After
taking Israel out of slavery the Lord God makes with them a covenant
relationship. This covenant is created partly in the form of the ancient
covenants of that day. In it there is an introduction, relationship,
stipulations, and a sacrifice of blood given. Israel comes into a covenant with
Yahweh by a sacrifice made to show what would happen if the covenant was
broken. Exodus 20:1-17 breaks down into two categories: Israel’s relationship
with God, and Israel’s relationship with itself. But first is God’s
proclamation of Himself.
The
Lord begins speaking with the people directly by reminding them of His past
deeds. He is the one who delivered them from the land of slavery and because of
this Israel is obligated to obey the stipulations of the covenant. The rest of
the passage is usually referred to as the Ten Commandments, when the word
command is not even mentioned. “The ten words are commands, nor are the couched
in command (i.e., imperative) language. They are simple future indicative verbs
that indicate the future action that is expected consequences of the preceding
prologue” (Mendenhall 1184). The words given to Israel were expected to be
followed because the Lord is their deliverer.
Yahweh
goes through the first four words in telling how Israel should behave before
Him. Unlike other ancient treaties of this kind there is no mention of other
gods as witnesses. The reason for this is that there is only One God and the
people are His witnesses. There is no other God and Yahweh makes that clear as
well as making sure they do not form idols. Idols were a big part of the
ancient lands and Israel was not to be a part of those practices.
The
Lord makes it clear that they are to treat His name with respect and not use it
in an unworthy manner. He does this because He is a real God opposed to the
worship of false gods that was done throughout the lands. His worship was to be
pure and the way they sacrificed was to be holy. Chapters twenty-one through
twenty-three give stipulations of the covenant that expound on the original ten
words given in chapter nineteen. The last word given in how the people should
relate to Yahweh is to treat the Sabbath day holy. This word could be taken in
the second part of the passage but related more to the first. It is the day of Yahweh
and should be remembered by resting.
Verses
twelve through seventeen outline the remaining six words of Yahweh to the
people of Israel. These deal with the relationship between Israelites with each
other. The first five are direct outward actions made toward other people.
These actions are prohibited and not detailed more in chapter twenty. In the
chapters following there are many other stipulations given that relate back to
each of the words including these last six. The final word is a prohibition of
inward desires that Israel might have. They are told to not desire something of
their neighbor’s to the point of coveting. After that word is given the text
goes on to give more laws to Israel.
The
Lord gives blessings for what He will do for Israel if they follow His laws.
Then in the last chapter, twenty-four, there is a sacrifice to ratify the
covenant. This ceremony involves sacrificing the blood of an animal. The blood
was then thrown on the altar and the people. “The latter was a symbolic action
in which the people were identified with the sacrificed animal, so that the
fate of the latter is presented as the fate to be expected by the people if
they violated their sacred promise”
(Mendenhall 1185). If then one of the people of Israel failed to keep a
law they would be subject to death as a penalty. The salvation of a person
would be by the blood of an innocent animal. But even before the law was given
there was a relationship Yahweh set up with His people, Israel. Therefore there
is relationship before law, and law brings forth salvation, and salvation is a
response to that law. The purpose of the law is to bring people to the need for
the blood sacrifice because they will fail to keep the law. In Yahweh there is
law and salvation.
1. Mendenhall,
George E. and Herion, Gary A. “Covenant.” In The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Ed. David N. Freedman. New
York: Doubleday, 1992. Vol. 2: 1179-1202
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