Covenant and Commandments: Exodus 19 & 20

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets;
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:17

Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. The law and the prophets point to Jesus. This week we discussed the foundation of the law and prophets: God’s covenant with Israel and the Ten Commandments.

God’s covenant with Israel comes in three parts in Exodus 19:4-6. We’ll call those three parts 1. The Cause, 2. The Effect, and 3. The Result:

1. The Cause – Salvation: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself (Exodus 19:4). The first action is God’s, and it is Israel’s salvation out of Egypt.
2. The Effect – Obedience: Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant (19:5). As a faithful response to God’s salvation, Israel is called to obey God. If – if – Israel does this, then…
3. The Result – Holiness: you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation (19:5-6). If Israel obeys in response to God’s salvation, God will make them God’s treasured possession, a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation.

The Ten Commandments create the cornerstone of Israel’s obedience to God. The first four commandments orient us in right relationship with God and the final six orient is right relationship with one another. Love God, love neighbor.

That pattern is consistent with what Jesus taught: the two greatest commandments are to love God with everything you are and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Through Jesus, God renews the covenant with God’s people. The same cause, effect, and results are in place. Salvation from sin and death through Jesus Christ is the cause. Obedience is the result, and the Ten Commandments still speak to how we are called to obey God and live in a loving relationship with God and one another. Holiness is the result.

Peter, in his first letter, parallels Exodus 19:5-6 when speaking of the holiness of those following Jesus: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

We are made holy in order that we can share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Read the sermon here: Covenant and Commandments

Discussion/Reflection Questions:

1. How have you experienced salvation through Jesus?
2. How have you responded to salvation?
3. The Ten Commandments are fairly simple. Yet, some are hard to keep. Which commandments challenge you?
4. Have you ever thought of yourself as part of a royal priesthood? How can you act this week as part of such a calling?
5. BONUS: Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and see how Jesus quotes – and even modifies – some of the Ten Commandments. For example, Jesus doesn’t stop at “Do not murder” but says that anyone who gets angry is liable to the same judgement (Matthew 5:21-26). Why does he say this? How can we respond?