The Ten Commandments - 1
A Great Salvation
Over the next twelve studies we are going to discover together what the true and living God says in His perfect law. This law is known as "The Ten Commandments" and it is found in the Old Testament of the Bible. These laws are very special because all the other commands and messages of God were given through His prophets, but this part of Scripture is spoken and written by God Himself. You will find these commandments recorded in the Book of the Exodus and chapter 20, and they begin like this, in verses 1 and 2: "And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
The living God is the God of all wisdom and all authority and He is the creator of all life and therefore He has the right to give us His laws. Notice that these verses start with the phrase, "God spoke ALL these words." We are to be certain that all that is to follow, that is the ten commandments, are the very words of God Himself. All that He was about to communicate to His servant Moses was to be God's moral law for all mankind. Here were rules to instruct us that would be unalterable and they are still in force today. These laws, written by the finger of God, are a demonstration of His love for us for they were given to mankind as clear instructions and for our good.
We read in Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 13 concerning this:
"You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good."
What would humanity be without rules and laws and the means to enforce them? It would be even more wild and wicked than it already is! Human laws are fallible and they often fail us, but God's laws are infallible and they never fail because they are based on love: love for God and love for our fellow-man.
An early Christian writer called Thomas Watson has said that the Ten Commandments are "a chain of pearls to adorn us; they are our treasury to enrich us; they are more precious than lands of spices and rocks of diamonds." The Psalmist, King David of Israel, said in Scripture: "The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold."
In Exodus 20 verse 2, God tells us three things about Himself. He tells us that He is the God who keeps His promises to His people - He is the Covenant-keeping God. He is the Redeemer and He is the Liberator.
Our verse starts with the declaration: "I am the Lord your God." He uses the name 'Jehovah', the name which signifies His self-sufficiency, and His eternity, and the fact that He never changes. He says to His people, "I am your God". Here is something personal, not just for the people as a whole, but for each individual. The eternal God desires a personal relationship with us as individuals. If you are a Christian, He is yourGod, not only because He is your Creator, but because He has chosen you, redeemed you and set you free from your sins through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who know Christ as their Saviour speak of the Living God as "Our Rock"; Our "Strong Tower" and "Our Salvation." The Christian speaks of God as "Our Father", the One who is tender and caring, the "Father of mercies", who is from everlasting to everlasting. It is a wonderful privilege to belong to the Lord God. So, there is a very special relationship between Christians and Jehovah, the Lord. This relationship is based on God's Covenant sealed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus when He gave His life on the cross for the sins of mankind. Christians are in covenant union with the Living God, and His covenants can never be broken by Him.
We discover next that the Lord Jehovah is "The Redeemer." He goes on to say, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Egypt was the place of false religion, where the Living God was not known or worshipped. It corresponds to the place of slavery to sin and all that that implies.
The Children of Israel were brought out of Egypt by a series of miracles and their deliverance was made notable by its greatness. After Joseph died, they settled down in the land and it became attractive to them for a time until circumstances changed. They should never have remained in Egypt, for Canaan was their promised inheritance. In Egypt there wasn't just cruel oppression, but the evils of idolatry as well.
Ten times in the Old Testament of the Bible, the Lord reminds the people, "I brought you out of Egypt." Before people are brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they live, as it were, in a "spiritual Egypt." Before Israel was brought out of the land of slavery by God's mighty hand, they were also delivered from the angel of death by the killing of the Passover lamb. The shed blood of those lambs protected them from the awful and righteous judgement of God upon Egypt. The Christian, too, has been delivered from judgement and from slavery to sin by the sacrifice of God's own Son on the cross of Calvary, and by His glorious resurrection. Christian friend, never forget what it is you have been delivered from by Jehovah, your Redeemer.
In this verse God tells us a third thing about Himself: He tells us that He is "The Liberator." He says, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." He is the one who set them free from the place of idolatry and enslavement. The Christian has been delivered from the worship of false gods and from the bondage of sin. Every deliverance is different as we see in the experiences recorded for us in Scripture: Israel were not delivered immediately from Egypt, but when deliverance came it was swift; Joseph was freed from prison in a day; Saul of Tarsus was brought to his knees in a moment on the Damascus road.
Friend, if you are still bound by your sins, God wants to deliver you, to be your liberator, to set your free from sin's penalty and power, and He can do it now! It was Augustine who once said, "I was held before my conversion, not with an iron chain but with the obstinacy of my own will." Sin is the enslaver of mankind and it is called a law because of its binding power.
No one can be justified in the sight of God by keeping His law because we have already fallen short of its standard. Of ourselves we cannot keep God's law for we are all sinful by nature. The Scriptures tell us that God's law is "a schoolmaster" to drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ. It drives us to Christ when we realise that we have broken it and we cannot keep it. The only way we can be justified by God is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ Who died on the cross to bear away the sin of the world - your sins and mine.
The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the promises of the covenant-keeping God. He came to redeem lost sinners and to liberate the slaves of sin and Satan. Only He fulfilled all of God's law and by His death on the cross He paid the redemption price. By His resurrection from the dead He is able to liberate captives and set them free from the law of sin and death, and to deliver them from eternal judgement.
So, we have discovered that the Living God is the Covenant-keeping God, the Redeeming God and the Liberating God. If you are a Christian, rejoice today in all that this mighty and loving God has done for you. If you are not a Christian turn to Christ who will set you free from your sin and make you a child of the Living God.
Until next time, when we shall discover the first of God's commandments which is: "You shall have no other gods before me" - goodbye and the Lord be with you.