One Year Bible, Friday February 4th - God Gives Moses the Ten Commandments
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As the saying goes, "Where there is smoke there is fire!" In this case when there was smoke there, was the fire of the Lord.
1..Though God had told Moses to mark off a boundary so that the people would not cross it and die, now God tells Moses to bring the priests up after they were purified.
2. Moses reminds the Lord that he had said the priests should not come up, but nonetheless the Lord tells Moses to bring Aaron with him.
The Ten Commandments
In the Mosaic covenant God promised Moses and the Israelites if they obeyed him, He would bless them. And he gave Moses these commandments to give to the people.
1. You must have no other god(s) except me.
2.You must not make an image or idol of any kind.
3. You must not misuse the name of the Lord.
4. Honor the Sabbath Day (the 7th day) and keep it holy.
5. Honor Your father and mother
6. You must not murder
7. You must not commit adultery
8. You must not steal
9. You must not testify falsely about your neighbor.
10. Do not covet your neighbor's property or spouse.
The ten commandments have been at the center of our civlization's moral code for thousands of years. Someone has said we don't "break the law", we "break ourselves against the law". God's law is holy and unchanging and it does not move.
Fair Treatment of Slaves
Slaves were often mistreated in Jesus day and taken advantage of. Moses sets the provisions to treat them properly.
1. Every seventh year is a year of jubilee where the slaves are free to go on their own.
2. If the slave is single he can go alone. If he was married before he became a slave, he could take his wife with him.
3. If his master gave him a wife, the children and wife must stay with the master.
4. There are various other provisions for a slave's daughter depending on if she wants to stay with the master and marry one of his sons.
Cases of Personal Injury
You have heard it said, "an eye for eye" and that is certainly the operating principle here.
1. If a person kills an innocent person, they must be put to death.
2. If it was a acccident, the killer will be given a city of refuge to hide out in.
3. Anyone who strikes a father or mother must be put to death.
4. And other penalties for any kind of harm to parents, slaves or other people
While obeying the Ten Commandments does not save us, they will lead us into the life God has called us to live. But we all know we cannot keep the commandments. They are like a mirror that shows us our true nature and how far short we fall of God's standard of perfection. The Law reveals our need for a Savior, who can bridge the gap between our sinfulness and God's holiness as depicted in today's passage. Thanks be to God there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
1. Jesus again today lambasts the Pharisees because they have the gall to erect walls to try and block people from entering God's kingdom.
2. Seven times he says the phrase, "What sorrow awaits you!" These leaders will be help accountable for their shepherding of the people. There is nothing God hates more than hypocrisy.
3. Their basic problem is that they try to make themselves look great on the outside, but they are corrupt on the inside. They are like whitewashed tombs. They look clean on the outside, but are a rotting corpse on the inside. They clean the outside of the cup, but it is stained on the inside. Kind of like my coffee cup after three days.
4. These are the same leaders who persecuted and killed the prophets. They will held responsible for their actions.
5. Finally, Jesus grieves over Jerusalem. He longs to bring them in, like a hen gathers in their chicks. One day they welcome home in saying, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
There are religious leaders and other religions that also exhibit the same hypocrisy. The leaders lay heavy burdens on their people, they themselves are unable to carry. Worse yet, they do not obey their own teaching. In reality every other religion beside Christianity is man's way of trying to appease God, but in Christ, God was in the world reconciling the world to himself!
It's not "do", it's "done"!
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