Will God use the Ten Commandments to judge us?
Oct 15, 2010
The Base for Grace: part sixteen in a study of the book of Hebrews
By Mike Gaudet
Something that is “set in stone” doesn’t change.
God wrote the Ten Commandments on stone.
Will God use these laws to judge us? Are the Ten Commandments “set in stone?”
“If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come — one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.” Hebrews 7:11-13
The Ten Commandments summarize the laws God gave to the children of Israel. Along with these laws, God commissioned men from the tribe of Levi to serve as priests who would become experts in studying, teaching and applying these laws.
Thumb through the Old Testament of the Bible and you will quickly discover that the Israelites’ record of obedience to God’s laws was not good. Chronic disobedience resulted in chronic hardship. As the Old Testament comes to a close, two devastating experiences of captivity had almost erased the nation of Israel.
What went wrong?
Nothing!
God was not surprised at the Israelites’ disobedience. He expected it. He knew that the law He established and the priests He appointed would not work.
God knew in advance that another kind of priest would be needed . . .“If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come?”
God knew that another kind of law would be required . . .“For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.”
Before God inscribed the Ten Commandments on stone from Mt. Sinai, He had already determined that Jesus would replace the Levites as His priest and that the New Covenant would replace the Old Covenant as His law.
The Old Testament commandments were written on stone . . .
. . . but they weren’t “set in stone.”
The Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. A “testament” is another word for “covenant.” A covenant is an agreement or treaty between people or nations. The Old Testament features the Old Covenant God made with the world. The New Testament features the New Covenant God made with the world.
Old Covenant
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God . . . However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:” Deuteronomy 28:1-2,15
The terms of the Old Covenant might be summarized in this way, “If you keep the Ten Commandments, you will live; if you don’t keep the Ten Commandments, you will die.” Keeping the commandments resulted in being blessed; not keeping them resulted in being cursed.
New Covenant
“‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘ I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will by my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord. ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’” Jeremiah 31:33-34
The terms of the New Covenant are very different. God has replaced “if you . . .” with “I will . . .” The possibility of being cursed has been removed. Only the certainty of being blessed remains. We might summarize them in this way, “I keep the commandments, you live; you don’t keep the commandments, I die.”
On the night before He was crucified Jesus indicated that His death would mark the passage from Old Covenant to New Covenant. “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:20 Jesus’ coming to earth represents a “change in the priesthood” and a “change in the law.”
Jesus died in order to offer the New Covenant to the world.
He experienced the death our disobedience deserved . . .
. . . so that we might experience the life His obedience deserved.
This is the “good news” God wants us to believe.