On Covenant and Commandments

Exodus 20:1-17  Psalm 19    1 Corinthians 1:18-25     John 2:13-22

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery; you shall not have another god.

God gave the ten commandments to Israel after He freed them from Egypt, so they were not a criteria for salvation. God saved them by grace, He was acting on His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God saved them because He loved them first, they had not laws, those Hebrew slaves, they just had the stories from their Fathers. Exodus 2 & 3 tell us that YHWH heard their cry and saw their trouble, He knew their pain and He came to save them--He responded to their pain and need, not their obedience. But they had to obey in faith. If they had sat around the table in Egypt saying "I believe God's promise of salvation," they would never have experienced. Biblical faith has legs. It responds, it trusts and it is loyal.

The commandments are part of the new covenant where YHWH lays out His vision for the people of Israel, they really are not rules to get into heaven. The purpose of the commandments is to bring heaven to earth. God shares His vision for the world and invites us to embrace the way of life which will allow us to experience right relationship with God and one another. No one can earn this relationship or climb into God's presence, but it is silly to think that faith is a only a cognitive process which is disconnected from our real lives and the choices we make.

The covenant on Sinai is in the aftermath of God's deliverance, they are saved, but salvation is a process, they are still being saved and someday will be saved. The Hebrew slaves escaped Egypt, but time and time again we see they are still slaves to their doubt, their fear and their sinfulness. So God gives them food and drink, gently nursing them along to draw them deeper into relationship.

The covenant God offers is typical of the Ancient Near East. Trust and loyalty are twin components of the any covenant. YHWH is offering to be their King! I am God, your personal God. I have kept faith and delivered you, now I expect you to be loyal to me because you trust me.

I am God, He says, "So beware of the counterfeits. Do not be seduced by their lies. Do not be enamored by them and worship them. YHWH knows that the false gods merely veil the powers at work in the fallen world, human and demonic. YHWH knows that false gods are a projection of our darkened minds and wounded hearts: idols can be self worship.

The commandments, and the rest of the Torah, provides instruction on interacting with God and interacting with one another. Over a thousand years later Jesus will summarize the ten commandments and the rest of the law in two statements. Love God more than anyone or anything. Love other people as if they were yourself.

God offers to be among His people as a source of life, but He has given up complete control. Much of it is in our hands. The Torah, these ten and assorted others based on them, is in flux. They provide us a guide even if not every word is followed literally. We still long for a taste of heaven among us, even if we must continue to wait for the final consummation. This life matters.  

If the commandments do not, cannot allow us to climb into heaven, rejecting God's law can help pull us into hell. Embracing other gods, lying, stealing and murdering--such a life is not the path to union with God. So we need rules to serve as markers for our journey. Our minds are wounded and darkened, we do not see, know or understand completely. Our hearts are not whole or holy, they produce which harm us and hurt others. The Torah--God's holy instruction--provide us with light and insight.

But it is Jesus-- the Word Incarnate--who saves us, He is the Torah become a human being. He is the New Temple where we encounter the living God. He is the one to whom everything points. Jesus who says destroy this temple and I will raise it in three day, is the fullness of the light and healing.

The laws are never meant to take the place of a living relationship of love. The laws are never to serve as a substitute for encountering God as a real Person and submitting to Him in love and trust. the story of Mount Sinai helps us understand how one is saved by faith, initially, and how works are necessary as part of the covenant relationship. God shows grace in rescuing us from slavery, sin and death. God shows grace in making a covenant with us revealing the commandments as a way of living in covenant. Most of all, God shows grace in the person of Jesus Christ, the one who will be crucified and rise again. Jesus the source of unity, theosis and life.