Sunday
Morning Bible Study
April
20, 2008
Introduction
We’ve followed the nation of Israel as Moses has been used to bring these
people out of the slavery of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and now they are
camping at the foot of Mount Sinai, where they are going to meet with God.
God is going to speak and the nation is going to receive the “Law”, the
“Law of Moses”.
How do we handle the Law of Moses?
I often hear Christians say, “I’m not under the Law, I’m under grace”. Does this mean that there is no value in the
law?
Is it good or bad? Is it something we should pay attention to or something
we forget?
The New Testament gives us the proper way to look at the Law.
1.
Jesus didn’t come to get rid of
the Law.
He came to fulfill it.
(Mat 5:17-19 NKJV) "Do not think that I came to destroy the
Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. {18} "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven
and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law
till all is fulfilled. {19} "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of
these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
He came to fulfill it by actually obeying all the Law as well as fulfilling
the prophecies about the Messiah found in the Law.
Some Christians have such an unbalanced view of the Law to the extent that
they don’t even read the Old Testament.
That certainly doesn’t fit with what Jesus said.
He came to explain it.
(Mat 5:27-28 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said to
those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' {28} "But I say to you that
whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with
her in his heart.
If we’re not careful, we can make the Law into something too easy to
obey. We can pat ourselves on the back
thinking we’re God’s little perfect children, when we are simply twisting what
God really wants from us.
You will see Jesus getting into trouble with the religious leaders because
He doesn’t do what they want Him to do.
He came to straighten up and toss out man’s traditions and man’s
interpretations of the Law, but not God’s laws.
Imagine getting into trouble for healing a lame man on the
Sabbath.
2.
It shows us how sinful we are.
(Rom 3:20b NKJV) by the law
is the knowledge of sin.
(Rom 7:7b NKJV) …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."
Illustration
E-mail to good people
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior
that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out.
So he called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time. When the
angel returned, he told God, “Yes, it is bad on Earth. 95% are misbehaving and
5% are not. God thought for a moment and said, “Maybe I had better send down a
second angel to get another opinion.” So God called another angel and sent him
to Earth for a time too. When the angel returned he went to God and said, “Yes,
the Earth is in decline with 95% of the people misbehaving and 5% are being
good.” God was not pleased. So He decided to e-mail the 5% that were being good
because He wanted to encourage them....Give them a little encouragement to help
them keep going in the right direction. Do you know what that e-mail
said........?
I didn’t get one either.
The Bible says,
(Rom 3:23 NKJV) for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
3.
It is good.
(Rom 7:7a NKJV) What shall we say then? Is the law sin?
Certainly not!
(Rom 7:12 NKJV) Therefore
the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
(Psa 19:7 NKJV) The law of
the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple; {8} The
statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the
LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
Don’t get confused and start thinking that it is bad.
4.
It shows us our need for a
Savior.
(Gal 3:24 NKJV) Therefore
the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by
faith.
tutor – paidagogos – a
tutor i.e. a guardian and guide of boys. This wasn’t just an “afterschool
tutor”. This is more like the nanny,
like Mary Poppins, always with the children.
The Law’s purpose is to continually be around to show us our need for God,
to show us how much we need a Savior.
5.
It cannot save you.
If you ask some people what they need to do in order to go to heaven, they
will reply, “Keep the Ten Commandments”.
The Bible says,
(Rom 3:20a NKJV) Therefore
by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight
Why can’t we be saved by keeping the Law?
Because we can’t do it. James says,
(James 2:10 NKJV) For
whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of
all.
In other words, if you can live your whole life keeping nine of the
commandments but break one of them, then you are guilty of having broken God’s
Law. Have you ever lusted? Guilty as charged. Tell me you haven’t lusted? You just
lied. Guilty.
This is why Jesus came. He came to
die for us, to pay the price for our breaking the Law. And now all you and I need to do is to
believe in Jesus.
(Eph 2:8-9 NKJV) For by
grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God, {9} not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Over the last couple of weeks you’ve heard me talk about the terror of God,
His power, His majesty, and our inability to stand before Him.
Stop for a moment and listen to me.
This is why you need Jesus. Jesus
died for you. Jesus is the one who makes
things right between me and God. Jesus
is compassion and mercy.
6.
It becomes our model.
After a person comes to the Savior, things will change in their life. The Spirit of God will begin to work in their
life and change them from the inside out.
(Rom 8:3-4 NKJV) For what
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned
sin in the flesh, {4} that the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit.
As we begin to learn to allow God’s Spirit to work in our lives, He begins
to paint a picture with our lives. What
does that picture look like? It begins
to look a lot like the Law. Not man’s
traditions, but the pure, holy, lovely Law of God.
When we think of the Law as a template for living, we’re going to see that
some things fit closely into the Christian’s life and other things only become
principles to learn from.
Kinds of laws
I see the Law breaking down into three areas. Understanding these areas helps us understand
how we are to relate to the Law:
National laws
Laws that were intended to help Israel function as a nation.
For example – punishing adultery and other crimes with death,
guidelines on loans.
Though we as a nation ought to consider how God wanted His
people to be governed, we are not living in the ancient nation of Israel. You can’t go out and kill your cheating
spouse – it’s against the U.S. law.
Ceremonial laws
Laws that guide the nation of Israel in their relationship with God.
For example – sacrificial laws, how to perform a burnt
offering, what is clean and unclean, dietary laws
For the most part these are laws that point to Jesus
Christ. These are the laws that show us
how God is to be related to, and we see now that Jesus has completed and
fulfilled these things.
We can learn from the principles of these laws, but
especially we as Gentiles are not going to be obligated to these laws now that
Jesus has fulfilled them.
Some laws, like the dietary laws are clearly
finished. Jesus taught that all foods
are now acceptable (Mark 7:19)
General laws
Laws that are obviously applicable to all mankind
For example – “thou shalt not steal”. No getting around that one. Pay attention to these.
:1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
These “words” are going to be called the “Ten Commandments” because that’s
what God calls them (Ex. 34:28).
The Ten Commandments is also called by some the “Decalogue” which means
“Ten Words”
(Exo 34:28 NKJV) So he was there with the LORD forty days and
forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets
the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
The Hebrew word translated
“Commandments” (dabar) is actually the
simple word for “word”. We could call
the Ten Commandments the “Ten Words”.
Some refer to them as the “Decalogue”, which is Greek for “Ten Words”.
The same Hebrew word is what is
used in this verse, twice, “God dabared
all these dabars, saying:
The problem is, just how do you divide up everything from verse 1 to verse
17 into Ten Commandments?
Actually, there are several ways that it is done.
The problem is that God didn’t list the commands with a number after them.
Keep in mind, all three groups have the same text. Nobody eliminates any words. They just group them differently.
Law
|
Judaism
|
R.
Catholic,
Lutheran
|
Protestant
|
I am the LORD your God (:2)
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
No other gods before Me (:3)
|
2
|
No idols / graven images (:4-6)
|
2
|
God’s name not in vain (:7)
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
Sabbath (:8-11)
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
Honor parents (:12)
|
5
|
4
|
5
|
Don’t murder (:13)
|
6
|
5
|
6
|
Don’t commit adultery (:14)
|
7
|
6
|
7
|
Don’t steal (:15)
|
8
|
7
|
8
|
Don’t lie (:16)
|
9
|
8
|
9
|
Don’t covet neighbor’s house (:17a)
|
10
|
9
|
10
|
Don’t covet neighbor’s wife (:17b)
|
10
|
At this point, God will simply be speaking the Ten Commandments. It’s not until Exodus 24:12 that God will
write them on two tablets of stone.
:2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
The Jews consider this the first
commandment all by itself, the declaration of God’s name.
Context:
Remember what has just happened.
Boundaries around the mountain.
The people gathered at the foot of the mountain. A ram’s horn being sounded. Lightning.
Earthquake. God comes down in a
thick cloud on the top of the mountain.
The mountain is burning with fire.
Moses speaks and God answers. The
people are actually hearing the voice of God.
And now God clarifies who He is.
He is Yahweh (English: “LORD”)
He is the one who just brought them out of slavery in Egypt.
He’s not just some talking head sitting on a shelf trying to convince you
that He’s something special.
He has saved these people in a real, powerful, and dramatic fashion.
Shouldn’t they want to pay attention to what He says?
It’s one thing if a stranger off the street walks up to you and wants to
tell you how to live your life. But if
you’re in a hospital bed and the cardiologist who just saved your life with
quadruple bypass surgery walks into the room and makes a few suggestions about
changing your diet – wouldn’t you pay a little more attention?
:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
before – paniym
– face; presence; before and behind, toward, in front of, forward,
formerly, from beforetime, before
Lesson
God is number one
Are there other “gods” people worship in this day and age? Isn’t our world past the days of gods and
goddesses? Apparently not.
Illustration
Losing PlayStation privileges or being confined to a room would be hard
enough for most children, but at the tender age of ten, Sajani Shakya almost
lost her status as a living goddess. In the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, living goddesses—called
Kumari—are chosen from the same Hindu caste as Buddha and worshiped as deity.
As Sajani soon learned, with the elevated status came elevated expectations.
Under no circumstances was she ever to leave the country. Nepalese authorities
were outraged, then, when she chose to travel to the United States to
participate in a documentary that was being filmed about the Kumari tradition.
Upon her return, she received notification of termination from goddess status
from Jaiprasad Regmi, chief of the government trust that manages the affairs of
the living goddesses. However, after a little pressure from the public and
Sajani's own remorse, the government has since offered a reprieve. Sajani will
retain her title if she faithfully goes through an intense cleansing process
that washes her of the sins of the countries she has visited in her travels.
Associated Press
(Kathmandu) (7-21-07)
We might think this isn’t a problem with us since we don’t worship little
idols. Think again. This is about priorities.
What is a priority to me? Let’s
think about two areas of our lives that give us a hint as to what are our
priorities.
Time
When I was young and my mom asked me to help her out with something, she’d
often hear me respond, “I can’t help you mom, I don’t have time”. And she would respond, “Richard, you always
have time for the things you think are important.”
How important is God to you? How
important to you is it that you are doing the things that please God?
I’m not talking about whether you spend more time at
church or more time at work. There
should be no conflict in your life between going to work and pleasing God. God wants you to take care of your needs and
provide for your family.
Does God have a priority in your schedule?
Is going to church something you only do if you have the
chance, or is going to church something you purposely plan to do?
Is spending a few minutes with God praying and reading
something you plan to do, or just something you do when you have the chance?
My mom was right. You do make time
for the things that are important.
Illustration
A 2007 study by the Barna Group found that seven out of
ten adults choose their earthly family over their heavenly Father when asked to
choose the most important relationship to them. Of the 1,004 adults over the
age of 18 that were surveyed:
·
one-third said their entire nuclear family is
more important than God.
·
twenty-two percent named their spouse as the
most important relationship in their lives.
·
seventeen percent said their children were of
chief importance.
Interestingly, when asked to identify the most important
group or network in their life, 29 percent named their church.
Don’t misunderstand me – family is very important. But don’t make family your God. Make God number one.
Money
It was Martin Luther who said, “There are three conversions a person needs
to experience: The conversion of the head, the conversion of the heart, and the
conversion of the pocketbook.”
The rich young ruler.
When a young rich up-and-comer came to Jesus and asked
about eternal life, Jesus asked him if he had been keeping God’s
commandments. He said, “Of course”. Then Jesus said,
(Mat 19:21-22 NKJV) "If you want to be perfect, go, sell
what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me." {22} But when the young man heard that saying, he went
away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Was Jesus saying that we have to sell everything if we
want to go to heaven? No – He was
pointing out this young man’s “god”. He
was making it clear that this fellow cared more for his money than he did for
God.
The treasure principle. Jesus said,
(Mat 6:19-21 NKJV) "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
{20} "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. {21} "For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Is your heart with God?
Then your treasures ought to show it.
If the person sitting next to you went through your check register or
your credit card receipts, could they tell that you are in love with God?
Four Spiritual Law
pictures
I remember years ago as a young Christian becoming acquainted with a little
tract called “The Four Spiritual Laws”.
At the end of the booklet, there were two pictures with two circles. Each circle represented a person’s life with
a throne in the middle of the circle.
The question was, “Who is sitting on the throne of your life?”
When “Self” is sitting on the throne, our lives are a mess.
When we ask Jesus
into our heart and put Him on the throne, He begins to change our lives.
What do I do if I’ve let other things creep into first place
in my life?
God told Gideon to tear down the altar to Baal and build a
new altar to God (Judg. 6)
Perhaps there are things that need to be moved around in
your life to get your priorities right.
Illustration
If any athlete was known for focus, it was Michael Jordan.
In Jordan’s book, Driven from Within, Fred Whitfield, president and
chief operating officer of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats basketball team, tells a
fascinating story about something Jordan did while getting ready to go out one
evening. When Jordan asked if he could borrow a jacket from Whitfield, he found
that Whitfield’s closet was filled with both Nike and Puma products. The Nike
outfits had been given to Whitfield because of his relationship with Jordan,
who had a lucrative contract with the company. The Puma outfits had been given
to Whitfield because of his relationship with ex-basketball player and Puma
representative Ralph Sampson. Whitfield recalls that Jordan walked into the
living room, laid all the Puma gear on the floor, and went into the kitchen to
grab a butcher knife. When Jordan returned to the living room, he proceeded to
cut all of the Puma clothes to shreds. He then picked up the scraps and carried
everything to the dumpster. Once Jordan came back inside, he turned to Fred and
said, “Don’t ever let me see you in anything other than Nike. You can’t ride
the fence!”
Why should we love
God?
We’re looking at commandment #1.
It’s not too different from what is known as the “Greatest Commandment”
(Mat 22:37 NKJV)
…'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your mind.'
This is what it means to put God first.
We love Him. Why?
We
love Him because He first loved us.
God loved us so much that He gave us His Son.
God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
Who is on the
throne of your life?