Pt. 5, The Biblical Story - The 10 Commandments

 
God’s Expectations... What Works and What does not Work in the Laws of Real Life Pt 5, The Biblical Story, New Commands and a New Covenant: Exodus 19-20; 24-25; 32-34; 40 By Pastor Dan Kennedy © February 2, 2014 www.pastorkennedy.com The Story of the Potter’s House Jeremiah 18:1–10 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” What do we learn from God’s sending Jeremiah down to the Potter’s House? • What happens when a piece of clay is marred? If a piece of clay is marred in the Potter’s hands, he can remake the clay into whatever shape he chooses…he is the potter and the clay is shaped by the potter. • How does this lesson apply to people or nations that become marred through evil? If God is dealing with a people or nation that He has blessed and that nation becomes corrupt and does evil in God’s sight, God can choose to uproot, tear down and destroy that nation, and He can remake it as He wills – (even if it means grafting in the gentiles to be part of the “vine” – Rom. 11:13-36). • What happens to people or nations that repent from evil? If that people or nation repents and returns to God, then God can choose to relent and not inflict disaster on that nation, but instead build and plant that nation for good and blessing. There could be many questions or observations we could make about this story, but what if you had never seen the Bible or heard anything about God? How would you know what is good or what is bad in God’s eyes? What could be primary questions for a person who hears the story of the Potter, who does not know about God? • How does a person, a people or a nation know what is evil or not in God’s sight? • What will bring judgment and disaster upon a person or nation from God? • What is good, right and pleasing in the sight of God, so God will bring true and lasting blessing on an individual, people or nation who pleases Him? There are Many Laws in our World: Natural and Spiritual The Structural Order of our Universe is Sustained through Natural Laws Our physical world is full of laws, which give order if enacted, and chaos if broken – without which nothing in our natural world would have stability. Listings of a few of these constant natural structures humans have discovered and called laws are as follows: • Newton's Three Laws of Motion • The "Law" of Gravity • Conservation of Mass-Energy • Conservation of Momentum • Laws of Thermodynamics • Electrostatic Laws • Invariance of the Speed of Light • Modern Physics & Physical Laws o Such as relativity and quantum mechanics • etc., etc., etc. from: http://physics.about.com/od/physics101thebasics/p/PhysicsLaws.htm When “Natural Laws” are broken there are dire consequences: Nothing in the natural world will work properly if it doesn’t follow its God-given structure. For example – if the law of gravity was suddenly removed, the world would be in chaos. International Law and Order Man’s attempt to legislate order, structure and peace in his or her world is always primarily accomplished through the establishment and enforcement of its “laws”. • Anarchy rules in a country without the restraint of laws and the power to enforce them. • The Unites States prides itself that we honor the “Rule of Law” in our democracy, through the Judicial System, not the absolute power wielded by the whims of a dictator. The Code of Hammurabi Several hundred years before Moses stood on Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from Jehovah God, there was a ruler in Babylon who encoded 282 laws which he reported came from his god. This is the earliest archeological record of the codification of laws for a nation. In BC 1770’s, Hammurabi was the sixth ruler of Babylon Empire, in the ancient Iraq (formerly Mesopotamia). He recorded 282 laws for his kingdom, some 3,800 years ago, which we now call the Code of Hammurabi. These laws are preserved on a 7’ 4” stone slab (stele) using 44 columns of cuneiform script in 28 Akkadian language paragraphs. Nearly half of Hammurabi’s Codes dealt with matters of contract, terms of a transaction, and wages, adjusted for several “classes” of people in his kingdom. Here are some examples of of Hammurabi’s laws: Ex. Law #127: "If any one ‘point the finger’ at a sister of a god or the wife of any one, and can not prove it, this man shall be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked. (by cutting the skin, or perhaps hair.)" Ex. Law #133: "If a man is taken prisoner in war, and there is a sustenance in his house, but his wife leave house and court, and go to another house: because this wife did not keep her court, and went to another house, she shall be judicially condemned and thrown into the water." Ex. Law #265: "If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been entrusted, be guilty of fraud and make false returns of the natural increase, or sell them for money, then shall he be convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss." Ex. Law #22: "If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death." The following is one of the most well known laws of Hammurabi. It reveals the scaled or “graded” punishments, which Hammurabi decreed depending on which level of social strata an individual found themselves – Babylonian citizens, freed men, or slaves. Ex. Law #196. "If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one mana of silver. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave he shall pay one-half his price. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi] Universal Laws – What Laws work and what do not work in Real Life? • Does God have universal laws for the world? • If those in the world do not follow these Laws are there consequences? • What are the consequences? • Is there any way for a person to be forgiven the guilt of breaking God’s Laws? Right and Wrong is Universally Embedded in All our Hearts To begin with…everyone is born with an understanding of right and wrong. Our Creator gave us a subliminal comprehension of good and bad. We call this our “conscience”. One day our own conscience will accuse us or excuse us at God’s Judgment! Romans 2:14–16 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. It is only after repeated willful misuse and abuse of our conscience, that a callousness forms over our mind causing this inner “voice-with-guilt” to fade. God can “give us over” to deeper and darker depravity, with a greater and more powerful spiritual obsession searing our conscience, willingly causing us to aggressively repel what we had previously known to be true – and what, in God’s Presence, is True. While our own thoughts about these internal “laws” may vacillate, becoming more sensitive to, or become more gravely corrupted against these “laws” embedded deeply within us – these God-embedded Laws in our conscience will, on the Day of Judgment, even bear witness (accusing or excusing us) on how we had lived our life and responded to God’s Truth. 1 Corinthians 4:5 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. God defined and recorded the “laws” embedded in our conscience, in the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. • How does a person, a people or a nation know what is evil or not in God’s sight? o They can observe God’s conscious Laws written in the Ten Commandments. • What will bring judgment and disaster upon a person or nation from God? o Those who break God’s Laws in conscience and in deed. Jehovah God, through Moses, gave us Ten Commandments which are the foundation for any stable society. They, in a basic form, are recorded below: Exodus 20:2–17 1. “I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before me.” 2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them….” 3. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” 4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” 5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” 6. “You shall not murder.” 7. “You shall not commit adultery.” 8. “You shall not steal.” 9. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” 10. “You shall not covet.” These Laws are given by God, who created all things. They are Universal – for everyone. They work because they were given by the One who made us. They are foundational in the “Users Manual” of our Creator. If they are broken, the guilt of breaking them will eventually break down those guilty of not keeping them and destroy the society surrounding those people. God gave us His Commandments and they are just, right and true. What might be the strangest commandment of all the 10 Commandments? 1. “Have no other gods before me.” 2. “Do not make for yourself an idol.” 3. “Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” 4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” 5. “Honor your father and your mother.” 6. “Do not murder.” 7. “Do not commit adultery.” 8. “Do not steal.” 9. “Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.” 10. “Do not covet.” I think the most unusual Commandment is the 4th Commandment. 4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Employers tell their employees to work harder. Parents teach their children to “work hard” to get ahead. The gods of other religions require the opposite of this commandment: “Work harder to please me – every day of the week!” “Work longer hours, put in greater effort; bring in a lot of people to help you accomplish more for my cause and worship me with greater intensity.” • Everyone else in the world requires more work and a higher quality of work for them, if they are to be honored! But, this is what Jehovah God said to His People: Exodus 20:8–11 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Jehovah God said to His People, “Stop working and rest, to honor Me.” “Do this every seven days!” And take long rests on seven special occasions throughout the year, every year! Doesn’t that seem a little strange for God to tell His people? “Rest, don’t work!” It gets even stranger. God said, “If you don’t rest on the sabbath you should be killed!” Now is that taking things a little bit too far? What is going on here? Exodus 31:14 14 "`Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'" Exodus 35:2-3 2 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. 3 Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day." Numbers 15:32-36 32 While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34 and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." 36 So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses. The Sabbath Day commandment wasn’t just another “commandment”. In the truest sense, it was a “Mortally Punishable” Commandment. When this Commandment was broken, the transgressor was punished with death. What was so critical about keeping the Sabbath that failing to rest on the seventh day was a “sin worthy of death”? Mortal Consequences: This can only be understood through a critical spiritual parallel seen in a personal relationship with Christ, which we will see clarified later in the message. Why is the Sabbath a Unique Law? What makes keeping the Sabbath Law different from all of the other commandments? • Everyone knows if you are keeping the Sabbath or not. o You can worship another god in your heart without anyone knowing it. o You can have a secret “god shelf” at home, and worship those gods besides Jehovah. o You can curse God in your mind, without anyone knowing. o You can secretly despise, hold grudges and do things against your father and mother without anyone but God knowing. o You can plant little hints or question marks of disgust which undermine people’s trust in those you don’t like, or those you want to destroy. You can murder anyone, through gossip, with supposed impunity. o Your heart can be filled with lust, but you can look good on the outside. o You can pilfer any amount of things, if you have no conscience, and get away with it…sometimes. o You can lie about others, or about what you have done – especially if lying makes you look good and covers your own mistakes. Lying can become a treasured part of your arsnel of personal weapontry against anyone who may want to undermine you. o Who knows if you covet what others may have? You’re not going to tell! • Ah, the Sabbath! If you want to look good, just keep the Sabbath! Go to church on the right day at the right time, survive the service (you can even sleep, if you want to), feed the poor, give some money, smile, shake hands, and walk out unscathed. Everyone will think you are a pristine Christian! That’s what many of the legalistic Jews in Jesus’ time did. • A good part of the legalistic Jews hatred for Jesus was that He didn’t obviously keep the Sabbath Day the way they taught it should be kept! (Jesus didn’t “keep” the Sabbath: He IS the Sabbath!) • They wanted to kill Jesus for His “lack of respect” for the Sabbath! o He and his disciples actually picked grain in the fields on the Sabbath, and ate it! (Luke 6:1-2) That was a no-no. o He healed the sick on the Sabbath – they watched any sick folk in the crowd very closely to catch Jesus in the very act of the desecration of the Sabbath! (Matt. 12:10; Luke 6:7; 13:14; 4:3) What did “keeping the Sabbath” mean to those who legalistically kept it? Obviously keeping the Sabbath actually became the “legalist’s” certification before everyone else that they were the ones who were the true believers, pleasing to God! The real meaning of the Sabbath Rest was totally lost. Jesus told the legalist’s who outwardly honored the Sabbath like it gave them salvation, that they were actually children of the devil and were destined for hell! (Matt. 23:33; John 8:44) They meticulously followed the “Law” wanting to look good to others but they sadly had neglected what counts with God: “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.” Instead of “God’s Rest” on the inside, they found themselves full of greed and self-indulgence (Matt. 23:23-25). The Law was given by God to establish the Standard of His Holiness; to reveal the depth of our sin and the world’s desperate need of a Savior-Redeemer, Jesus Christ who would give us true “Rest”. Galatians 3:24–25 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian… God is more concerned about who we really are than about what we act like we are. • God is more concerned about the reality of our Spiritual person truly “Resting and Honoring Him” than the legalities of “looking like we are resting” when we are actually “working ourselves sick” to be pleasing to God! • God is more concerned about our true spiritual health, through “resting” faith, than our “spiritual deeds” worked out feverishly through our own fleshly will and manipulation. Let your spiritual mind work through this statement on the intent of God’s “Sabbath Rest” for His People: Hebrews 4:1-11 1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, `They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." 5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. “Today, if you hear His Voice, harden not your heart.” Rest is something we “don’t do” to please God; we accept His Gift of Salvation by faith. Christ, our Savior is our true “SABBATH REST”. Resting in His Salvation is the beginning of NEW LIFE, and through it we are spiritually transformed by His Spirit, to be a Child of God. Colossians 2:16-17 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. • When Christ came, He gave us a New Covenant, sealed with His blood. It was not established on accomplishing more works, but “resting” in faith on His finished work. That is the completed goal of the Sabbath Rest. Resting in Christ for our finished Salvation is what “Sabbath Rest” truly means. 1 Corinthians 11:25 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 2 Corinthians 3:4–6 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. So, why did God give us the Ten Commandments, generally, and the Sabbath Rest Law, specifically? Very Simply: 1. The Ten Commandments gives the greatest guidelines for people how to live and nations how to govern. 2. The Ten Commandments revealed to the whole world that no one could keep God’s Laws perfectly but that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). 3. No one can please God through his or her own works. We are “saved” only by God’s grace through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ (Titus 3:5). 4. Those who accept Jesus Christ to cleanse their sins and are born again by God’s Spirit find the Sabbath Rest that God promises to His Children. Mortal Consequences: The Old Testament consequences of not honoring the Sabbath day is in fact a critical spiritual parallel seen in a personal relationship with Christ. Those who do not find their Rest in Christ, face the Spiritual consequences of eternal death with horrible outcomes. The Law of the Sabbath Rest reveals the greatest reason for these commandments: the Sabbath Rest of Faith in Christ, our Savior and Redeemer! Jesus Christ is the Sabbath Rest that God has promised, from the beginning of Creation, to all who will come to Him. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30 Addendum The Scripture clearly informs us that we cannot work to obtain the eternal rest of Salvation. It is only through Christ’s Sacrifice, and it is only by Grace through Faith. Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 3:27–28 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Galatians 2:16 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. The Righteous Shall Live by Faith Galatians 3:10–11 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” Ephesians 2:8–9 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Titus 3:5 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit… http://www.pastorkennedy.comhttp://physics.about.com/od/relativisticmechanics/a/relativity.htmhttp://physics.about.com/od/quantumphysics/p/quantumphysics.htmhttp://physics.about.com/od/physics101thebasics/p/PhysicsLaws.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform_scripthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi%5Dshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6