New Life: Gift and Task
Outline
of biblical history, Exodus 16-40 and Leviticus [1]:
“After their release from Egypt, Moses led the Israelites to Mount
Sinai. God then gave them his law which
they were commanded to keep. At one
point Moses held a covenant renewal ceremony in which the covenant arrangement
was sealed in blood. However, while
Moses was away on the mountain, the people persuaded Aaron to fashion a golden
calf. Thus they showed their
inclination to forsake the covenant and to engage in idolatry. God also commanded the building of the
tabernacle and gave all the rules of sacrificial worship by which Israel might
approach him” (140).
1. The New
Life
a.
The significance of the exodus
b. Desert
life
i.
The continued provision of God (Ex 15.22-17-16)
1. Bitter
water made sweet (15.22-25)
2. Quail
and manna (16.13-18)
3. Day of
Sabbath rest (16.22-30, esp. vv.29-30)
4. Water
from the rock (17.5-7)
5. Victory
over Amalek (17.13-16)
ii.
The people’s response?
Complaining and disobedience/distrust!
1. At
Marah (15.23-24)
a.
No hint that the water was not potable, just unpleasant
b. This
happened only three days after the
exodus
2. In the
Wilderness of Sin (16.2-3)
3. At
Rephidim (17.2-3)
iii.
Questions:
1. Is
there a method to God’s means?
2. Why did
God wait until it was almost too late before meeting his people’s needs?
3. Why
didn’t Israel understand?
c.
Abraham and Israel compared
i.
God’s actions tied to his covenant promises
ii.
Both were delivered by grace
iii.
Both experienced real redemption
iv.
Both lacked an element of what was promised
1. Required
them to look to the future in hope
2. Required
them to live in the present by faith
d. A
summary theology of redemption: Ex
19.4-6
i.
Judgment of enemies (v.4a)
ii.
Redemption and reconciliation by grace (v.4b)
iii.
Obedience yields enjoyment of the covenant blessings
under God’s sovereign rule (v.5)
1. Redemption
(by grace) yields obedience, not the other way around
2. God’s
covenant faithfulness (to redeem) comes prior to his people’s covenant
faithfulness (to follow/obey)
3. Gospel
(justification) precedes the Law (sanctification) at this point in redemptive
history
iv.
Evangelical mandate / representing God to the world (v.6)
e.
“The new life through redemption involves a relationship
with God that is structured by the law.
Israel as the people of God is called to be a nation of priests that
will somehow be the agent of God’s blessing to all nations” (141).
2. Freedom
to live for God--the Law
a.
The purpose of the Law
i.
One great risk of looking at the details of the Law is
failing to grasp the ‘big picture’ relationship between law and grace (gospel)
in the OT
1. Many
wrongly create a great divide between OT and NT concerning means of salvation
(i.e., Israel was saved by works / Christians are saved by grace)
2. Taking
Paul out of context (i.e., neglecting the false teachings he wrote against),
many suggest he was proposing the Gospel as a better means of salvation than
the Law, but...
a.
The Law was never given as a means of salvation
but as a response to salvation
b. Paul
wrote against a perversion of God’s intent in giving the Law (a la Pharisees,
Judaizers, etc.) to those who taught the Law was used for justification
3. To
complicate matters, Paul also makes explicit another use of law (and the
Law)…conviction of sin
a.
Jesus alluded to this use of law in his dealings with the
rich, young ruler (Mt 19.16ff.)
b. However,
in the OT, law in general (and the Law specifically) is not viewed as an
instrument of conviction but only one of sanctification
c.
Clearly, as revelation progressed, this ‘function’ of law
became more and more explicit
4. So what
can we say?
ii.
At Sinai (Ex 19.1-Num 10.10), God’s first words were a
recap of grace (Ex 19.4)
1. “I bore
you on eagles’ wings” (past tense)
2. “I...brought
you to myself” (past tense)
3. Clearly
God is speaking to a redeemed people (cf. Ex 6.6), Israel his son (cf. Ex 4.22)
iii.
From the relationship of sonship (established by grace)
stemmed responsibility (Ex 19.5-6)
iv.
Additionally:
1. The
introduction to the Ten Commandments (Ex 20.2) teaches the same truth
2. Similarly,
Moses’ sermon in Deut 7.6-11 shows the same order
3. Order
is the same in the NT redemption (gospel, justification) then responsibility
(law, sanctification)
b. The
design of the Law
i.
It has been long recognized that the Ten Commandments (or
Decalogue, lit. ‘ten words,’ cf. Ex 34.28; Deut 4.13; 10.4) followed a
contemporary treaty pattern common in the Ancient Near East
1. Treaty
between king and his subjects
a.
Established privileges guaranteed to both
b. Established
responsibilities expected of both
c.
From the perspective of the subjects, the details were
seen as responsibilities due the privilege of protection, redemption, etc.
2. Beginning
with the Decalogue, the Law details God’s claim over his people through his
covenant
a.
Jesus’ summary (cf. Mt 22.34-40) helps us keep the ‘big
picture’ in mind
b. His
summary also comes as an implication of redemption (cf. Ex 20.2)
ii.
The details of the law are not arbitrary or random but
reflect the character of God and his purpose for mankind in creation/redemption
1. Traditionally
the Law has been divided into three aspects:
moral, civil, ceremonial
a.
Good for discussion but not explicit in the text
b. Makes
the Law seem disorganized
2. Overall
purposes clearly seen in Jesus’ summary—loving God and neighbor
3. Difficulty
in finding application for obscure aspects demonstrates how easily we miss the
point
a.
Food laws (Lev 11)?
Cannot be for health reasons or else God has quit looking out for his
people’s best interested by nullifying them (cf. Mk 7.14-23; Acts 10.9-16)
b. Side-by-side
crops and clothing of mixed fabrics (Lev 19.19)? Are poly-cotton blends and leisure suits truly an
abomination? Not morally, anyway…
c.
No tattoos (Lev 19.28)?
Just because you’ll look silly when you’re 80 doesn’t make them morally
reprehensible does it? Not necessarily…
4. The
points:
a.
Israel was to be completely distinct from those pagan
nations around her as part of her priestly role to the nations—certain clothing
and tattoos (for example) had definite moral connotations
b. The
implications of redemption (loving God and others) spread out like ripples in a
pond to touch all aspects of life
c.
NT light on the subject:
Redemption from Egypt and the subsequent responsibility given by the Law
foreshadows the saving redemption of Christ
i.
While it contains the structure of the gospel, the
earthly paradigm fails to contain its fullness
ii.
In their spiritual infancy, the people of God needed a
tutor until the coming of Christ (cf. Gal 3.23-25)
d. Summary
from Goldsworthy: “The law is given to
the chosen and already redeemed people of God so that they might known what
their new relationship to God means for the way they live. The law of Sinai is the expression of the
character of God as it relates to the revelation of his kingdom at that time.”
(143)
3. Freedom
to approach God--the tabernacle and sacrifices
a.
One major characteristic of the covenant is God’s
willingness and desire to be God to a sinful and undeserving people
i.
God dwelt (unhindered) with man before the Fall
ii.
Since the entrance of sin, which God hates, we must ask
the question, “How can sinful people approach a holy God?” The answer:
a mediator
1. Moses
mediated God’s saving acts in the exodus
2. The Levitical
priesthood mediated God’s continued restoration through the remainder of the OT
by sacrifice and intercession
3. Christ
mediates perfectly between the Godhead and humanity by his sacrifice (once for
all) and continued intercession
b. The
layout / form of the tabernacle provides an important visual expression of the
spiritual state of Israel as the redeemed covenant people of God who are yet
sinful
i.
Design
1. High
fence around the courtyard demonstrates sin’s separation between sinners and a
holy God
2. Inside
the fence lies the altar of sacrifice whereby the penitent worshipper gains
entry and acceptance by God, by proxy through the shedding of blood
3. Priests
represent the people before God in the tabernacle, but only after making
purification for their own sins that they might not be consumed
4. The
high priest represents the nation in the God’s presence (holy of holies) but
only once a year
ii.
Three great truths seen in the design:
1. God
desires to dwell among his people in fellowship with them
2. Sin
separates humanity from God
3. God
provides a way of reconciliation through sacrifice and the mediatorial work of
the priests
c.
No explicit theology of atonement is presented along with
instructions for sacrifices
i.
Five main offerings (described in Lev 1-6) express the
reality of forgiveness offered to OT believers and the totality of
reconciliation offered in their fellowship with God
ii.
Different sacrifices describe:
1. Sacrificial
victim that takes the place of the offerer
2. Covering
or atonement of sin / guilt
a.
Intentional and unintentional sins
b. Sins of
omission and commission
3. Restitution
to those who have been wronged
4. Obedience
and dedication to God
5. Fellowship
with God through a ceremonial / sacramental meal
iii.
Lev 16 provides an eloquent description of
substitutionary sacrifice as the means of acceptance with God
iv.
Though real forgiveness is offered to those who draw near
in faith (cf. Lev 4.26, 31, 35; 5.6, 10, 16; 6.7), Hebrews points out that the
true efficacy of these sacrifices was based on the final sacrifice of Christ on
the cross (Heb 9-10)
4. Holy to
the Lord--the whole point
a.
One of the most important words used to describe God is
holy
i.
We often describe holiness in terms of a known concept
like goodness or purity, but the Bible links holiness and actions
ii.
Positively, God reveals his holiness in Scripture /
history by his saving acts and calls his people to be conformed to that
standard
iii.
Negatively, Israel’s inability to satisfy the demands of
God’s holiness were designed to continually remind them of their dependence
upon his grace and mercy
1. The Law
as a grounds for self-righteousness (a la Pharisees) demonstrated a perversion
of its intent
2. This is
seen in their attitude of ‘majoring on the minors’ and neglecting the more
important realities of God’s expectations (cf. Mt 15.1-20)
iv.
Ultimately, Israel (we) learned they (we) could not keep
the Law by recognizing their (our) inability to keep it and receiving their
righteousness / forgiveness / acceptance by God as a gift!
b. Lev 26
shows that, even in redemption from Egypt, God had not yet definitively dealt
with sin
i.
Obedience to God’s word brought blessing and a return to
Eden (vv. 1-13)
ii.
Disobedience (i.e., sin) brought curse and exile from the
land (vv. 14-39)
iii.
Repentance (a third possibility) would yield restoration,
though the temporal effects of sin would still be felt and suffered (vv. 40-45)
iv.
The paradox of blessing alongside consequences is not
resolved here
1. Resolved
ultimately at the cross
2. Even
now, we live the ‘in between’ times when forgiven sin brings real temporal
consequences (cf. Heb 12.3-29)
