The nation of slaves was about to cross the Red Sea. The children of Israel had been enslaved for many years by the Egyptians. The blood of a lamb on the doorposts had saved the lives of all the first born, and now God had parted the Red Sea so they could pass over on dry land.
God had permitted bondage in Egypt to give them a longing for a better country, and to prepare them for His deliverance. If it were not for the bondage they had suffered, they would have preferred to stay in Egypt. After years of slavery and hard labor and despair, they had lost much of their faith and trust in God. But God had not forgotten His people, and now He was giving them freedom from slavery and a new life of learning of His protection and love.
They had watched the terrible plagues on the Egyptians: rivers of blood; plagues of frogs, lice, and flies; plagues on the cattle; plagues of boils and hail and locusts; the plague of darkness; and, finally, the death of all the first born. God had protected them from all these calamities, for none of the plagues fell on any of the children of Israel.
Now they watched as the waters of the Red Sea closed back on the army of the Egyptians and drowned them all. As they journeyed through the wilderness, God provided everything they needed to survive. They drank water that poured from the rock and ate manna that fell from heaven. They noticed that their clothes and their shoes didn't wear out, despite years of journeying. Still they murmured and complained, even longing to go back into slavery in Egypt. Yet patiently God led them on.
Christ was in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that gave them protection and direction. He was the Rock that provided them water to drink. " . . . For they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4, NIV.
God wanted to change the children of Israel from a nation of slaves to a free people who realized His love for them and who loved Him in return. So He gave them ten precepts written with His own finger on tables of stone. The Decalogue was a reflection of God's very character and government, and rightly understood, would demonstrate God's love for His people and teach them how to love Him in return. After years of oppression and slavery, the children of Israel had lost sight of these principles of God's government. God also gave them the sanctuary and its services to teach them about forgiveness and salvation through the coming Messiah--the Lamb of God who would save His people from their sins.
The Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel on Mount Sinai are eternal principals of right and wrong that are for all people in all ages. While living upon this earth, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Son of God, the great I AM) not only endorsed the Ten Commandments (see Mark 10:19 and Matthew 5:17-19), but He also shed greater light on their meaning (see Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28 and Matthew 22:35-40).
The Ten Commandments are perfect precepts of right and wrong that teach us how to live in peace and happiness. Even if we understand this, we cannot truly obey God unless we love Him, and we cannot love God unless we know that He loves us. As we look upon Jesus dying on the cross for us, we see the unfathomable love of God and our hearts are broken. When we are filled with love for God because of His love for us, then in gratitude and love, we obey Him because He first loved us.
There are only two ways to live. We can live for God or we can live for ourselves. To live for God is freedom, joy, and eternal life. To live for ourselves is bondage, despair, and death.
True obedience springs from our love for God who first loved us, and sent Jesus to die for us, even while we were dead in trespasses and sins. Any other obedience is not really obedience at all in the sight of God, but the filthy rags of our own righteousness.
Obedience does not earn salvation. Yet obedience changes a lawless, loveless enemy of God into a loyal, loving friend of God. Obedience shows that we have accepted the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Yes, Jesus is our foundation and our peace. Because we know and love Him, we want to obey Him.
"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."
1 John 2:3, KJV.
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Revelation 22:14, KJV.
Who is this precious cornerstone, this sure foundation?
He is the one who promised Adam a Messiah for deliverance.
He is the one who translated Enoch to heaven.
He is the one who saved Noah and his family in the ark.
He is the one who spoke to Abraham as a friend.
He was the ladder to heaven in Jacob's dream.
He was the fire in the burning bush that appeared to Moses.
He was the voice that spoke the Decalogue on Sinai's mountain.
He was the power that pushed down the walls of Jericho.
He was the fourth man in the burning furnace with the Hebrews.
He was the hand, writing on the wall at Belshazzar's feast.
He was the man who met Paul on the road to Damascus.
He is Jesus, our foundation and our peace.
