Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Law before Sinai
In 1659, John Bunyan wrote "The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded," which was his last book before entering Bedford Prison for twelve years. In one section of this discourse, he shows how the Ten Commandments were punished before Sinai. There are some Christians who believe that the Ten Commandments were only for Christian or only for Israel. But God did not limit himself to Israel when punishing sins against these laws.
In Exodus 12:12, the Lord said, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." The Lord executed judgment against the false gods of Egypt.
This was before the Lord said, "You shall have no other gods before Me," in chapter 20, and this was a judgment against Egypt, not Israel.
In 5:2, Pharoah had said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go." Oh, well, Pharoah didn't know the Lord, so he was off the hook, right? He can't be held responsible for what some God of another religion said, could he? Well, God certainly believed he was responsible.
But everyone has their own beliefs, right? Just let everyone believe what they want. One religion's as good as another, right?
After hearing what occurred in Egypt, Moses' father-in-law Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them." (Exodus 18:10-11)
The third commandment is, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
Yet, already Abraham's reputation for keeping this commandment was so great that his oath was all the surety Abimelech needed. "And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, 'God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.'" (Genesis 21:22-23) The same was true with Jacob: "'The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.' And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac." (Genesis 31:53) Moses had the same reason for carrying Joseph's bones out of Egypt: "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, 'God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.'" (Exodus 13:19)
We can see from these examples that all men everywhere must know God as the one true God and worship Him accordingly. All men must also worship Him only as He has directed us to worship Him and not by idols or any way that He has not directed us to worship Him. All men must keep God's name holy.
In Exodus 12:12, the Lord said, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." The Lord executed judgment against the false gods of Egypt.
This was before the Lord said, "You shall have no other gods before Me," in chapter 20, and this was a judgment against Egypt, not Israel.
In 5:2, Pharoah had said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go." Oh, well, Pharoah didn't know the Lord, so he was off the hook, right? He can't be held responsible for what some God of another religion said, could he? Well, God certainly believed he was responsible.
So the LORD said to Moses: "Pharaoh's heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. And you shall say to him, "The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness"; but indeed, until now you would not hear! Thus says the LORD: "By this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.""'
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, "Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone."' And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. And seven days passed after the LORD had struck the river.
Exodus 7:14-25
But everyone has their own beliefs, right? Just let everyone believe what they want. One religion's as good as another, right?
After hearing what occurred in Egypt, Moses' father-in-law Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them." (Exodus 18:10-11)
The third commandment is, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
Yet, already Abraham's reputation for keeping this commandment was so great that his oath was all the surety Abimelech needed. "And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, 'God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.'" (Genesis 21:22-23) The same was true with Jacob: "'The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.' And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac." (Genesis 31:53) Moses had the same reason for carrying Joseph's bones out of Egypt: "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, 'God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.'" (Exodus 13:19)
We can see from these examples that all men everywhere must know God as the one true God and worship Him accordingly. All men must also worship Him only as He has directed us to worship Him and not by idols or any way that He has not directed us to worship Him. All men must keep God's name holy.




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