EXODUS: Then Ten Commandments, and How Christ Jesus Fulfills the Requirements on Our Behalf; Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”

Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. (Exodus 19:24-25)

In the previous lesson, we studied that Mount Sinai is the place where the Lord God originally spoke with Moses before he returned to Egypt (Exodus 3); and it's the place where the Lord God told him, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12)

Now that they had returned there, Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain,... (Exodus 19:3) The Lord God made a conditional promise to the children of Israel, "...if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

From Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to the Lord God bringing them out of Egypt, the only difference between them and any other nation of people was two main things: 

1. God established a covenant with them beginning with Abraham, "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you." (Genesis 17:10-11)

2. God repeatedly showed them favor over their enemies, which He expressed clearly while they were in Egypt during the plagues, "And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell,... in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a difference between My people and your people." (Exodus 8:22-23)

In these two ways, God differentiated the children of Israel from all other peoples on the earth. Now, He would given them specific commandments on how they were to behave in order to represent Him before all the nations they would encounter. God instructed Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. (Exodus 19:9)

Now, Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. Afterwards, And God spoke all these words, saying:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:1-3)

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6) 

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (Exodus 20:7) 

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11) 

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12) 

“You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13) 

“You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)

“You shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15) 

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16) 

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17) 

If we want to be a special treasure to God above all people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, then we have to obey His voice and keep His covenant. Christ Jesus clearly stated, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 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." (Matthew 5:17-18) We must remember that God is not as concerned with us being happy or wealthy or healthy as He is with us being "holy", because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:16) But thanks be to God, we and also the children of Israel don't have to try and be holy on our own, because we know from experience, ... the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. (Romans 7:12)

But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. (Romans 7:13-20) 

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:21-25) The ten commandments were a list of things in and of ourselves we couldn't obey any better than the children of Israel would be able to obey.

But, thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord; There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 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, 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. (Romans 8:1-4)

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:18-21) 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves." (Exodus 20:22-23)

God does not tempt us, but He does tests us, to help us see where we fall short of meeting His holy requirements, and then to help us grow in our holiness, through growing in our faith and dependence in Him. Also, He is a jealous God, Who desires that we have no other gods before Him, even if it requires that He test us, and that His fear may be before us, so that we may not sin. But thanks be to God, ... if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (I John 2:1-2) AMEN!