What Do God’s Laws Teach Us About His Character? (Exodus 19-31)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

What do God’s laws teach us about his character?

Buckle up because this is a heavier devotional. Exodus 19-31 includes the Ten Commandments and a series of laws God gives his people. These include the so-called moral, civil, and ceremonial laws. Some were given to specific people at a specific time, while others were given as universal commands for humanity.

These commands weren’t entirely new concepts. It’s not as though the Israelites thought murder was acceptable one day and wrong the next. But these commands, especially the Ten Commandments, served “not only to chart the outer boundary, but also to provide positive content for life within the circle of the covenant.” ^[1]

In Exodus 19, God says to Moses, ⁵ “Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, ⁶ and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

“Being at Sinai would have reminded Moses of his first encounter with God at the burning bush (3:1, 12). God promised to bring Moses to this mountain, and He did.”^[2]

Peter Enns notes,

“The Exodus is about God’s keeping a promise he made to Abraham. What is about to transpire on Mount Sinai is not a new covenant, but the continuation and deepening of an existing covenant, the covenant God made with Israel’s ancestors long ago. Hence, the giving of the law does not represent the initiation of God’s relationship with his people but a heightening of that relationship.”^[3]

Also, it's important to remember what the Ten Commandments are really all about. Peter Enns writes,

“They are a charter of conduct for a people already redeemed, who already participate in God’s redemptive plan by being walking and talking examples of what it means to be created in God’s image. They are, in other words, commands of God to be understood in a redemptive context, a context that defines their promulgation in the Old Testament and reiteration in the New.”^[4]

Note their breakdown. The Ten Commandments can be summarized by the Great Commandment Jesus gave in Matthew 22:37-40:

³⁷ “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the greatest and most important command. ³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” The first four commandments deal with loving God, and the last six deal with loving others.

Contrary to what many believe, God’s goal with these commands wasn’t to merely increase individual morality. Instead, the real purpose was to show his people how to live in right relationship with him and with others so that they could be a blessing to the world. “Even during the darkest period in Israel’s history, when her own release from captivity posed the most pressing concern, God reminded his people of the broader implications of their release—to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”^[5]

A Meditation to PRAY

Praise | I praise you for being a God of order and righteousness. Thank you for your plan to save mankind and make us more like you.

Release | I give you my desire to live with myself at the forefront of my life. I want to love you with all my heart, soul, and mind, and others as myself.

Ask | Help me to live in right relationship with you and others, even if it means humbling myself.

Yield | I surrender my selfishness to you. I commit to being conformed to your image.

A Challenge to Act Like Christ  

The New Testament builds on God’s laws in Exodus. Pointing back to Exodus 19, 1 Peter 2:9-12 says,