Ten Commandments Introduction
We will begin working through the Ten Commandments today. Well, today will be the setup to the Ten Commandments. We can’t understand what is happening here unless we understand the context that surrounds the giving of the Ten Commandments.
Today we will see that the Commandments were given, not out of thin air but in context of a relationship with the Lord. The covenant with God is primary and the commands are part of that binding together of God and His people.
“In the Ancient Near East, an international treaty form developed which apparently was shared among the nations. References to such treaties go back to the third millennium B.C. In recent years, actual treaty texts have been discovered among the archives of the Hittite empire.”
O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Covenants
And there is a reason that this is so important. We see an incredible amount of similarities between the patters of these early treaties and Exodus 19-24. This also seems to be the pattern for the entire book of Deuteronomy.
These treaties were agreements or covenants between 2 parties. Most often it was a conquering king or a powerful king. The less powerful party would join in covenant with the powerful king. These were called Suzerain Covenants.
According to O. Palmer Robertson,
“The most essential elements of the treaty form included:
- A preambulatory declaration of the lordship of the conquering suzerain.
- An historical prologue emphasizing past acts of benevolence.
- An extensive defining of stipulations involving both demands for heart-loyalty and requirements for specific action.
- Provisions for the official depositing duplicate copies of the treaty documents in the presence of the respective gods of vassal and suzerain.
- An invocative witness, often involving the summoning of inanimate objects.
- A statement of potential curses and blessings related to covenant fealty.”—O. Palmer Robertson, “The Christ of the Covenants”
Interestingly, it doesn’t take long to see the similarity between the Ancient Hittite treaties and the Ten Commandments.
- Exodus 20:2 does function as a preambulatory declaration of a conquering king
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Exodus 20:2 NASB
2. Exodus 19:4-6 and Exodus 20:2 do function as a historical prologue that emphasize past acts of benevolence.
‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and [how] I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
Exodus 19:4-6 NASB
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Exodus 20:2 NASB
3. This longer section, that I will not copy here, does seem to function as an extensive defining of stipulations involving both demands for heart-loyalty and requirements for specific action. It is found in Exodus 20:3-24:2.
4. Then, provisions for the official depositing duplicate copies of the treaty documents in the presence of the respective gods of vassal and suzerain. This would be why there are multiple tablets.
12 Now the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.”
Exodus 24:12 NASB
If this is correct, then all the commands were written on each tablet.
29 It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony [were] in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.
Exodus 34:29 NASB
And this would also be why the tablets of the testimony were put into the ark.
20 Then he took the testimony and put [it] into the ark, and attached the poles to the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.
Exodus 40:20 NASB
5. I will admit that I do not see an invocative witness, nor do I see inanimate objects summoned as witnesses. Yet, this could be the reason for the people coming to witness what was said in Exodus 24:1-8. I simply am not sure.
6. The potential curses are not really present in the Book of Exodus, but they are extensive in the Book of Deuteronomy.
All of this leads me to the conclusion, like most scholars, that the giving of the Ten Commandments was done very much like other Ancient Near Eastern treaties.
Now, this may seem rather unimportant. And, no doubt, some people who hear this will yawn through it. But, why is it important to know this about the context of the Ten Commandments?
The Commandments are given within the context of a relationship. They were not just dropped out of Heaven with a “Do These Things” flashing sign beside them. God delivered them to His people in the context of a covenant.
There is another lesson to be learned from all this. God speaks to us in ways that we understand. God very well could have dropped these commands down from Heaven with a flashing sign that said “Do These Things”, but He did not. He delivered the Ten Commandments in a way that people of that day understood. God has always delivered His Word in ways that could be understood. He spoke to His people in Hebrew, their language. He delivered His Word in Hebrew and then in Koine Greek in the New Testament. Koine is not Classical Greek, it’s Common or Vulgar Greek. And here we see God communicated the Ten Commandments in a way that His people could understand. It was done in the method of covenant used commonly in their day.
Because the Ten Commandments were not just given as God’s demands to people. The covenant relationship is primary. It is part of the binding together of God and His people. They were given within the context of God’s covenant with His people. As the great Puritan writer, Thomas Watson said in his book on the Ten Commandments,
“There is love in every command. It is as if a king would command one of his subjects to dig in a gold mine, and then let him keep the gold for himself.”
Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments: Life Application of the Ten Commandments With Additional Chapters On Sin, Salvation, Prayer, And More
The Ten Commandments came down to a people that God loved and cared for. And they come to us today in the same manner. And if you think about this in a historical way, the Covenant made at Mt Sinai was not the first covenant God made with His people. The Abrahamic Covenant existed first.
17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.
Galatians 3:17 NASB
The giving of the Law did not annul God’s promise to Abraham. It was laid upon the promise for a period of time and did not invalidate God’s Covenant with Abraham.
And why do I mention this?
The Ten Commandments were given to a people that God loved and cared for, and had already pledged Himself to. We should not think of the Ten Commandments as God killing the joy of some people at Mt. Sinai. God gave them in the context of love.
Are The Ten Commandments Still Useful Today?
There is a lot of confusion as to how the Law applies today. Does it even apply today? There are many who say no, but I say they are wrong and misapplying passages of Scripture concerning the Law. No, things are not the same as they were in the Old Covenant, but the Law still has some application to us today.
Let’s look at a few of the passages of Scripture and see what’s going on.
The first few passages are often separated from their context and the rest of Scripture to teach that there is no law for believers. You might here someone say, “I am not under law. I am under grace” with regards to their being willing to sin in certain ways.
14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 6:14 NASB
6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
Romans 7:6 NASB
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor [to lead us] to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Galatians 3:23-25 NASB
Taken alone and with no context, we might agree that this is the case. But that is not the testimony of Scripture. The Law does play a role in our lives today. These last two passages help us to understand this concept a little better.
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others [to do] the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches [them,] he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-19 NASB
7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”… 12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Romans 7:7,12 NASB
Yes, they are still useful today, but not under a Mosaic Principle that makes your righteousness depend on good works. Speaking specifically of Galatians O Palmer Robertson said,
“The purpose of law-giving was to lead to Christ, not to lead away from Christ.”
O. Palmer Robertson, “The Christ of the Covenants”
The Three Uses Of The Law
Here is something you will likely hear me say 5 billion times. There are three uses of the Law for us today. I am very Protestant on this point. Well, I am very Reformation Era and Puritan on this point. This is something that they would say often…and now I am saying it to you. There are three uses of the Law.
The first use of the Law is as a mirror. You look at your reflection in the mirror and find all the zits and dirt that needs to be removed. God’s Law functions as a mirror that reveals to you the perfection of God and your sinfulness. This revelation of our sinfulness that we find in the Law should push us to seek cleansing in Christ.
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law [comes] the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:20 NASB
15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
Romans 4:15 NASB
13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Romans 5:13 NASB
7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin [is] dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Romans 7:7-11 NASB
Notice how the mirror works in these passages. We don’t just see our wickedness in the mirror. We are moved at the sight of our wickedness to seek cleansing in Christ.
The second use of the law is civil. It restrains evil in society. We see this plainly in a society like Israel that is set up with God’s Law as its law, but we also see this in other societies as well. As there is an abandonment of God’s Law in the society we live in we can expect for there to be chaos and disorder. These Scriptures are examples from the Old and New Testament.
[Deu 13:6-11 NASB] 6 “If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 “But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 “So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 “Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
Deuteronomy 13:6-11 NASB
Notice what happens because of the execution. They “will never again do such a wicked thing among you.” It restrains evil.
And this does not change in the New Testament. Civil Authorities are supposed to restrain evil.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
Romans 13:3-4 NASB
And the third use of the Law is that it reveals what pleases God. How do we know what pleases God? How do we order our lives?
22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
1 John 3:22 NASB
And notice in the last passage, Colossians 3:20 why we are to keep the command to honor parents. It is “well-pleasing” to the Lord.
20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
Colossians 3:20 NASB
I know that this was a lot of information for a Wednesday Night. But I hope that this helps us to understand the context of the Ten Commandments and helps us to interpret it well and apply it to our lives. God’s Law was given to us, not to inhibit our fun but as an act of love and grace toward us.
R. Dwain Minor