WHY DID GOD GIVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Deuteronomy 5:22-33
INTRODUCTION
Scripture is clear: God gave the Ten Commandments as the basic law to govern all people. But why? Why exactly did God give the Ten Commandments to the world? What were His purposes? What did God have in mind? What were His reasons for instituting the Ten Commandments to be the basic law for all men to obey?
We must understand God’s reasons for giving the Ten Commandments in order to gain the greatest benefit from them. A careful study of the present passage tells us why God gave the law. Five very specific purposes can be gleaned from the experience of Israel right after receiving the Ten Commandments.
MAJOR POINTS OF THE TEXT
1. To give man the commandments of the Lord Himself, the commandments that point to a full, victorious life (v.22).
2. To reveal the majestic glory and holiness of God: showing that a great barrier—a great gulf—exists between man and God (v.23-25).
3. To reveal that man must have a mediator to represent him before God (v.26-27).
4. To reveal the very heart of God for man (v.28-33).
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW?
To give man the commandments of the Lord Himself, the commandments that point people to a full, victorious life. God loves His people and cares about their welfare, the problems and difficulties, the trials and temptations they face in life. God is deeply concerned about the terrible and appalling evil committed by people:
= dishonoring father and mother
= murdering
= committing adultery and other forms of immorality
= stealing
= lying and speaking falsely against people
= coveting the things of this world, including the wives and husbands of others
= cursing God’s name
= committing idolatry and false worship
= believing in false gods
God created man; therefore, He knows how man should live. God knows what it is that gives man a full, victorious life. This is what the Ten Commandments are for: they are the laws that tell man how to live—how to have purpose, meaning, and significance in life—how to have confidence, assurance, satisfaction, and fulfillment in life—how to live a victorious life, conquering all the enemies that stand opposed to life: disease, accident, death, broken relationships, and all the other trials and tribulations that confront us day by day as we walk throughout life. God wants His people conquering all of the difficulties and trials of life. He wants His people living full, victorious lives. This was the reason He gave the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. He wanted His people to have the laws, the commandments that told them how to live, the commandments that would lead them to full, victorious lives.
The voice of God Himself spoke the commandments, proclaiming them out from the spectacular sight of His glory. God wanted no question about the source of the commandments, that they came from Him and Him alone. Therefore, He gave the commandments in the midst of a spectacular revelation of His majestic glory and holiness. By doing this, the commandments would be stamped and engraved upon the minds of the people forever. Remember, the presence of God had descended upon Mt. Sinai, symbolized in a cloud that Scripture describes as thick, deep darkness. The cloud was filled with thunder and lightning and the constant blast of a loud trumpet. When it descended upon the mountain, a flaming fire engulfed the mountain with flames shooting up into the deep, dark cloud. There was a violent quaking of the mountain and bellowing smoke that arose as though from a huge, volcanic eruption. By giving the law in such a spectacular, dramatic way, it was imprinted forever on the minds of the people. God did all He could to make sure they had the laws they needed to live full, victorious lives.
But this was not all God did. He Himself wrote the commandments on two stone tablets and gave the tablets to Moses to give to the people. Obviously, the people of that day could look at the tablets and tell that the wording had not been chiseled by man, but rather by the flaming finger of God’s holy hand. This means that the Ten Commandments were given to man in two dramatic ways:
= by the very voice of God Himself, proclaimed out from the awesome presence of His spectacular glory
= by the very finger of God Himself
There could never be any legitimate question, not by a thoughtful, honest person: the Ten Commandments have come from the Lord God Himself. They were given by God to the Israelites and to all other people to show them how to live full, victorious lives.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18).
"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away" (Luke 21:33).
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16).
"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him" (Hebrews 2:3).
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
"But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:25).
"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you" (Deut. 4:2).
"The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Psalm 19:8).
"For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89).
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105).
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8).
WHY DID GOD GIVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS TO MAN?
Second, to reveal the glorious majesty and holiness of God’s person, to reveal that a great barrier—a great gulf—exists between man and God. Remember what had happened: God’s holy presence had descended to the top of Mt. Sinai in what was probably the most spectacular, terrifying storm and cloud ever witnessed upon earth. Note the glorious description given by Scripture: there was...
· thunder and lightning (Exodus 19:16; Exodus 20:18)
· a flaming fire that engulfed the cloud and mountain (Exodus 19:18)
· a cloud of deep darkness that bellowed smoke arising as though from a huge volcanic eruption (Exodus 19:18; Exodus 20:18)
· the violent quaking of the mountain that never stopped trembling (Exodus 19:18)
· the constant blast of a loud trumpet (Exodus 19:16, 19; Exodus 20:18)
The people reacted just as any of us would. The people saw the glory of God and heard the voice of God speak (Deut. 5:23-24). They were stricken with a terrifying fear and withdrew a great distance from the foot of the mountain. They then sent the leaders of their tribes to Moses for help.
When the leaders gathered with Moses, they acknowledged God’s majestic glory and holiness, the great barrier—the great gulf—between God and man (Deut. 5:24-25). The people had shrunk back from God’s holy presence because they feared for their lives. They feared lest the holy presence of God strike out and consume them (Deut. 5:25; Exodus 20:19).
Obviously, they were sensing a great gulf between the holy presence of God and their own sinful human nature. They sensed a deep, terrifying distance between the majesty and holiness of God’s Person and their own human condition, a condition of weakness, failure, shortcoming, and sinfulness. They knew that the majesty of God being displayed upon the mountain, the majesty they were witnessing, could strike them dead at any moment. Thus they shrunk back and withdrew from God’s holy presence.
This was the very point that God wished to convey to the people: He is the very embodiment of majestic glory and holiness. There is a great gulf—a chasm, an abyss, a terrifying separation—between Himself and man, between what He Himself is and what man is. Again, God is the very embodiment of majestic glory and holiness; therefore, the very law of God—the Ten Commandments, the very words which God spoke—were holy and glorious (Romans 7:12, 14, 16). The law of God and the Ten Commandments were the very expression of God’s being. Therefore, people were to obey God’s law or else face the terrifying glory and holiness of God. This was the first reason God gave the law: to reveal His majestic glory and holiness, that there is a great gulf, a terrifying separation between God and man.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away" (Isaiah 64:6).
"And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities" (Isaiah 64:7).
"And beside all this, between us [in heaven] and you [in hell] there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence" (Luke 16:26).
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).
"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).
"Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" (Proverbs 20:9).
WHY DID GOD GIVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS TO MAN?
Third, to reveal man’s need for a mediator, for a person who can approach God for man, a person who can represent man before God. Apparently, the people had heard the booming voice of God speaking out from the cloud covering the mountain.
Scripture suggests that God’s booming voice actually spoke and gave the Ten Commandments directly to the people: "The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire" (Deut. 5:4). "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it" (Deut. 5:22-27).
Two terrifying events were happening: the people were witnessing the awesome sight of God’s glory and majesty, and they were actually hearing the booming voice of God Himself declare the Ten Commandments. Both struck a deep sense of unworthiness in the people. They became keenly aware of the vast difference—the enormous gulf—between God and man, the vast difference...
· between God’s holy nature and man’s sinful nature
· between God’s awesome power and man’s helplessness before that power
· between what God is like and what man is like
The sight of God’s majestic glory and the hearing of God’s booming voice revealed a startling fact to the people: there was a great gulf between man and God, and the people sensed the gulf deeply. They were so aware of God’s holiness and their sinfulness—so aware of the vast difference between God’s awesome person and their humanity—that they did not want God to speak directly to them, not anymore. They obviously feared some pronouncement of judgment upon them (Deut. 5:19).
The point is this: they sensed the need for a mediator, for a person to approach God for them, a person who could represent them before God. They wanted God’s messenger to be their mediator: they wanted Moses to approach God, to receive God’s message, and then to bring God’s message back to them. Note what the people promised: they would hear and obey the word of God (Deut. 5:19).
This great sense and need for a mediator led to one of the great promises in Scripture, the promise of God’s Perfect Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. As God’s Perfect Mediator, Jesus Christ was to stand before God for all people of all ages. Note what Moses himself was later to proclaim to the people: "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb [Mt. Sinai] in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him" (Deut. 18:15-19).
THINK ON THIS:
The law—that is, our failure to keep the law—shows how far short we come, how far away we are from God. The law shows our great need for a mediator, for someone to approach God and to intercede for us. That Someone, that Person, is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our mediator, the person who approaches God for us.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest [mediator] in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:14-17).
"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth [as the mediator] to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
"But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).
"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15).
WHY DID GOD GIVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS TO MAN?
Fourth, to reveal the very heart of God for man. This passage opens up the heart of God and shows His consuming passion for people. People are held ever so deeply within the inner recesses of God’s being. God loves people, and His love focuses on what is best for His people. Note how the Scripture reveals the very heart of God for man, reveals how the longing of His heart reaches out to help man: God longs to meet man’s need for a mediator (Deut. 5:28). When God heard the people’s request for a mediator, note what He did: He immediately granted their request. He appointed Moses to stand between them and God, to intercede for them. In love and compassion, God met the people’s need—willingly, immediately met their need. He did exactly what they asked, gave them a mediator to intercede between them and God.
This was exactly what God wanted. He wanted the people to sense the great barrier—the great gulf—between Him and man. He wanted them crying out for someone to stand between them and God so that He could provide a mediator for them. God’s purpose was to use the intercession of Moses as a symbol, a type of the coming Savior and Messiah of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Moses stood between God and the people of Israel, so Christ stands between God and the human race as the permanent and perfect Mediator. Jesus Christ is the Intercessor, the Advocate who alone stands between God and man. As the eternal and perfect Mediator, He can bring any person to God. In dealing with the Israelites, the longing of God’s heart was to provide a mediator for them. In dealing with the human race as a whole, the longing of God’s heart is to provide for man the eternal and perfect Mediator, His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
"But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).
"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15).
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:24-28).
"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24).
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1).
God longs to have man fear and obey Him (Deut. 5:29). Note that an outburst of emotion erupts from God’s heart in this verse, "O that they had such a heart that would fear and obey me." This is a longing for man to reverence, worship, and fellowship with God. This is a picture of God longing for an intimate relationship with man, for fellowship and communion with man. Instead of cursing Him—rejecting and rebelling against Him—God longs for man to reverence and worship Him. God wants man praying to Him and seeking His face so that there can be a warm, fellowshipping communion between God and man.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3).
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20).
"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deut. 10:12).
"And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey" (Joshua 24:14).
"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit" (Psalm 34:18).
"The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth" (Psalm 145:18).
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccles. 12:13).
"Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?" (Jeremiah 23:23).
God longs to have things go well for man and his family (Deut. 5:29). This is really the result of obedience to God. If a person obeys Gods, things will go well—far, far better—for him. All things work for good to those who love and obey God (Romans 8:28). God floods the person’s heart with a full and victorious life, with a deep sense of confidence, assurance, satisfaction, and fulfillment. The person walks through life conquering all of the enemies—the problems, difficulties, trials, and temptations of life—conquering even death itself. God sincerely longs for things to go well for man and his family. And things do go well for the man who fears and obeys God, keeping all His commandments.
SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of" (Genesis 28:15).
"And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Exodus 33:14).
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isaiah 41:10).
"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isaiah 43:2).
God longs to give man all the laws he needs to live a full, victorious life (Deut. 5:30-31). As stated earlier, God has created man; therefore, He knows what man needs in order to live a full and victorious life. This was the very reason He gave the Ten Commandments to His people, to show man exactly how to live. Note that God had Moses send the people home from the base of the mountain, but He kept Moses with Himself. He kept Moses in order to give him the laws the people would need in the promised land. This is a reference to the civil and religious laws that the people would need when they reached the promised land.
SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES
"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39).
"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3).
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17).
"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31).
"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11).
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4).
"Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor. 10:11).
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16).
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13).
"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word" (Psalm 119:9).
CONCLUSION
God longs to have man obey Him. This scene is a reemphasis of the exhortation by Moses (Deut. 5:32-33). This is a strong exhortation that shows the deep, intense longing of God for the obedience and fellowship of man. Keep in mind that Moses is preaching to the people. He exhorts them to be very careful—to make absolutely sure—that they obey God.
They must not turn aside to the right nor to the left (Deut. 5:32). They must keep a straight course, following the commandments of God exactly as He dictates. They must not look to the right of the commandments nor to the left of the commandments. They must not add to the commandments nor take away from them. They must do exactly what God says: stay the course and obey the commandments perfectly.
They must walk in all the ways of God’s commandments, following the exact path He has laid out. They must not wander off the path of God’s commandments—not become distracted, not lose their focus and begin wandering off in another direction. They must not take another path. All other paths are false paths. The only true path to walk in life is the path of God’s holy commandments.
The reason is clearly spelled out: the person who obeys God’s commandments will live, prosper, and prolong his days in the promised land of God (Deut. 5:33). He will live a victorious life, experience the fullness of life, and conquer all the enemies that seek to defeat and destroy him.
FINAL SCRIPTURES TO PONDER
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Rev. 22:14).
"This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul" (Deut. 26:16).
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:8).
"And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).
MARANATHA
JD