Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 19
God’s law is there for our good and the good of others
When you buy a car you get a Driver’s Manual to instruct you in how to get the best out of your vehicle. When you get a prescription for medicine you get a How-to-use pamphlet to tell you how to maximise the benefit you can get from the medicine. The Driver’s Manual says to run the car on petrol. What would you think of someone who decided to disregard that and run it on diesel because it’s cheaper? Some people may admit this has happened to them by mistake but would anyone admit to doing that deliberately?
In the same way one needs to take one’s medicine as prescribed. If you take too much medicine or take it at the wrong times, the medicine will not help you get better as quickly as it might and it may even harm you.
All board games, radios, washing machines and DVD players come with sets of instructions so that they work trouble-free and effectively. Ignoring, misinterpreting or misapplying the instructions can lead to poor performance or damage to the appliance. Lots of advice and lots of instructions are all there so that you get the best out of a product. You would be silly to ignore them.
It is the same for us. God our maker gave his people in the desert a set of instructions. We call them the Ten Commandments. God wanted his people to live life to the full, to avoid problems, and live safe lives. Ignoring, misinterpreting or misapplying the instructions can lead to poor performance or damage to us and our lives.
The Ten Commandments deal with areas of life that need to be handled with care.
We can get into trouble in our relationships with other people. Advice is needed and the last six commands provide it. Our parents – they deserve to be respected. Human life is valuable – we must not kill. Marriage is precious – don’t take someone’s partner. God has given us possessions – don’t take what belongs to someone else. We need to trust people – don’t lie to them. God gives us enough to live on – don’t get distressed by becoming discontented and envying what others have got.
But the first four commands aim to put us right with God himself. Being right with God comes before being right with people. Put God first. Avoid images of God which limit our understanding of him. Treat his name with respect. And keep his day special. (We do not need images of God because human beings are made in God’s image.)
These Ten Commandments are advice from a loving father. God’s Law, in Hebrew, is called ‘Torah’ which means ‘fatherly instruction’. They are not commands from a dictator determined to spoil our life. The advice is there to ensure we get the best from life. God’s law is for both our good and for the good of other people. It’s hard not to be aware of the mayhem that breaking God’s law can cause other people. In NZ we are told to drive on the left side of the road. This is for our own safety and everyone else’s too. Problems arise when someone makes an error of judgement and finds themselves going the wrong way up a motorway. The consequences in the areas covered by God’s law are just as serious.
God’s law is there to delight us
God’s people compared God’s law to something precious, like gold. Why is gold precious? It is rare, valuable and doesn’t rust. The psalmist says God’s law is like this. No one else has a set of guidelines like it. It is permanently relevant. Read Psalm 19:10. ‘The commands of the Lord are more precious than the finest gold.’
Why is honey special? It tastes good. It protects our health. For example a report in December 2007 stated that: ‘A clinical trial has found that honey is more effective at soothing a sore throat than a common active ingredient in children’s cough medicines.’ It is the same with God’s law. The commands of the Lord are ‘sweeter than the purest honey’ (Psalm 19:10). Jewish children were encouraged to act out this truth. When they first began to learn the Law for themselves, around the age of 5, they were given a slate on which were written some verses about the Law. The teacher put some honey on the slate and the child licked the honey from the letters. It symbolised the fact that the child was going to study the law and take delight in it and it would do them good.
God’s law sets our lifestyle
Exodus 20 is a climactic moment in Israel’s history. Through Moses, God announces the standards (called ‘words’, better known as the Ten Commandments) by which they will live their lives as his people. They are not just rules and regulations.
It is crucial to remember that obeying the law does not make them God’s people. They are God’s people because God himself chose to make them his and to bring them out of slavery (Exodus 20:1 -3). They did not have to earn his favour; they already had his love. That is why he must be the only object of their worship (vs 4-7). It all starts with God, not what they must do. Because you are God’s people this is how you live.
The fourth commandment equally ties the day of rest to God’s action as creator. God did not say, “You function best if you rest one day in 7.” He actually said, “I insist that one day in 7 is not about you. And hopefully it will remind you that life is not about you.”
The fifth commandment explicitly connects respect for parents with God’s promise of the land. The five remaining commandments are to characterise their behaviour towards each other.
Celebrate God’s law because it is good
Psalm 19 is one of several Bible passages (like Psalm 119 – which is much longer) which celebrate the wonder of God’s law. Some knowledge of God may be discovered in the creation, as we heard in vs 1-6, but knowledge of his moral perfection and beauty comes chiefly through his revealed word (vs 7-14). This spells out that the law revives and gives joy (vs 7,8) and mediates truth (vs 9,10). If believers know and obey God’s law, they will not sin. The law is not a burden but a joy, something to be grateful for and enthusiastically studied.
God’s law is often ignored, misinterpreted and misapplied
How important is the law? Jesus got angry about what some people were doing to it. We saw this in John 2:13-22. Jesus was angry because in the temple – of all places – God’s commandments should have been most visible, yet people were cheating others in the process of buying and selling the animals and doves which were required as sacrifices.
They made the Temple a marketplace. We are God’s temple. Are we making a marketplace of ourselves? Whose economics do you follow? God’s or the world’s?
The Sabbath is for God – one day a week dedicated to him. Gen1: God made the Sabbath holy. The tithe is for God – 10% dedicated to him. Both of these are strong reminders that in fact all our time and all our property belongs to God.
We are what we eat
The Bible is our standard to judge truth. You have your own Bibles. You can also take the truth with you in your hearts and minds. We are what we eat, so feed on the Word of God and live godly lives. Say with me: Lord, your words are sweeter than honey. Help us to feed on your truth.