and has made a covenant with these people that He would be their God. He also promised that He would appoint priests to mediate on their behalf so their sins could be covered over. And that covenant was made only with Israel—if you were not a Jew, you had to become a Jew in order to enter into the “covenant of works,” as it was called, if you wanted to enjoy the privilege of worshipping the one true and living God. God also promised His people Israel that one day He would send the last Mediator of the new and better covenant. But we saw last week that the people, even after seeing the mighty works of God and entering into those promises, they did not slack in breaking them. In fact they broke their covenant with God so frequently that God told them through the prophet Hosea that because of their spiritual adultery He would “You are not My people and I will not be your God” and that all the privileges that He had given Israel would be offered to all nations, both Jew and Gentile.

Fast forward to the NT, the apostle Paul refers to himself as “a Hebrews of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5), “of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin” (Romans 11:1)—but also as “the apostle to the Gentiles” (Romans 11:3; Ephesians 3:8). And being a Jew who was called as the apostle to the Gentiles, what he did most often was to take the OT Scriptures—the writing of those Scriptures being entrusted to the Jews—and he shows the Gentiles that the promises once made only to ethnic Israel were now available to both Jew and Gentile. For example, Romans 1:16—I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. And in his letter to the Ephesians, he expands on that promise. Ephesians 2:11-18—11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Under the Old Covenant, Gentiles were “far off”; we—us—would have been strangers, foreigners, and aliens. In fact, the only part of the temple we would have been allowed into was called “The Court of the Gentiles”—an area in the outermost part of the temple, and in fact the place where the moneychangers and those who bought and sold did their business when Jesus came and cleansed the temple. One of the most horrendous displays of blasphemy that is recorded even in secular histories was the Greek general Antiochus Epiphanes entering into the Most Holy Place of the temple in 186 BC and commanding swine to be offered on the altar. In the time leading up to the Advent of Christ, there was a rabbinic tradition that said if a Jew went into the house of a Gentile the Jew was ceremonially unclean. In Acts 21:27-30, the apostle Paul was accused of bringing a Gentile into the inner part of the temple.

BUT—but now, in Christ, both Jew and Gentile are allowed access to the Father. We are not separated by genetics. We don’t have to go through various rituals to be allowed entrance into the saving grace of God—He pours out His grace on whomever He will. Under the covenant made on Mt. Sinai, God promised the people of Israel that if they sinned, they could bring an offering, and that offering would cover over their sin. And we have to be real careful here not to say that the offering would pay for their sin, or take away their sin. Because the OT offerings and sacrifices were never intended to pay for or take away sins. They simply covered them over until the time when God would take them away, as God promised in Jeremiah 31:34—“I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Now, this promise, to “forgive their iniquity” and to “remember their sin no more” was not fulfilled by the OT offerings and sacrifices. Hebrews 10:4—It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. So, for God to completely and utterly forgive sins, take them away, and remember them no more, He would have to make a new covenant, because the old covenant—the Covenant of Law, Covenant of Works—could not do that. Hebrews 8:7—For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

And the reason that the Covenant of Law could not take away sins was because it was built upon the strength of the human flesh. It would be like taking a door made of 2 ½” thick steel, bulletproof, able to withstand a rocket-propelled grenade—and mounting that door on a frame made of papier-mâché. Romans 8:3—For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin. The Law is the 2” thick steel door, the flesh is the papier-mâché frame. The first covenant was not faultless—not because God could not fulfill it, but because we sinful humans could not fulfill it. And because we humans, through the weakness of our flesh, are not able to fulfill all the conditions and commands contained in the Law, there had to come a new covenant.

And Jesus came and preached that new covenant—not only to Jews but also to Gentiles. Ephesians 2:17-18—17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Jews in Jesus’ day thought that this promised “new covenant” was to come to them and them alone. They read what Jeremiah said in that passage, where God said He would “make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). They thought that God was finally getting ready to do away with Gentiles once and for all and establish His throne upon the earth. And there were many who thought that Jesus was the one who would usher in that earthly kingdom. Even some of Jesus’ apostles thought that. And not only when He walked the earth, but even after His resurrection, some of His apostles were thinking that the Kingdom was about to come. Listen to Acts 1:4-6—4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" But Jesus let it be known, many times, that He did not come to establish an earthly kingdom. John 18:33-36—33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"…36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."

And even though many Jews were believing in Christ, there were some believing Jews who were teaching that outward, physical circumcision was necessary in order to be saved. Romans 9:6-8—6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. Romans 2:25-29—25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Even after Paul had preached salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the churches in Galatia, he was forced to ask them, Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? (Galatians 3:1). It’s almost like there was this spirit of jealousy among the ethnic Jewish Christians—and we could almost say Jewish “Christians”—it’s like they were saying “Hey now wait a minute! Our fathers had to go through all this trouble of building the tabernacle, carrying it around through the desert, making all the priestly garments, spending years learning how to cut up the animals for the sacrifice, standing knee-deep in the blood of bulls and goats day after day, year after year. And all Gentiles have to do is believe in Christ and turn away from their sins? We need to at least make them get circumcised!”

What they didn’t understand was that the gospel for the Gentile was the same gospel for the Jew. That is the point of the Parable of the Workers in Matthew 20:1-16. Salvation for Gentiles comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone—salvation for the Jew comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Listen to Romans 3:21-23, 28-31—21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed…22 the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

The goal of the Law, the consequence God intended to produce, was not having people bring bulls and goats to the priest to have them killed, cut up and burned. That was not what God wanted. The goal of the Law was to produce in His people a conviction of their own sinfulness. Psalm 51:16-17—16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise. Isaiah 1:1-23 catalogs the crimes of Israel against God. And all they ever offered to God was the blood of bulls and goats with a pinch of incense. Isaiah 1:11-14—“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats…13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me…14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.” Proverbs 21:27—The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with wicked intent! God did not want their dead animals. He had become sickened by the constant smell of the incense that the wicked were burning, hoping to purchase His pardon. They did not want to stop sinning; they wanted to have their cake and eat it too—they wanted to keep sinning but still have God overlook their sins. God said, basically, “I don’t want your sacrifice—I want your heart.” Joel 2:18—So rend your heart, and not your garments. That was the goal of the Law; that is the goal of the gospel—to bring about the death of sin and to bring about life in Christ.

So the Jews who either rejected Christ or preached Christ plus circumcision were missing the point. No one was ever saved because they had a priest kill an innocent animal. Men are saved because they trust in God, they desire His righteousness, and they understand that their righteousness doesn’t count for anything. They are saved because they believe that God allowed His Son to die and that that blood—and now we can use these phrases—the blood Christ shed is what paid for and took away their sins. John 1:29—“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” And it is by the blood of Christ that we who were once Gentiles in the flesh have now been brought near—along with all the OT saints who had to become Jews and go through all the rituals contained in the Law—and we are now one body, both Jew and Gentile, in Christ. Ephesians 2:19-20—19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. One of the things we hear a lot when we share the gospel is people will use other people as the standard by which we judge whether we’re saved or not. “Well, I'm not as bad as that guy over there.” Well, that may be true, but what’s the problem with that statement? We could probably find 100 people who are “better” than them. That was the problem for the Pharisees. They thought they were better than the common man because they had devoted their lives to memorizing Scripture. They thought that their outward appearance made them “holier than thou.”

But Jesus told a parable that quenched that fire, Luke 18:9-14—9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “10 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” And I think in this passage, when Jesus uses the phrase “He who exalts himself” I think He may be calling to the minds of the Pharisees the words of Lucifer, in Isaiah 14:12-15—“12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God’…15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” Under the “old covenant”—what is called by some the “Covenant of Works”—it was not the works themselves that were the goal the people were to aim for. The goal was to aim for the righteousness of God—all the while knowing one could never attain it. Now that may seem like a contradiction and that God is setting us up to fail, but that’s not what is really going on.

When we understand that we cannot keep His Law perfectly; when we understand that, as Paul says, nothing good dwells within me (Romans 7:18); when we realize that our sins are exceedingly sinful; when we see that we deserve nothing less than the perfect justice of Almighty God—then the Law has done its work, and we ask God to be merciful to us and to give us His righteousness and lead us in His ways, and as Paul says in Romans 7:21-24—21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! What he’s saying in this passage is that until God flips on the light and we see the perfection of God’s Law, we do not understand that we are sinful creatures. But when that switch is flipped, we see that we are now in a struggle between what the Spirit calls us to do and what our flesh desires. Galatians 5:17—For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another.

And that war goes on inside every believer. And it is not a war that can be won by using physical means. However, the physical actions of a believer are dictated by how one responds to the prompting of the Spirit. The Law is good, in that it shows us what is required by God. But it cannot make us do what He commands—that has to be purposed in each person’s heart. To illustrate, suppose you're heading home, and you see a stop sign. Can that stops sign make you stop? No, its purpose is to tell you that you must come to a complete stop before you proceed through this intersection. But it cannot make you stop. You must, before you arrive at that intersection, purpose in your heart that when you see an octagon-shaped piece of red sheet metal with the letters “S-T-O-P” that you will stop. In much the same way, the commands in the Law cannot make a person stop sinning. The person who reads “Thou shalt not steal” must purpose in his heart that when he sees something that does not belong to him he will leave it alone—but that command cannot make the person keep their paws off of what is not theirs.

So to use other human beings as the rod by which we measure our own righteousness is really foolishness. 2^nd Corinthians 10:12—But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. That’s why Paul refers to Christ as the chief cornerstone. Because the cornerstone of a building is much more than a commemorative piece of architecture. It is the most important part of the building. It is by the cornerstone that every other angle in the building is measured. And if every angle of that cornerstone is not a perfect 90º, then nearly every angle in the building will be off, and the building will not stand. And if we are measuring our own righteousness against that of people who are just as far off of 90º as we are, then we will not realize that our house is, “up to code” so to speak. BUT—if we measure ourselves against Christ—who is the perfect cornerstone—then we will see where we come short of perfection, we trust in Him to be our righteousness, and as he says in Ephesians 2:20-22—20 Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Law and He is the cornerstone of the gospel. He is the one the Law pointed to as our perfect sacrifice, the mediator of the new covenant that included not only Jew but also Gentile. And He is the one we will be measured against when God brings about the judgment of the world.

Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.

A Survey of the Old testament Law--The First Covenant (Part 2)

We are still comparing and contrasting the old covenant with the new covenant. Now, when I say “old covenant” I mean what some call the “Sinai covenant” (since it was made on Mt. Sinai) or the “Mosaic covenant” (since it was made through Moses). Because God made several other covenants with certain men. He made a covenant with Noah; He promised He would never again cause the rains to utterly destroy life on earth. He made two covenants with Abraham that in him all nations would be blessed and that he would be the father of many nations. God made a covenant with David, that through him the Messiah would come. He made a covenant with Aaron, that his descendants would be priests and intercede for the people. And of course He made the New Covenant whereby He would forgive sins and remember them no more, that being the covenant we Christians live under today.

And even before the people made it to Mt. Sinai, God promised Moses that these people would be His people. Exodus 4:22-23—22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me."'" Then, once He led the people out of Egypt, He promises the whole group, Exodus 19:3-6—3 And the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'" These promises were made strictly to the Israelites. To Jews according to the flesh.

And that is why we see that Paul says, Ephesians 2:11-12—11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Before Christ came, God divided the world up into two groups of people—Jew and Gentile. If you were born into a Jewish family, you were a Jew. If you were born into a family from any other ethnic group, you were not a Jew—you were a Gentile. And God only made covenants with the Jewish people. He never made a covenant with any Gentile nation. Not only that, but if you wanted to worship God, you had to come to God through the Jewish nation, the priests and so forth. Let’s say our friend Richard was a Moabite and our other friend David was a Jebusite. They have both seen the mighty hand of God in destroying the Canaanites and the Amorites and the Amalekites and the Hivites and the Parasites and the Termites.

David, the Jebusite, sees all these mighty works, and he says “Yeah, but I just don’t know about all that circumcision stuff. I believe this God exists; I'll worship this God in my own way. But I won’t have anything to do with those dirty Jews.” Uh, sorry, it don’t work like that. Any Gentiles who did not submit themselves to the Law of God and accept all the terms of the Law and the Covenant were, as Paul says, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. And the same was true for any Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek, Persian or Roman, African, etc. Unless one became a Jew, one could not worship what they may call “the God of the Jews.” Gentiles were not simply outside of the commonwealth of Israel—they were outside of the commonwealth of God. They may have known the true God was the true God, but unless they abided by His Law and entered into the commonwealth—or nation—of Israel, they had no access to any of the promises of blessings that God promised His people.

Richard, the Moabite, on the other hand, says “I have seen and heard of His mighty works and I want to serve Him. I want your God to be my God.” Much like the “mixed multitude” that came out of Egypt with the Israelites during the exodus. So he submits himself to circumcision, vows to abide by all the commands contained in the Book of the Law and the Book of the Covenant, he takes an oath that "All that the LORD has said I will do, and be obedient." He can now take part in the feasts of Passover and Firstfruits and Ingathering. And even more importantly, if he sins he can now bring an offering to the priest who will kill it, cut it up and burn it to cover over that sin. He can now be counted among the people of God. A couple examples of Gentiles turning to worship the one true and living God. Ruth, like Richard, was a Moabite. Listen to Ruth 1:15-16 (NASB)—15 Then Naomi said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” Uriah—the husband of Bathsheba—was a Hittite.

But, by the same token, being a Jew did not necessarily guarantee that person a trip to Heaven either. Under the OT Law, there were some sins that were punishable by death. But there were also many other sins and violations of that Law that required the person to be “cut off” from the people. We’ll see those down the road, but there is a huge difference. Romans chapter 2 is another passage that I would recommend reading because it shows that sin is a universal problem, and it also shows that the whole world is under the same Law, both Jew and Gentile. And in Romans 2, Paul puts the Jewish teachers on the spot, saying, basically, “You who are teaching the Gentiles not to steal or commit adultery or practice idolatry—why are you doing the very same things?” And then he says in Romans 2:25—For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. And here, as in other places, he makes the case that it is not physical circumcision that justifies one before God, because the circumcision of the man who lives a sinful lifestyle was of no effect. He might as well have never been circumcised. And it is not by being a physical Jew—whether by birth or by circumcision—that one is saved. But listen to what Paul says in Romans 3:1-2—1 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. God entrusted the writing of His Law and the proclamation of that Law and of His various judgments to the Jewish people. In fact, Luke is the only Gentile to write any of the 66 books of the Bible. Every other book was written by a Jew.  

The Jews were God’s chosen people. God chose to act and speak through these people. And in Exodus 24, He made a covenant with them and them alone. Of all the nations that He could have chosen, it was the good pleasure of His will to choose the Israelites. He appointed for them priests, who would mediate between the person and God that if the person had sinned. And God said that if the person sinned—and if that person had accepted the Law and the Covenant—their sin would be forgiven. And the people kept His covenant…for a little while. Then they broke that covenant. Then they returned to God…and broke the covenant again. They returned once again…and guess what happened? But by the time God called Hosea to prophecy, things had gotten about as bad as they could get. And in Hosea, God tells the people of Israel that because they had broken their covenant with Him, God would one day be done with Israel as a nation—but not as a people. And we’ll clear up that distinction shortly. It’s not that He would cast away all who were ethnic Jews, but that He would call all nations to Himself, that He would call both Jew and Gentile “My people.” And one day, Gentiles would not have to “become Jews” in order to come to Him, and Gentiles would not have to enter into the Jewish nation to come to God.

We will be looking at Hosea and Romans today and next time. Hosea 1:2—The LORD said to Hosea: "Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD." God had had enough—God had betrothed Israel to Himself, and now the people were committing spiritual harlotry—or, adultery—by worshipping other gods. And because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God commands Hosea to take a wife who would become unfaithful, and commanded him to give his children prophetic names. Hosea 1:4—“Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.” The second child was named Lo-Ruhamah, Hosea 1:6—“Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.” The third child was named Lo-Ammi, Hosea 1:9—“Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God.” Now this seems pretty harsh, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it sound like God is going back on His word by saying “You are not My people and I will not be your God”? Had He not made a covenant with these people that He would be their God and they would be His people—forever? How can He say this and still be just? Well, listen to Hosea 2:7-11—“7 She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.' 8 For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold—which they prepared for Baal…11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts.” 

The people had taken all the things that God had blessed them with—those things that were supposed to be set aside, set apart, consecrated, sanctified to God, and they had used them to worship Baal. They had broken the covenant God had made with them back on Sinai. Remember what they said in Exodus 24:7—"All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." Well, what were the first two things that “the LORD has said”? Exodus 20:3-5—“3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image.” The people said "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." and yet the commands that “You shall have no other gods before Me” and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” got thrown out the window before Moses even made it down the mountain. And these were the two commands that were broken more frequently than nearly any other, and through Hosea God says something that should have caused every person who heard it to shudder and fear more than anything else. “I will not be your God.”

Now, there are some who take this idea and teach further than it really goes. While some teach that Jews are saved because they're Jews, there are still others who say God wants nothing to do with ethnic Jews, or the nation of Israel. They say that God is finished with them and they are done. One passage of Scripture they use is when Jesus is standing before Pilate, and Pilate declares, “My hands are innocent of this man’s blood.” And they answer “His blood be on us and on our children.” And these folks say “See! It was the Jews that killed Christ, so God has done away with them.” Wrong. Turn to Romans 9:1-5. In chapters 9 and 10 of Romans, Paul lays out his argument against the Jew who is putting his hope for salvation not in God, but in his own works and in being a son of Abraham. Paul, being a Jew who once put his hopes for salvation not in God but in his own works and in the fact that he was a son of Abraham, opens up his heart to show how deeply he longs for his fellow countrymen to see that they are saved by God, and not by their own works or by being a son of Abraham. And he is pleading with them, almost as if he is saying “Brethren, you know the Scriptures, you see in the Law and the prophets that the Messiah would come through us. That Messiah has come—trust in Him!” Romans 9:1-5—1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. 

He almost echoes the words of Moses, when the people made the golden calf and Moses pleads with God and asks that he be blotted out of God’s book rather than have the whole people perish. And here, Paul says He would just as soon be separated from God so that his fellow Jews may be spared. He knows that because they have been given more truth and more light than any other people, God will judge them more harshly and they will receive greater condemnation. In fact, Jesus says nearly the same thing, Matthew 11:23-24—“23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” John Gill— 

“Though the punishment of the men of Sodom will be very great, their iniquities being horribly dreadful and enormous, yet [their sins were] more easy to be borne than the vengeance, which…will fall upon [those] who have had the means of grace, and have despised them.” 

Those who have been given much wisdom into the things of God will be judged more harshly than those who are ignorant of the things of Christ. The Jews who rejected Christ thought they were doing a great service to God. The Pharisees thought they were keeping themselves pure through the Law and denouncing this one whom they thought was doing away with the Law. Problem was, they were denouncing the one who was explaining the Law and declaring to them that He was the fulfillment of that Law. Which is why we read what Paul says over in Romans 10:1-4—1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. And even though they rejected that righteousness; even though they crucified the Lord of Glory; even though many of his countrymen according to the flesh were seeking to establish their own righteousness by trying to keep the Law, God is not utterly and completely through with the nation Israel. In fact, when John writes about the 144,000 in Revelation, they are all Jewish. There will be 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel.

Now, the Jews who rejected Christ were not doing so to try and establish the worship of some other, false god. They were doing so out of a zeal for the true God. Paul even almost defends them in such a way in Romans 10:2—They have a zeal for God. They thought they were doing good. But they did not realize that Christ did not come to destroy the Law and the prophets but to fulfill them. And so they killed their Messiah. BUT—God does still have people among the ethnic Jews. And one of the strongest declarations that God is not done with ethnic Israel is Romans 11, and it is another chapter I would recommend reading, because it shows that even after all of the spiritual adultery, even after their fathers delivered their Messiah to the Gentiles to be scourged and murdered, God is not done with them. Romans 11:1-5—1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 "LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life"? 4 But what does the divine response say to him? "I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 

Even after 3000 years of spiritual adultery, even after they went after Baal and Ashtaroth and the pagan gods of their neighbors, and even after they sent the very Son of God to be delivered to wicked men to be scourged and beaten and crucified, God has reserved for Himself a remnant among the Jewish people. They are not saved because they are Jewish; they are saved the same way we are—they are saved because they have been chosen by God, according to the election of grace, to believe in Christ.

To finish up on the passage we started with, we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But as we will see next week, we Gentiles who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. We were aliens and strangers to the people of Israel. But now, we are brothers and sisters with all those of Israel who believe in Christ and we are now invited into a new and better and everlasting covenant with them, Christ being the Mediator of that covenant.

Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The First Covenant

What we have seen over the last few months is God has been speaking with Moses, giving him not only the Ten Commandments, but also many commands and ordinances that would act as a kind of interpretation of those Ten Commandments. And today we are going to look at the birth of the nation of Israel. And starting today we are going to begin a study of the Old Covenant that God made with the people of Israel. 

Alexander MacLaren, a Scottish preacher from around the turn of the 20th Century, said this—

“An effort is needed to feel what a tremendous and unique fact is narrated in these words. Next to the incarnation, it is the most wonderful and far-reaching moment in history. It is the birthday of a nation.”

Today, if you found enough people who have been alive long enough, and you asked them “When was the nation of Israel created?” If they knew their recent world history they would tell you the nation of Israel—as we know it—was founded on May 14, 1948. And depending on their political outlook, they may say that the United Nations stole the land from the Palestinians and gave it to the Zionist Jews. And that perspective is very faulty and has no basis in historical fact. Because, if we look at the end of Exodus 23:30-31—“30 I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. 31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River.” So the land that God promised the people would extend from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Arabian Desert to the Euphrates River. So if the United Nations had really given Israel all the land they deserved, they should have given them part of Iraq as well. 

There will also be those who will say that the only reason Israel gained the land that we read about them gaining in Scripture was because they took it by force from the peaceful inhabitants living there. Well, they did take it by force, but that force was the hand of Almighty God. Listen again to Exodus 23:30—“I will drive them out from before you.” It was God who drove the people from the land. And if we stop and think about it, all the earth belongs to God anyway, and if He wants to give a portion of land to a certain people—well, it all belongs to Him and He certainly has that right. Psalm 24:1—The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. Deuteronomy 10:14—Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. 1st Chronicles 29:11—“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all.” So God has taken a small portion of this great big planet we live on, that belongs to Him anyway, and He has given that little portion to the people of Israel. 

Now this was not some new idea that God came up with. Back in chapter 19, God makes His covenant with the people that He will give them that little portion of land that belongs to Him anyway. Exodus 19:5—“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” Well, in Exodus 24, the covenant between God and the people of Israel is ratified. Let’s start with Exodus 24:1-6—1 Now He said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 And Moses alone shall come near the LORD, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him." 3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do." 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 

What’s happening here is this: God has finished giving all the commandments found in chapters 21-23. And He sends Moses down the mountain to speak those words to the people. Whereas Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, Moses delivered what might be called the “Sermon Beneath the Mount.” And when Moses finishes delivering these words to the people, they all cry out, “You betcha! We’ll do everything God says to do!” And once the people agree, verbally, to bind themselves to these commands from God, Moses puts the whole thing in writing. And then he does what was customarily done by his ancestors, which is to build an altar to God, and to offer sacrifices. The first example of this is found immediately after the flood, in Genesis 8:19-20—19 Every animal…went out of the ark. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

 After Noah, the next person we read about building an altar to the LORD was Abraham. When God called Abram out of the land known as Ur of the Chaldeans, God promised to make a great nation of him. And it was at this time that God promised to give his descendants the land we read about in Exodus 23-24, and doing so hundreds of years before. Genesis 12:1-8—1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 

So God called Abram out of the land of Ur—what we now know as SE Iraq—and God has promised Abram that he will make a great nation of him. And as a symbol of his belief that God will do what He says He will do, Abram builds an altar of stones to the LORD. The Geneva Bible Translation Notes—

“It was not enough for him to worship God in his heart, but it was needful to declare by outward profession his faith before men, of which this altar was a sign.”

And here, Abram makes a public display of faith in God by means of this altar. And after Abram displays his faith in God, God ratifies—seals—the covenant He has made with Abram, and we see that in Genesis 15:1-20. Now, I realize we’re looking at some big pieces of Scripture, but in order to get the full picture of what’s going on in Exodus 24, we do need to look at these sections whole. Genesis 15:1-20—1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." 2 But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!" 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." 5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. 7 Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." 8 And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?" 9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." 17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." 

In many cultures at the time, this was how a covenant was ratified. An animal was killed and cut in half. Put one half over here, the other half over there. Then the two parties walked through the middle of the split flesh. There were other ways this was done, but there was always the shedding of blood to seal a covenant. So the covenant between God and Abram was sealed with a sacrifice, and we will now see that the covenant between God and Moses was sealed with a sacrifice. Let’s flip back to Exodus 24:5-8—5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said, we will do, and be obedient." 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words." And believe it or not, this is another one of those places where we see Christ in the OT. God who made this first covenant with Israel, and it was ratified by the shedding of blood. Now, this sealed this FIRST covenant--the covenant by which God swore He would accept their sacrifices as a way to cover over sins. However, this covenant said nothing of taking away and forgiving their sins.

However, as we will see in a more in-depth way next time, when Christ shed His blood on the cross, the NEW covenant was ratified and all those who lived by the terms of that old covenant were forgiven of their sins. Hebrews 9:15-20 (NASB)—15 He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." Listen to verse 17 again—For a covenant is valid only when men are dead. God made this covenant with Moses. We know that Moses died. But is the writer of Hebrews talking about Moses? No. Did God the Father die? No. Then who is the one who died—the one who made this covenant with Moses? The blood that Moses sprinkled on the people was a picture, a symbol, a shadow of the blood Christ would shed for them—and us. When God made His covenant with Abraham, they sacrificed the three heifers and so forth to ratify that covenant. But God ratified the new covenant that we are under by the sacrifice of His Son. 

In Exodus, God was making a covenant with the people, that not only would they would inherit this land that was promised to Abraham’s descendants, but also that He would provide a means by which they could offer a substitute for themselves when they sinned. That is, even though the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and by the righteousness of God that person deserved to die, God provided a way by which their sin could be transferred to a being which had not sinned, and that sin could be dealt with in that manner. Hmmm...I wonder what (or, rather, Whom) THAT would be pointing to? But, those sins would not be blotted out until the NEW covenant was in force. So until Christ died, the sins of the people who believed the promises of God were not blotted out and taken away—they were simply covered over by the blood of bulls and goats. Again from the Geneva Bible Translation Notes—

“A reason why the covenant must be established by the death of the Mediator, because this covenant has the condition of a testament or gift, which is made effective by death, and therefore that it might be effective, it must be that he that made the Testament, should die.”

When Grampa Joe makes out his will, and promises to leave his double wide to Cousin Billy Joe, when does Billy Joe get that double-wide? While Grampa Joe is still alive? Or does he have to wait until Grampa Joe passes away? In much the same way, God promises, throughout the giving of His Law, that He will forgive the people’s sins. But that forgiveness was not given until Christ died.

Exodus 24:9-18—9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. 12 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them." 13 So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them." 15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. 16 Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
 
In verse 12, God tells Moses that He will give him tablets of stone. It was on these two tablets of stone that God would write His Law. And it is that Law by which all the world is judged. Jew or Gentile, it doesn’t matter—the Law of God is the Law for all mankind. Romans 3:19-20—19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. However, at the time God gave Moses that Law, were the Israelites to judge the other nations by that Law? Were they to go out to the Hivites and stone all the Hivites they found working on the seventh day? No. It was given TO Israel, FOR Israel's sake. By the same token, does ignorance of God's Law excuse those who live contrary to the commands in that Law? Whether the Hivites or Perizzites 3500 years ago--or the savage in New Guinea today? No. As Paul said, Romans 2:12--For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law.
 
It’s not by trying to keep the Law that one is saved, because no one can keep the whole Law. In fact we probably break God’s Law more times than we know even in the course of a normal day, and without really even trying. So God promised to, as we would say, “Put it in writing”—God would put His Law in writing, written in stone, so that when someone transgressed that Law, and they were brought before the judges, the judge could say, “You saw your neighbor’s donkey going astray and you did nothing. You even took possession of it. And in the Law it says ‘You shall return your neighbor’s donkey’ and if you take possession of that donkey you will restore it and give him 3 or 4 more.” And it was under that Law that the people of Israel lived for the 1500 or so years before Christ. 

But they were not saved by trying to keep every jot and tittle of that Law. In fact, the ones who were saved were saved because they knew they couldn’t keep every jot and tittle of that Law, and who knew they were sinful creatures who fell far short of the glory of God. And even now, unless one accepts the terms that God provides for forgiveness of sin, that person who tries their best to be "good" and yet dies apart from forgiveness from God will die in their sins, be judged by the Law, and be found unrighteous and condemned. Those who trust in their own righteousness, and think that they are good enough and that they are keeping every letter in the Law are in fact trusting in their own righteousness and as we talked about last week, in about as gentle of terms as possible, they are trusting in dirty rags. “Monthly” rags, if you will. 

That’s why Jesus said that it’s not simply the physical act of killing someone that is murder, but even using hateful words is tantamount to murder. That lusting after someone in your heart is just as much adultery as sleeping with them. And since it says in Psalm 119:96—Your commandment is exceedingly broad, we could almost say that coveting is theft in the heart, and in fact Paul calls it idolatry (Colossians 3:5). The Law was not meant to save anyone (Galatians 3:21); it was given to show that every human being is lost apart from Christ. It was not meant to make our “good deeds” exceedingly good, but as the apostle Paul says in Romans 7:13—So that sin…might become exceedingly sinful.
That’s why God declared, through the prophet in Jeremiah 31:31-34—“31 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
John Gill wrote—

“[It is new] because of its new mode of exhibition; not by types, shadows, and sacrifices; but by the ministry of the word, and the administration of Gospel ordinances…and because it is a…better covenant, best of all; better than the covenant of works, even better than the covenant of grace; in the clear manifestation and extensive application of it; and in the ratification of it by the blood of Christ; besides, it provides and promises new things, as a new heart, and a new spirit.”

We will talk more about the differences between the "old covenant" and the "new covenant" next time.


Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.

A Survey of the Old testament Law--bear your neighbor's burdens; let your land lay fallow; I send My Angel before you

...

Before we begin looking at Exodus 24 and the Old Covenant God established with Israel through Moses, there are still a few straggling verses I think we should finish up before we start such an important subject, so we’ll get to that next week. Today we’re gonna finish up Exodus 23, starting with Exodus 23:4-5—“4 If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.” Now, at first glance, these commands may seem to be out of place. All of the commands and statutes we've covered over the last few months point to one of two aspects of the Law. They either point to the moral code—the Ten Commandments. Or they point to the ceremonial aspect—the offerings and sacrifices and appointed feasts. But this one doesn’t appear to point to either aspect. It certainly does not involve idolatry or murder or adultery. And it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with feasts or offerings or sacrifices. So what in the world are these commands doing in the middle of the surrounding commands which serve as explanations of God’s moral and ceremonial codes? I'm glad you asked!

The reason is quite simple. What are the two great commandments in the Law? Matthew 22:36-40—“36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." These commands to help the donkey that belongs to the one who hates you is, in all actuality, just as great as any of the other commands, because it explains one of the two great commandments. Much like when Paul writes 1^st Corinthians 9:9—It is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? Under the old covenant, this command concerned oxen. But now, under the new covenant, it refers to taking care of our pastors financially. So the command to help your neighbor’s donkey is not simply to help get stuff from point A to point B. The reason for this command is to show what it means to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Suppose a scenario presented itself where your enemy’s horse was lying under its burden—would you be able to say “Well, those commands don’t say anything about horses.” Does that sound like something you could get away with? No.


I've had the pleasure of listening to Phil Johnson's series on the Ten Commandments. One of the key verses he used when studying the Ten Commandments is Psalm 119:96—I have seen the limit of all perfection, but Your commandment is exceedingly broad. The Ten Commandments—as well as all those statutes and ordinances that are rooted in the Ten Commandments—were not meant to be strictly and severely limited. The commandment against murder does not simply prohibit the actual, physical act of murder. Matthew 5:21-22—“21 You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.” Adultery is not limited to the actual, physical act of sleeping with someone who is not your spouse. Matthew 5:27-28—“27 You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, He was not adding to or taking away from the Law of God. He was not even, as some people teach, “raising the standard” that we should strive for. Jesus did not come to add more burdens onto this Law that we were already incapable of keeping. The Sermon on the Mount was not Jesus adding to the Law, or taking away from the Law—it was Jesus explaining the Law, and the meaning of the Law.


And that is exactly what He does in Matthew 5:41-45—“41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. 43 You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” Time after time Jesus had to correct the thinking of the Pharisees who had restricted the commands of God to simply the “letter of the Law.” But that was not what God intended. God did not build loopholes into His Law. There are no technicalities in the courtroom of God. And this command, to help the donkey of him who hates you, was not about helping donkeys. But that is what the Pharisees were teaching, and if Greg Isaacs or Herb Moncier were trying this case that is what they would plead. And God would have laughed them to scorn. Because these commands are not about donkeys—they are about loving your neighbor as yourself. Jesus even used this principle in His parable about the Good Samaritan. The man who fell among thieves was a Jew, but here comes this Samaritan—Jews and Samaritans being heated enemies—and this Samaritan does what the priest and Levite both failed to do—which is to lift up the burden of their neighbor, even a neighbor who had something against him.


There is another application of these commands. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 15:1 (NASB)—Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Galatians 6:1-2—1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. The bearing of another’s burden—whether that burden is some trial they're going through, a heartache, a temptation, or simply a young Christian who is still growing in the faith—the helping of our neighbor with that burden is connected with fulfilling the Law of Christ. And what is that Law of Christ? James 2:8—If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well. That, of course, stems from John 13:34—“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” These commands in the Law are not about helping donkeys. It’s about seeing your neighbor—whether you get along with them or not—seeing that neighbor in need and saying “Here, let me help you with that.” 1st John 3:17—But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?


And we don’t help our enemy so that we can get something in return, not even an “attaboy.” But we do it out of a sincere desire to do the will of Him who gave His life for us. Luke 6:34-36—“34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”


Now, one last thing before we move on. We know that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law. That He obeyed every jot and tittle of the Law. And He even fulfilled this command, when He said in Matthew 11:28-30—“28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The people had been so burdened—and yes, even the Pharisees were struggling under the heaviest burden and they didn’t even know it—and that burden was trying to keep every single little dot in the Law. But Jesus came to save us from the Law of sin and death. And He sends forth this call for the people to come out from under their self-imposed burdens and come to Him so that He could give them rest. And it is this rest that the writer of Hebrews refers to in Hebrews 4:9-11—9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Both of these passages are saying “Look, stop trying to work for your salvation and struggle all your life to try and earn God’s favor—you can't do it. Take on Christ’s yoke, for He has fulfilled the Law for you, and rest from all your efforts that will not take away one sin.” We were like donkeys who were laden down with a burden we could not carry. But Jesus has taken that burden Himself, and by faith we enter His rest and we are freed from the works of the Law.


Next, Exodus 23:10-12—“10 Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.” This is of course referring, again, to rest. Every living thing on earth needs rest. Even Christ, having taken on the likeness of sinful flesh, rested and slept from time to time. The fourth of the Ten Commandments ordains that one day out of seven be devoted to the worship of God. But if we keep in mind what Jesus said in the gospels, in Mark 2:27—“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” And the Sabbath was given, by God, for the sake of man, so that man could rest from his labors and have a day devoted to enjoying the worship of His Creator.


But man was not the only living thing that God provided rest for. He intended for even the beasts to have a day of rest and for the ground of the earth to have a whole year of rest. Because if we go back to the Fall of Adam, God told him, Genesis 3:17-19—“17 Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.” Even the ground was cursed because of Adam’s sin, and even the ground is waiting for its redemption. Romans 8:20-22—20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. We’ll look more at Sabbaths down the road some time.


To finish up this chapter, let’s read Exodus 23:20-33—“20 Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21 Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. 22 But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23 For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. 24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars…32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”


I think we've covered the subject of God commanding His people Israel to not join the worship of the true God with the worship of pagan “gods”, so I don’t think we need to go over that again. But not only were they not to worship the “gods” of the pagans, they were not to bow down to them nor serve them nor even let the worshippers of pagan “gods” dwell in their land. And of course the application for us today is to not bring the worldly and satanic elements into our worship services, like so many churches these days that are basing entire sermon series on popular, ungodly music. Like one church that did a series called “The Gospel According to The Beatles.” Really? A bunch of atheists and eastern mystics—they were really preaching the gospel, huh?


But let’s finish by focusing on the angel that God promises to send before them. 1st Corinthians 10:1-4—1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. Again, we see the NT writers explaining all the shadows and symbols and prophecies of Christ that were given even to the people of the Exodus. And God gives the promise of the angel—again, a shadow of Christ—and gives them a promise. “If you obey My angel, it will all be good for you. Your land will be plentiful, your cattle will multiply, your wives will have many sons, it’ll all be good if you obey. BUT—” Sometimes the word “but” isn't such a good thing. If they obey His angel, it’ll all be good, BUT if they provoke Him, God gives them a promise that things wouldn’t be so good.


And Paul reminds them of what happened when the people of the Exodus ignored the warnings of God, 1st Corinthians 10:6-11—6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. And it is recorded all through the OT, that when the people obeyed God He fought for them, when they provoked Him to anger He fought against them and even caused them to be taken into captivity. So that finishes up chapter 23, next week, we’ll start on chapter 24, and comparing the Old Covenant with the New Covenant.


Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.