Glorious Sinai. 5
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Jehovah had not delivered the Hebrews from the land of Egypt, in order for them to remain the slaves of sin and Satan--but rather that they should be made free to serve Him--walking according to His precepts is the only true liberty (Psalm 119:45).
In the call to obedience in Exodus 19:5, the whole of the divine Law was implied, so far as was concerned the ground of Israel's obligation and the germ of its requirements; and what was actually promulgated in Exodus 20 was simply the utterances of that Voice which they had promised to heed. The Law was a revelation unto Israel of the righteousness which God required from them as His chosen people in the land of their inheritance. There, they were to be a witness unto Him before the surrounding nations, showing forth the glory of His government by exemplifying the same in their character and conduct.
But while the Law was an enforcing of Jehovah's authority over His people--let us observe in the next place that it also issued from His love unto them. Proceeding from the Lord in His character as Israel's Redeemer, it is only to be expected that it bears a gracious aspect and aims at happy results. It was on that very ground Moses extolled the condition of Israel above all other people: "For what nation is there so great, who has God so near unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deut 4:7-8). Very far indeed was he from entertaining the God-dishonoring idea that the Law was a tyrannical enactment, a cruel bondage imposed upon them, from which they might well hope to soon be delivered.
The same sentiment was echoed by the sweet singer of Israel. Among the signal acts of mercy and loving-kindness, for which he praises the Lord in Psalm 103:7, is the fact that "he made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel"; or as explained in another Psalm, "He shows…his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He has not dealt so with any nation" (Psalm 147:19-20). The Law of Sinai issued from love, enjoined naught but love, and is fulfilled by love. How could it be otherwise? Like everything else which God has given to His people, the Decalogue was alike a manifestation of His holiness, a provision of His mercy, and an expression of His love--which ever seeks the good of its objects.
Before bestowing his parting blessing upon the tribes of Israel, Moses reminded them, "the Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yes, he loved the people" (Deut 33:2-3): the juxtaposition of those two statements demonstrates that Law was a proof of God's special love for them--as the giving up of a people unto lawlessness (their own evil lusts) is the surest sign of His hatred of them (Rom 1:21-28). It was designated "a fiery law" (Deut 33:2), because it was given to them out of the fire (Deut 4:33)--emblem of divine holiness, as the Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost in "cloven tongues like as of fire" (Ac 2:3). Observe, Moses said, "a fiery law for them," not "unto," and still less "against"--"in favor to them"--Matthew Henry (1662-1714).
As the Law issued from divine love--so it requires naught but love from the recipients of it. This is clear from the Savior's words, for He summarized its claims thus: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mat 22:37-39).
Furthermore, its requirements are met by love: "Love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 13:10). That is, as love delights in the happiness of others, it effectually prevents from injuring its objects, and consequently leads to the doing of what Law requires--for it enjoins nothing which is not to the best interests of our fellows. It is love which influences and prompts unto a compliance with God's commandments (1 John 5:2).
Then what must be the spirit of those who speak evil of God's Law, and regard it as a harsh imposition on their liberty? Very different indeed was the mind of the apostle: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Rom 7:22). God's writing of His laws upon the hearts of His redeemed (Heb 8:10) is a sure evidence of His love toward them. "We must regard God's Law as one of the gifts of His grace"--M. Henry.
There can be no adequate apprehension of the revelation of Law, nor of its real nature and place in the divine economy, without perceiving its relation to the grand principle of love--alike in those who receive it as in Him who gave it. Viewed apart from that, it is but a body without a soul, a call to obedience without the least likelihood of an acceptable response. The Law aims at a conformity of moral purpose and character between a redeeming God and a redeemed people; and not one of its precepts could reach the desired end, unless the love which had been exhibited as the governing principle in the One should find in the other a corresponding love which should be stirred and guided into proper action.
To make this unmistakably plain, Moses, as soon as he rehearsed the Decalogue, declared, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart," etc. (Deut 6:4-5).
We do not now propose to enlarge upon that divine declaration: "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Rom 7:12), by giving an exposition of the Ten Words (having done so on a previous occasion)--but will next take notice of what is recorded in Exodus 20 immediately after their publication. "When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke--they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses: Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die!" (Exo 20:18-19). That was a plain acknowledgment that they felt themselves to be utterly unfit to deal with the Lord directly on the ground of the Decalogue. They realized that some provision was required to be made for them, that a mediator was needed--Moses must treat with God on their behalf.
Very far indeed was such language from evincing a proud and self-sufficient people. It not only repudiates the view of those who insist that their agreement to Jehovah's proposal (Exo 19:5; 24:7) betrayed their carnality and presumption--but it manifested their spirituality and humility. "And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that you sin not" (Exo 20:20). In those words, Moses explained unto them the design of the glorious, yet terror-provoking, attendants of the divine majesty, which they had just witnessed. Negatively, he assured them that those convulsions of nature did not portend that Jehovah was about to destroy them as He had the Egyptians, and therefore that He had no thought of slaying them; and thus, the Law had not been given for the purpose of condemning and cursing them. Positively, he informed them that God's intention was to put them to the test, to ascertain whether they would acknowledge Him as their King and be subject to His government, and thereby give proof that they meant what they said when they declared, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (Exo 19:8).
Further, those awe-inspiring phenomena were designed to fill them not with a slavish fear which genders to bondage--but rather to produce a godly reverence for the Lord in their hearts, while those displays of His mighty power were to act as a deterrent upon them from displeasing One who was not to be trifled with--as we are enjoined to "stand in awe, and sin not" (Psalm 4:4).
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