Intro: Welcome to the Spoken Gospel podcast. This is our attempt to speak the gospel out of every corner of scripture. We believe that every part of the Bible, Old Testament and New, is about Jesus, and this podcast is our experiment to publicly test that belief. Today's episode is brought to you by Thomas Nelson Publishers and my new book, Rewire Your Heart: Replace Desire for Sin with Desire for God, and that's coming out wherever books are sold October 30th. And it's available for pre-order from your favorite outlet today. So visit rewireyourheartbook.com for all the details. Let's jump in. [upbeat music]
Seth: David has just found a bowl-
David: What? [laughs]
Seth: A bowl of jelly.
David: [laughs] What?
Seth: His stapler is in it.
David: What is happening?
Seth: It's a office joke.
David: This is our opening joke.
Seth: Opening.
David: That's the opening joke. Seth is convinced that we need an opening joke here like whenever The Office begins.
Seth: That's exactly what we need.
David: The show The Office, uh-
Seth: Do you have any more listeners you'd get if we had-
David: We'd get more listeners-
Seth: ... an opening joke?
David: ... if there was a little, little opening joke, and then you get the, the intro music after that.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And then the actual show starts.
Seth: That's right.
David: No.
Seth: Is that what we're doing right now?
David: No, we're not doing that right now, although I think it's turned into that by accident. Here we are. No, I'm not [laughs] You just missed.
Seth: I just pushed a b- imaginary button-
David: Yes
Seth: ... that started the music, and it didn't do nothing.
David: It, it, nothing, nothing happened. I'm not, I'm not going to, not going to give this to you. So anyway, welcome, everyone, to the Spoken Gospel podcast. Um, today we're gonna be looking at Exodus 20, which I'm really excited about. It's, um, if you don't know, if you don't know, this is, um, the Ten Commandments that we're gonna be looking at today, which is a huge moment in scripture. Um-
Seth: So many commandments.
David: So many. S- just 10, actually.
Seth: [laughs]
David: It's not, it's not that many. We're about to get so many more after that.
Seth: It took my daughter, like, three years to count to 10, so it's a big deal. [laughs] It's a lot of commandments.
David: Oh, I guess. If, yeah, relatively speaking.
Seth: Rel-
David: For, for a two, three, four, three-year-old, you know.
Seth: It's a lot of things.
David: It's a lot of things, Ten Commandments.
Seth: Yeah.
David: I mean, goodness. Um, so last week we looked at God showing up at Mount Sinai. Uh, His, His presence descends, the people hear the voice of God. He establishes His covenant with them. If they will, uh, obey His voice and do His commands, then God will be their God, and they will be His treasured possession, and they'll be a royal priesthood, and they'll live together, and it's like the fulfillment of Eden, all these great things. And now here comes the commands, right, where this is the start.
Seth: Command time.
David: Command time.
Seth: Right.
David: All right. So, uh, let's, let's ask this question first, uh, 'cause there's, the Ten Commandments is like a cultural thing. Like, it's like a cultural artifact now.
Seth: Yeah.
David: People know the Ten Commandments, not, even if they can't repeat them all.
Seth: It's either being put up at courthouses or taken down at courthouses.
David: [laughs] Or being teared down. We are not here to advocate either of those things today. We're just here to look at them. Uh, so like what are the Ten Commandments? W- uh, I think one of the things I was interested at trying to figure out is h- have we just said like, "Oh, these 10 should stand apart from the rest of the law." 'Cause like right after the Ten Commandments, there's this little interlude, and then we get a bunch more laws. So why these 10? Are, have we, like, after this has been written, have, have people like made a big deal out of these, or is it actually a big deal in the rest of scripture, the 10?
Seth: It's kind of what I've wondered, too, because, like, there's a sense that God wrote these. Like, there's a, God put His finger on a tablet of stone. [laughs] I just imagine some old Christian cartoon where God's like-
David: Oh my goodness
Seth: ... finger comes out of the sky and like carves into the stone the Ten Commandments, and then everything else wr- Moses writes down.
David: Oh my gosh.
Seth: That's the picture I have in my mind.
David: I got you. So what, what I found out was really interesting. So, um, the, the actual words Ten Commandments, um, or 10 words.
Seth: Words.
David: 10, the 10 words is, is what it's known as in Hebrew, uh, pops up three different times, um, throughout, um, Exodus and then in Deuteronomy, which Deuteronomy means the second law. It's kind of a rehashing of some of these things that we're seeing in Exodus in the law here. And, uh, uh, Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, and then again, I think it's Deuteronomy 10, I didn't write that one down, is where we see these 10 words. And what we see is really interesting. We see that, um, it says that, uh, in, in, in Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13, uh, the 10 words, the Ten Commandments, are kind of shorthand for the whole covenant, which is, I was really surprised about this for some reason.
Seth: The whole covenant.
David: Yeah, it's like-
Seth: All the laws, all the promises.
David: Yeah, let me, let me look here. Uh, Exodus 34, what did I say? Exodus 34:28.
Seth: I wasn't listening.
David: [laughs] Hopefully someone was listening.
Seth: [laughs]
David: 34:28, uh, pulling it up here. Okay, so it says, uh, I'll ver- I'll start verse 27. So, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.' So he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights, and he ate neither bread nor drank water. And he wrote the tablets of the words of the covenant, comma, the Ten Commandments."
Seth: Hmm.
David: So he wrote the words of the covenant, the 10 words.
Seth: Right.
David: And so what are the words of the covenant that he wrote down? What's the covenant? Like, what are the commands of the covenant? It's these 10 words. So this is like-
Seth: A summary statement
David: ... a summary statement.
Seth: A summary.
David: That's right.
Seth: I've heard that before-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... where like the Ten Commandments are kind of the introduction. It's like a table of contents almost, and the rest of the law expounds upon how these work-
David: Right
Seth: ... in a society of two million people.
David: Yes.
Seth: So it's like, here's the Ten Commandments, and here's the explanation of what that looks like in a judicial system-
David: Right
Seth: ... in a legal system-
David: Yep
Seth: ... in a policing system, and like h- that's, I've heard that before.
David: Yeah. And, and I think, so that's kind of like going from, uh, you just kinda went from table of contents to book. I think there's another way to understand it, too. Uh, you know, going from like, uh, complex to more complex. There's also a way to going from complex to less complex, kinda working backwards. Uh, and that's what Jesus did whenever He summed up the law. So like, you know, people came to Him and they asked Him-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... "What's the greatest commandment?" And He said-
Seth: Love God and love your neighbor
David: ... "Love, love God first. Second is love your neighbor."
Seth: Right.
David: And that's the layout of the Ten Commandments. You have-
Seth: Verse four are loving God.
David: That's right.
Seth: And the last six are loving your neighbor.
David: That's right. And so like God sums, uh, you know, Jesus sums it up like that. And, uh, and the Old Testament knows a bit about that kind of sum up, too, in the Shema.Which is, you know, hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one.
Seth: Baruch haShem Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam.
David: Dang it.
Seth: Hamotzi... I don't remember the last part.
David: Oh. [laughs]
Seth: Min ha'aretz. I think that's the bread one.
David: The bread one.
Seth: There's, anyway.
David: Anyway. So, uh, you know, love, and you must love-
Seth: That's the only Hebrew phrase I know.
David: [laughs]
Seth: Nobody take it from me. [laughs]
David: It's okay. The only, the only one I know is boker tov.
Seth: Boker-
David: Which is good morning.
Seth: Good morning. [laughs]
David: Mazel tov.
Seth: Mazel tov.
David: That's another one. But anyway, so the Shema-
Seth: Bar mitzvah.
David: You must love... That's not a, that's not a phrase. It's just a word.
Seth: [laughs]
David: Um, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. That's the, you know, that's part of Shema. It's part of the command. And so that's the first and greatest command, is love God, and we see that here in the Ten Commandments. Um, a- and so I also think, so that's kind of important to notice here, is that what we have here in the Ten Commandments is a summation of the law. Like, what you're about to go into with- in the rest of Exodus, in some of Le- Leviticus, in some of Deuteronomy, might feel really heavy and, or, and like really arduous.
Seth: Yeah.
David: But here it's like, oh, at the end of the day-
Seth: This is what we're talking about
David: ... this is what we're talking about. We're talking about loving God-
Seth: And-
David: ... loving our neighbor
Seth: ... not just the law, but the whole covenant.
David: Yeah.
Seth: So if you guys didn't listen, you should definitely listen to the podcast before this, where we talk about what a covenant is, why a covenant exists.
David: Yeah, definitely.
Seth: Because this is the second part of the covenant treaty. God makes all these prom- He, like, recounts what He's done, makes all these promises, and now these are the stipulations. These are the things that Israel must do on their end to uphold the covenant for God to be in relationship with them.
David: Right. And, and so what, what I also want to point out is the progression of the Ten Commandments. So we're kind of taking a, a, a 30,000-foot view of the Ten Commandments first before we kind of look at them. So the progression's really important to notice, 'cause it's l- it's love God first, and then love your neighbor. Because love of neighbor would be impossible on the one hand, and pointless on the other, if the love of God did not come first. It would be, it would be, um, impossible on the one hand because we can't truly love our neighbor until we've loved God. Um, that's what the Bible teaches just over and over again.
Seth: Right.
David: And then we also-
Seth: Because if you don't love God-
David: Yep
Seth: ... and you're trying to love your neighbor, but never point them to the thing that is most satisfying-
David: Yes
Seth: ... best, and most glorious, and most beautiful, you're not actually loving them.
David: Right.
Seth: Right?
David: Yes.
Seth: I'll excuse me when you say that.
David: Yes. Yeah, yeah. Als- yeah. And, and then it would also be pointless on the other hand, because, uh, I think it's more pointless is what you're going at, which is, like, you might love your neighbor. Sure, you might, like, give them a, you know, give them a cup of sugar and, you know, be a good person and everything like that. But you're not pointing them to that which is most good. I think that's what I mean by pointless.
Seth: Okay.
David: By impossible, I think I mean that we cannot truly love people until we are truly loved. Like, until we have experienced this exodus love of God that frees us from slavery and loves us despite our doubt, and our faithlessness, and our sin. Until we've experienced that gospel love that, that the people of Israel have experienced in the exodus, we cannot love others truly and deeply, because they're going to stomp all over us and-
Seth: Right
David: ... backbite us, and all those things, too. So-
Seth: If you're not grounded-
David: That's right
Seth: ... in the love that God has for you-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... and your love for Him, everybody else's love or lack of love will be crushing.
David: That's right.
Seth: And you be- won't be able to, like-
David: Right
Seth: ... res- respond contrary to kind.
David: Yes.
Seth: Contrary to how you-
David: That's exactly right.
Seth: Right.
David: So I think we, the progression's really important. Love God comes first, and then love of neighbor. But there's actually something that comes before all this, because at the very beginning of the Ten Commandments, um, and this is really interesting, um, I, I read that, uh, 'cause there, I didn't know there was so much debate over how many commandments, like which, which commandment was the first commandment. And-
Seth: I was surprised by that too. [laughs]
David: I was like, oh, my goodness. So I don't want to get into that, 'cause it's honestly not important. Like, it's not super important. But what's interesting is the Jewish reckoning of the Ten Commandments. The first commandment is actually, "I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." They count that as the first one.
Seth: That make, that makes sense.
David: Yeah.
Seth: I like that.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And so, uh, regardless of whether we should count that as the first word or not, um, and when you, and when you translate it word and not commandment, it makes more sense.
Seth: It does.
David: 'Cause that's not a commandment, but it is a word. It's an important one, and it's actually the grounding of the whole covenant.
Seth: Right. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Have no other gods besides me.
David: Right. So-
Seth: That makes so much sense
David: ... it does make so much sense. So what's the grounding of love God?
Seth: It's God.
David: It's God's love for you.
Seth: Yeah.
David: God's grace for you. Grace grounds the whole covenant. So how do we begin to love God, uh, that then we can then love neighbor? It all goes back to God first loved us, which we see this in Jesus Christ perfectly, right?
Seth: Right.
David: Like, uh, and, and, and what's, what I love, before we jump to the gospel here, what's cool is Jesus actually embodies this type of progression perfectly in His life. And so in John 14:31, um, you know, He, He shows that He first loves God. He says, but, uh, I'll read this here. So John 14:31, "But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded me. Get up and let's go from here." And then they go out and go to-
Seth: Right
David: ... um, the garden. So, uh, it's amazing. He's like, "I love the Father, therefore I do everything He commands." So we see Jesus fulfilling this first part of the Ten Commandments, where obey God's law by loving Him. We see that, Him doing that. And then we also see Him loving others. He, uh, He, He, like, "Greater love knows, knows no one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends." Talk about loving your neighbor.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Jesus does that perfectly. Um-
Seth: Washes disciples' feet.
David: That's right.
Seth: Dies for them.
David: That's right.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And, and He becomes obedient to the point of death, right? As Philippians 2 says. Um, and, and so, and then, and we know that in Romans 8, all the righteous requirements of the law, Romans 8:4, have been fulfilled for us in Christ.
Seth: Right.
David: So He is the perfect embodiment of the Ten Commandments, Jesus is.
Seth: Yeah.
David: He loves God, does all He, does all that God commands, and then loves neighbor out of that perfectly, laying down His life for them, becoming obedient to death.
Seth: It would not be inappropriate for Jesus to say, "I am the Lord your God. I am Yahweh. Jesus, I am Yahweh who brought you out of sin and death, out of that slavery.
David: That’s right.
Seth: Have no other god besides me.
David: That’s right. And that’s what he does. Jesus does take that claim upon himself.
Jesus is the one who has brought us out of sin and death, out of the house of slavery. We have experienced a new exodus because of his death, burial, and resurrection. We've been ransomed out, brought out of our slavery to sin, and because of his gospel love for us, he, he's calling us to love him, obey him, and follow him. [music]
David: So the ground for the commands, the Ten Words for, you know, the covenant of Israel, and now for us who are Jesus followers, is not like, "Well, God said it, so you must do it." Uh-
Seth: It's grace
David: ... yeah, it's, it's grace. The ground is grace. Jesus has ransomed us from slavery. He's bought us by his, by his blood out of sin and death. Therefore, have no other gods before me.
Seth: Right.
David: Follow me. Uh, love me. Love your ne- He's earned our love. He's bought our love. He's, so anyway, he's, he's the-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... he, he's the lawgiver, and it's, and he's the lawkeeper.
Seth: He's the lawkeeper.
David: I mean, he's the law, lawkeeper. He's, he's kept the law for us. Now, because he has lived perfectly, loving God and loving neighbor on our behalf, earning the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf, he's given us this grace, and now we can move into following his commands because of that grace.
Seth: Yes.
David: He's the lawkeeper.
Seth: By his power.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And he's not just the lawkeeper-
David: Right
Seth: ... which you said, he's also the lawgiver.
David: Freudian slip.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Yeah.
Seth: He, which is, anyway, [laughs] I was gonna, never mind. [laughs]
David: You were gonna do a big reveal, and I, I spoiled it?
Seth: No.
David: No.
Seth: I was just gonna talk about Freud for a second.
David: Oh, don't do that.
Seth: [laughs] Just [laughs] not true. Um, so one of the things that we should know is that in the Book of Matthew, when Matthew describes Jesus, he sets him up to be a new Moses, and specifically, a new lawgiver.
David: Mm.
Seth: So we've already mentioned some of these in the pa- past podcast, but some-
David: It bears, it bears repeating, yeah
Seth: ... it bears repeating. So Jesus is the new Moses-
David: Right
Seth: ... according to the author of Matthew. Pharaoh wanted to kill Moses. Herod wanted to kill Jesus.
David: Yep.
Seth: Pharaoh ordered all the male Hebrew children killed in front of the river. Herod ordered every child under two years old killed. And when Herod died and Pharaoh died, Moses goes back to Egypt, and then Jesus goes back to Israel. And in the way that Matthew sets up his book, what are we waiting for? If you've been clued in and you're thinking, like, well, there's all these parallels between Jesus-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... and Moses, like, you're waiting for a new exodus.
David: Right.
Seth: You're waiting for a new deliverer who's gonna rescue Israel from exile.
David: Right.
Seth: So that's what you're kind of seeing and being prepared for, and then the next thing we're told is Jesus' name. He will save the people-
David: Mm
Seth: ... from their sins. And as soon as we're told that, we see Jesus' baptism.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And it's this picture of Jes- of crossing the Red Sea-
David: Right
Seth: ... which is kind of not super clear, but, uh, we're told that in 1 Corinthians 10.
David: It's funny, you, you're like, "It's not super clear." I've always been super convinced by that.
Seth: I was like, I was like-
David: And you're like, "I need a proof text. I need-
Seth: I need a proof text
David: ... I need someone else to be like, 'I agree with this.'"
Seth: But just, and so, and, and Paul says-
David: 1 Corinthians 10
Seth: ... "And just as we, the Israelites passed through the clouds and the sea, we pass through the waters of baptism."
David: Yeah.
Seth: So, like, in the biblical mind, when Jesus is baptized, it is the dawning of the exodus. It's the, uh, way out-
David: Right
Seth: ... from sin and slavery.
David: Yes, that's right.
Seth: And then right after that, Jesus goes into the wilderness-
David: Right, just like Exodus did-
Seth: ... for 40 days
David: ... or just like Israel did-
Seth: Just like Israel did-
David: ... when they passed through the Red Sea
Seth: ... for 40 years in the wilderness. But Moses specifically-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... spends 40 days on the mountain-
David: On the mountaintop
Seth: ... in the wilderness, not eating water. Not eating water?
David: Not eating water. [laughs]
Seth: Not eating food or drinking water-
David: That's right
Seth: ... just like Jesus did.
David: Yep.
Seth: And as soon as he comes off the mountain, he delivers the law.
David: Yes.
Seth: The law is delivered to the people.
David: Yep.
Seth: And in Matthew, after Jesus spends 40 days and 40 nights without water or food, he comes up onto another mountain, and he delivers the Sermon on the Mount.
David: Right, the new, this new, quote-unquote, law.
Seth: Right. He's giving us the new law.
David: Right.
Seth: Like, so Jesus is being set up as the perfect lawgiver-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... as well.
David: Right.
Seth: Just kinda cool.
David: It's, it's really cool. And-
Seth: Really masterful of Matthew to like-
David: Oh, it's gorgeous
Seth: ... it's, like, so beautiful.
David: Oh, yeah, I love that. It, it really is. The Bible continually blows my mind with how masterfully it's written. I mean, even, even non-believers, like, study the Bible professionally because it's such a work of art.
Seth: It's beautiful.
David: It's completely ... So what's really cool is Jesus, you know, I, I wanna tease out what does it mean that Jesus is the new lawgiver too 'cause I think that's really interesting. Uh, the first thing I wanna note, uh, in the Sermon on the Mount that I didn't understand for a long time was the Beatitude section. Um, and so the, you know, it's like, "Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the meek," you know, "for you inherit the earth, for you," you know, all these things. And I was like, "Okay, so these are characteristics that I need to have, right, in order to be blessed."
Seth: Right.
David: That's how I've always understood it. Like, I need to be meek, and I need to, uh, hunger and thirst for righteousness, and I need to do all these things, and then I'll be blessed. But if we understand this as Jesus talking to the people in the exile, then actually what he's saying is, he's talking, and he's like, "You are meek. You are, you are hungering and thirsting. Like, you, you are these things."
Seth: Right.
David: "Therefore, I am here to bless you-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... and give you the earth and my presence and my, you'll be filled and-"
Seth: And we see that in Luke too.
David: We do.
Seth: The first thing that happens after Jesus is in the wilderness is he goes to the synagogue, and he preaches out of the Book of Isaiah.
David: Right.
Seth: Uh, or is it Isaiah?
David: Uh, the year of Jubilee.
Seth: The, the, yeah, "So I've come to prepare the year of Jubilee."
David: Right.
Seth: "I'm the one who sets the captives free. I'm the one who re-" And who, who does he assume are the ones that are oppressed?
David: Yep.
Seth: Who are the ones that need to be set free? Who are the one who need restoration? It's the people of Israel.
David: Yes.
Seth: So it makes total sense-
David: Yes
Seth: ... that this would be another version-
David: That's right
Seth: ... of that same proclamation.
David: Yep, and so Jesus is saying, like, he, he's not saying, like, "Earn these things. Like, come and, and, and w- become these characteristics. Like, be meek, and then I'll bless you." He's like, "You are already meek and beaten down, and you're hungry, and you're thirsty because you're exiled in the land of sin and death." And I'm here to set you free.
Seth: Right. Which is the first word.
David: Oh.
Seth: "I am the Lord your God."
David: Yes.
Seth: "Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out, out of slavery."
David: Yes. Oh.
Seth: So like the Beatitudes, the Beatitudes are the new first word. It's the new first word.
David: [laughs] Oh, that's awesome. I love that. I've never made that connection before. That's so cool. Um, I, I, I don't wanna, I don't ... Well, we'll have to come back to the Sermon on the Mount. We'll have to talk more about it. But before we leave Jesus as the lawgiver, I wanna bring up His high priestly prayer in John.
Seth: Okay.
David: 'Cause I read this yesterday, and I was like, "Oh, my gosh." So look at this. So, uh, John 17:6-8, let me read this. "I have manifested your name," so Go- Jesus is talking to His Father, God, right? So, "I have manifested your name," God, "to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, uh, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you, that, that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me." So check this out.
Seth: Okay.
David: In here we see a picture of what just happened in Exodus 19 and 20. So He says that He has manifested the name of God, Jesus manifests the name of God, just like God was manifested on Mount Sinai and spoke His name to Moses.
Seth: Right.
David: Uh, you know, we know that He spoke His name in Exodus 3 when He said He's the I Am, and then whenever He shows His glory to Moses, He says, "I'm gonna speak My name to you." And He talks about how He is, um, a, a God who is, is not quick to anger but will by no means clear the guilty, and we see that name foreshadowed here in the Ten Commandments. It's actually repeated, this name of God.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
David: So that's really cool.
Seth: Jesus.
David: So Jesus manifests the name of God.
Seth: Yeah.
David: So He is, He is the glory of God that came upon Mount Sinai. Like, that is who Jesus is, and then He says that He proclaimed, um, uh, He, He proclaimed God's words to those that God called out. He's like, "You've given me these people," so Jesus, or, uh, God called out the people of Israel out of Egypt, just like, uh, Jesus has had this little group of, of people called out from the world.
Seth: Right.
David: And it's, uh, it's amazing, these, these connections. And then Jesus receives the words of God and gives them to the people, just like Moses did, uh, like you just pointed out.
Seth: Yeah.
David: And then He, a- and so we see Him as this new lawgiver who-
Seth: Mm-hmm
David: ... is God, is God's glory, um, performs God's word, and then delivers them to the people. But He g- He gives them differently 'cause He's, He's the lawgiver who's the lawkeeper. So He gives them, as He's giving the commands to the people, He is saying to God, "And I've kept the words, and then I give the words that you gave me to the people."
Seth: And given the power to obey them-
David: Yes
Seth: ... unlike the people of Israel.
David: Because they're, because I've already obeyed them.
Seth: Right.
David: So now I can bless them, 'cause they were meek and poor and hungry and thirsty, I bless them with the righteousness earned by the law.
Seth: So the way that Jesus is better than the law given at Mount Sinai is that when the glory of the Lord was manifested and the law went out, the people heard it, and they said, "We agree."
David: Yeah.
Seth: But they weren't able to keep it because there was actually no-
David: Power
Seth: ... law keeper-
David: Right
Seth: ... and who could give them power in order to keep it.
David: Yeah.
Seth: But in Jesus, we have the glory of the Lord manifested. He keeps the law perfectly. He proclaims the law-
David: Yes
Seth: ... to His people, and then as He proclaims it, He's also living it perfectly-
David: Mm
Seth: ... and then embodying those people who He's spoken over with the power in order to keep the law.
David: That's a, that's a clear, simple way of what I was fumbling around trying to say.
Seth: [laughs] That's, that's what I, that's what I'm here for.
David: Yes. Thank you, 'cause yeah, that was hard to articulate, but yes.
Seth: Jesus is the perfect lawkeeper.
David: Yes.
Seth: And He's the perfect lawgiver.
David: That's it.
Seth: Period. [laughs]
[music]
Seth: So we've talked about Jesus, perfect lawkeeper.
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: Perfect lawgiver.
David: Yep.
Seth: And the foundation of the commands being grace.
David: Yes.
Seth: Let's talk about the actual commands.
David: Okay. Let's do it.
Seth: Let's do it. [laughs]
David: There's 10 of them.
Seth: There's 10. There's-
David: We don't have to talk about all 10, right?
Seth: Uh.
David: Maybe. I don't know.
Seth: We should talk about the first four-
David: Okay
Seth: ... as a kind of grouping.
David: Sure.
Seth: As, like, obeying Go- loving God first-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... as the foundation for all the other commands.
David: Okay.
Seth: So I think it was Martin Luther or John Calvin said that you can't actually disobey any of the other commands-
David: Right
Seth: ... without disobeying the first.
David: That was Martin Luther.
Seth: Martin Luther.
David: Yeah, in his, in his Shorter Catechism.
Seth: Right.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Because if you have another love besides God-
David: You are idolatrous
Seth: ... you're idolatrous.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And idolatry represents itself in things like not honoring your parents-
David: That's right
Seth: ... and lying and stealing.
David: Yep.
Seth: And not partic- not just from other people around you-
David: Right
Seth: ... but from the Lord Himself.
David: Yes. And every sin is, uh, you know, if you, let's say you covet, right, let's say you break the 10th commandment, that you're also breaking the first commandment.
Seth: Right.
David: Like, if, if I, if I have extramarital sex, sex outside of marriage, I am saying that what God has set up for the greatest means of my salvation, or for my, sorry, for my satisfaction, not salvation, for the greatest means of my satisfaction-
Seth: Right
David: ... inside the covenant of marriage, I'm saying, "No, I know how to better provide for myself, how to better satisfy myself, how to better find fulfillment, how to live a wiser life-
Seth: Than God
David: ... than God does," and I am saying, "I will make the rules for my life," and now I've become my own god, or my culture-
Seth: Right
David: ... or what they say about sex has become my own god.
Seth: You've repeated the sin of Adam and Eve.
David: That's exactly right.
Seth: Right.
David: I, I've wanted to become my own god, to, to define good and evil for myself, and so every sin breaks the first commandment. Yes.
Seth: Right. That's right. And then we have this interesting one in verse five. "Don't bow down and serve these other gods, for I am the Lord your God and am a jealous God-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love and keep my commandments."
David: Right. Now, we're gonna come back up against this exact same phrase later, um, in Exodus.
Seth: Okay.
David: Whenever Moses asks to see the God's glory and God passes by him in the cliff of the rock, He says, "Yes, I'll pass by and make all my glory pass by you, and I will proclaim my name to you," and then He repeats this and adds a little bit to it.
Seth: Okay.
David: So that'll be a more central focus, so let's leave that-
Seth: For now, for now what we wanna see is that God is the one who defines the law.
David: Yes.
Seth: He defines the good life, and to choose to live a way contrary to His commands is to reject the God who made the law.
David: That's right.
Seth: That's what we're trying to see right now.
David: Right. Yes, and so it's no wonder that you're gonna have iniquity visited upon you if you disobey, because God has set up everything for your good, and says, "This is how to live in the good," and if you don't do that, there's gonna be punishment.
Seth: Right.
David: And then, but if you-
Seth: And punishment being both active and passive.
David: Active and passive. That's right.
Seth: Like, "I, I will visit the iniquity-"
David: That's right.
Seth: "... but also, if you live a life full of greed, you will experience the consequence of a life full of greed."
David: That's right.
Seth: You will not care about your family as you should, because you care about money more. Your life will be marked by dissatisfaction of it, never having enough, and greed will end up being its own consequence.
David: Yeah.
Seth: So there's this active and passive, like, way.
David: Right, 'cause it can't just be passive.
Seth: Right.
David: A lot of people wanna just make it passive and say, like, "Well, when God says that He'll punish sin, He means that sin is its own punishment." Uh, but the problem with that is, if you look at the Psalms-
Seth: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle makes that point.
David: What?
Seth: [laughs] Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Have you ever read that?
David: I have no clue what you're talking about.
Seth: There's, like, this whole section, there's this whole, like, series of children's books called Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
David: Oh.
Seth: You have a new boy. You-
David: This is my, this is, my, my four-year-old's not reading yet.
Seth: [laughs] And it's, that's the premise of the entire series, like these little disbe- disobedient children.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cures them by letting them experience the full outcome of their disobedience.
David: Oh, hilarious.
Seth: So there's, like, this radish girl who doesn't wanna take a shower, never wants to bathe.
David: Classic radish. That's stereotypical radishes.
Seth: And so she, like, goes out, and she doesn't bathe for months and months and months-
David: Oh, no
Seth: ... until she has this layer of literal dirt on her that's an inch thick. And so she tells the parents, "Go into her room at night and plant radish seeds all over her body."
David: Oh.
Seth: And so [laughs] the next morning she starts sprouting all these radishes all over her body, and, like, her parents pick one out and eat 'em, and they do that until she takes a shower.
David: That's really weird.
Seth: [laughs]
David: What I, the point I was going to make is about Psalm 73, and how-
Seth: This is a better point.
David: This is, uh, this is definitely a better point. Uh, so Psalm 73, you have David, and he's, he's saying that his foot almost slipped, how he, he almost, like, lost his faith in God because he's, he's like, "The greedy and the, those who cheat and do injustice, they're rich, and they're healthy, and they eat good food. Like, what's going on? Why aren't they falling into their own sin? Like, where's their punishment? It's not here. They're sinning and getting blessed, it looks like."
Seth: Right.
David: And he says, "But then I remembered their end." And their end, he starts talking about God's punishment on them, active punishment. And so it's like sin is not always its own consequence here in this life. Like, sometimes you do get a leg up in this world-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... if you sin, but not ultimately. So this can't just be passive punishment.
Seth: That's right.
David: It's also God's active punishment.
Seth: And so as we talk about that, the next command is you, so, like, in the, this context of thinking about God as the perfect law giver, perfect law keeper based on grace, making sure that we obey the commands so that we escape judgment, both passively and actively-
David: Mm-hmm
Seth: ... the command is, "You shall not take the name of your Lord, your God in vain."
David: Yeah.
Seth: So what does that-
David: [laughs]
Seth: So for me, even just setting it up the way that we have, I'm already think- normally it's like, "Don't say the G word."
David: Right. Don't say the D, G word.
Seth: But, you know, it's like don't-
David: Right
Seth: ... that's-
David: But even setting it up as you have, you're asking different questions of this command than you normally would.
Seth: Right.
David: Right. You're saying, "Okay, so, uh, He brought us out of slavery, so have no other gods before Him, uh, because He is this God who, who punishes and blesses based on these commands, therefore don't take My name in vain."
Seth: Right.
David: It's like that's weird. So I think what we have to understand is the name of God is a really central theme in Exodus, right? It's like Moses in Exodus 3, when he's at the burning bush, said, "Well, what's Your name, God? What should, uh, what should people call You?" And He reveals that His name is Yahweh. He is the I Am. He's the I Am with You. He's the I Am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I Am the keeper of the covenant. And now we have this keeper of the covenant who said that, "My name is I Am with You. My name is I Am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I Am the covenant keeper." We now come to the covenant-giving moment-
Seth: Right
David: ... and He says, "Don't take My name, I Am, in vain." And we know He's talking about the actual name I Am, because literally the text is translated, it says, you know, in, in our version it says, "Don't take the name of the Lord your God."
Seth: But it's-
David: Right? It's, it's Yahweh Elohim, which is-
Seth: Which is all capitalized
David: ... it's all capitalized.
Seth: Right.
David: F- capital L-O-R-D. So if you-
Seth: If you see that in new Bibles, by the way, that means Yahweh
David: ... that's Yahweh.
Seth: The covenant name of God.
David: And so He says, "Don't take the name Yahweh, who is your God, in vain."
Seth: Mm.
David: So He's like, "I've given you this covenant name that you can call upon whenever you are in trouble, that you can entreat, that you can worship. Like, I am with you. Like, that is not something for you to take in vain. The fact that I've come upon this mountain, that I am with you." Like, it's not so much even saying the name Yahweh, it's, "Don't take the fact that I am with you in vain." Like, in fact, He's about to go through all this, this stuff about the tabernacle and how to approach Him, what His presence means, how to live in community with Him. He's like, "That's not something that's empty."
Seth: So in Hebrew tradition, they don't even say the name Yahweh.
David: They would, they would replace it with Adonai.
Seth: So, so practically, then, what does it mean, like, in my everyday life, like it's Monday morning, how do I not take the Lord God in vain?
David: Right.
Seth: Like, what does that mean?
David: Yes, so I think, I think what it means is, like, it means that God has put His name, if you're a Christian, God has put His name on you like He put His name on Israel. He says, "You are My people. I am with you. Yahweh is with you. Don't make that a vanity. Don't make that empty." Like, and, and He's giving these rules to show people, show His people how to live in community with Him, and in such a way that He dis- they, they display His holiness as a royal priesthood out into the world.
Seth: So s- so really what you're saying is taking the name of your l- nameWhen the way that we take the Lord, the name of the Lord God in vain is actually by breaking the commandments.
David: Right.
Seth: If we were to steal, if we were to lie, if we were to dishonor our father and mother-
David: If we were to not put Him first in all things
Seth: ... we would actually, that's taking the name of the Lord in vain.
David: Right. We're saying, like, "You have been with us, God. You've set us apart. You've granted us-"
Seth: You've given us this new identity.
David: That's right.
Seth: And you're not acting according to that identity.
David: That's right. That would be Him giving you His name in vain. It would be vanity that He gi- g- that He gave you His name. And so, yeah.
Seth: So how much more so than in Jesus is this command-
David: Yes
Seth: ... like, intensified. So one of the things about the Sermon on the Mount is it takes all these external commands and places them in the heart. So this automatically makes more sense now. When Jesus has given us a new identity, it's because He's remade our heart. He's put a new heart inside of us.
David: Yep.
Seth: So to take the name of the Lord God in vain from your heart-
David: Mm
Seth: ... doesn't mean just don't commit adultery.
David: Right.
Seth: It means don't lust.
David: Right, which takes us back to the Sermon on the Mount a little bit. Yeah.
Seth: Which takes us back to the Sermon on the Mount. Right. Don't murder becomes don't hate.
David: Right.
Seth: So that's-
David: Because it, it moved from outside to inside
Seth: ... that's, uh-
David: That's amazing. I, I've never thought about it like that.
Seth: [laughs] That's great.
David: Wow. That's, that's phenomenal. And I think of, like, the intensification of this command, I kind of think of it in, like, um, like, in Paul's language, where it's like you've been, you've been freed from sin. How can you live in it any longer? Like, you've, like, you've been bought with the blood of Jesus. How could you go back to your former ways of death? Like, that's taking the name of Jesus in vain. Like, you've been freed. L- like-
Seth: Yeah
David: ... it is for freedom Christ set you free. Stand firm, then, and do not be burdened once again by the yoke of slavery, Galatians 5:1 says. Like, you, why, don't, don't bear the name of Jesus in vain. Live in your freedom.
Seth: That's so fascinating. I've never thought about, like, disobedience really as taking the name of the Lord God in vain.
David: Right.
Seth: And like, even, like, the structure of Ephesians and Colossians, where it's like the gospel-
David: Oh
Seth: ... in the front.
David: Yes.
Seth: Here's what the gospel looks like.
David: Oh my gosh.
Seth: And then the second half is, here's what the gospel looks like in practice.
David: Right.
Seth: That's actually mirroring the Ten Commandments.
David: It is.
Seth: And-
David: Oh my goodness
Seth: ... to take the name of the Lord God in vain-
David: Is to ignore the first part, or, or-
Seth: Is to ignore the commands-
David: Right
Seth: ... but assume you belong.
David: Oh, yeah. Wow. That's really cool. [laughs]
Seth: [laughs] So the next commandment is keep the Sabbath.
David: Yeah.
Seth: This has always been a really weird one for me-
David: Okay
Seth: ... because I've always kind of felt low-grade guilty for not keeping the Sabbath my entire life. [laughs]
David: [laughs] Okay. Yeah.
Seth: Because it's like, oh, I'm working all day on Saturday. I had to cut the grass. I had to do this.
David: Right.
Seth: I had to do that. And I didn't really rest. It's in the Ten Commandments. God wrote it.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Like, I'm supposed to take a break.
David: It's in the, it's in the pattern of all creation.
Seth: Yeah, it's like built into creation.
David: On the seventh, on the seventh day, He rested.
Seth: And then all the appeals to, like, the New Testament, well, Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath-
David: Right
Seth: ... have never, like-
David: Well, He freed us from that command.
Seth: I was like, but-
David: Right
Seth: ... He didn't free me from the command to not kill.
David: To not, to not kill, or not-
Seth: J- Jesus was the, Jesus was the ultimate murdered one, so you can murder? [laughs] Like-
David: Right. And so, like, I don't quite understand.
Seth: How does that work? But since everybody does it, I kind of-
David: Just culturally, we don't celebrate the Sabbath
Seth: ... I don't celebrate the Sabbath, so I'm fine with it.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And then Paul talks about, like, I hate, like, you use the Sabbath day as, like, some are esteemed a bit more than other.
David: Right.
Seth: But still, it's like, well, which, which one should I do?
David: Yeah.
Seth: I've always felt a lot of anxiety about whether I-
David: I'm sure you're not alone there. [laughs]
Seth: Yeah. Whether or not I should keep the Sabbath.
David: Yeah. Yeah, I think I've always understood, like, oh, metaphorically, like, you should take a Sabbath, you know? And, like, that's kind of become a cultural colloquialism. Like, you know, just take a sabbatical, you know?
Seth: Right. Yeah.
David: Like-
Seth: That's-
David: Professors take sabbaticals.
Seth: Right.
David: You know, pastors take sabbaticals.
Seth: Yeah.
David: CEOs take sabbaticals.
Seth: Yeah.
David: Yeah. So it's like, uh, you know, like, as Christians, maybe, you know, once a week, just stop and spend time with your family, read the Bible together, and worship. Like, and then check off the Sabbath box.
Seth: Yeah, let's do your Sunday time together. That's the Sabbath.
David: That's the, that's the Sabbath. I go to church. Like, that's the, that's what's happening, right?
Seth: Right. So are you for the Sabbath? Do you keep the Sabbath? [laughs]
David: Me? Are you asking me?
Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
David: Uh, I do. I keep the Sabbath every day.
Seth: Oh.
David: Oh.
Seth: You just-
David: I just, I just did it.
Seth: That's where, that's where I'm going.
David: Oh, well, you-
Seth: I'm not super surprised. [laughs]
David: [laughs] Well, I'll let you, I'll let you go for it then 'cause I feel like we're-
Seth: Well, you-
David: ... on the same page here.
Seth: So one of the things, the most clear, as I was studying this passage, the most clear thing that I was told is the reason that Jesus was, did not keep the Sabbath, 'cause he got, the Pharisees got onto him-
David: Oh, yeah
Seth: ... over and over again for breaking-
David: For not
Seth: ... the Sabbath rules.
David: Yes.
Seth: And sometimes he's breaking the Sabbath rules because they've added rules to the Sabbath.
David: Right.
Seth: And he's, like, um, breaking the religious rules-
David: Right
Seth: ... not the actual rules.
David: He's, he's, he's healing someone on the Sabbath.
Seth: Right.
David: Which is never said you can't do that.
Seth: Right.
David: Yeah.
Seth: But Jesus takes it one step further.
David: Right.
Seth: So when the Pharisees are debating him, he says, "No, the reason I don't, I can work on the Sabbath is because me and my disciples are priests."
David: Mm-hmm.
Seth: So Matthew 12:5, "Have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath but are guiltless?" So he's comparing himself and the disciples to priests.
David: Right.
Seth: And so he's like, "The reason why I work on the Sabbath is I'm a priest."
David: Right.
Seth: "And my disciples are priests."
David: I, he's making that distinction. Yeah.
Seth: And then what I was thinking about, I was like, so by Jesus' act and work on the cross, we become a nation of priests.
David: Right. Which we, which was just talked about in Exodus, Exodus 19.
Seth: That's exactly right.
David: That you become a na- a royal priesthood.
Seth: We, so we are, become a nation of priests-
David: Right
Seth: ... who are always working.
David: Yep.
Seth: But because the great priestly work of atoning for sinsReal, like-
David: Real work
Seth: ... real work.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Like working with your hands, and going to your job, and spending time in the office, it redeems that.
David: Makes it priestly.
Seth: It makes it priestly.
David: Yeah.
Seth: It makes it like, this is a moment where you extend grace to others, and the Lord meets you in-
David: Mm
Seth: ... spaces all around your city and where you're working, and you become these priestly outposts for the kingdom of God.
David: Right.
Seth: Like, it redeems and dignifies-
David: Right
Seth: ... all work.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Whether you're a post officer, post officer. [laughs]
David: A post officer.
Seth: A policeman, or a police, a policeman.
David: Or a postman.
Seth: A postman. [laughs]
David: That's sexist.
Seth: Oh, shoot.
David: Police officer and a post-
Seth: Woman?
David: Person.
Seth: Post person.
David: Post person.
Seth: A post person. But, like, it redeems that work.
David: Yeah.
Seth: So not only are you freed from feeling like your work is your identity-
David: Yes
Seth: ... because your real identity is a priest-
David: As a priest of Jesus
Seth: ... as a priest of Jesus.
David: Yeah.
Seth: And that work is guaranteed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
David: Wow. Yeah, that's amazing. And we've, we've talked already about the intensification of these commands. It's like, okay, observe the Sabbath day, you know, once a week. It's like, no, we are always observing the Sabbath. Like, that's intensification, but it's a good one. And it's like, that's why Jesus can say, like, "My burden is light, and my yoke is easy." Because, like, He's like, the work's been done, so rest. Let me, like, it's a twofold thing. He's like, I'm gonna redeem your work, and I'm gonna provide you real Sabbath rest in my, in my completed work on the cross. [upbeat music] Well, that's really, [laughs] that's really all we have time for today. We made it at least through the first commandments about our relationship with God, loving God, right? Um-
Seth: First two commandments-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... in, uh, the loving others section. Although, I guess Sabbath is loving God.
David: Sabbath is, is the, I've heard that the Sabbath is, like, the bridge between the two. It's how you move from right relationship with God to right relationship with others.
Seth: Okay.
David: So it's kind of both.
Seth: Just a natural stopping point.
David: Natural stopping point. Uh, we just had a lot of ground to cover. So we're actually gonna do two parts on Exodus 20 and the Ten Commandments here. So next week we're gonna talk about the social commandments here, where it's like, you know, don't murder, don't steal, don't covet, those things.
Seth: Love your mom.
David: Love your, love your mom. Love mom. From, this will be a special Mother's Day podcast. No, I'm just kidding. [laughs]
Seth: Please.
David: Yeah. [laughs]
Seth: Please, let's delay all this.
David: Just delay it just till, at least till Mother's Day. And then we'll, we'll also talk about, um, how God came and, and manifested Himself on the mountain, not so the people would be afraid, but so they would fear the Lord, which seems like a contradiction in terms. So-
Seth: Yeah. Do not fear-
David: Right
Seth: ... but the fear of Him may be before you.
David: It's hilarious.
Seth: [laughs]
David: So we'll talk about that, and then we'll also talk about this, this altar that is really strange. It's like, just build a simple altar of, of earth. Um, don't, don't take a, don't, don't make it beautiful. Like, don't put a, a, a tool to it. And then right after this, we're gonna get this elaborate altar. And, like, so what's going on here? It seems like there's contradictory altars being commanded by God. Uh, so what, what's actually happening here? What's, what's trying to be brought up? So-
Seth: If you wanna know about fear-
David: Yeah
Seth: ... about loving your mom-
David: [laughs]
Seth: ... stealing, and altars-
David: Tune in next week. That's gonna be it.
Seth: [laughs]
David: So that, that's it for this week's, uh, episode of Spoken Gospel Podcast. Uh, you guys are awesome. Thanks for listening. Um, Seth, any final parting, parting words from you?
Seth: Mm.
David: Mm.
Seth: I have none, but you should like us on the podcast app of your choosing with five stars preferably.
David: Oh, yeah. Yeah, rate us.
Seth: Rate us.
David: Yeah.
Seth: That's what I mean. What did I say?
David: You said like us.
Seth: Oh, I said like us.
David: Like us with five stars.
Seth: Yeah, like us with five stars.
David: Yeah.
Seth: Just like kindergarten.
David: Yep. Go give us five stars.
Seth: Five stars.
David: That helps a lot.
Seth: And then, like, leave a comment so other people know what we're about.
David: Yeah, yeah. Give us your thoughts on the podcast. Tell us how amazing it is. [laughs]
Seth: I legitimately read comments every week.
David: Oh, I do too, before I, yeah.
Seth: Yeah.
David: So yeah, please leave a comment. Uh, leave a rating. Subscribe if you haven't. Share it with your friends. Uh, yeah, we got, we really appreciate you guys so much. [upbeat music] Outro: Thank you for listening to the Spoken Gospel Podcast. We'd like to remind you that my new book, Rewire Your Heart: Replace Your Desire for Sin with Desire for God, is coming out October 30th. Pre-orders are now available from your favorite retailer. And for all the information, for special offers, for group discussion guides, journal prompts, free chapters, and more, you can visit rewireyourheartbook.com. Spoken Gospel is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating gospel-centered media that speaks the gospel out of every corner of scripture in every corner of the world. To learn more about the ministry of Spoken Gospel and to view more of our resources, visit spokengospel.com. [upbeat music]
