Feb 22
27
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 20:1-21
“And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. ‘You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:1–21, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Romans 13:8–14
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:8–14, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
Most Christians are familiar with the Ten Commandments (or at least they should be). And I think it is safe to say that Christians are much more familiar with the Ten Commandments than with the other laws that the LORD gave to Israel through Moses after he redeemed them from Egyptian bondage. There is a good reason for this. The Ten Commandments are much more familiar to us because Christians (and many others) have rightly recognized that they contain a summary of the moral law of God.
When we speak of the moral law we are speaking of those moral principles which apply to all people in all times and places. The moral law comes from God. It reflects his Holy nature. We confess that it was written on Adam’s heart at the time of creation, that it is present even still in the heart of man after the fall (though it is constantly distorted and suppressed by sinful men). And at regeneration, it is this law – the moral law of God – which is written anew and afresh upon the heart of man, so that those in Christ love God’s law and desire to keep it, by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is no one passage of scriptures that we can turn to where all of this is neatly summed up for us. But when we pay careful attention to the way in which the scriptures speak of God’s law from Genesis to Revelation, we see that it is true. When God created man he made him a moral creature. Adam knew the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, for this moral law was on his heart. Man still has this capacity after the fall. Man has a conscience, though it is now perverse and often seared. And when God saves a man – when God draws a man to himself through faith in Jesus Christ – he gives him a new heart. He removes the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh. There the moral law is freshly written, as it were, so that the man does begin to hate that which is evil and love what is good. It will be by this law – the moral law which is for all people – that all will be judged on the last day, if not in Christ. As I have said, there is no one text of scripture that says all of this, but this section of the book of Exodus, along with Jerimiah 31 and the first seven chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans, are especially important.
Here I am simply observing that Christians (and others) have rightly observed that the Ten Commandments, or Ten Words, which God gave to Israel do in fact contain a summary of God’s moral law.
And as you know, these Ten Commandments can be summarized by two commandments. This is what Jesus taught when he was asked to identify the most important law in the law of Moses. He quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 which says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And then he cited Leviticus 19:18, which says, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” So the whole law that God gave to Israel through Moses comes down to these two commandments: “love the LORD your God…” and “love your neighbor…”.
As I have said, these two commandments summarize the Ten. The first four commandments of the Ten have to do with our love for God. They teach us about how he is to be honored and worshiped. And the last six of the Ten have to do with our love for neighbor. They teach us about how we are to honor our fellow man. Furthermore, these two commandments, and the Ten Commandments which they summarize, function as the moral foundation, or core, of the other 601 commandments that are found in the law of Moses. In the law of Moses, we will encounter many other commandments besides these two and these Ten, and I am saying that the two and the Ten function as the moral core of all the others.
As we continue on in our study of Exodus, and as we, Lord willing, come to study Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy someday, we will find many other laws. Some of them we call civil or judicial, for they had to do with the governance of the nation of Old Covenant Israel. We will also find ceremonial laws in the law of Moses. These ceremonial laws had to do with the worship of God under the Old Covenant. The way of worshipping God under the Old Covenant was revealed to them by God. Neither the judicial laws nor the ceremonial laws are binding today now that Christ has come and the Old Covenant has passed away with the arrival of the New. But the moral law, upon which these civil and ceremonial laws were established, remains today.
It is no wonder, then, that Christians are much more familiar with the Ten Commandments, and the two commandments which summarize them, than with the other 601 laws found within the law of Moses.
But as we encounter the Ten Commandments in the context of our study of the book of Exodus, I want for you to see that they did not only summarize the moral law for Israel. They also functioned as the foundation of all of Israel’s laws, both civil and ceremonial. The Ten Commandments are the first laws given to Israel. And to these laws, God added judicial laws (having to do with government), and ceremonial laws (having to do with worship). All of these laws have the Ten Commandments as their foundation or core.
We will move rather slowly through the Ten Commandments in the weeks to come. They were so very important to Old Covenant Israel, and they are very important to the New Covenant people of God too. Today, we will only be considering the introduction to the Ten Commandments, which is found in verses 1 and 2.
I will make two simple but very significant observations. One, it was the LORD who was the source of the law that was given to Israel in the days of Moses. And two, Israel was obligated to obey these laws because the LORD redeemed them.
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The LORD Was The Source Of This Law
First, let us see that it was the LORD who was the source of this law that was given to Israel.
In verse 1 we read, “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’”, etc.
The point is this: the law that was given to Israel in the days of Moses was from God. It was the product, not of man, but of God. This law was revealed by God and it was received by the people. Certainly, it was not the other way around.
Now, this observation might seem too obvious to be worthy of mention, but in fact, many have stumbled at this very point. In our day and age, it is not at all uncommon for men and women to think of the religion of Old Covenant Israel, and the Christian religion, the law of Moses in particular, and the Scriptures in general, as the product of man. If you were to ask people on the streets, where did the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments come from? or, where did the laws of Moses come from? I would not be surprised at all if the majority said, from man – they were the inventions of man.
I suppose we should not be terribly surprised to find this opinion on the streets and among the non-believing world. But sadly this opinion has even crept into the church. There are, in fact, many who claim to be Christians who believe that the Scriptures, in general, and the law of Moses, in particular, are from man. They deny that the Scriptures have been supernaturally revealed from above, and think instead that they have arisen, quite naturally, from below. Those who have studied the history of protestant liberal theology and its effects upon the modern church will know what I mean.
But what do we believe concerning the Scriptures? In brief, we believe that they are the words of God. The Scriptures, though they were certainly written by men, do not originate with men, but with God. They are divinely inspired. To quote Peter, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21, ESV). To quote Paul, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV).
As we study the Scriptures we see that it has please the Lord, at different times and in different ways, to reveal himself to man, and to make his will known to his people. Think of how the LORD spoke to Adam, to Abraham, and to Moses. Think of how he revealed himself to and through the prophets of Old. Think of how he spoke to the world through Christ. The Lord has, at different times and in different ways, revealed himself to man, and has made his will known to his people. And after doing so, the record of these revelatory acts was committed to writing. The Scriptures were written so that God’s truth might be better preserved and shared, leading to the more sure establishment and comfort of the church.
The Scriptures are necessary, therefore. These former ways of God revealing his will to his people have ceased. And by this, we mean that God does not reveal himself as he did in the days Adam, Abraham, and Moses, for God has spoken to the world supremely through Christ, for he was the eternal Word of God come in the flesh. He was the Final Word, if you will. So what do we have now? We have the Scriptures. And this is why we confess that “the Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.”
The Scriptures are supremely authoritative for us. Why? Because they are the Word of God. Listen to our confession, chapter 1, paragraph 4: “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.”
God has spoken in history at different times and ways. He has spoken supremely through Christ, his Son. And God has inspired the writing of Holy Scripture so that we might know the truth and the implications of what God has said and done in history. Here in Exodus, we find a supreme example of this. God acted to redeem Israel. God spoke his word to Israel. And the Scriptures we now have are a divinely inspired record of that activity.
The LORD was the source of this law that was given to Israel. And notice a few things about the giving of this law.
One, it was God who spoke these words to Israel directly. Up to this point in the narrative, God had spoken to Israel through Moses. He will do so again later in the narrative. But here at Sinai the LORD spoke directly to Israel, the end result being that they begged no further word be spoken to them.
That God spoke directly to Israel is evident from what is said in verse 1: “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’“
It is also evident when we consider the response of Israel after the Ten Commandments were uttered. In Exodus 20:18 we read, “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:18–21, ESV)
So why did God speak these Ten Words to Israel directly with the sound of thunder, flashes of lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking? Why did he not do as he had done before, and would do again afterward, and speak to Israel through Moses? Why did speak these words directly to them?
One, so that Israel would know for certain that it was the LORD who was giving them this law. In this way, Israel would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the law originated with the LORD, and not the man, Moses.
Two, he spoke in this way so that Israel would have a reverential fear of the LORD, and respect for his servant Moses.
Three, he spoke in this way so that Israel would have respect for all of the laws that God would give to them, but especially these Ten Commandments.
Isn’t interesting how the LORD stressed the importance of these Ten Commandments? All of the other laws that were given to Israel were given to them through Moses. The source is the same. They are all from God. But the method of delivery is different. Here in Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments are spoken directly to Israel. Israel heard the voice of the LORD, and they trembled. And when we finally come to the end of Exodus 31 we will learn that the LORD wrote these Ten Commandments on stone tablets with his own finger, if you will, and gave the tablets to Moses.
It is not difficult to see that, of all of the laws that God gave to Israel, the Ten Commandments were set apart as especially important. The LORD spoke them to Israel, and he wrote them with his own hand. The reason for this has already been stated. These Ten Words contain a summary of God’s moral law. And God’s moral law functions as the core of all of the other laws given to Israel, civil and ceremonial.
So we have observed that it was God who spoke these words directly to Israel. Two, let us recognize that when the LORD introduced himself to Israel on Sinai he did so as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects.
I will not spend too much time on this, but it should to be said that there is something going on in this episode that would have been far more obvious to the original audience than it is to us.
In the ancient near eastern world, this is how kings would enter into covenants, or treaties, with other kings. The greater king – perhaps the conquering king, or the more powerful king in an alliance – would enter into a covenant or treaty with a lesser king in this way. One, he would identify the parties involved. Two, he would state the relationship between the parties. Three, he would state the stipulations of the relationship, listing laws or obligations to be followed. Four, witnesses would be mentioned. Five, a commitment would be made to write the document down so that it could be referenced and periodically read. And six, sanctions would be stated which clarify the blessing for obedience and the curses that would befall the kings and their kingdoms in the case of disobedience.
Those familiar with the books of Exodus and Leviticus will likely recognize that all of these features are present within the story of God entering into covenant with Israel. In other words, God made his covenant with Israel in a way that was familiar to them and to the nations around them.
Not all of the six features that I mentioned are present here in Exodus 20, but four of them are. In verse 2 we find the preamble wherein the giver and the recipients are identified. YHWH, who is God Almighty is the giver, and the nation of Israel is the recipient. Next, we find the prologue, wherein there is a reminder of the relationship between the two parties. YHWH is the great and mighty King, and he is entering into a covenant with Israel, whom he rescued from slavery in Egypt. After this, the stipulations are listed. They begin at 20:3 and run through to 23:19. They pick up again in 25:1 and continue through 31:18. These are the laws or obligations that YHWH, the great King, set upon Israel, his redeemed. Lastly, sanctions are found in the book of Exodus. These are the blessings promised for obedience and the curses that are warned in the case of disobedience. These sanctions are peppered throughout Exodus, but they are found even in chapter 20 in verses 5-6, 12, and 24. For example, verses 5 and 6 say, “You shall not bow down to them or serve them [refering to idols], for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5–6, ESV). This remark about blessings and curses is to be interpreted as a part of the sanctions of the Old Mosaic Covenant.
The point is this: when the LORD introduced himself to Israel on Sinai in these introductory words to the Ten Commandments, he did so as a powerful King who was entering into a covenant with a nation whom he had rescued.
So then, it was the LORD who was the source of this law that was given to Israel. And we have made these two observations: One, the LORD spoke to Israel directly. Two, he introduced himself to Israel as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects. Our third observation is this: the LORD introduced himself to Israel as “the LORD your God.”
Israel had heard about the LORD from Moses. They had witnessed his great power in the outpouring of the ten plagues and in the parting of the Red Sea. They saw his glory in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. And they enjoyed his constant provision as they wandered in the wilderness. But now the LORD spoke to them from the mountain in a glorious and powerful way, and he introduced himself to them, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2, ESV).
Of course, YHWH is the God of all people, for he is the one true God, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen. But here the LORD is emphasizing his special relationship to Israel, and their special relationship with.
The LORD had rescued Israel “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” And this he did because he had determined to make them his treasured possession of all the peoples of the earth, though all the earth is his (see Exodus 19:5). The LORD God was Israel’s LORD God in a special way, therefore. He redeemed them and was making a covenant with them. And this covenant which was made in the days of Moses was the fulfillment of the promises of a previous covenant made with father Abraham. It is no wonder, then, that the LORD introduced himself to Israel, not merely as God, or the LORD God, but as “the LORD your God”, for though the LORD is the one true God, and the Lord of all the earth, Old Covenant Israel belonged to him, and he to them, in a special way. This special relationship was formalized in a covenant and established through the act of redemption. The message for Israel was quite clear. There at Sinai, they were being brought into a special covenantal relationship with YHWH.
You know, in Deuteronomy, the laws of this covenant are restated in preparation for the conquest of Cannan. It’s interesting to hear how Moses stated things as he looked back upon this event at Sinai which is recorded for us in Exodus 20. About 40 years had passed – 40 years of wilderness wanderings. Listen to the way that Moses describes the events that took place at Sinia which we are considering now.
In Deuteronomy 5:1 we read, “And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb [another name for Mt. Sinai]. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’ ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’”, etc., etc.
So it is as I have said. The LORD was the source of this law that was given to Israel. When he gave this law to them, the LORD spoke to Israel directly, he introduced himself to Israel as a powerful King who was initiating a covenant with his subjects, and he introduced himself to Israel as “the LORD your God.” This is all about the making of a covenant, brothers and sisters.
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Israel Was Obligated To Obey These Laws And To Keep This Covenant Because The LORD Had Redeemed Them
The second (and last) major point of the sermon today is this: Israel was obligated to obey these laws and to keep the terms of this covenant because the LORD had redeemed them.
If a great king conquers a lesser king and mercifully offers to enter into a treaty with him, what can the lesser king do except agree to the gracious offer? If a great king offers to free or protect a nation from an enemy more powerful than them, they would be fools to reject the offer, provided that the terms are reasonable. Similarly, when the LORD rescued Israel from Egyptian slavery, Israel was obligated to obey these laws and to keep the terms of this covenant because the LORD had redeemed them. This was the nature of their relationship. The LORD was the Redeemer, and Israel was the redeemed. Again, listen to the preamble and prologue: “And God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.’”
It was said in the previous sermon (and rightly so) that covenant that God made with Israel in the days of Moses was a covenant of works. We call it a covenant of works because the people were called to keep the covenant through their obedience to the stipulations or laws that were given. In other words, the covenant depended upon the works or obedience of the people. The Covenant of Grace is different. The blessings of that covenant are not earned by us, but received as a gift that is freely given. This is possible because Jesus Christ kept the terms of the Covenant of Redemption for us. He lived in perfect obedience to God’s law. He also suffered and died in the place of sinners, so that through faith in him, we might have his righteousness as our own, and the gilt of our sin removed because he paid the price. Substantially (when we consider the terms), the Old Mosaic Covenant, and the New Covenant of Grace, could not be more different.
But in the previous sermon I did also acknowledge that, in sense, all of the covenants that God has made with man are gracious. I do not mean that they are substantially covenants of grace, but that God was gracious and kind to make these covenants with man. I suppose this could even be said of the covenant that God made with Adam in the garden, though the covenant itself was most certainly a covenant of works (eternal life in glory had to be earned by him!). But this is especially true of all of the redemptive covenants that God entered into with man after the fall – the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic. God could not make these covenants with Israel unless he was merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Those words should sound familiar to you, for this is how the LORD spoke of himself when he revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6: “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…’” (Exodus 34:6, ESV)
This covenant that God made with Israel in the days of Moses was a covenant of works in substance, but the grace of God was certainly present. If God were not “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”, Israel would not have made it a day. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not have been used by the LORD to bring this nation into existence. Moses himself would not have been used by God were not for God’s grace.
And we know where God’s grace is shown supremely. We know where it is made available. Not through the Old Covenant and its terms of obedience, but through the New Covenant, and through the cross of Christ where the blood of the promised Messiah was poured out. God was “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” from the days of Adam to the days of Christ so that he might keep his promises to defeat the Evil One and atone for the sins of his elect through the blood of Christ (see Romans 3).
Was God’s grace present in the days of Moses? Was his grace available to Old Covenant Israel? Yes, of course, it was. But through the terms or substance of the Old Covenant? No, through faith in the promised Messiah, who is the mediator of the New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace in Christ’s blood.
Here is the point: The LORD graciously redeemed Old Covenant Israel from Egyptian bondage. So them, they were obligated to obey his laws and to keep his covenant out of gratitude for what he had done for them.
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Suggestions For Application
So what does this text mean for us?
As I have said before, we must be very careful when applying these passages from the book of Exodus to ourselves, for we do not live under the Old Covenant, but the New. We cannot simply take what the LORD said to Israel as if he has said it to us. That would be a grave mistake.
The LORD spoke to Israel, and no to us, when he said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” And when the LORD gave Israel the Ten Commandments, he gave them to them as the first and most foundational laws of that Old Covenant of works. We should not be surprised, therefore, to find some things in the Ten Commandments that were unique to Old Covenant Israel. We have already noted that the introduction was unique to Old Covenant Israel. And in due time we will see that the seventh-day Sabbath was for them, whereas we are to rest and worship on the first day. And what are we to make of the remarks about the children enjoying long life in the land should they obey their parents, or the children paying for the sinful idolatry of their fathers to the third and fourth generation? These are examples of things that were unique to Old Covenant Israel even within the Ten Commandments.
But I have said that in the Ten Commandments we find God’s moral law summarized, and that is certainly true. That law – the moral law – is still for us, brothers and sisters. It is not a covenant of works for us. But it shows us the way we should go. It also reveals our sin to us so that we might run to Christ for forgiveness. Christians should care deeply about the Ten Commandments, therefore. We should know them and love them, along with the two that summarize them: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV).
Listen to our confession on this point. Chapter 19 paragraph 6 says, “Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great use to them as well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin; together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed from the curse and unalloyed rigour thereof. The promises of it likewise show them God’s approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man’s doing good and refraining from evil, for the law encourageth to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his being under the law and not under grace.”
And if we do not earn God’s blessing through law-keeping, what should motivate us to live in obedience to God’s moral law? Answer: gratitude. The New Covenant people of God are to obey the LORD from a renewed heart and mind out of a sense of gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus.
To Old Covenant Israel the LORD said,” I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ‘You shall have no other gods before me’”, etc.
But to New Covenant Isarel he says, I have delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of my beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (see Colossians 1:13–14), and “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15, ESV).
