By Captain Michael Ramsay
To see the August 03, 2014 version based on Exodus 20, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/07/exodus-201-17-holiness-test.html
To see the August 03, 2014 version based on Exodus 20, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/07/exodus-201-17-holiness-test.html
Today we are looking at the Ten Commandments. Now there is an important phrase at the beginning of our text which we read today that I don’t know if anyone noticed: Deuteronomy 5:3: “It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.” This is important because none of the people were alive when God made the original covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12-15).[1] And Moses, when he says this, he is not speaking for the most part to the people who were even alive when he received the exodus covenant/commission on Mt. Horeb (Exodus 19-24) or when the Hebrews were delivered from Egypt.[2] As Deuteronomy is taking place, most of the Exodus generation has already passed away. Moses lets the people of this next generation know, however, that they are still bound by this covenant to God even though they may not have even been born when it was first made.[3] This is what God is reminding the Hebrews before He presents the Ten Commandments to us. And this is what Jesus reminds us of in the Gospels when he confirms that all the law and the prophets hang on the fact that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and that we must love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark, 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-27). This is interesting because the Ten Commandments themselves can be summed up exactly this way: as loving God and loving one’s neighbour.[4] You will notice that the last six or seven commands relate directly to loving one’s neighbour and that the first three or four relate directly to loving God.[5]
Today, as we look at this very important part of scripture, instead of a sermon or a homily, I have a test for us that will use most of our remaining worship time. Now I want you to write down your answers but don’t show them to anyone else, unless you feel so-led. This test today relates to how each of us loves God and our neighbours.[6] Are you ready? This is a two-part test holiness test. It has only ten questions and it is based on the Ten Commandments: The first part of this holiness test we are taking will encourage us to examine our holiness relating to our love for God. Number your papers from 1-4.
DECALOGUE HOLINESS TEST
Part 1: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).
1. Do we ever put anything before God? Deuteronomy 5:7 (Exodus 20:3; cf. Leviticus 26:13; Numbers 15:41; Deuteronomy 13:4-5) records the Lord’s command that “You shall have no gods before me.” This is pretty straightforward. There is only one God, so you should not put anyone or anything else before God.[7] Do we ever put anything before God? Ron mentioned to me this week that he even pulled over from his marathon drive across the West this past Sunday to attend a church service en route. This is great. Do we all do this? Do we set time aside like this or do we sometimes put our holidays or our company before God, letting them interfere with our worship of YHWH in community? Do we sometimes put television, work, homework, or friends before God: opting to do these things instead of, or more than reading our Bibles? Do we ever put our bank accounts or our friends’ opinions before God? Do we sometimes make our decisions based on our finances or our friend’s advice instead of by discerning God’s Word through prayer and Bible study? The question again: do we ever put anything before God?
- Is there anything that maybe was meant to aid us in worship that now is successfully competing with God for our love and attention? Deuteronomy 5:8 (Exodus 20:4): “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” This is different than the first commandment. This is asking if we ever make images of God that we may be eventually tempted to wind up worshipping. Moses made a bronze snake in the desert that God later had destroyed because people began worshipping this image (Numbers 21:4-9, 2 Kings 18:4). The rightfully condemned golden calves of Aaron and Jeroboam may have been simply meant as a place for God to sit (Exodus 32; Deuteronomy 9; 1 Kings 12:28; 2 Chronicles 11:15, 13:8).[8] Do we ever make images relating to God that may wind up in essence competing with God for our attention? Do we have a version of the Bible that we will only read? Do we have certain ways of worship: a certain kind of music or tradition or sacrament or non-sacrament that once was meant to aid us in worship but is now in essence competing with God for our attention? In church, do we pay more attention to the music, the sermon, or other things than we do to God? Question 2: Is there anything that maybe was meant to aid us in worship that now is successfully competing with God for our attention?
- Are we ever careless in our use of the Lord’s name? Deuteronomy 5:11 (cf. Exodus 20:7; cf. also Leviticus 22:32): “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” The AV or KJV, that most of us grew up with and may have memorized this command in reads, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…” We know what this means right? It can mean a couple of things, it can mean that we are not to swear an oath and then not keep it (cf. Numbers 30, Matthew 5:33-37, James 5:12).[9] It can also more commonly mean that we shouldn’t flippantly or thoughtless mention the Lord’s name.[10] We have heard people say, ‘oh my goodness’ (but not using the word ‘goodness’) as a exclamation or this new generation can simply text, ‘OMG’. Anytime we are careless like this or anytime attribute things to God that God did not say or do or anytime we use His name in careless or profane ways (some people even curse using our Lord’s name!), anytime we do these things, we are misusing the name of the Lord. Question 3: Are we ever careless in our use of the Lord’s name, do we ever take His name in vain?
I mentioned that this holiness quiz today has two parts. This next question can go into either the first part – the ‘Love God’ part - of the test or the second part of the test – the ‘Love your neighbour’ part. Because we are primarily looking at the Deuteronomy version (the Exodus version belongs firmly in the first part) of the Ten Commandments, we should probably put this question in the Part 2 but because there are more questions in Part 2 than there are in Part 1 already we will assign it to Part 1.
- Do we observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded? (Deuteronomy 5:12, Exodus 5:8) Now bearing in mind that Christians come together on the Lord’s Day rather than on the Sabbath as the Hebrews in the desert did; and bearing in mind that, as the authors of Romans and Hebrews point out now everyday is can actually be as a Sabbath to the Lord (Romans 14:5-6, Hebrews 4:1-2); do we, nonetheless, set aside a sacred time and space to worship God? Do we have at least one day a week where we do no work but God’s work? The Exodus version of this text records that just as God ceased from His work when Creation was complete (Exodus 20:11), we should do the same as a part of loving our God. The Deuteronomy version of our text which we read today – Deuteronomy 5:14-16 - says that because the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, we should not only cease from our work but we should not cause other people to work either – except for working for God, of course (the Priest and the Levites weren’t given Monday off in lieu of the Sabbath) - Do we ever make others work by filling up with gas or going out for lunch on the Lord’s Day? This may or may not come into play now, after the resurrection, now that of the tomb is empty (Cf. Romans 14:5-6, Hebrews 4:1-2). But I will leave this question with us anyway: do we keep at least one day as holy, as the Lord our God has commanded us to keep it holy?
This concludes Part 1, the ‘Love God’ part of our Decalogue Holiness Test. We’ll stop here and check our work. You can check your own work. We’ll now review the answers and if anyone gets 4/4, great. If not, I’ll get you to make your corrections for homework and we’ll try to remember to ask you about it next week.
1) Do we ever put anything before God? (No)
2) Is there anything successfully competing with God for our attention? (No)
3) Are we ever careless in our use of the Lord’s name? (No)
4) Do we keep at least one day holy, as the Lord our God has commanded us? (Yes)
DECALOGUE HOLINESS TEST
Part 2: Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:18).
I will ask you to number your pages now from 5-10 and we will start the second part of our test, sub-titled, ‘Love Your Neighbour’ (cf. Romans 13:9). This part is important as shown by the fact that Jesus addresses a number of these items specifically (Matthew 5:21, 27, 33; Mark 12:29–31; Luke 10:27; 18:20; cf. also Romans 2:21, 22; Galatians 5:19f.; Ephesians 4:28; 5:3; Hebrews 4:9; James 2:11, etc.).[11]
- Do we honour our fathers and our mothers, as the Lord our God has commanded us (Deuteronomy 5:16, Exodus 20:12)? This has many applications. Obviously it relates to children living under their parents’ roof. Do they do as their parents ask; do they respect their wishes; do they avoid doing anything that can bring embarrassment or financial or other hardship upon the family? This passage also, however, refers to us in dealing with our elderly parents. Do we provide for them, as they need provision? Remember there were no pensions, Medicare, or old age security while the Israelites were wondering around the desert. How adults honoured their parents had a great bearing on their culture and society (cf. Ephesians 6:1-3). Question 5: Do we in this room love our neighbours by honouring our parents?
6. Have we ever broken the command not to murder? (Deuteronomy 5:17, Exodus 20:13). Matthew 5:21-22 records Jesus as saying, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Have we ever been angry with a Christian brother or sister? Have we ever referred to someone as “you fool”? Question 6: Have we ever broken the command not to murder?
7. Have we ever committed adultery? Deuteronomy 5:18 (Exodus 20:14) records, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. Jesus says, Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Have we ever committed adultery in our hearts?
8. Have we ever stolen? Deuteronomy 5:19 (Exodus 20:15) says, ‘You shall not steal.’ Have we ever not put in the time that we are paid to put in at work? Have we ever not claimed all of our income on our income tax? Have we ever withheld payment from someone for something they have done? Have we ever ‘borrowed’ something from a sibling or friend without asking? Have we ever stolen?
9. Have we ever given false testimony against our neighbour? (Deuteronomy 5:20, Exodus 20:16). This command is primarily referring to a court action but it can most certainly be extended to include any false statement about a neighbour.[12] Have we ever made false claims about a political or historical figure? Have we ever passed along falsehood about a colleague or community member? Have we ever repeated a rumour or gossip as if it was truth? Have we ever given false testimony against our neighbour?
10. Do we ever covet our neighbour’s wife or anything that belongs to our neighbour? (Deuteronomy 5:21, Exodus 20:17) Do we ever wish we had our neighbour’s car? Do we ever lament that we don’t have a job as cushy or with as big a paycheque or with as many holidays as someone else’s? A big part of the advertising that helps prop up our whole economic system in this country is the desire to have what someone else has? Do we ever need to ‘keep up to the Joneses?’ Do we ever fall prey to that temptation? Do we ever covet someone else’s life or someone else’s possessions?
Let’s review the second part of the test:
5) Do we love our neighbours by honouring our parents? (Yes)
6) Have we broken the command not to murder? (No)
7) Have we committed adultery in our hearts? (No)
8) Have we ever stolen? (No)
9) Do we ever give false testimony? (No)
10) Do we sometimes covet someone else’s life or someone else’s possessions? (No)
So how did you do? How did we do on the Decalogue Holiness Test? How are we at reflecting or emulating the Lord’s holiness through loving God and loving our neighbour? I know that everyone here probably aced this quiz (of course!) because we are all living the holy, sanctified lives that God calls us to in Deuteronomy here (Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, 14:21, 26:19, 28:9), in the Old Testament (cf. Exodus 19:6, 22:31, 31:13; Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7-8), and in the New Testament (cf. Ephesians 1:4,18; 1 Thessalonians 4:4-7; 2 Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 12:4; 1 Peter 1:13-16; cf. also Matthew 5:48). But, if for some reason we didn’t get the test perfect, I would like us to take it home and work on it. You can use the book to help you too. Actually I would encourage that. The more you read the textbook (the Bible), the more you will understand about the holiness exam. I want to point out two quick things before we go here:
1) No matter how you did on the test, there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). He is patient and as we study for the tests this life will send – and this life will have many test – the Lord will always be there to help us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
2) Don’t worry about transforming yourself into a holy person. The Gospel itself has the power to transform us (Romans 1:16-17). As we read the Bible and as we pray and as we spend time with God, God will naturally transform us into His likeness (cf. TSA doc. 10). God loves as and as we seek Him and His Kingdom and His righteousness, He promises that we will find Him (Matthew 6:33). So that is how we ace the holiness exam, simply seek first the kingdom of God and everything else we need will be added unto us.
So now I will leave us with this prayer of encouragement from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. Let us pray:
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify us through and through. May our whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls us is faithful and He will do it.’ Amen.
Go now and live a holy, sanctified life in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
---
[1] Earl S. Kalland, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Deuteronomy/Exposition of Deuteronomy/III. The Second Address: Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty and Its Ratification (4:44-28:68)/B. Basic Elements of Life in the Land (5:1-11:32)/1. The Ten Commandments (5:1-33)/a. Exhortation and historical background (5:1-5), Book Version: 4.0.2. Kalland hold the minority opinion that this passage is referring to the patriarchs rather than to the encounter with God in Exodus 20.
[2] Thompson, J. A., Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 128
[3] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today, Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army. Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com./ptl4covenants.htm
[4] cf. Thompson, J. A., Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 129 for a good discussion of the division of the Decalogue into two holiness parts: your God and your neighbour.
[5] John J. Kilgallen, “The plan of the 'nomiko' (Luke 10.25-37), New Testament Studies Vol.42 (November 1, 1996): This idea was common enough by the 1st Century that this was Jesus anticipated response to the question in the Lucan account.
[6] Cf. Paul Foster, “Why Did Matthew Get The Shema Wrong? A Study of Matthew 22:37” Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 122, Iss. 2 (2003): 309-333 re. Matthew’s version of the Shema
[7] Cf. Ronald P. Byars, Between Text & Sermon: Deuteronomy 6:1–15, Interpretation Vol. 60 (April 2006): 194-196, for a good practical discussion on this topic.
[8] S. Dean Mcbride, Jr., ‘The Essence of Orthodoxy: Deuteronomy 5:6–10 and Exodus 20:2–6’, Interpretation Vol.60 (April 2006): 145
[9] Earl S. Kalland, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Deuteronomy/Exposition of Deuteronomy/III. The Second Address: Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty and Its Ratification (4:44-28:68)/B. Basic Elements of Life in the Land (5:1-11:32)/1. The Ten Commandments (5:1-33)/a. Exhortation and historical background (5:1-5)/(3) Prohibition against misusing God's name (5:11), Book Version: 4.0.2; but cf. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Exodus/Exposition of Exodus/II. Divine Morality (19:1-24:18)/C. The Decalogue (20:1-17), Book Version: 4.0.2
[10] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Exodus/Exposition of Exodus/II. Divine Morality (19:1-24:18)/C. The Decalogue (20:1-17), Book Version: 4.0.2
[11] Cf. Rev. Allan McCafferty, ‘Always Another Question?’, The Expository Times, Vol. 121, Iss. 9 (June 2010): 457-458
[12] Cf. R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1973 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 2), S. 168
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