Lessons of loyalty — Exod 19, 20, 24

OLD TESTAMENT LESSONS OF LOYALTY:
Israel to God (subject to sovereign) — Exod 19:3-8; 20:1-17; 24:3-11¹

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2017

As fallen people, we know there is always room for improvement; yet that no matter how hard we try, we still fall short.

Tom was a retiree who volunteered to entertain patients in nursing homes and hospitals. He went to one hospital and brought his portable keyboard along. He told some jokes and sang some funny songs at patients' bedsides. When Tom finished, he said in farewell, "I hope you get better." One elderly gentleman replied... "I hope you get better, too."

As fallen people, there is always room for improvement. That applies to much of life, including one's devotion to God and obedience to what He has commanded. In this sermon series entitled Old Testament Lessons of Loyalty, we come to Israel's loyalty to God, which the nation expresses by heeding the instructions He has given.

 

In the second millennium B.C. the contract between a lord and his vassal was called a suzerainty treaty (Kaiser 1990:415). The Hittite treaty² is the main model for this contract and resembles the structure of Exodus having several standard features:

• Preamble or prologue,
• List of stipulations,³
• Provision for regular reading,⁴
• Divine witness,⁵
• Blessings and curses according to compliance,⁶
• Sacrificial meal.

The covenant between God and Israel, after the nation's departure from Egypt is very much like that agreement in form and content.⁷

 

I. God's prologue introduces His covenant with Israel (Exod 19:3-8).

A. He delivers the people from their bondage (vv. 3-4).

Exod 19:3 Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel:⁸ 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. ⁹

The exodus from Egypt was just one step in God's election of Israel to a central role in His plan, a role that began with Abraham about 2000 B.C. It was not the first of God's mighty acts for His people, but it was the one event which the biblical writers cite most often as a display of His power and love.

Exod 6:7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Israel's election is unique.¹⁰ As the psalmist writes, Israel's revelation is also unique: "He has done this for no other nation; [moreover] they do not know his laws" (Ps 147:20). The heart of God's covenant with Israel is Torah, and it is unique as well. To be sure, there are some similarities with other legal codes of the period,¹¹ but those aspects that relate to the people's relationship with God have no parallel in other codes because the LORD has no parallel with other deities.¹² The revelation of God's uniqueness was one purpose of the exodus:

Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God" (Exod 8:10).

[The LORD said] "I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so that you may know there is no one like me in all the earth" (Exod 9:14).

B. He devotes the people to His service (vv. 5-8).

Exod 19:5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." 7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.

As the people of pagan deities serve their gods¹³ so Israel serves the LORD. The difference is that pagan deities have needs of maintenance their devotees provide. Israel's God has no needs. He is completely self-sufficient. This is His aseity, and it means that what help He offers His people is not at all selfish, motivated by a desire to receive something from them but is entirely selfless, to give something to them.¹⁴ Again, God has no needs, unlike His people, who have many needs.

 

Application: Because you serve a deity who has no needs, you have no concern that any failure on your part to help Him will hinder Him from helping you. Moreover, He always works for your best interests. As Paul writes, "God will meet all your needs" (Phil 4:19). It is amazing that God accepts you despite your shortcomings; moreover, that He wants you despite your shortcomings. In fact, "the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine" (Ps 33:18-19). What does He expect for this service? Only that you fear Him and trust Him.

 

II. God's precepts stipulate His covenant with Israel (Exod 20:1-17).

Exod 20:1 God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

The history of Israel has connections to ancient events and documents. Here, God links His second covenant for the nation to the people's deliverance from bondage in Egypt.¹⁵ Moreover, the law code He proposes for Israel is similar to other legal systems of this period (e.g., Code of Hammurabi).¹⁶

A. He issues a command about rivalry (v. 3).

Exod 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

The first and most fundamental law establishes the LORD's exclusive position in Israelite religion. He is not part of a pantheon, one of many gods people may worship. He is the only God people may worship (n. 12). This precept has no parallel in any other legal code. Non-Israelites are polytheistic. There is often a hierarchy among the gods they worship, but there is no one deity that excludes all others as there is for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.¹⁷

B. He issues a command about idolatry (vv. 4-6).

Exod 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

This second command relates to the first. As the only God, the LORD wants to ensure that no rivals, even artificial ones, vie for the attention and devotion of His people.

C. He issues a command about profanity (v. 7).

Exod 20:7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

This third command is again an outworking of the first. Because the LORD is unique, He deserves the utmost respect, especially in the way people refer to Him. They must not be careless or clueless in their speech.¹⁸

D. He issues a command about tranquility (vv. 8-11).

Exod 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The Sabbath command, like the prohibition against the worship of any deity other than the LORD, is a precept unique to Israel.¹⁹ No other Ancient Near East people accords special status to any day of the week, let alone a specific day. God likens their resting on the seventh day after a week of labor to His resting on the seventh day after a week of creating.²⁰

 

Summary: The commands thus far concern Israel's relationship to the LORD. As such they are unique to Israel's law code. That is what the author of Psalm 147 recognizes: "He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws" (v. 20). This list has other laws, precepts that are not unique to Israel and that people recognized as sinful long before God issued them here, as we will see next time.
 

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There is a saying that 'blood is thicker than water,' meaning that family ties are stronger than non-family ties, which is generally true...except when it is not.

A SS teacher was giving a lesson on the commandment, "Honor thy father and mother." That command tells us how to treat your parents," the teacher said. "Is there a commandment that tells us how to treat your brothers and sisters?" One girl raised her hand and replied... "Thou shalt not kill."

Family ties are generally stronger than non-family ties...except between some siblings. Parents, of course, never see such tension. Moreover, their little angels always behave toward each other as they do toward Mom and Dad—with the utmost deference.

 

Commands in the first part of the Decalogue concern people's relationship with the true God. As such, these rules have no counterpart in any secular code. Commands in the second part of this list concern people's relationship with other people. These additional rules affect many areas of life and are similar to rules in secular, non-Israelite lists.

E. He issues a command about family (v. 12).²¹

Exod 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.²²

This admonition is typical of the positive relationship that should exist between a parent and child.²³ The reason—"that you may live long in the land"—underscores the advantage of this command to Abraham's descendants.²⁴

 

Even when discipline is necessary, a parent should exercise restraint.²⁵ This is starkly different from what secular legislature advocates:²⁶ Moreover, no method of biblical discipline adopts the measures of secular laws (amputation, enslavement):²⁷

If a son has struck his father, they shall cut off his hand (Code of Hammurabi 195).

If (a son) has said to his father and to his mother: "You are not my father; you are not my mother," he forfeits (his heir's rights to)...property, and they may sell him (into slavery, Sumerian Laws 4).

Unlike biblical instructions, which offer a staged approach to discipline, secular laws do not offer much helpful guidance to parents, only extreme disciplinary measures.²⁸

F. He issues a command about hostility (v. 13).²⁹

Exod 20:13 "You shall not murder.

This is voluntary manslaughter, a.k.a. premeditated murder,³⁰ and Moses expands on the crime (with examples)³¹ along with reiterating its penalty (execution³² ):³³

If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.... If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer.... Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death. (Num 35:16-21, 31)

Secular legislation also treats premeditated murder as a capital crime:³⁴

Men who have killed a man...are (not fit to be) alive (Mesopotamian Legal Documents 30).

G. He issues a command about fidelity (v. 14).³⁵

Exod 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.

Adultery is a capital crime, perhaps because of its detrimental effect on family and social cohesion. Biblical law condemns it repeatedly.³⁶

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death (Lev 20:10)

Secular law condemns it as well:³⁷

If the wife of a [citizen] has been caught while lying with another man, they shall bind them and throw them into the water (The Code of Hammurabi 129).

In the absence of credible eyewitness testimony, the biblical Law of Jealousy could separate the guilty from the innocent.³⁸

H. He issues a command about thievery (v. 15).³⁹

Exod 20:15 "You shall not steal.⁴⁰

The punishment God levies for theft is generally financial:⁴¹

If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.... A thief must certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he must be sold to pay for his theft. If the stolen animal is found alive in his possession...he must pay back double. (Exod 22:1, 34)⁴²

The secular codes also condemn theft, but the punishment they levy is not consistent, being most severe when the victim is a religious or government institution:

If a [citizen] stole the property of the church or state that [citizen] shall be put to death (The Code of Hammurabi)⁴³

I. He issues a command about perjury (v. 16).⁴⁴

Exod 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

The penalty for perjury is proportional but may be as severe as execution depending on the original offense:

The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deut 19:18-19)

Secular codes also condemn false testimony, and the punishment for the accuser is likewise to suffer the same fate as the object of his charge:

If a [citizen] came forward with false testimony in a case, and has not proved the word which he spoke, if that case was a case involving life, that [citizen] shall be put to death (The Code of Hammurabi 3).⁴⁵

What goes around comes around. That is, a person's actions, whether good or bad—in this case bad—will have the same results for the person who initiates them. As David writes when fleeing from the forces of King Saul: "They dug a pit in my path— but they have fallen into it themselves" (Ps 57:6b).⁴⁶

J. He issues a command about cupidity (v. 17).⁴⁷

Exod 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."⁴⁸

Coveting, being more aspirational than actionable, is a crime that secular law rarely addresses. It becomes punishable only when a person attempts to acquire what belongs to another, at which point the transgression is theft, which is actionable:

If fire broke out in a [citizen]'s house and a[nother citizen] who went to extinguish (it), cast his eye on goods of the owner of the house and has appropriated the goods of the owner of the house, that [citizen] shall be thrown into that fire. (The Code of Hammurabi 25)

This may be the only secular legislation that refers even a little to coveting ("cast his eye on"). That is, because coveting is unenforceable, at least until it is possible to read peoples' thoughts and anticipate accurately what they will do.⁴⁹ God, however, is privy to man's thinking, including his inclinations and aspirations, where sin begins:⁵⁰ "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" (Matt 15: 19).⁵¹ Furthermore, His prescience guarantees that He will always anticipate correctly: "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come" (Isa 46:10).⁵² Moreover, God's omniscience includes events both possible and actual, things that may happen as well as things that will happen.⁵³ Consequently, He is able to cover all contingencies in His grand plan.

 

Application: Although God gives these commands to Israel, other people recognize their universal application (except for the Sabbath) and adopt them as well. You can also profit from the wisdom these precepts provide, from the window they give into the mind of God. It is important, however, that you not assume these commands exhaust God's will. Just as the Ten Commandments are only a summary of God's will for Israel, so they are just a sampling a God's will for you. Just as His people then agree to obey "everything the Lord said" to them (Exod 24:3, 7), so you, as part of His people now, must agree to obey everything the Lord has said to you. The Decalogue is not all of His expectation only some of His expectation, the minimum, and it is your responsibility to become familiar with the rest of His revelation. For example, it lacks the first and second greatest commands-to love God and to love your neighbor.⁵⁴

 

Summary: The Decalogue, along with circumcision and the Sabbath, is part of what marks Israel as God's people. Many of the commands are among those God expects from all people, gentiles as well as Jews. What is important to remember is that they provide insight to the priorities of Him who created all mankind, the one in whom "we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

 

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Sometimes we need help remembering things, little things but especially important things.

Bill noticed his advancing years, especially when a stroke affecting his thought process landed him in the hospital. A therapist came to visit him. As if talking to a child, she said, "I'm going to test your memory by putting three items in different places around the room, and I want you to tell me where I put them." Bill answered, "The pen is on the table, the book is on the bed, and the glass is on the nightstand." "Very good!" she said in the same patronizing tone. "I'll be back to see you again in a couple of days." As she reached the door, Bill added... "And your car keys are on the window ledge.

Sometimes we need help remembering things, especially important things. How could the Israelites remember the terms of the covenant God made with them, especially since there were so many rules (613)? Fortunately, God provided to them a summary of some important rules, a list of ten they could easily memorize.

 

Having seen the initiation of God's covenant with Israel, following the redemption from Egypt, and noting some of the terms the people must obey, we look now to the official ratification of the agreement as the people agree to adopt those terms in the way they live.

 

III. God's priests ratify His covenant with Israel (Exod 24:3-11).

A. He accepts the people's offering (vv. 3-6).

Exod 24:3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the LORD has said we will do."⁵⁵ 4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning⁵⁶ and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

The people's public declaration of intent—"Everything the LORD has said we will do" (v. 3, cf. v. 7)—is the people's verbal assent to the stipulations of the covenant that Moses recorded. The burnt offerings (entirely consumed by the altar's fire) mark the people's consecration to God. The fellowship offerings (partially eaten by the nation's representatives; see v. 9) mark the people's communion with God. The stone pillars memorialize the event for future generations.⁵⁷

B. He accepts the people's devotion (vv. 7-8).

Exod 24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people.⁵⁸ They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words."

The book contains the stipulations of the agreement (i.e., the version expanded beyond the summary on the stone tablets), which the people again affirm. The blood places a final seal on the deal. Together these several acts confirm the covenant the Israelites and God make, like the ancient suzerainty treaty.

C. He accepts the people's presence (vv. 9-11).

Exod 24:9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,⁵⁹ and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites;⁶⁰ they saw God, and they ate and drank.

The three men plus the seventy elders have the rare privilege of seeing God and living to tell about it. This experience must be muted because, as God says to Moses later, "no one may see me and live" (Exod 33:20).⁶¹ Still, it is a singular event (theophany). Even after God takes residence in the earthly sanctuary, only the high priest will have access to His presence, only once a year, and only when obscured by the smoke of incense:

He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the Testimony, so that he will not die (Lev 16:12-13).

For most people in this group, clergy and laity alike, it will be the only opportunity they ever have to meet with God. They will, of course, have spiritual access through prayer, but physical access will be severely limited.⁶²

 

Application: Thankfully, you do not have to make the first move in establishing a relationship with God. He makes the first move. God reaches out to you and awaits your response, which includes a willingness to obey Him. "The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are... any who seek God (Ps 14:2 = 53:2).⁶³ Do you seek God beyond others? Do you serve God over others? Do you share God with others?

 

Several times after Israel leaves the land of Egypt for the land of Canaan, the people pledge their loyalty to the LORD.⁶⁴ When the new generation is about to enter the Promised Land, the people repeat their commitment, saying to Moses: "Tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey." (Deut 5:27b) Even after forty years in the wilderness, the people's intention is to follow God, to keep the terms of the original contract.

 

The covenant, like a Suzereignty treaty, has no built-in time limitation.⁶⁵ It is permanent. Nevertheless, the covenant between God and Israel, like any relationship, has its ups and downs. Israel will face many situations that test its loyalty to the Lord. These situations will stress the nation's bond to God but will not severe it because, as Paul notes, "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Rom 11:29).

For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.