  Foundations of the Faith
By Robert P. Mills The Presbyterian Layman Nov/Dec, 1997 Foundations of the Faith explores and explains the fundamental doctrines of our Christian faith. |
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Bruce Larson’s description of the Exodus offers an appropriate introduction to this series of studies on the Ten Commandments. For like the people of Israel, God’s children today are also on a journey through uncharted territory, a journey toward a definite goal. Like Israel, we are moving from being bound by forces opposed to God’s will toward the freedom God intends us to enjoy. And, like our forebears in the faith, we are prone to grumble while enroute – murmuring against God, still feeling an attraction to the deities worshiped by the culture through which we are passing as pilgrims. A time of preparation Israel’s exodus from Egypt had been a time of preparation, a time when the people learned to lean day by day on God’s grace. As Israel had traveled through the desert, God had rescued them from annihilation at the Red Sea, provided them with daily manna, sweetened bitter water, and even caused water to gush from a rock. William Hogan notes, “If you trace their route on a map you will discover that [the Israelites] were being led on a zig-zag path. Curious as the route may have seemed, every stop in the itinerary was designated by God.” With Israel’s arrival at Mt. Sinai, one important goal of the journey has been reached. For here, three months to the day after Israel had left Egypt, God instructs Moses to tell the people: “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, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites … The people all responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said’ ” (Ex. 19:5-6, 8).These verses summarize both what God has already done for Israel and his hopes for his people – if they choose to respond to what he has done. They also introduce several themes – including covenant, priesthood, and obedience – which will prove central to a proper understanding of the Ten Commandments. Everyone trembled Following the people’s promise of obedience God told Moses: “ ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.’ … On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled” (Ex. 19:10-11, 16).Two features in these verses are particularly noteworthy. First, the Ten Commandments were not given to Moses while he was in the desert on a personal retreat, nor to a group of priests who had gathered in a secret location. Rather, God came down in the sight of all the people because his words were intended for all the people. The Ten Commandments, and by extension the whole of God’s law, are not a burden that God lays on a special few, but a gift God gives to all his people, and through them to all humanity. Second, it is worth dwelling on the fact that everyone trembled in the presence of God. Today we live in a society where constant technological innovation has dulled our capacity for awe, our ability to stand in humble silence before that which transcends our knowledge and experience. Entranced by novelty, almost addicted to sensationalism, far too many Christians seem to have little sense of the “awe-some” presence and power of Almighty God. Taking to heart Israel’s response helps us recapture an awe-filled truth: it is a fearful thing to be directly confronted with the presence of God. |
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| Law
presumes grace Israel’s three-month journey out of Egypt had been an ongoing experience of God’s unfailing protection and abundant provision. Now God promises his people that if they will obey his teachings, they will experience still more of his blessings. That God revealed his law in the midst of Israel’s exodus from Egypt offers an important insight into God’s character and conduct: God’s law presumes God’s grace. Far from contradicting one another, grace and law are complimentary components of God’s self-revelation. The God who has provided water, quail and daily bread, the very stuff of physical life, also offers spiritual sustenance. Just as God did not allow Israel to die in the desert – sparing them from hunger, thirst, and sword – neither would he allow them to fall victim to the spiritual dangers that they faced. As God provides for our bodies, so he provides for our souls. To be sure, God does not force his people, then or now, to receive his gifts. Any Israelite could have chosen not to cross the Red Sea, not to gather manna to eat, and not to drink the water God supplied. Similarly, they could have chosen not to obey the Ten Commandments. But, then as now, to choose not to accept what God provides is to choose death instead of life. God’s greatest gift The Ten Commandments were given by God in the midst of a thundering self-revelation. Biblical history and personal experience both teach us that such manifestations of God’s presence are exceptional. Instead, God’s law is one way in which God continually mediates his presence to us. God’s law reminds us of our own sinfulness, of God’s perfect holiness, and that our response to God’s self-revelation is to be one of obedience and worship to the God who has revealed himself in fire and cloud, in his law, and supremely in Jesus Christ. A marvelous example of worshipful response is found in Psalm 19, in which the heavens sing the praises of God’s creation, the psalmist sings the praises of God’s law, and the closing prayer reflects our intimate relationship with the God who is both our Creator and Redeemer. In our next study, we will specifically consider God’s law as God’s gift. For now, Israel’s journey allows us to reflect on our own pilgrimage. Their response to God reminds us that God himself is his greatest gift to us. As Rob Suggs has written: “Alongside Moses, we seek God’s face, and our prayer is to receive the Word of Life clearly and eagerly. Like Moses, we will come away from the encounter with glowing faces, and people will know at a glance that we have encountered not just God’s laws, but God himself.” |
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The Presbyterian Layman – Nov/Dec 1997 |
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