The Ten Commandments and the Two Covenants
Genesis 20.1-21
Then God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself any sacred sculpture or representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. I punish the sin of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 and I show kindness to a thousand generations to those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not use the name of the LORD your God lightly, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who uses his name lightly.
8 “Remember to make the day of rest holy. 9 For six days you will work and do everything you need to do. 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male slave, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger who lives with you. 11 For in six days the LORD *made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is therein[a], and *he rested on the seventh day[b]. This is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.
12 *"Honor your father and your mother that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God gives you.
13 “You shall not commit murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male slave, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to him.”
18 All the people heard the thunder and the sound of the trumpet and saw the flames of the smoking mountain. At this spectacle, the people trembled and kept at a good distance. 19 They said to Moses, “Speak to us, and we will listen; but let God not speak to us, otherwise we would die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you may have his fear before your eyes so that you do not sin.” 21 The people remained at a good distance, but Moses approached the cloud where God was.
We have arrived at the Ten Commandments!
Along with the crossing of the Red Sea, these are certainly the two very well-known scenes from the book of Exodus in popular culture.
And I don't know if it's just me, but I tended in the past to imagine the Ten Commandments like this:
With a Moses with the tables of the ten commandments, who quietly explains to the people the rules for living well in society. And maybe that's how some of you imagined it too.
We agree, that is not at all what was read.
We can play the game of seven differences:
In the text, it is not Moses who is speaking to the people, it is God himself. Moses is at the bottom, with the people (perhaps a little closer to the mountain but still at the bottom).
There are no tables. That will come later, but for now, the ten commandments are the voice of God and that's it.
It's not nice. The weather in this text is more of a mix of eruption and storm.
And, above all, people are not calm at all! They are rather in a state of panic, close to syncope!
Well, four differences is already enough. Enough to see that the atmosphere was much more impressive, frightening, threatening.
If I invite you to imagine the scene, it is also because imagining it according to the description of the Bible helps us to dispel certain false impressions that we have of the Ten Commandments.
Sometimes we see them as a series of ethical principles for a dignified life, or a set of rules for a just society. We would almost put the Ten Commandments next to these books which present us with a limited number of rules for living well.
The 7 habits of effective people. The 12 rules for life. The 8 values of judo. We like lists of principles.
But without even talking about the content, just by paying attention to the setting of this chapter - the thunder, the fire, the people in panic - we see that the ten commandments are not a list of nice principles for living well .
Nor are they a treatise on political philosophy, or legislation defined in detail, or a list of tasks for being accepted by God.
And we could go on listing things that the Ten Commandments are not. But I would like to look with you today at the Ten Commandments from a perspective that, in my opinion, does justice to the nature of this text: the Ten Commandments in the context of God's Covenant with his people.
The beginning of the Covenant
We have already talked a little about the narrative side of this text: the ten commandments in the Bible are not an isolated list of principles, but they are stated by God at a given moment, in the middle of a story which is in the process of unfold.
This is a good time to give a short summary of this story so far: At the beginning of Exodus, God freed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt (which he says in verse 2).
God leads them through the red sea, through the desert, through trials, until they arrive at Mount Sinai. And after having done all this, God proposes a Covenant to the Israelites:
You have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to me. Now if you will listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be mine personally among all people, for all the earth is mine. You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Ex 19:4-6)
This is the proposed exchange: the people listen to the voice of God (that means, obey the voice of God), and God makes them a kingdom of priests that belongs to him personally.
This is not an arbitrary exchange. The two things are totally linked. It is by listening to the voice of God that Israel can be a kingdom of priests. The priest is the one who represents the divinity, who makes the link between one god and the others. It is therefore normal that the priest, to be a good representative, a good banner bearer, must behave in the image of the values of his god.
God therefore proposes that the people of Israel be a people of priests. And the people accept. Alright. To seal this Covenant, there will be a meeting between the two parties: God and the people.
God says he is going to manifest his presence on Mount Sinai, and the people are going to see it from the bottom of the mountain. Moses has the task of organizing this meeting, with instructions for the people to prepare and especially instructions for the people not to come too close to the mountain.
The presence of God arrives on the mountain. Fire, smoke, tremor, thunder. Moses goes down to the people. And there, for the first time, God speaks in a way where all the people hear - not just Moses!
It is the meeting of the people and their God. This is the high point of the Covenant.
It is therefore quite normal that God begins his speech with a presentation:
“I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (v1)
Then God will describe in a very summary manner the nature of this Covenant that he concluded with the people of Israel. And we can see the ten commandments like that: a summary of the covenant. Almost like a table of contents - each of the themes discussed here will be developed in detail later in the Torah.
An Exclusive Covenant
So, what do the Ten Commandments tell us about the covenant?
First, that it is a relationship of exclusivity - the first commandment.
To be a people of priests, they must have one god. Having others would be totally contradictory with their mission of representation. It's like a monogamous marriage.
The most natural way to try to circumvent this exclusivity is prohibited by the second commandment. To identify the Eternal, the true God, with something created, an idol, is ultimately to have another god and to try poorly to say that it is YHWH. Because if we create an image that does not correspond to God, then it is not God.
Besides, it's interesting to see that we can do this every time we are not faithful to the revelation that God makes about himself. From the moment we shape an image of God inspired by something other than God - an animal, a person, a political idea, an ideology, etc. - and make this image the object of my praise …It’s idolatry. Diverted idolatry, because we still tried to give the name of the true God to this thing we created.
The description of God as a "jealous God" may seem very bizarre. Especially for us today. But a god who is not jealous, especially in this context of Covenant, is an indifferent god. A god who does not act if his people move away from him. A god who doesn't want to make himself known.
It is not an indifferent god that we see in the ten commandments. He is committed to this Covenant, with his severity against idolatry, but also with his goodness and his faithfulness which do not run out. 1000 generations... that's much more than the number of generations between Moses and us.
As priests who represent God, the people therefore receive the privilege of being God's banner bearers. They bear the name of God, YHWH, and therefore are commanded to bear that name with honor – and not as if it were something mundane.
We also see that this people of priests must honor the acts of the Lord by keeping the holy days. Days are dedicated to commemorating God and his deeds. In the case of the Sabbath, which is presented here, God is commemorated as creator. When the ten commandments are repeated in Deuteronomy, we see instead the commemoration of God as the deliverer from slavery.
If the second commandment forbids Israel from identifying God with what He is not, the fourth commandment commands Israel to commemorate what God is.
A Collective Covenant
In the commandments that follow, which deal more with interpersonal behavior, we see that it is an exhaustively collective Covenant.
What I mean by exhaustively collective: the people, collectively, are committed to this Covenant - it is first of all a collective reality - but each individual of the people is committed to this Covenant.
They therefore owe each other mutual respect. Of honor itself, in the case of relations of authority.
An individual cannot arbitrarily harm the life, property, marriage or reputation of another, because that other person is also in the Covenant.
Often a distinction is made between the first four commandments which deal with duties towards God; and the other six commandments which deal with duties towards one's neighbor. We could even see this distinction in the structure of the text: the first four commandments are developed and explained. While the next six are stated very quickly. Probably because they are easier to understand.
But they are not necessarily easier to put into practice, since the last commandment goes to the inner root of our behaviors - the way our desires develop as latent aggression.
If the exclusive aspect of the Covenant shows us a God who is jealous - that is, not indifferent to our relationship with him - the collective aspect shows us a God who is not indifferent to any person of his people. The behavior of others concerns him.
Behavior that is not aligned with one's character misrepresents the true God. Or represent a false god. Which brings us back to idolatry.
Generally speaking, all these commandments are relatively brief. A table of contents of the Act. Through Moses, God will give more detailed instructions on how to put these commandments into practice.
They will also have prescriptions for what to do when someone breaks these commandments - sacrifices, punishments, etc. And that's important too: these commandments will highlight the gap between the holiness of God and the sin of human beings (not just the Israelites).
This gap, highlighted not only by the content of the ten commandments, but also (and perhaps above all) by the impact of the voice of God which spoke directly to the people, is what will bring them into a state of panic, almost despair.
Moses reassures them in a very paradoxical way: he tells them not to be afraid, but that this manifestation of God is done on purpose to inspire fear in them. In French, we tend to make the difference between fear and dread but… In reality, in Hebrew, the word used is the same (in verse 20). The feeling is very close.
I wonder if this is when they are already beginning to understand that being representatives of a holy God is a task far beyond their abilities. They implore Moses to be their mediator, so that when they hear God's commands, it will not provoke a similar level of fear.
The New Covenant
We've talked a lot about how the Ten Commandments fit into the mission of the people of Israel to be a kingdom of priests. And if we continue to read the Old Testament, we see that the people of Israel systematically failed to keep this Covenant.
And, as Christians, we believe that Jesus fully fulfilled this Covenant. He was faithful in his behavior, in his words, in his desires. He was the high priest, who was the only perfect human representative of God.
So that means it's okay, the Ten Commandments aren't really important to us anymore?
Not so fast...
The apostle Peter said to Jesus' disciples,
“You are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a redeemed people, to proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9).
Just as the people of Israel are called to be a kingdom of priests AFTER being saved from slavery in Egypt, we are called to be a kingdom of priests AFTER being saved from sin through the sacrifice of Jesus.
The First Covenant points to our New Covenant with God in Jesus.
The commandments of the First Covenant highlight the gap between God's holy character and man's sin. This gap finds its resolution in the work and sacrifice of Jesus, the New Covenant.
We can be these representatives of God among the people without the fear of judgment, because Jesus took the judgment of His people upon Himself. This is always our calling: to be a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation.
And by being a kingdom of priests, we know and make God known by following his commandments.
I come back to my image from the beginning.
We have seen that this image does not correspond at all to Exodus 20. But if we remove the stone tables, this image can really remind us of the Sermon on the Mount. Where Jesus tells his disciples that they are the “salt of the earth”.
He said to his disciples:
“In the same way may your light shine before men so that they may see your beautiful way of acting and thus celebrate the glory of your heavenly Father.” (Mt 5:16)
On this occasion, Jesus will give a reading of the Ten Commandments in the original Spirit of the Ten Commandments - not as a checklist of tasks to do or not to do, but as an expression of the privilege of being a representative people of God's character.
No panic, paralyzing fear or trembling this time - Jesus teaches with the authority of God, but with the approachable voice of a mediator. And we are free to practice His commandments as members of the New Covenant.
What does it look like to live out His commandments as members of the New Covenant today?
I invite you to read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7, because the examples given are very current, and they are not really difficult to transpose to our contemporary context.
Some examples :
Jesus highlights the exclusivity of the covenant we have with God, saying that we cannot serve God and riches. We cannot put all our effort and thought into amassing a large amount of money and, at the same time, put all our effort and thought into glorifying God. If we try to do that, we're going to be a kingdom of priests of money, not a kingdom of priests of God.
Jesus highlights the corporate aspect of the covenant, showing that our relationship with God has EVERYTHING to do with our relationship with others around us.
He says :
“So if you present your offering towards the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering before the altar and go first to be reconciled to your brother, then come and present your offering. " (Mt 5:23-24)
So if you have a lingering dispute with a sibling or someone close to you, and you want to be faithful to the Covenant you have with the God who has already saved you, go quickly resolve it. Ask for forgiveness if necessary, give forgiveness if necessary, set things straight if necessary.
Jesus highlights the individual, comprehensive aspect of the covenant, showing that even your heart and your outlook is an area that must manifest the character of God:
"You have heard that it was said: You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, Every man who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Mt 5:27-28)
Perhaps as you read the Sermon on the Mount you begin to get a little of the panic of the people when they heard the voice of God. The holiness of God highlighted, the project of being part of a kingdom of priests and expressing this reality through our behavior... seems difficult.
If this is our case, rather than ignoring the call, may we remember the context of the Covenant, of a God who did in advance what was necessary for our salvation, and who he provided a mediator so that we can listen to his voice without fear.