Answers in Genesis--Fall 2016--Lesson 10, The Ten Commandments

Father, we are so glad that you've given to us life and you've given to us the opportunity to, look into your word, and I pray that you'd bless our time this morning, open up our minds, help us to have understanding, help me to be clear, with, with what we're, what I'm trying to, to, deliver, and I pray, Lord, that your blessing will be upon our time. Make it good, make it rich for all of us. In Jesus' name, Amen. Today we'll be looking at the 10 Commandments.

And no, we're not gonna watch a movie. you've probably already seen it anyway. And really, the book, as usual is a lot better than, than the movie version anyway. and so we, we have this opening question.

What is the connection between the law and the gospel? Something that, is, is good for all of us to think about and to get a connection to. the law is something that comes up a lot in God's word. And, and so what is the connection?

And so we'll be looking, a little bit at that and be looking at the, the surroundings of the 10 Commandments. But, before we get to that, just a, a reminder of what we're doing here. This, this is, our whole ministry of Sunday school is something to help. the families, the people, on their journey from brokenness to wholeness.

This is another way of, our church, helping to equip people and help people to grow and, and, fur get further in their journey. We seven seas of history and been looking at some, in particular issues that, that deal with, we've gone way past the flood. We're now into the Israel as a nation becoming a nation. What, what that is all about and what God is doing, in, in all of that.

We, a couple of weeks ago, looked at the plagues and the Passover and the exodus from Egypt, the nation of Israel getting out of Egypt, being led by Moses. So we, just briefly talked about that. and so now we're in the 10 Commandments. And we have quite a bit of review, which we're gonna skip.

Most of it We do hit this a lot, so I'm not gonna hit it so much today. Mike said I could do this, so it's OK. And now, that's All right. So 2 weeks ago, We looked at, look at my notes here.

We looked at Israel packing up and leaving. The, they had the Passover and does anybody else, anybody remember anything else from the less than two weeks ago? It was 2 weeks ago. Yeah, I can't hardly remember yesterday.

Very good. Yeah, yeah, that was actually one of the big deals, the big points is God hardening Pharaoh's heart. God's sovereign right to do that. And, and Mike spent a lot of time talking about that whole issue, going to Romans 9 and talking about the, the, the fact that God is the one who orchestrates human events.

And whether it's the person no one knows or it's the ruler of a great nation, God is the one who controls those things. God controls our lives and, and in, in this particular case, God was, was dealing with Pharaoh. And, and, hardening his heart. Because as God said, I want to exalt myself among the nations.

And Egypt is one of, if not the, at that time, most powerful nation in the world. and God is, going to exalt Himself above that nation. And God is going to demonstrate his power. God is gonna do something else that's, that, that we talked about that's really interesting, And that he's preparing.

He's preparing a, a way for Israel as they are going to eventually go into a promised land and have to conquer it. He's, he's, he's, he's telling his story and giving warning and, and also gonna be creating that element of fear so that when the nation of Israel comes, if you remember, that, when they sent in the two spies to Jericho. And Rahab welcomes them in. She, one of the things she talks about is we heard about.

We heard about Egypt and that whole thing. And so the, the fear of God is, is gonna go before them and be part of the conquest of this land. And so God is, is demonstrating Himself in a very powerful way. And so that's, that's one of the things we talked about.

Now, how about last week with Matthew Smith. I'm sure you all did like I did and, and went home and got your Bible dictionary out and looked up the word Ebenezer. Didn't you, Because I can never remember what the definition is of Ebenezer. And so, since we had to sing that song with that word in it.

And who knows what the word Ebenezer means. Yeah, no, it's not Mr. Scrooge. We are getting to that time of year though, Ebenezer is a memorial of God's provision.

It's actually, I wrote it down because I still have a hard time remembering it. I wrote it somewhere There it is, a stone of help. The stone of Help. Ebenezer is actually a memorial stone that Samuel, the prophet, the judge, put up Israel, the people of Israel had been defeated by the Philistines twice in this one particular area.

The third time, Israel was victorious. And, and after this battle, Samuel raised up this memorial, a monument. And in that particular monument, the, the raising of the, of, of that monument is called an Ebenezer. So when we sing that song, now I raise my Ebenezer.

It's, it's a memorial. it's a, it's, it's, it's stating that God is my help. And so that's what that means. See, our Bible dictionaries are really good to have.

If you don't have one, you should buy one. You're gonna need it cause you're probably not gonna still remember what it means. You need to go home and look it up. All right.

We'll move on, OK. Now this is a, a, a map that shows a little bit about or shows some ideas, some concepts of the journey, the possible journeys of Israel as they left Egypt and went to Mount Sinai, which Mount Sinai is the, the place of our lesson today. Now, there's 4 different ideas there and so to explain, we'll just briefly go through them. The very bottom one takes them down through the Red Sea and into what is now called Saudi, Saudi Arabia.

To a place where some think that Mount Sinai is, then you have the two that take them through the Gulf of Suez and then up above the Gulf of Suez to Mount Sinai, where that's the traditional view, that Mount Sinai is actually on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, which the Sinai Peninsula is called the Sinai Peninsula because that's where so many people thought Mount Sinai was. So, that is, the traditional view. Actually, I've, I've I saw one place where the reason why that came to be the traditional view is there was a couple of monks back in the 3rd century who did some exploring down there looking for Mount Sinai and they found this place and, and, if you can actually go there and on a pilgrimage.

Hike up, and of course, there's this church building that's been built, how things get done.

and, so anyway, that, that's a place where you can go. I think the, the one that's most likely, at least the one I, I think is, is the right one is the one, is the one on top. that takes them up across, down across the Gulf of Aqaba and then over into Saudi Arabia. There's some interesting reasons why, I think that, that go with that.

we have. a, what's, what it's called a median connection. if you look at an older map of, of, This area that that's showing the journeys from Egypt to this area. Back at that time, it was called Midian.

And so Midian. would have been the place. Now Midian was probably, the place where Moses fled after he left Egypt, fleeing for his life. He, he had killed the Egyptian, and Pharaoh found out about it and, and Moses had to leave.

And Egypt pretty much controlled, had at least military presence out in the Sinai Peninsula. So Sinai Peninsula wouldn't have been a good place for him to spend 40 years of his life. So he probably went clear through that and went over into this area of Midian. Midian is an interesting name.

it appears in different, places in the Old Testament. One of them is, one of the sons of Abraham. How many sons did Abraham have? Yeah, many sons.

Everybody knows that song, right? From, from when you're a little kid. All right, Abraham had many sons, actually 8. and he had Ishmael and Isaac, right?

And then after Sarah died, he, took a new wife. Her name was Katura. And in Genesis, chapter 25, it, it describes how he, dealt with, with Korrah and her children right before he died. Because his, he, he knew that Isaac was the, was the one that God had chosen for everything to go through.

So most of his estate, if you will, was going to go to Isaac. But what he did with Katura and her children. was give them a substantial amount of goods. Abraham was a very wealthy man, and he sent them, it says, to the east.

So if you read in Genesis 25, you can see this account, so verse 2 or 3 verses., you can read about this. One of those sons' name was Midian. And so, one of the ideas is that, that Midian's descendants actually came down and, and settled in this area and it was their descendants that Moses ran into. when he fled, and then it was, Jethro's, daughter that Moses ended up marrying.

so, so that's one of the, the ideas of this area. And, there's also a, some information about the crossing of the Red Sea. people have done some, some studies trying to figure out, where exactly this happened and so there's been all kinds of ideas about that. but that looks to be like one of the best places.

There's actually an area there. In that crossing, it's about halfway down. In that finger that, that pokes up of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba. Where, There's really deep gorges.

The, the water is, is very thousands of feet deep in that area, except for this one area where there's a sandy beach that comes out. a, a trail that goes down to the sandy beach with high mountains on all sides. It really fits the description in, in Exodus of, of how the people were trapped in and Pharaoh's armies are coming and you come out to this large sandy beach and then there is a shallow area across that's On where on both sides of them it's very deep, but in this wide shallow area across where the water could be blown up and they could actually come down and cross and then, when I say shallow, relatively shallow.

it's not thousands of feet deep where, they have to, climb down and climb back up.

but they can just go down, the water can be blown aside as as described from the east wind. And they can cross and go to the other side. We also have to remember that some of the theories have been that they went through just a shallow, swamp-like areas. which would still be a pretty amazing miracle because you have all of Pharaoh's army drowning in a shallow.

swampy area. there are, this is actually a really good, possibility of where they ended up. it's out in what is now Arabia. Also we'll be looking at one of the verses we'll be looking at later on.

It's in, the one in Galatians chapter 3, where Paul describes, Mount Sinai as being in Arabia. Which that's what this is. This is in Arabia. And so, It it's probably, I think this is the best Location for it.

They're still looking for it. there's really no way to know for sure. I've I've seen pictures. In fact, we have a video at home.

That I watched again last night just to refresh on it. Where some people have done some work on it, on this idea. There's the highest mountain that's in this area is 10,000 ft. The very top of it is completely black.

And it's unusual from all the other mountains around it. we know from the account that God came down, when he came down to Mount Sinai, there was a smoke, there was fire, there was earthquakes, there's all kinds of things. We'll be looking at that in a little bit. But it's, it's an amazing spectacle.

And when you look at that mountain and, and you see the sun shining on it, it's not just a shadow. There's, there's actually this blackness that's around the top of this mountain. It's pretty amazing. So it, it does seem like that, that, that's a good, a likely spot.

Now, why didn't God just let us know? Which mountain it was. that'd be pretty cool to know, right? It's because God knows that we'd go build a church there or something, make it, really, really dumb.

So that's why God didn't tell us. All right. Oh, and, and then one more thing about this area being Mount Sinai, when, Moses comes up or brings the people to Mount Sinai and, and they're getting to that area. One of the people that shows up to visit him is Jethro, his father-in-law.

And so that speaks of a close proximity, that they're at least in a close enough area where, and also Moses had at some point sent his wife and his sons to go back home to visit her dad, her family. And so Jethro is bringing them back. So it does speak as if, there's a, a closeness to this area where they were. Eugene Merrill wrote this.

He said, the crossing of Israel cannot be explained as a wading through a swamp. It requires a mighty act of God, an act so significant both in scope and meaning that forever after in Israel's history, it was the paradigm against which all of his redemptive and saving work was measured. And this is a significant point to think about and, and The, the crossing of the Red Sea and going to Mount Sinai, that, this whole thing coming out of Egypt, from coming out of Egypt to receiving the law, that part of Israel's history is something that gets told over and over again.

We read about it in the New Testament, we read about with later prophets.

Prophets are referring back to it. Talking about it. This is a mighty act of God, and it's something that they are to remember. And in fact, it's how the 10 Commandments start out as we'll be looking at in a few minutes.

God reminding them of who He is and what he's done for them, and this is all part of that. All right. So let's look at the passage. We'll begin with Exodus 19.

So if you turn with me there. What we find it in what we hear or have seen now is Israel. is becoming a nation. God is doing a nation building here.

He's, he's taking a people just this started from one man, Abraham, and his wife, Sarah. And has gotten to this place in time where now God is going to put them together as a nation. They've gone through. very harsh conditions.

That's what they've been living with for at least 80 years. We know that for, it's at least 80 years, probably more like 100 years, maybe even a little more than that, that they've been under hard labor from the pharaohs. Israel at this point in time is now being led. By a remarkable.

figure, someone that they know from the past. 80 years ago, he grew up in Pharaoh's palace. That's where he started. And so he's this remarkable Jewish man who's grown up in Pharaoh's palace and, he's known.

By, by the, the, the Hebrew people. They know who he is, but he's also mysterious. He's been gone for 40 years. And so, now he comes back and he comes and with, with great signs and wonders that God performs, they end up being let go.

And so now they're leaving and Moses is leading them. Israel has experienced by this time. A Red Sea crossing, which must have been amazing., to go, to go through that. It's terrifying and amazing and getting to the other side and seeing the, the armies of Pharaoh wiped out, That's, that's got to be amazing, to an experience to go through.

They've gone through two water shortages in their journey to this point. one was where the water was, was poisonous. They couldn't drink it and Moses put the, the, the tree into it and it sweetened the water, made it, made it good to drink. Another one was where Moses struck the rock and the water came out and, and I gave them to drink.

They've had a food shortage. Already and God gave them. Manna. And manna means What is it?

Yeah, that's what manna means. What is it? Cause that's what they said when they went out and looked at it. and God gave, so God gave them manna to eat, and that's what they would gather in the morning.

He gave them quail at night. They would gather the quail at night, they would just flock in. So God fed them in a supernatural way. God has already introduced them to the Sabbath.

So like for instance with the manna. It wouldn't show up on Saturday. So on Friday, they would have to gather twice as much because there wouldn't be any on Saturday. and then there was some other observances they were gonna begin to, to, hold to, just prior to the giving of the 10 Commandments.

They've already been at a war. They've, they, they've had to go to war with Amalek. And so these things have led up now. to this point in time where they're getting to Mount Sinai.

All in a space of just under 50 days. this is, this is what they, they have gotten to. These people have gone through a lot. And, maybe they're different.

makeup that we are today, But people of today when they go through this stuff need therapy, right? They need, they need to, to get their minds straight. It could be because of the way they're thinking. Their, their thinking is, is, going to have some issues.

And of course as we see their reactions to things, we, we, we see them reacting in, in weird ways. What God is gonna do is give them therapy. And the therapy is going to involve lightning and thunder and, and earthquakes and, and flame on the mountain and, and dark clouds and, and, and everything shaking and a thunderous voice. That's the therapy, but it's going to be what they need.

God always gives us what we need. Maybe not the way we want it. But he always gives us what we need because he is the one who is all wise. He's the one who knows us and he knows what is right.

And so he's going to, and we're gonna talk a little bit about what, what, he gives to them. So in, in chapter 19, verse 1, we'll read the 1st 6 verses, it says this. In the 3rd month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they set out from Rede.

They came to the wilderness, the Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him from the mountain saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel. You yourselves have seen what he did to the Egyptians. And how I bore you on eagle's 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. So, this is the preparation for the great meeting. And God is setting up this meeting between him and the people.

And this is such a remarkable thing. God doesn't just do this with everybody. In fact, when has God done this before? God has, God came to Adam and Eve and talked to them, right?

God gave Noah special instructions to build an ark. And so communicated directly with him. God talked to Abraham. We saw it in very specific and special ways.

And in some unique ways, spoke with Jacob. remember Jacob wrestling with the Lord. but here we have Hundreds of thousands of people. Camped, like refugees cause that's what they are.

Around this mountain. And God is going to appear to them. And we see some amazing appearances, amazing encounters that they have with God. most of, there's at least this one so terrifying.

That the people's response is, Moses, you go talk to God. He scares us. And so that's, that's a response, but God sets up this special meeting. Let's go down to verse 16 of the same chapter.

And we'll go to verse 20. It says, and so it came about on the 3rd day when it was morning that there was thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. And they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. that must have been.

An incredible sight to see too. You see Moses going up, Moses, you're out of your mind. You're going up there, but Moses went up. And you probably thought this like I have, what that must have been like for Moses.

To go into this. Place this presence of God. You get a little glimpse. With, when Jesus was here and took Peter, James, and John up onto the mountain.

it's actually just a hill, but up onto this top of this hill. And we call it the, the transfiguration. Where, they go up there and Jesus is just like, us, he's, he's just a guy. He just looks, that's how he looks.

That's the way the Bible describes him. And gets up there and Go through this transformation where they see him in his glory. And they're, Peter, James, and John, when, in seeing that, their reaction is just to fall down. They're, they're terrified.

They're afraid. they're in awe. They, they, they're in so much in awe, they can't even hardly speak. Of course, Peter does manage to get some words out as Peter, he, that was his gift.

And, and so he's able to do that. And they talked about, let's, let's build a tabernacle here, here, let's, let's build something, a memorial. maybe that's where all that stuff started with building stuff around everything. but anyway, But, but that was, their reaction, your reaction was, was in this, this awe that is so deep and so powerful, they, they can't even move.

They just fall to the ground. And Moses here is going to this awesome place where Man, a, a human being would die, but God is inviting him there. God is demonstrating to the people that Moses is my leader for you. Moses is the one I have set aside to be your leader.

I know. Right, that Moses. Eventually would not go into the promised land. He's just a man like us.

In fact, Moses must have had a temper. Because, Later in this story, he comes down from the mountain with the 10 Commandments in his hands. And, and he, he already knows, God's already told him what's going on. But when he sees it, He throws them down, they break in pieces.

it's just his reaction and God doesn't rebuke him for that one. I've always been amazed at that, that God didn't rebuke him for that. although I, I think at that point, God understood. God felt the same way, it's like, you guys have broken everything.

what, what good are the laws? It's symbolic, what he did. All right, let's We see here that, that God is demonstrating something to his people. He's already demonstrated a lot, right?

You got the plagues, you got the, the leading with the, the cloud by day, the fire by night. You got the crossing of the Red Sea, you got the provision in the desert. You got all this stuff that God's already demonstrated, but here he's showing something else. And he's showing that he's more than all that.

Stuff. He's even more, he's even more. And so, That is a, a, a powerful demonstration. Let's move over to chapter 20 we'll go down.

For now, we're gonna skip the 10 Commandments. And go to verse 18. This is right after God has spoken the 10 Commandments to them. And, It comes out in a, I, I, I just imagine it comes out in a thunderous way.

And that's how the law is given and all the people perceived the thunder and lightning and flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountains smoking, and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, Speak to us yourself and we will listen, but let not God speak to us or we will die. Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, for God has come in order to test you and in order that the fear of him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.

So the people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.

Now, this, again, is part of their therapy. These messed up people coming out, with all this baggage, all this emotional, confusion that they have, having been in, in, forced labor for, for, for generations now. And They're coming to this place and God is demonstrating His great power to them. And in so doing, he is declaring to them that he is all they need.

He is the one who provides for them. That's what he's been doing. He's been providing for them. He is the one who is leading their lives and has their future in his hands.

He's demonstrating all of that to them. And so, if you go now, let's look at the very first commandment. where verse, verse one of chapter 20 says, then 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 God before me.

God is giving to them this first statement, this first declaration. This, that really is meant to unwind all of the, all of the wound up stuff, all of the messed up thinking, all of, all of those things. And in reality, That's how all it is for all of us. You see, we all get mixed up and messed up thinking.

And what, what God is for us. God is our thera therapy. He's our therapeutic person that comes into our life and what gives us that, that, untangling. Of our thinking and of, of, of the mess that we have in the past.

Is this reality? I am I am. The Lord your God. Who brought you out of.

Whatever it was, that mess that you've been in, I am the Lord your God. And that is where we need to center our thinking, to have no other God, no other idol, no other anything except for him. He's the one that we direct our thinking to, and we do that. That's the best therapy that we could possibly have.

That's what sets us on the right road and gets us going in the right direction. This is what God is giving to them. That, that beginning of straightening out this tangled mess of their past. And giving them a direction for the future because the past, as we know, is just the past.

It's back there. We can't change the past. All we can do is deal with what's ahead of us. And the way we deal with what's in front of us.

If we're gonna do it in a healthy way is by redirecting our thinking to God and letting Him be the one who controls all of that. So, this is our starting place. for straightening out. what's been messed up in our lives.

That's what God is bringing to, to this group of people. This nation. He's building a nation and as we would see if we go through, all of the rest of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, see the structure that he builds. He's building a nation, a nation that's going to be different than every other nation.

A nation built to glorify God. He's gonna tell them, I'm gonna make you a kingdom of priests, that you are going to magnify my name. That's his intention, that as a nation, they will be the light bearer to the rest of the world of the glory of God. In this salvation that comes from God.

OK, and, and so here we see that he is to be approached with reverence. That is, is how he is to be approached. Now, chapter 24. Look over there with me, chapter 24, verse 3.

And we'll go down through verse 8, it says, then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances and, and all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which the Lord has spoken, we will do. Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the sons of Israel and he offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.

Moses took half of the blood and put it in the basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient. So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. And so we see here the entering into a covenant with God.

They've entered into, they've agreed to the terms. They said, OK, this is what we will do. Sadly, these people are a lot like us. They, they have trouble with keeping up their end of the bargain.

but at this point in time, this was their intention and that's the covenant that they enter into with God. Exodus 24:9-11, the next three verses, it says, then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abahi, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. Think about that. All these people, they saw the God of Israel.

And under his feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire. As clear as the sky itself, yet he did not stretch out his hand against the nobles or the sons of Israel. And they saw God And they ate and they drank. This is, I think one of the most underreported encounters with God.

You, you don't really hear many people talk about this, but this is amazing to me. Every time I've read this, I get chills with this. Because here you have this, these, these leaders of, of Israel. They go up partway up, up the mountain.

God comes down, he condescends. He, he reaches down and he reveals at least a part of himself that they can handle. And, and really there's only a, a little part of that. I remember when Moses wanted to see God, up on the mountain, God hid him into a crack in the, in the, in the rock and Moses only got to see him after he had already passed by, to see the, the, the backside because God says if you see me full on, you will die.

You can't handle it. You're not physically capable. and so what God revealed here, we're not really sure. And it was probably somewhat at a distance, but this is amazing.

And saying it in, in a way I'm gonna say it, it sounds a little bit I don't know, common. This They had a picnic with God. This is just incredible to me and They saw all of this. And yet in about 40 days have, have totally messed it all up.

But here at this point in time, this is what God gives to them. God's giving to them Himself. Reminds me of the verse that says, be content with such things as you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. I am enough for you.

I am enough And That is what God is leading them to. He's trying to get them to that place, where they will see that he is enough for them. And this is an amazing demonstration, an amazing encounter that human beings have with God. All right, let's move on cause we're gonna be out of, out of time here really quick.

Exos 31. Verse 18. When he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written by the finger of God. Wouldn't you love to see those, those tablets written by the finger of God?

I wonder what font he uses. That would just be so cool. Maybe someday. Maybe they're somewhere and they still exist and someday we get to see them.

I don't know. I hope so. But, This is an amazing thing. Again, God giving it, God here giving something tangible.

Right? Something tangible. I can touch and feel this. So, God gives to them the 10 Commandments on stone, written in stone.

Let's look over at Matthew. Matthew chapter 22. Verse 34. And we'll go down to verse 40.

but when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself, and these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. One of the, the great things about New Testament, quotations from Old Testament is understanding that those quotations are given.

As a reference to a context. They, they have a context. So Jesus isn't cherry-picking statements. Out of the Old Testament to fit his particular thing he wants to say.

No, he's referring to a context and that is really very common to how they thought. another example would be, It actually is in the passage I was reading this morning, Jesus on the cross. And one of the statements he makes is, I won't pronounce this in the correct Hebrew way cause I'm not a Hebrews anything. But it's Eli Eli Lama Sabakhani.

So, That is is a statement that he's making at the cross. It is also the heading. Or the reference to Psalm 22. You see, the Psalms weren't known as, we, we call it Psalm, the 23rd Psalm, it's that's how we call it.

but that's not how the, the Jewish people call it. They call it by the first phrase. And so the 23rd Psalm is, the Lord is my shepherd. And so that's, that's their title for it.

And that's how they know it. They don't know it by numbers, they know it by titles. And that's how Psalm 22 starts out. And so Jesus, in making his statement on the cross, is referring to Psalm 22.

Well, what does Psalm 22 have? It has some very parallel predictions about a suffer, someone suffering in a, in a severe manner that's exactly like what he's going through. And so he's referring back to that. Now that's not how they heard it.

Or at least there were some who didn't understand it that way. And so they thought he was, he was calling for Elijah the prophet. They, and so they, they mocked him for that. They, they, this, this guy's hallucinating.

had they been paying attention and really listening. And maybe there were some who actually heard the whole thing and what he said and thought, why would he be referring to that? And they'd be going through it in their mind. And it would have made them stop to think.

because they knew these songs. These were, these were common to them. And so, these, these, statements, these quotations rather from in the, New Testament of the Old Testament, they, they are references to, whole passages, whole sections, and so I want us to look at that. Here, Jesus is saying, What is, what are the greatest laws?

He's, he's actually giving references to context. So let's look over in Deuteronomy chapter 6. Because we do find that he's quoting directly a a, a phrase from there. But let's begin with verse one.

In Deuteronomy, Moses is restating the law. He's rehearsing it to them. And he's, this is right before he dies. And so he says this.

Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God. To keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Oh Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly just as the Lord, the God of your fathers has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might. These words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house. When you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they should be as frontals on your forehead.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, refers to a complete, reverence to God. And, and, and it's not just a, a momentary thing, but it is a pattern of life. And it, and it not only is it for yourself, it's for your family, it's for you to pass on.

Loving the Lord with your, your God with all your heart involves everything that is about you. Loving your neighbors yourself is over in Leviticus. if you Look over in Leviticus chapter 19. Jesus is quoting from there.

And so I want to start with verse 9. Leviticus 19:9. He says, now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest, nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger.

I am the Lord your God. You shall not steal nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. You shall not swear falsely by my name so as to profane the name of the Lord your God. I am the Lord.

You shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God. I am the Lord.

You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you're not to act against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart. You may surely prove, reprove your neighbor, but you shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

So when Jesus is quoting those two phrases about the law, and then he says, all the law and the prophets hang on these things, he's quoting a context and it's a, it's a good way for us to study, as we read through the New Testament. In fact, one of the exercises I started when I, I'm in Matthew. And I see a quotation from the Old Testament. I've stopped, go back and read the context to get a flavor for what, for what is being quoted there.

It, it's a good exercise for us to, to, to To be proper in our interpretation of scripture. Excuse me. All right. Galatians 3.

21. We get the book of Galatians is is Paul writing. to people who are being overwhelmed with the law and misunderstanding the law and its application to their lives. And, so he, he writes to set things straight and to clarify their understanding.

Where he says in verse 21, Chapter 3. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be. For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on the law.

But the scripture has shut up everyone under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. What Paul is, is, is arguing for is, that we're not under law. That the law does not transform us, the law doesn't save us, it exposes us. That's what it does.

It shines the light on us. And, and shows us that we're under unrighteousness. But, what we have been given is freedom in Christ. What Christ gives to us is not bondage to a law, but freedom in Himself.

So let's go on reading, it says, but before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law being shut up to the faith, which was later to be revealed. Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. So we are saved by grace alone.

That is the, the declaration that Paul is trying to get through to these people of Galatia because someone has, as he says, who has bewitched you, who has tried to lead you astray, to, to, be a slave of the law. Then let's look over in Romans 3. 19. This is gonna be our last passage that we look at.

So we're almost done. And we'll go down through verse 26. He says, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God, because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction. For all have sin and falls short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace to the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed.

For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Since it is impossible for us to achieve righteousness by our own effort, we are being shown that it is God who provides righteousness for us. we can't do it ourselves, right? And, and the law is, is actually making that clear for us. And if we try to achieve it by trying to keep the law and we work and we work and work, what do we find?

Well, in Romans 7, What we, what Paul says is we find frustration. Because we find that we fail. And we try to keep the law, we try to do the right thing, and the more we try, The worse we get. It, it, we become more and more frustrated and that's all we're gonna have is frustration because we don't have the ability to achieve righteousness ourselves.

God knows that. God was patient with Israel. He, he gave those 10 commandments to them. He knew these people are already lawbreakers.

He knew these people, even though they say, whatever God says we will do, he knows that that they're gonna fail. In in some cases, the failure was so great there had to be severe judgment, but in most cases, God made a way through grace to restore them in relationship with Him. and he actually installed a very pictorial way, a graphic way, so they could have understanding through the sacrificial system that they had, that he, he installed for them. We now have A, a very graphic way.

We look at the cross. The cross is, is what tells us that God has made a way for, for us to, to walk in righteousness. And so that The connection between the law and the gospel is that the law is God's standard of righteous living that only Jesus could fulfill and make atonement for us. When we put our faith And he who has fulfilled the law.

Then we then become better at fulfilling the spirit of the law. Such as is described in the Sermon on the Mount. when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, he's And there, there's a part of that where he, he goes back and talks about the law. Remember what he says?

You have heard it said. But I say unto you, does that 5 times. And, and throughout that, he's, he's challenging their thinking. Because as human beings, what we always, when we see a law, We, we go, OK, there's the letter of the law.

This is my boundary and we will drive right next to that boundary, right? We will go up to the edge of that. What God is expecting. is for us to, to, to look at the law and see the spirit of the law.

So when Jesus says, you have heard it said, you should not commit adultery, but I see unto you, who, whoever looks at a woman and lusts after her has committed adultery already in his heart, there's a spirit of the law that is a higher level than what we normally think. It's not just a physical boundary. It's a way of thinking, it's a way of acting, and what God is wanting to get us to. is not just, being able to, to, to get up to the lines and knowing where the lines are, but, but going after the spirit of what's behind it.

And God is the one who gives us the ability to go past that. And so he works in our lives. He's continually drawing us. To and challenging us in the way we live to be able to go beyond just the physicality of the law and what is the spirit of the law?

What is he trying to get us to? And so that righteousness then Proceeds from the heart. Instead of corruption coming from the heart. Remember Jesus said, it's out of the mouth comes corruption.

Not what goes in, but what comes out. And so if righteousness starts, begins to indwell our hearts, that's what will come out in us. And that's where God wants us to be, and that's what Paul argued for in, in the book of Galatians, that, that we're to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill. The lust of the flesh.

We were to walk in that, and, and that is a whole different way of dealing with the commandments, of dealing with God's law. And that is what God is going to be trying to get us to. OK. I think that's pretty much wrapped us up.

Homework is to memorize Exodus 20:1 to 5. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. That's our therapy. All right.

let's close in prayer and we'll be dismissed. Thank you, Lord. For the law Your law is perfect. It converts the soul.

It gives us testimony of who we are and what we need. The Lord is your spirit and your sacrifice for us that changes our hearts and makes us even want to come to you. And Lord, I pray that your spirit would be upon us. Help us to, to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Help us to be repentant of the wrong that we do. Help us to be honest with you. And Lord, may we get past the hiding and the denials. And be truthful with you.

And be then transformed by you to walk in righteousness, to walk after you, and to live in a way that Demonstrate your glory. You're a great God. You are very loving and patient with us. And Lord, we need that.

We need your patience, we need your direction, and so we ask for that. Jesus' name. Amen.