Exodus 19:1-20:3 "Is my God too Small?"

1. INTRO: The 10 Commandments today?

People have come to use the phrase '10 Commandments' to describe something fundamental to an aspect of life. For example, 'The 10 Commandments of Driving' includes what you should not be doing while driving a car. 'The 10 Commandments of Facebook' talks about Facebook etiquette, such as not posting private messages on a Wall.

Even if people don't know about the 10 Commandments (10Cs) of the Bible, people know it is something very important to Christians. But some people also think that the 10Cs are something Christians must do to get to heaven. Are they right?

2. Context of the 10Cs (Exodus 19)

Are the 10Cs for all people in the world, or for those they are given to? We must note that the time and place rules are given, along with who they are given to, and for what purpose they are laid down, will change the application of the rules completely. For example, in soccer there is a rule not to touch the ball with hands. However, the rule does not apply to all players - the goalkeeper can, and should. The rules are in place to ensure that the game is played as soccer and not handball. This rule also does not apply in a sport which requires the ball to be handled, such as handball.

Similarly, we must remember that the 10Cs were given at a particular time and place for a particular people and for a particular purpose.

The Israelites to which the 10Cs were given to had just been out of Egypt 3 months (Exodus 19:1). They were sons of a man named Abraham to whom God had made particular promises of land, blessing and a great nation. They had been living in the land of Canaan for many years before they entered the land of Egypt because one of Jacob's sons had by God's meticulous planning become the Prime Minister of Egypt. However, many years passed and there arose a Pharaoh who did not know the Israelites, making them slaves of Egypt instead. They were oppressed and were worked very hard by their Egyptian masters to build the Egyptian empire. In their desperation they had called out to God to be rescued, and God heard their cry. So God chose and sent a man named Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.


Note: Although this is a cartoon movie, the events of Exodus are held up by the Bible to be real historical events. The movie does apply some artistic freedom so the events may not look exactly as they did in history, but the descriptions in the Bible come close enough.

The Egyptian Pharaoh refused to allow his slaves to be released, so God did many terrible signs and wonders through Moses before Pharaoh finally let Israel go.

It is 3 months since they had been out of Egypt, at the foot of Mount Horeb (or Sinai), that the Israelites receive the 10Cs.

3. The God of 10Cs (Exodus 20:1-2)

One can only make rules if:
1. The person is someone with authority
2. The rules are for a purpose

God has a lot of authority, and He makes the 10Cs for a purpose.

a. God is one who speaks, NOT one who is silent
Some people say it is arrogant to profess to know what God is like or what He wants. There is truth to this statement, since there is an idea here that God is too holy or too big to be comprehended! But it is in fact not arrogant to know what God is like or what He has done, simply because God has already spoken! He has revealed to man what He is like and what He has done when He spoke in history, e.g. to Moses and the Israelites. If God never spoke, then we would be arrogant to profess to know God!

But since He has spoken, it is now arrogant to not care or pay attention to God! The God of the Bible speaks (Psalm 115). He doesn't just speak with rumbling and thunder, He speaks with intelligible words. Therefore we also cannot say God cannot be known because He is too big and too holy to be understood. He is powerful enough to make Himself understood - saying that He still can't be understood despite that again reflects on our arrogance, thinking little of His power!

b. God is personal, NOT impersonal.
God names Himself (Exodus 3:13-15). When Moses asks for his name, He calls himself 'I AM' (v14). He also calls himself 'LORD' (v15). Capital 'LORD' is actually 'YHWH' in the Hebrew Bible - God's personal name.

But the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land."
God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.  (Exodus 6:1-3)

God had not revealed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob his name LORD or YHWH before. Now he does.

c. YHWH is involved, NOT distant
He speaks. He saves. God is not a distant God. He heard the groans of the people. He made himself known to the people. He says 'I am YOUR God'.

d. YHWH is powerful, NOT weak.
Egypt was the world's superpower at the time. The Egyptians could replicate the 1st 3 miracles that God performed through Moses. But by the time of the 3rd plague, the Egyptian magicians admitted, 'This is the finger of God' (Exodus 8:19). How powerful is God? In one sweep God destroys the entire army of the world's superpower. Imagine the entire US army, navy and airforce fleet being wiped out in a single instant.

"The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses." (Exodus 14:23-31)

God didn't just save the Israelites from Egypt, He saves us today through Jesus from the very clutches of hell!

e. YHWH who redeems is NOT hardhearted
More on this in the next talk.

4. Commandment #1
Focusing on the first of the 10Cs...

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 slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1-3)

What does it mean to have 'no other gods'?
What does it mean to have no other gods 'before me'?

This commandment does not prove that there is only 1 God (monotheism). Here, God is not saying He is the only God. A passage like Isaiah 45 spells that out more clearly.

Here, the commandment seems to be saying this: even if there were other gods, no other gods were to be before YHWH. God wants exclusive rights and obedience. But why would the Israelites want another god, since He has done so much for them already?

In our hearts, we know why. The question is easily asked of us today. Since God has done so much for us already, by saving us from the grip of Satan and from the clutches of hell though Jesus, why do we still want other gods (money, career, family etc.)?

Note: it is not saying we are then to be disobedient to our bosses, our parents or our teachers - but the commandment is saying not to put any of them ABOVE / BEFORE God.

A simple litmus test to check out hearts - when we come across a difficult passage or Biblical teaching, do we respond with a 'But!' ? The Bible tells us to 'stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near' -- do we respond with 'I know.. BUT... I have exams, and tests, and assignments and my parents tell me to study hard...." If we do, then alarm bells should ring! We are potentially putting other things BEFORE God!

5. Jesus?
However, one might argue that this commandment is no longer applicable to Christians today, since these laws are given to the Israelites. Note the "BUT..."!

a. Jesus repeats / reiterates the commandment as well.

Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matt 6:24)

b. He not only repeats it, He lives it.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"  (Matt 4:8-10)

Just like the Israelites, who received the commandment after they were saved from Egypt, we too have been saved for heaven even though we haven't obeyed God's commandments fully. Jesus our Leader and Savior did it for us.

But having been saved, should we still continue forsaking the commandment as we did before?

c. Not only that, Jesus is God Himself.

"And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he then said to the paralytic--"Rise, pick up your bed and go home." (Matt 9:2-6)

When someone sins against another, only the offended party has the right to forgive the offender. By forgiving the man of his sins, which are against God, Jesus is claiming that He is God Himself.

Jesus is the mighty and powerful God who saves us and rescues us by His blood. Are we putting anything ABOVE / BEFORE Him?