Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. The LORD spoke to him from there. [Numbers 7.89]
Should we be surprised that God spoke from a position above the Ten Commandments contained in the Ark of the Covenant?
God still speaks from this position above the Ten Commandments today. This is becoming increasingly more true for me every day. God speaks from the Ten Commandments!
We are never wrong to expect God to speak to us from the Ten Commandments. Why? Because the Ten Commandments help us focus on what is most important about God and man. The Ten Commandments show us how to effectively love and honor God Commandments 1-3) and how to love and honor man (Commandments 5-10).
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22.37-40]
But what about the 4th Commandment? For all the fuss the religious leaders made about the Sabbath otherwise and elsewhere, no one questioned why Jesus didn't mention it in context of His Ten-Commandments-summary-answer above. So, in typical God-like fashion, Jesus revealed their shortcoming by asking a question of His own:
Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.” Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’ Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. [Matthew 22.41-46]
Aside from the fact that Jesus' question uncovered the Pharisees' ignorance of the Messiah being both God and man ...no one in that group had even a thought to ask about he Sabbath even though Jesus said Sit in the place of honor at my right hand which is a position of "rest" - a position of Sabbath Rest! Jesus effectively revealed their gaping ignorance about the Sabbath even though it had become central to their pious, but ignorant religious existence. They knew the Ten Commandments, but they didn't know the Ten Commandments.
Ready for this? How could they really know the Ten Commandments though? As of the time of their confrontation with Jesus, the veil in the Temple was not yet torn. They did not have ready access to the Ark of the Covenant - the place where God spoke from the position about the Ten Commandments. It would be the very Sabbath Rest, Jesus, who would be responsible for that veil being torn! The very Sabbath the religious elite so adamantly defended, they actually knew nothing about. In their proud, academic, religious disposition, they only knew the Sabbath as a day - not as a person - nestled right there in the Ten Commandments between the first three Godward Commandments and the last six manward Commandments.
Jesus was speaking of the 4th Commandment about honoring the Sabbath when He asked His audience about the Messiah. In His question, Jesus revealed the all-important connection between God and man in the person of the Messiah, Himself - the Sabbath Rest. Of course, however, the Pharisees who had challenged Jesus with their question about the greatest Commandment, were silenced by Jesus' question back to them because they knew the Scriptures academically, but had no spiritual enlightenment about what they were revealing. It could be argued therefore that they had somewhat an excuse... But, we have no excuse whatsoever!
Yes, God is still speaking from the Ten Commandments and the curtain has been torn separating us from Him. But, if we don't go to Him - go to the Ten Commandments - and there find the Sabbath Rest of Jesus - we are just as ignorant as the Pharisees and, more so, because our ignorance is willful. Jesus opened the way to God. And, as we approach God, the Ten Commandments are the very platform from which He speaks! And, the Ten Commandments not only reveal how we are to respond to God and man, but also how to respond to Jesus!
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. [Colossians 2.16-17]
The Ten Commandments are timeless - first written on stone. They reveal Jesus as the Sabbath Rest - the Rock of Salvation. In this way, the Ten Commandments provide every foundational material, in Christ, THE Foundation - the Sabbath Rest - necessary to come to God.
Father, thank You for Your Word, Jesus. Thank You for the Ten Commandments and their timeless application to humanity. So be it.
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