We are in chapter thirty-four of Exodus with our word for today which is a phrase used for the first time in the Bible. עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִֽים ten words, ten commandments. It is used 3 times in the Old Testament. Let’s start with our chapter today since it is also the first time it is used in the Bible. Exodus 34:27-28 Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel ... And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִֽים the Ten Commandments. Here we see that the ten commandments are used to summarize the words of the covenant. We also see this idea in our next use. Deuteronomy 4:13 He commanded you to perform, that is, עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִ֑ים the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules. This passage helps us understand that there are more than just ten commandments or instructions for the people as Moses was to teach them statutes and rules for them to go into the land successfully. Our phrase is used as a summary of all the teachings God revealed to Moses. The ten are the main basic ones. Let’s look at our last use. Deuteronomy 10:4-5 And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, עֲשֶׂ֣רֶת הַדְּבָרִ֔ים the Ten Commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain ... Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the Lord commanded me. The fact that God wrote his commandments on stone means something. What is communicated is that it is not changeable. These are God’s commands that will and have stood the test of time. This is definitely true in the New Testament. Jesus refers back to these ten commandments referring to them as the commandments. Matthew 5:17-19 Did you catch what Jesus was saying? He is not saying that the ten commandments do not apply anymore. Not at all he is reinforcing their high importance as communicating God’s will to us. He is saying that he has followed them completely so that his life can take our place so that our salvation is not based on our following the commandments but instead accepting God’s salvation as a gift. The commandments are still what God desires for us to follow and keep just not as a means to our own salvation. We see this same thinking as the Holy Spirit writes through Paul to the Ephesian Churches. Ephesians 2:14-15 God abolished the law of commandments in the sense of not holding us accountable to following them perfectly as the basis for our salvation. The basis of our salvation is only the work of Christ on the cross. The Holy Spirit writing through Paul to the Corinthian Churches show the importance of the commandments. 1 Corinthians 7:19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Did you notice what the focus of believers is to be? Keeping God’s commandments is still what God has called us to do as people saved by God’s grace through faith. Revelation also makes this connection to Christians and following God’s commandments. Revelation 12:17; 14:12 Notice how both of these passages describe a follower of Jesus as also one who keeps God’s commandments. John claims that this is how we know God. 1 John 2:3-4; 3:24 So how we know God is if we keep his commandments because this is his will for us. The purpose of our salvation is to serve God and keep his commandments not to become saved but because we are saved. John also says that this shows that we love God. 1 John 5:2-3; 2 John 1:6 We can’t claim that we love God if we do not do what he has written down for us to follow his commandments. I’ll close with this great passage that reminds us that following the commandments are how we love God and others. Romans 13:8-10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
