“And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20:1-2
In the Ancient Near East, God laid out “rules of the house.” Like parents today who lay out boundaries and guidelines for house rules, God did similar with Israel.
In Exodus 20, God lays out the ground rules for Israel as they dwelled with Him in the desert. God said “them’s the rules.” Lutherans call the words of Exodus 20 the Ten Commandments.
These Ten Commandments were the rules of the house for Israel. Why? For dictatorial control? No. For the sake of a relationship with God and with one another! God wanted His people to think, speak,and act certain ways before Him and before others. These rules were good and right and beneficial for Israel. Salvation was attached to these rules. Yet how quickly Israel rebelled and salvation was lost. Israel had a tough go of following God’s rules. They did not want to think, speak or act in the ways God told them. Was this God’s fault? Are God’s rules bad? No!
Psalm 19:7 says,“The Law of God is perfect.”
So who is at fault for Israel’s rebellion? Israel. Why? Because Israel is totally depraved. Israel is sinful. Israel wants nothing with God’s rules. Israel tried mightily to pervert, subvert, challenge, make excuses for, or otherwise nullify God’s commands.
How tragic! Hence why Israel needed a savior, a savior who would follow the rules of the house perfectly even though He knew no sin nor was guilty of breaking the rules. Jesus Christ came to save Israel from God’s condemnation. He did so at a cross and the empty tomb. Thanks be to God!
Just as it was for Israel, so, too, it is for you and for me. We, too, have these rules of the house that we break continually. We rebel against God’s Will. If we are being honest, you and I want nothing with God’s Will. We are all sinners after all. Yet, in God’s great mercy, while we were still sinners, Jesus came to save us from having to “do the list” for salvation.
The Ten Commandments no longer function as a way to heaven for God’s people. Thanks be to God. So what are the Ten Commandments’ purpose now? To guide life before God and one another. The rules of the house stay the same, but for those in Jesus a new relationship to the rules is in place.
I do the Ten commandments because my neighbor needs me to think, speak, and act as God wants me to. My salvation is secure in Christ, for sure. “Them’s the rules”, though. So I strive to follow them as best I can. My neighbors are counting on me to do them for their sake.
The Rev. Matthew Berry is pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Sikeston, Missouri. Based in Sikeston’s Historic North End, Concordia is a member congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), a theologically conservative, biblically sound, Christ-centered church.