A Suyrvey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 8 (Part 2)

Numbers 8:5-7—5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6 “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially. 7 Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.” This begins the actual act of consecrating the Levites to God. When a Levite was consecrated to God, it was not an easy task, and certainly not one to be undertaken lightly. But did they have any choice in the matter? No. If a son was born to the tribe of Levi, they were set apart to God to do the work of ministry. Well that’s not fair, is it? “Just because someone is born into a certain family, they have to go into the service of the Tabernacle?” Yes. Well, what if a daughter is born in the tribe of Issachar? Why can’t she go into the service of ministering to God? Well, the answer is real simple. Because that is what God wants. And, as I have said before and will continue to say ad infinitum, be glad that God isn’t “fair”!

The ceremony begins with the cleansing with water. All these steps were symbolic of their inward state. Washing the outside of the man symbolized that the inward man was being cleansed. When God has to remind the people of Israel of these their early days, He tells them, in Ezekiel 16:9—“Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.” As God washed His people from their sins with water, so the Levites were to be washed as a symbol of that washing. When He was telling them that He would scatter them among the Gentiles, He promised them that He will once again bathe them and cleanse them when they return to Him. Ezekiel 36:20-27—20 “When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.' 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. 22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

And, as is so often then case, we see this act referenced in the Pauline Epistles, namely Ephesians 5:25-26—25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. For so long I read that passage and thought that was a rather clumsy way of phrasing something. But then I came across this passage, and the light bulb came on and I said “hey, it makes sense now!” The English “washing of water” is translated from the Greek λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος (loutro tou hudatos). Λουτρῷ is from the same root word we find in John 13:10—Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed (λελουμένος, from the root word λούω (louo)) needs only to wash (νίπτω (nipto) his feet, but is completely clean..." This word λούω (louo) refers to bathing as opposed to νίπτω (nipto), which refers to washing the hands or feet. It is a thorough bathing. That is the washing Paul says Jesus wants to use to cleanse His bride—to thoroughly bathe her, immerse her, cleanse her. How? By the word. He wants to make her clean by imparting to her His word, that it may saturate her. And that is the bathing, the immersion, the cleansing that is symbolized by the sprinkling of water on the Sons of Levi to set them apart to God.

We see in Leviticus 8 that he was also to put the blood of the ram that was sacrificed to set them apart to God on their right ear, their right thumb, and their right great toe. Leviticus 8:22-24—22 And he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, 23 and Moses killed it. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Then he brought Aaron's sons. And Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar. Why the ear, thumb and toe? Well, the ear so that they would remember to hear justly, that they may not be partial to either the poor or the rich, their brethren or the stranger, and that they would deal justly with all. The thumb, so that everything they did would honor God, and that their hands would be set apart to do God’s work. The toe, so that they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord that set them apart to Himself.

Numbers 8:8-15—8 “Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering. 9 And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel. 10 So you shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites; 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD like a wave offering from the children of Israel, that they may perform the work of the LORD. 12 Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the young bulls, and you shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall stand the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and then offer them like a wave offering to the LORD. 14 Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. 15 After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them like a wave offering.” If these men were going to minister to God for the people, they had to have their sins forgiven first so they would be fit to perform their duties. But they couldn’t just say “Forgive me” and *poof* their sins were forgiven. Sin required death, and the shedding of blood. Hebrews 9:22—And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. So what happened was, the Levite brought a bull as a Sin Offering, he laid his hands on the head of that bull, transferring his sins to that bull, and the bull was killed. What did that bull do to deserve death? Nothing. It was just living its life, being a bull, doing bull things. And then it is picked out, a guy lays his hands on its head, and it is killed. An innocent animal died because of sin. In the New Testament, we have—not a bull, not a sheep—but an innocent shepherd being put to death because of sins, none of which were His. Because He never sinned. And yet the sins of so many were placed upon Him, and He bore them to the Father. 1st Peter 2:21-24—21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

There are some who want to make it out that our Great High Priest sinned, or that at least He wanted to sin. My friend, even the desire to sin is a sin (Matthew 5:21-22, 26-27). You see, the biggest problem with sin is not the sin itself—although that is a problem. And rules do not do anything to control desires. They only deal with the consequences of the actions. That is why Jesus—and Paul—fought so hard and worked so tirelessly to make the people know that they could not do enough to become righteous. For it is not the doing of things that makes one righteous, but rather having a heart that is geared toward God and pleasing Him. Because, quite frankly, no matter how perfect the Law is, it can make no one perfect. Galatians 3:21—Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. Acts 13:39—By Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Romans 3:30—Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. You see, there can be a sign by the side of the highway that says “Speed Limit 55”. You can see double solid yellow lines down the middle of the road. Or a “No Trespassing” sign on a fence. But can those things prevent you from speeding, or passing, or trespassing? No. All they can do is tell you that you will be punished summarily if you disobey them. Likewise the Law, and all 613 commandments held therein, cannot change your heart, or prevent you from sinning. All they can do is let you know there will be punishment for anyone violating them.

And even the Levites had sins to be forgiven of. I mentioned a few chapters ago the two different sins of the two different Levites in the Book of Judges (Judges 17, Judges 19). Now, we may not consider the sins of these Levites at Sinai as being as bad as those in the Book of Judges, but they were still sins, and they still had to be atoned for. So they were put on this innocent animal, which was killed so those sins could be forgiven. And when our Sacrifice cried out “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” (Mark 15:34), it was then that God put His hand on the head of that Sacrifice, placed all of the sins of all God’s elect on that Sacrifice, and that Sacrifice died.

Because we sinned.

‘Til on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live

(“In Christ Alone”, Stuart Townend)

Jonathan Edwards, in his treatise “Christ exalted”, writes thus:

Christ appeared above all the corruption of man, in that hereby he purchased holiness for the chief of sinners. And Christ in undergoing such extreme affliction, got the victory over all misery; and laid a foundation for its being utterly abolished, with respect to his elect. In dying he became the plague and destruction of death. When death slew him, it slew itself. For Christ, through death, destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil (Heb_2:14). By this he laid the foundation of the glorious resurrection of all his people to an immortal life.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The Golden Calf (Epilogue)

Last week we surveyed the episode at Mt. Sinai where the people convinced Aaron to make a golden calf to worship. What that episode really shows us is how foolish human beings really are. Many times people construct a “God”—or, an idea about God—and usually this “God” they create is nothing like the true God. The “God” they create doesn't require much out of them, he’ll let them go on living however they want to. And this “God” will brush aside their sins and say “It’s no big deal.” And when you confront these people about some sin they may have in their life—or in the life of someone they love—what these people tend to say is, “Well, that may be your God. But the god I worship doesn't condemn anybody for that.” And, without realizing it, they have hit the nail on the head. They are absolutely right—the god they worship won’t judge anybody or condemn anybody. But that’s because they don’t worship the One, True, Living God, Almighty YHVH. They worship a god of their own making, and what is the term we use to describe worshipping a god of one’s own making?

Of all the sins that are talked about in Scripture, I don’t think there is one that is mentioned more often than idolatry. And I think that is because the world does not know God, or rather, they don’t want to know the true God. So they carve wooden and stone figures and bow to them. And this too shows how utterly foolish we humans are. These people who bow down to statues are worshipping something made by human hands—a block of wood or stone that was, for all intents and purposes, destroyed so it could be worshipped. They worship something that’s broken. Does that make sense? In Isaiah 40-46, God goes into this lengthy, intense diatribe against the sin of idolatry. Especially Isaiah 44. Listen to Isaiah 44:14-17—14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak; he secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it shall be for a man to burn, for he will take some of it and warm himself; yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; indeed he makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 16 He burns half of it in the fire; with this half he eats meat; he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire." 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" Those who worship trees and rocks and think there is such beauty in them—they are missing out on the beauty that is God. One more verse before we get to today’s text, Psalm 29:2—Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 

That said, we are going to begin with the merciful judgment of God. Exodus 32:27-29—27 And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother." Now, notice something here. In verse 29, what does God command the sons of Levi to do? “Put on your sword, and kill your brother.” But, in verse 29, Moses says that if the people repent, what might God do? "So He may bless you." Whenever and wherever there are righteous people surrounded by unrighteous people, and God has set His mind on destroying the wicked—but He does not want to destroy the righteous—He is perfectly capable of delivering those righteous ones. Listen to 2nd Peter 2:4-9—4 If God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction…7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked…9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. If God were to send a lightning bolt to zap the person next to you for saying something foul—don’t worry. If God doesn't want to hit you, He won’t--he’s got really good aim. So in these commands of God, where first we see the order to destroy every idolater, and then in the next breath Moses tells the people that if they repent God may still bestow a blessing on them, we see what the apostle Paul refers to in Romans 11:22—Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. God knows how to destroy the wicked and preserve the righteous. 

Next we see Moses’ desire to see Israel become a great nation—even at his own expense. Back in Exodus 32:11-13, Moses pleaded with the LORD to not completely wipe these people out. And even though God relented of the harm He said He would do—that may have delayed the deaths of the idolaters who repented, but it did not take away their sin. And that is what Moses pleads for here, in Exodus 32:30-32—30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." 31 Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." If you recall, last week God gave Moses a proposition—“Let Me wipe them all out and start over with you.” And Moses had the right to say, and could have very easily said, “Hmm…not a bad idea there. Let’s do it!” But in his spirit, Moses knows it’s not all about Moses. Yes, there will be times when his temper gets the better of him. But, like King David, the pattern of his life is one that is devoted to God and His righteousness, as well as to the people of God, leading them in righteousness. And nothing is more important to Moses than the name and the glory and the holiness of God. The one attribute of God that is greater than any other is His holiness. Not His love, but His holiness. And because of His righteousness, and to display His holiness, when He makes a promise—He keeps it.

For example, when Jehoram becomes king of Judah, and he kills his brothers and many of the princes of Jerusalem, God could have easily killed him and his children. But, listen to 2nd Chronicles 21:6-7—6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done..., for he had the daughter of Ahab as a a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. 7 Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. As Moses pleaded with God, in Exodus 32:13—“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” When God makes a promise, He keeps it. Titus 1:2—God, who cannot lie. Not “does not lie” or “will not lie”—CANNOT lie.

And here, once again, we see the simultaneous judgment and mercy of God. The people have sinned—something has to die. But God is also merciful and patient, and Moses pleads with God, saying, “LORD, you know these people. These are Your people. I know these people should bear Your judgment. But rather than visit Your judgment on all of them, allow ME to suffer the punishment THEY deserve.” This is the same plea that the apostle Paul himself made in Romans 9:2-3—2 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. Did Moses take part in making that golden cow? And yet he begs God to punish him and him alone for the sins of the many people who committed that sin. Hmmm…one who did not commit sin, but asked to be punished for the sins of others. Sound like anybody we know? 2nd Corinthians 5:21—[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So you can see how Moses is growing in his office as mediator for the people of Israel. He may not realize it, the people definitely don’t realize it, but he is becoming a “type” or “visual prophecy” of Christ who is our mediator and was truly punished for our sins.

Now, the people did not become the righteousness of God by way of Moses or the Law, but we do become the righteousness of God in Christ. John Calvin—

“[Christ] assumed our place, that he might be a criminal in our room, and might be dealt with as a sinner, not for his own offenses, but for those of others, since he was pure and exempt from every fault, and might endure the punishment that was due to us—not to himself. It is in the same manner, assuredly, that we are now righteous in him—[not because we have rendered any] satisfaction to the justice of God by our own works, but because we are judged in connection with Christ’s righteousness, which we have put on by faith, that it might become ours.”

So Moses pleads with God to not only spare the physical lives of these people, but to spare them from the eternal punishment they deserved.

Which brings us to God actually demonstrating His ability to punish the wicked and spare the righteous. Exodus 32:33-35—33 And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin." 35 So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made. It’s simple—when a person sins, something has to die. Romans 6:23—The wages of sin is death. Ezekiel 18:20—The soul who sins shall die. Either that person dies, or something dies in their place. Period, paragraph. That fact would be driven home to those people for the next 1500 years or so. When day after day after day after day, week after week after week after week, year after year after year after year, they would take their animal, take it to the priest, the priest would kill it, cut it up and burn it for one simple reason—sin. There was a lot of blood, a lot of dead animals, a lot of burning carcasses and washing intestines and everything else that went with the office of priest, for one reason—sin. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:21—For Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 

Now, this principle did not stop when the old covenant with its sacrifices and offerings was replaced by the new covenant in Christ. That’s the bad news. The Good News—and what word do we use that means “Good News”? The gospel is that this principle found its fulfillment in the death of Christ. Hebrews 9:8-15—8 The way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.  11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. The blood of bulls and goats, which were offered under the old covenant, only covered over sins—it did not take them away. That blood was symbolic of the blood that Christ would shed which would completely take away and forgive sins—not just for the time being, not just until you sin again—but forever. How many times did Christ enter the Holiest of All in the Heavens? Hebrews 9:12—Once for all. Christ went into the Holiest of All, in the Heavens, the one not made with hands, and presented Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe. Once for all. Not over and over and over and over again—a point the writer of Hebrews makes in Hebrews 9:25—Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another. He went in their once—it’s done.

So, this brings us now to Exodus 33:1-6—1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' 2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people." 4 And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the children of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.'" 6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. Does He tell the people, “Go into the lands, learn their cultures, soften your tone with them, be sensitive to their felt needs, and bring them under the tent. Because I am God, and God is love.” No! He says, “I'm gonna drive the inhabitants of these idolatrous nations out of their land and give it to you.” 

That is the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac and Israel—does God keep His promises? And if we were to read through Joshua we would see that God does just that. But God would tell the people that not only was He going to drive out the idolaters, they were to have nothing to do with them or their ways. Exodus 34:11-16—“11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.” And all the people did exactly that and they lived happily ever after. Right? Wrong. After the book of Joshua, with the conquests of the lands, comes the book of Judges—and I think we all know what happens there. But sadly, many churches today have forgotten that we are supposed to be different from the world.

Are we supposed to walk around in sackcloth and ashes? Not hardly. But should a worship service—where the people are supposed to be worshipping God—should that service feature the “praise band” playing music form AC/DC? Or The Beatles? Or Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places”? Yet these are the kinds of music that many “Seeker-Sensitive” churches are playing during their services. Like, for example, the fellow pictured below. 2nd Corinthians 6:14 (NASB)—Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Should a lost person be able to walk into a church and be hammered on and beaten down because they're lost? In no way! BUT—should that church be a place where the lost person can feel as if the way they are living and the sin they are holding on to is OK? In no way. The lost person entering a church building should be made welcome—but they should also be discipled and taught that sin is sin and without Christ they are lost. And as Peter said, 1st Peter 3:15—Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Galatians 5:22-23—22 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. That is how we are to lead the lost to Christ. Not by beating them over the head, but by gently and patiently leading them. Not by embracing their sin and incorporating it into what is supposed to be a time of worshipping God. That is why God told the people not to enter into any covenants with the pagan nations, because He knew if they did the pagans would have more of an effect on the Israelites than the Israelites would have on the pagans. Or, as Paul said in 1st Corinthians 15:33—Bad company corrupts good morals. 

Exodus 33:7-10—7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. How many ways did the people have of seeking God? Exodus 33:8—Everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. How many entrances did the curtain around the tabernacle courtyard have? ONE. How many entrances were there into the Tent of Meeting? In fact, how many entrances were there into the Garden of Eden? Genesis 3:24—So God drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. There was only one way in and out of the Garden of Eden. Now, how many ways are there into the presence of God the Father today? John 14:6—“I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” God hasn’t changed in this regard in 6000 years of human history. If you want to have access to Him, you do it HIS way. Yet there are many who hold fanciful notions, and teach them to others, that they can somehow gain some “new insight” and some kind of new revelation about how to reach God. Rodney Howard Browne’s “ministry” supposedly got started when he said to God, “Either You come down here and touch me, or I will come up there and touch You.” Wow, a God that can be bossed around. Can God be bossed around and have His arm twisted to make Him give us what we want? No. Yet there are many who teach that. They're making a ton of money. The people that listen to them and send them their money—not so much. That is a false idea about God. And what term did we use earlier to describe false ideas about God? Not banging the gavel on these people—just a warning to be careful about what you hear. Even if it’s me saying it. There is ever only one way to God. It’s either HIS way or it’s no way.

Exodus 33:11— 11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Let me just say a little about the phrase “face to face.” You will hear skeptics say, “In Exodus 33:20 God says no one can see His face and live! That’s a contradiction!” On the flip side, the Mormon relies on Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” as “proof” that he was a prophet. Joseph Smith supposedly saw, in his “First Vision”, God the Father and Jesus Christ. And when we mention that “In Exodus 33:20 God says no one can see His face and live! Joseph’s vision is a contradiction!” They say “Well, yeah, but it also says that Moses spoke with God face-to-face.” That defense is also used by those with fanciful ideas about God. But the phrase “face-to-face” is an unfortunate product of the evolution of the English language. “Face to face” in this instance does not mean that God revealed His face to Moses—that would indeed be a contradiction. What this refers to is the mode of communication by which God spoke with Moses. How did God descend on the tent in Exodus 33:9—The pillar of cloud would descend…and the LORD would speak with Moses. The first time God communicated with Moses—how did He do it? Through the burning bush. But here, He’s simply speaking to Moses as a man speaks to his friend. So “face to face” means that God was not speaking through an intermediary, or an angel or any other medium. He was communicating with Moses personally. Today we use cell phones and texting and e-mail. God spoke with Moses as we are doing right now. No one in between, no vision, dream, etc. Just God speaking with His friend. 

Exodus 33:12-23—12 Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people!' But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, 'I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' 13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people." 14 And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" 17 The LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name." 18 Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" 19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" 21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." 

Anybody know what old church hymn comes from this passage? Does God set boundaries? Are there consequences for stepping over those boundaries? If God promises to do something will He do it? So if Moses caught a glimpse of God’s uncovered glory, what would have happened? Look at Moses’ plea in Exodus 33:18 (KJV)—“I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory!” He doesn't say, “I'm going to see your glory or else!” He doesn't try to boss God around. He wants so badly to know God, but is humble enough to know that if God doesn't want to fully reveal Himself, He won’t. Matthew Henry—

“Moses had lately been in the mount with God, had continued there a great while, and had enjoyed as intimate a communion with God as ever any man had on this side heaven; and yet he is still desiring a further acquaintance. All that are effectually called to the knowledge of God and fellowship with him, though they desire nothing more than God, are nevertheless still coveting more and more of him, till they come to see as they are seen. Moses had wonderfully prevailed with God for one favour after another, and the success of his prayers emboldened him to go on still to seek God; the more he had the more he asked: when we are in a good frame at the throne of grace, we should endeavour to preserve and improve it, and strike while the iron is hot: “Show me thy glory; make me to see it” (so the word is); “make it some way or other visible, and enable me to bear the sight of it.” Not that he was so ignorant as to think God's essence could be seen with bodily eyes; but, having [until now] only heard a voice out of a pillar of cloud or fire, he desired to see some representation of the divine glory, such as God saw fit to gratify him with.”

But one day we will see God in all His glory. Not in this life or in this body. But, as it says in 1st John 2:28-3:2—28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. Moses could not see the glory of God with his own eyes. But I dare say he’s seeing it now. And we will one day as well.

Jesus Christ is Lord
Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law----- "Remember the Sabbath Day" (part 2)

Last time we saw that the reason God commanded the people of Israel to keep the Sabbath was as a reminder that in six literal, 24-hour days God created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. That God did not take thousands of years to do one thing, then another thousand years to do something else, and so on and so forth. That the seven-day week that our life revolves around is the exact same seven-day week that was the beginning of everything that we call time. And just as God rested on the seventh day—not because He was tired, but because He was done creating everything He wanted to create—God commanded the people of Israel to work six days and rest on the seventh. Of course, the day of the week that the Israelites rested on and set aside for worship was Saturday—the seventh day of the week. But most Christians, for the last 2000 years, have met to worship on Sunday. And of all of the Ten Commandments, this is the one that has been the most widely-debated. Was the Sabbath day changed from Saturday to Sunday? If so, who changed it and why? Or, is it still supposed to be Saturday, and are we breaking this commandment by meeting on Sunday instead of Saturday? Well, we’re going to see part of the answer to these questions today.


For now, let’s read the words of the LORD our God. Exodus 20:8-11—“8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. 10 In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” The debate over the breaking of this commandment goes back even father than the earliest days of the church. Not only was this one of the issues where the Pharisees were most vehemently opposed to Christ, but even in the years leading up to Christ walking the earth, there were mountains of books written about the subject of what could and what could not be done on the Sabbath. The Jewish religious leaders at the time had written thousands of volumes trying to explain the Old Testament Law. These books were called Talmud. And in the Talmud, there were 24 chapters devoted to the subject of what constituted “work.” These chapters were so burdensome and so detailed that for one of the most distinguished rabbis in all of Israel, it took nearly 2 ½ years just to study one chapter!


Well, back in 1881, a fellow named Alfred Edersheim wrote a masterpiece called “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.” He devoted one section to detailing what all the different rabbis and their students taught about what was and what was not to be considered “working on the Sabbath.” There were many different groups that taught different things, depending on who the rabbi was that they followed. Listen to how nit-picky some of the Sabbath regulations had become:

“As the most common kind of labour would be that of carrying, this is the first point discussed. The Biblical Law forbade such labour in simple terms. But Rabbinism developed the prohibition [against carrying] into eight special ordinances, by first dividing ‘the bearing of a burden’ into two separate acts - lifting it up and putting it down - and then arguing, that it might be lifted up or put down from two different places, from a public into a private, or from a private into a public place…If an object was thrown into the air with the left, and caught again in the right hand, [did] this involve sin[?] [T]here could be no doubt a man incurred guilt if he caught it with the same hand with which it had been thrown, but he was not guilty if he caught it in his mouth, since, after being eaten, the object no longer existed, and hence catching with the mouth was [allowed]…”

And as if these regulations weren’t enough, listen to this:

“[One] school also [outlawed the making of] any mixture, the ingredients of which would not be wholly dissolved before the Sabbath. [So], the Sabbath law was declared to apply even to lifeless objects. Thus, wool [was not to] be dyed if the process was not completed before the Sabbath. Nor was it even lawful to sell anything to a heathen unless the object would reach its destination before the Sabbath…[therefore, one rabbi] was careful to send his linen to be washed three days before the Sabbath. But it was lawful to leave olives or grapes in the olive or wine-press.”

So you kinda get the idea. By the time Jesus came and walked the earth, all these different schools of teaching had degraded the keeping of the Sabbath to nothing more than a list of rules that no man could follow. Their problem was this—these were man-made laws and regulations. These were not commands given by God. And not even those who created these rules and regulations could obey these commands. Jesus said of these men, in Matthew 23:3-4—“3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” In other words, they created this huge burden out of keeping the Sabbath, and they couldn’t even carry it! They had basically made work out of not working. And Jesus would show us that these rules and regulations were not what God intended when He gave the commandment concerning the Sabbath. Because what these rules and regulations did was this: they prevented people from doing good for others on the Sabbath for fear of breaking the Law of God and receiving the penalty of death.


But in Matthew 12, we see a confrontation between Christ and these self-appointed judges concerning what was considered “work” and what could or could not be done on the Sabbath. The subject of keeping the Sabbath was easily the one subject where the Pharisees were most vicious in their attacks against Christ. Matthew 12:1-5—1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?” John MacArthur says this about the Pharisees’ response to the disciples’ actions:

“Now this is what the Talmud said, if you roll wheat in your hands to remove the husks, it is sifting and that is forbidden. If you rub the heads of wheat, it is threshing and it is forbidden. If you clean off the shell, it is sifting and that is forbidden. If you throw the chaff into the air, that is winnowing, it is forbidden. So just in picking and rolling and rubbing and discarding, they had been reaping, threshing, sifting, grinding, winnowing and preparing food. And their real question, the real underlying question is...why do You and Your disciples live in such overt, open defiance of our religion? Why do You challenge our religion? Why do You challenge our authority? It is an implied threat. It is not a legitimate question, they don't want an answer. It is a scornful indictment, implying a threat.”

But Jesus points out the Pharisees’ hypocrisy: See, the Pharisees were totally devoted to worshipping in the temple. They were there every Sabbath day, every Passover, every time the temple was open, they were there. But they forgot one thing—that in order to have a complete temple worship service on the Sabbath, this forced the high priest to do work on the Sabbath. Look what Jesus says in verse 5—“…on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless.” All that temple service was a foreshadowing of Christ—that is, all the ceremonies and offerings and rituals were a picture of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. They were a kind of visual prophecy. Now, watch this: these Pharisees spent all their time worshipping in the temple, and look at what Jesus says in Matthew 12:5-6—“5 …on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless. 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.” This, I'm sure, reminded these Pharisees of Haggai 2:7-9—“7 I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts…9 'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts.”


Serving Christ, obeying the commandments of Christ, and following the way of Christ are far greater than killing animals and burning their flesh in the temple. Because even the temple itself was only a temporary picture of Christ. In fact, the entire OT Law was only a picture of Christ. Galatians 3:23-25—23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Think about a map. If I have a map of Knoxville in my hands, do I actually have the city of Knoxville itself in my hands? No. But when I arrive in the city of Knoxville, I will know it because I will see the streets and landmarks and other details that are pictured on my map. The OT Law and the sacrifices and offerings—and yes, even the Sabbath—was a picture, a map of Christ. These things were not Christ, but they were given so that when Christ arrived, if one kept this map in front of them, they would recognize, by all the things that He said and did, that He was indeed the Messiah they had been waiting for. But these fellows were blind, willfully ignorant, even though they had the truth staring them right in their face. Have you ever known someone that, you could tell them it was pouring down rain, you could come in soaking wet, and they'd still have to look outside? That’s what kind of men these Pharisees were. Jesus showed them, from the Hebrew Scriptures that they valued so much, that He was the Messiah—but they would not listen. He tells them in John 5:39-40—“39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” And here, He is going to tell them, point blank, that they do not understand the Scriptures that they claim to be experts of. Matthew 12:7—“But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.”


Many times Jesus told the Pharisees that even though they were teachers of the OT Scriptures, they had no clue what it meant. And this is one of those places. Because what He’s saying here is that God does not want us to just show up at a building one day out of the week with our ‘sacrifice’—He wants us to live a life that is marked by mercy toward others and love toward God and toward our neighbor. When these same Pharisees questioned Him about this, He told them the same thing. Mark 12:28-31—28 Then one of the scribes came, and…asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" 29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." And He said in another place, “On these hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:40). Now, I tell you all these things to lay the groundwork for what we’re about to see. And what we are going to see is that the OT Sabbath, that we read in Exodus 20:8-11, was fulfilled in Christ. The first 4 of the 10 Commandments deal with our relationship with God. The last 6 deal with our relationship toward others. Which is why Jesus said that the two great commandments are to Love God and to love your neighbor. Christ fulfilled the first four commandments, and never broke the other six.

• God said “You shall not have any other gods before Me”—Christ was God in the flesh, and the only way to the Father.
• God said “you shall not make for yourself any graven image”—because Christ is the image of the invisible God.
• God said “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain”—Christ was the manifestation of the name of God on earth.
• And when God said “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”—Christ is our Sabbath, our rest.

He says in Matthew 12:8—“For the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Christ did the work of creating (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17). After Christ finished creating He rested from that work, and the Sabbath is subject to the authority of Christ. Now, this that we are reading in Matthew 12, we see it recorded also in Mark 2. And Christ says something there that Matthew does not record. Mark writes these words of Christ in Mark 2:27-28—“27 The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” In other words, all those burdens and regulations that the Pharisees had added to the keeping of the Sabbath—that you pick something up but you could only put it down in a certain place, and that you could collect rain water from a bucket but not water that had run down the wall—all these rules and regulations had made man subject to the authority of the Sabbath. But that was not what God intended. God meant for the Sabbath to be subject to man. Not that man could go changing it just for the sake of changing it. But the reason that we now worship on Sunday instead of Saturday is that Christ has set us free from the Law of sin and death, triumphing over death by His resurrection, and we worship on what the apostle John called “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10) to celebrate His victory over the grave when He rose on the first day of the week.


Now, lest we forget, the OT Law was not abolished—it was not just crumpled up and thrown away (Matthew 5:17). But, those of us in Christ are no longer under the penalty of that Law (Romans 6:14), since Christ fulfilled the righteous requirements of that Law (Romans 8:3-4) and has become our righteousness (2nd Corinthians 5:21). So what does that have to do with keeping the Sabbath? I'm glad you asked. There were many parts of the OT Law that Jesus explained in more detail. Adultery and murder are two examples, as well as the Sabbath. He showed us and taught us what it really means to keep the Sabbath. And if anyone was going to keep the Sabbath, it would be Christ, since He kept the Law perfectly and never violated it once. So if Christ did some kind of work on the Sabbath, that it was not lawful to do, He being born under the Law (Galatians 4:4) then He would have sinned and could not be our Savior. And, to go a step further, if God the Father did work on the Sabbath, would He not be violating His own Law? And by commanding the priests to do work in the tabernacle and in the temple, on the Sabbath, would He not be commanding those men to sin by breaking the Sabbath? I say all this for a reason: in John 5, we see Christ healing a man on the Sabbath, and listen to how He responds to His accusers. John 5:16-17—16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." The reason I've been so deliberate in saying that God rested from the work of creation is because it’s not as if God had not been doing anything after that first 7th day. He was even working every single day—including every 7th day of every week. Now, does that mean that God broke His own law by working on the Sabbath? No. Look at what Jesus said in Mark 2:27—“The Sabbath was made for man.” The purpose of the Sabbath was so that man could take a day off from the day-to-day grind of life, and rest and enjoy the presence and worship of the LORD our God. John MacArthur--

"Jesus dropped the bomb of all bombs on their self-righteous minds in [Mark 2:]28, 'So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.' 'I am,' He says, 'the sovereign ruler over the Sabbath.' The Son of Man, again the messianic title; the Lord of he Sabbath, a stinging, impossible blasphemy to them. But He is the Lord of the Sabbath because He is God. 'I am the sovereign of this day. I designed this day. I am the Creator.' Doesn't John say that at the beginning of his gospel? 'Everything made was made by Him, and without Him was not anything made', so it was He who ceased to work, it was He who rested. It was He who ordained this day to be blessed and separated from work. 'I am the sovereign of this day. I am the interpreter of the will of God for this day. You do not rule the Sabbath. You do not set the standards of behavior for the Sabbath, I do. I interpret God's will and God's Word.' Yes Jesus is the interpreter of God's will. He is the interpreter of God's Word. He is the interpreter of God's Law, not men."

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

A survey of the Old Testament Law--Arrival at Sinai

Before God does anything, He will always prepare His people (see Amos 3:7). The most obvious example of this is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. For nearly 2000 years before Christ arrived, God prepared the people for the one who would deliver us from our sins—he did so by using prophets. The prophet Isaiah declared that the Messiah would be despised and rejected by men…Smitten by God, and afflicted…wounded for our transgressions…bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:3-5). And right up to the time when Jesus walked the earth, God sent one more prophet—John the Baptist—to declare that Messiah had come. God also spoke of this coming Messiah through the Psalms, saying that God would not leave that Savior in the grave, and that the Savior’s body would not decay (Psalm 16:10). God also used sacrifices and rituals that would paint a picture of the Savior to come. The first Passover—the night when God sent the angel of death to slay the firstborn of Egypt to convince Pharaoh to set the Hebrews free—even that was a picture of the Messiah.

We are about to begin a journey through another means that God used to prepare the word for Christ, and that was the OT Law. And today we are going to see that God even prepared His people to receive this Law. Let me set the stage for you. The Israelites have left Egypt. They have crossed the Red Sea, and they are now dwelling in the wilderness of the area called Sinai. This is not to say that everything was perfect. As we human beings tend to do, this one has a dispute with that one; this other fellow was accusing another of something. Problem was—well, actually, two problems. They did not have a hard and fast set of laws that they could point to and say, “Yitzhak violated my rights under section 123.45 of the Tennessee Code Annotated!” They had no way of determining who was a credible witness, what kind of punishment to deal out. Not only that, the even bigger problem was they only had one judge—Moses. Exodus 18:13—And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. Now, the most conservative estimates put the population of this great crowd at about 2,000,000 people. You think your local court gets backed up! It’s going to be a while before Moses hears your case. As it says, the people stood from morning until evening.

From the time he woke up in the morning until he went to bed, Moses’ day was filled with hearing one gripe after another. Well, along comes his father-in-law, Jethro. Exodus 18:17-21—So Moses' father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” Kinda like what we have today. We have sessions court; they deal with local laws. If you want to appeal their ruling, you go up to the Court of Appeals. From there to the federal district court, then up to the Supreme Court for the most difficult cases. That’s what Jethro is advising Moses to do here he says to break them up into divisions, Exodus 18:22-26—“…rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.” So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves. Think about it like this—if you buy a chain saw, do you need to first learn how to use it? So, God sends Jethro to show Moses how to use the Law that God is about to give.

The next thing we read is the people reach Mt. Sinai. Exodus 19:2-6—They departed from Rephidim, and came to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, 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: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. 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. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’” Look at what God says in verse 6. “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These promises are given not only to these people here, but to all who call upon Christ. 1st Peter 2:5-9—You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Revelation 1:5-6—[Jesus] loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father. The priesthood, the covenants, the Law, the favor of God—these were, at the time, given to the Israelites—ONLY. But now, since Christ has come and has performed everything contained in this Law that we are going to study over the next few months, we Gentiles who have accepted Christ as Savior and Lord—now, we too are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people. But, as God is speaking in Exodus, He is giving these promises only to the Jews.

Exodus 19:9-13—And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’” In our conditions as human beings, we cannot look upon the glory of God. But not only are we unable to look upon His pure glory, we cannot even lay a hand upon anything that contains that glory. 2nd Samuel 6:3-7—So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab…And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. We as humans tend to handle the things of God in a very flippant manner. Turn on the TV and you will find men and women who handle the word of God in a very shameful manner, and use it to further the kingdom of Kenneth Copeland, and the kingdom of Rod parsley and the kingdom of Marilyn Hickey. They will receive the reward they are due.

When we handle the things of God, the things that show His perfect glory and holiness, we must do so with the utmost care. We will see what happens to Nadab and Abihu when they did not regard the holiness of God. Isaiah 66:1-4 (NASB)—Thus says the LORD…“To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog's neck; he who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine's blood; he who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, so I will choose their punishments and will bring on them what they dread” We do not honor God when we worship Him any old way we choose. You hear people say, “Well, I worship God in my own way. I worship Him through the tress and the rocks” Unless we worship God in a way which actually honors Him, He will not accept it.

We must totally and completely separate ourselves from the ways of this world. Which is what God tells Moses to do in Exodus 19:20-25—Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’” Moses was under the impression that since God had given the command for the people to not touch the mountain, he wouldn’t have to give it again. God knows us a whole lot better. God knew that there would be people who would not be able to resist that command, and they would approach the mountain. So, God tells Moses one more time, verses 24-25. Then the LORD said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. Now they are ready to receive the Law of God.

So we start, in earnest, our study of the Law of God and we begin with the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are usually broken up into two groups. The first 4 describe our dealings with God; the last six describe our dealings with others. We’re going to look at the first commandment today. We’re not going to finish, but we will get started. Exodus 20:1-3—And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” He starts out by reminding the people of who He is. “I am the LORD your God.” The word “LORD”—the Bible was not written in English, the OT was written in Hebrew. It is then translated into English, and it is never a perfect process by any means. Not like Spanish to English, which is a fairly word-for-word process. Hebrew into English is a little more tricky. When you are reading the OT, any time you see the word LORD in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, that is how the translators render the Hebrew word YHVH, which is the name that God uses to refer to Himself.

Now, many people pronounce it “Jehovah”, but it is more likely pronounced 'YAH-vay'. We will talk more about the name YHVH when we get to the commandment against taking His name in vain. So, basically what He is saying is “I am YHVH, your God.” “…who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” This would not be the last time that God would have to remind these people who He was and what He had done for them. They had just come out of 435 years of slavery, of stomping mud to make the clay bricks to build the monuments to the very one who was keeping them in bondage. God, in a matter of months—maybe—ended their slavery to Pharaoh, and 435 years of bondage ended in one night—just like that. Yet time and time again, the people would forget that. Kinda like us. When we get saved, we still have to walk around in these bodies of flesh, and we tend to forget that we are no longer slaves to Satan, but rather we are children of God. And we do things and disobey Him. And He has to remind us of who is in charge. Hebrews 12:5-7 (NASB)—You have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the LORD, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the LORD loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? We disobey, He paddles our backside, we confess our sin, and we follow Him more closely.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” Or, better, “You shall have no other gods besides Me.” We won’t get through all of this today, but we’ll get started. These people just come from Egypt. And in Egypt, they were doing the physical task of building monuments to Pharaoh. The Egyptians, at the time, worshipped many so-called ‘gods.’ According to one source,

“The Egyptians considered sacred the lion, the ox, the ram, the wolf, the dog, the cat, the ibis, the vulture, the falcon, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cobra, the dolphin, different varieties of fish, trees, and small animals including the frog, scarab, locust and other insects. In addition to these there were anthropomorphic gods; that is, men in the prime of life such as Amun, Atum, or Osiris.” (John Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt, p. 95).

So when God sent the 10 plagues on the land of Egypt, it was His way of showing that He and He alone was God, and that He and He alone had power over all creation, and that their ‘gods’ were, in fact, no gods at all. For example, when He turned the waters of the Nile River to blood, that was His way of showing the uselessness of Hapi, the Egyptian ‘god’ who was supposedly the one who brought the water of the Nile River to Egypt. When He sent swarms of frogs, He was showing His superiority over Heqt.

“The frog was considered the theophany of the goddess Heqt, the wife of the creator of the world and the goddess of birth. Heqt was always shown with the head and body of a frog.” (David Padfield, Against All The Gods Of Egypt (#1).

Likewise, when He sent the swarms of lice and gnats, and caused people to break out with boils, and sent hail that turned to fire, and sent locusts to devour every green thing in Egypt—all these things were His way of showing Pharaoh that Pharaoh was not God—that YHVH and YHVH alone is God. As Paul says in 1st Corinthians 8:4-6—An idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

Now, God had a good reason for giving this commandment to have no other gods but God. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they were not alone. If we were to go back to Exodus 12, we would see that there were more than a few Egyptians who, seeing the mighty works of God, came out with them. Exodus 12:37-38—Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock. This “mixed multitude” would come to be a problem later on, and we’ll see that when we get to Numbers 11. It is because of this “mixed multitude” that God tells the people “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Because, when someone with strong morals is surrounded by people of questionable character, who is going to rub off on whom? The morally corrupt will be more likely to rub off on the morally upright than the other way around. If you want proof of that, the apostle Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 15:33—Bad company corrupts good morals. And next time we will see this principle played out, and we will see that it’s not simply the worship of pagan ‘gods’ that is forbidden here, but even everyday things can be a ‘god’.

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Introduction (part 2)

Whenever I get ready to plan a lesson, I always try to look back on the previous week and ask myself “Is there anything I didn’t explain as well as I should have?” And I really think that last week I didn’t do a good job of explaining just what it means that “Christ fulfilled the Law.” Well, as we saw last week the Law was simply part of a bigger picture of the One who would deliver the world from the power of sin. Think of the OT like this—Pastor Phil gave this illustration once. Suppose I ran into someone I had not seen in years. They ask me if I'm married, and I'm going to pull out this picture and say, “This is my wife Laurie.” Thing is, will they be looking at my wife? Not really. After all, am I married to a picture? No. That piece of paper with ink on it is not my wife—but it is a picture of my wife. And by looking at that little piece of paper, you will see what my wife looks like.

We can apply that same principle to Christ and The Law. If one were to study the Law—and the Psalms and prophets—one would see a picture of the perfect righteousness of God. So that when the perfect righteousness of God were to stand before you—you would know it. Christ was that perfect righteousness of God that the Law and the Psalms and the prophets showed in a picture. Christ “fulfilled the Law” by being the One that the Law—and the Psalms and prophets—were only a picture of. Make sense?

Another thing I want to go over is Romans 7:7—I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." I mentioned how we all know, without anyone telling us, that killing is wrong and that stealing is wrong. So how could Paul say that he did not it was wrong to covet? Well, covetousness is an inward sin. We know it’s wrong to harm other people—but we don’t always realize that even our thoughts can bring judgment upon us. Which is why Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:21-28—“You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder…' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” It’s not simply the outward actions that bring judgment—but even the secret thoughts of the heart. Do we know, are we aware of, every single sin we have ever committed? In fact, we see this in Psalm 103:3—If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

The Pharisees—including Paul, who was a Pharisee before he met Christ—the Pharisees were teaching that keeping the Law was simply about rituals and cleansings and burnt offerings. But Jesus rebuked even their thought life in Matthew 23:23—“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” So the purpose of the Law was not simply for people to go on sinning and then bring a bull or a goat for a burnt offering. It was meant to address the outside—but also the inside as well. This, oddly enough, brings us to today’s text.

Let’s look at the effectiveness of the Law. Psalm 19:7-12—The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. This is not simply an OT idea. Listen to what the apostle Paul says in Romans 7:12—The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 1st Timothy 1:8-9—The law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners. There are many false converts in the American church today. And when I say that, I don’t mean to sit in a seat of judgment and banging the gavel on any individuals. The even bigger problem is, many of those people don’t know they have not been converted. Because many of those who witness to people to bring them to Christ begin their message like this: “God loves you just the way you are and has a wonderful plan for your life.” And many of them end their encounter by telling the person to “Pray this prayer and ask Jesus into your heart.” The person prays the prayer, and the witness declares them saved. The problem is, they get the person saved before they ever get the person lost. Not only that, many times they don’t go on and teach the person about what that means to them now. Can they go on living like they used to, and at the end of the day throw up a prayer, “Please forgive me God!” Because, after all, that preacher said I'm saved, and if I'm saved I can't be lost again!

Well, this was the pattern that the nation of Israel fell into many times in the OT. In Isaiah 1:10-15—Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” says the LORD. “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. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.” These people are doing what was commanded in the Law—all the festivals and Sabbaths and burnt offerings which God said would be a “sweet aroma unto the LORD”—and now He’s saying “These things make Me sick.”

What happened?

What happened was these people are bringing sacrifices and keeping feasts—rather than turning away from their sins. They're thinking “We can go on sinning, just so long as we keep the feasts.” Look at verse 10. “Rulers of Sodom… people of Gomorrah.” The same thing could almost be said of people who swear up and down they're saved—yet if you look at their lives…huh? They're going to Cotton Eyed Joe’s every Saturday and getting drunk; listening to music that glorifies drugs and alcohol and all other sorts of ungodly things—but they're “saved.” I'm not going to say they're not—but…ya know?

Well, when a person—or a nation for that matter—wants to go on living in sin, thinking that if they give enough lip service to God He’ll just give them a wink and a pass, be sure that He will more than likely take away the very symbols of their outward religion to bring about an inward change. Joel 1:9-10—The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests mourn, who minister to the LORD. The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails. God had sent a swarm of locusts—as it says, one which had never been seen before nor will be see ever again—and these locusts chewed up the grapevines and the fig trees and the barley and the wheat. Not only did all the vegetation die—the animals that ate it died, too. And if all your bulls and goats are dead, what can y9ou bring for an offering? Well, you can bring yourself. This was God’s way of telling the people “I don’t want your burnt offerings and your goats and your barley cakes—I want your hearts.” In fact, He goes on to say Joel 2:12-13—“Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.”

So, what does all this mean for us today? After all, we don’t go to the temple with bulls and goats and barley cakes. Well, if we belong to Christ, we will have a heart that wants to obey the Law of God. In fact, God will write that Law upon our hearts. Psalm 37:30-31—The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. Jeremiah 31:33-34—“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. 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.” Those of us that God has saved—He has written His Law on our hearts, and we delight in keeping that Law. Because it is not about a list of commandments and rituals and bulls and goats and barley cakes. It’s about loving God. And if we love God, will we want to do anything that may even have a hint that it is displeasing to God? No; we will want to live our lives according to His Law—but not because we are trying to be saved by keeping the Law, but because we have been saved, we show Him we love Him by living our lives by that Law.

And we do so, knowing that we cannot possibly live that Law perfectly. But we don’t use that as an excuse, either. And this is why we love Him—Christ lived a perfectly sinless life because we can't! We try to, but we know we will fall short, and because we will fall short we have been given the full righteousness of Christ—not sort of “Christ fill in the gaps” but we are made perfectly righteous in God’s eyes. 2nd Corinthians 5:21 (NET)—God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. If we are saved, we don’t simply have the righteousness of God—we become the righteousness of God. Keil and Delitzsch—

"The demands of the law…cannot be fulfilled by sinful man. Even when he strives most earnestly to keep the commands of the law, he cannot satisfy its requirements. The law, with its rigid demands, can only humble the sinner, and make him plead for God to blot out his sin and create in him a clean heart; it can only awaken him to the perception of sin, but cannot blot it out…the forgiveness of sins is a work of grace which cancels the demand of the law against men. In the old covenant, the law with its requirements is the impelling force; in the new covenant, the grace shown in the forgiveness of sins is the aiding power by which man attains that common life with God which the law sets before him as the great problem of life."

Before Christ, the force of the Law compelled the people to keep it. After Christ, the grace of God in the person of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us gives us a heart that wants to obey His Law. Those who do not accept Christ’s blood as payment for their sins and who do not turn from their sins will need to keep every jot and tittle of that Law to be righteous in God’s eyes. BUT—Christ has completed the Law for those who believe in Him, and if our righteousness is from Christ living in us, He will give us the Holy Spirit we need to love God’s Law and do His will. John 14:15-17—“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” 1st Corinthians 6:19—Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God. And if the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us, our lives will be evidence of this fact. Galatians 5:22-23—But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Notice again—fruit of the Spirit (singular), not fruits (plural). This is collectively what the new life looks like.

And if we are walking according to the ways of God, then we are the most blessed people on earth. Psalm 1:1-3 (NASB)—How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. If we do not use the commandments of God as our standard for morality, we will, individually and as a nation, wind up following every philosophy of man and every new teaching that comes along. And we see this happening today. People trying to explain away the things contained in the Law of God, concerning things like homosexuality and abortion and adultery and so on. Isaiah 5:20-24—Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight…as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like dust; because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Try telling someone today that homosexuality is a sin and that abortion is murder—and I use those two because they are two of the more visible and more widely tolerated sins that we as a nation are guilty of—try telling these things to someone and see if you don’t have to wash out your ears after they're done telling you what a blankety-blank blanking-blanker you are, and how they don’t need your God and they don’t need no Jesus and who are you to judge and so on and so forth. We live in a nation that calls evil good and that calls good evil.

But let me finish with this passage that contrasts this mindset with a picture of the heart of a man who dearly loves the Lord God and who delights in His Law and who has the Law of God written on his heart. Psalm 119:33-40—Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall observe it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways. Establish Your word to Your servant, as that which produces reverence for You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, for Your ordinances are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me through Your righteousness. So now that we have a good background concerning the Law, next week we will begin our journey starting with the Ten Commandments.

Jesus Christ is Lord.
Amen.