TEN COMMANDMENTS OF LOVE:TEACHING THE LSRAELITES TO LIVE IN THE BLESSING !

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF LOVE:TEACHING THE LSRAELITES TO LIVE IN THE BLESSING ! When He said that, I saw it. The commandments were given inside the framework of the covenant of BLESSING. God has That Covered It in Mind When He gave them. When He gave the first commandment and said, "thou shalt have no other gods before me." He wasn't just being demanding. He was telling them He was the only God they would ever need. He was saying, "you don't have to look to anyone else to meet your needs. You don't need to go begging some idol to help you. You don't need to look to governments or anything else in the world to take care of you. You don't even have to try to meet your own needs. You can put all your trust in me That I Am Your Covenant partner and will look after you better than anyone else ever would or could." That's not just some kind of rule or legalistic bondage. That's good news ! If we read them the way God intended, every commandment carries that kind of gospel and is a reflection of what God has pledged to do for His covenant people. When He said, "Thou shalt not kill" or a more accurate translation, "Thou shalt do no murder," He was saying, "If someone does you wrong, I'll protect you. I'll defend you. You don't have to take matters into your own hands; just bring the situation to Me. I'll uphold you in it while dealing with your adversary in the most merciful way possible." "Thou shalt not commit adultery," carried the same message of love. God was saying, "Don't take your neighbor's wife. That will stop THE BLESSING on your life. What's more, it's not necessary. If you want a wife, ask Me for one. I'll provide you with the best woman around. Put your faith in Me and I'll give you a mate who divinely made for you." "And don't steal. Why should you steal when you can come to Me and I'll give you the desires of your heart ? I will give you an abundance of every good thing." Every commandment was given in love because God is love. You'd think the Israelites would have known that and being full of faith in God's ability to take care of them, waiting with eager anticipation to learn the ways of this loving God who had already done so much for them. But they weren't. Instead, while Moses was on the mountain with God: the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us god's, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. Isn't that just like the human nature without God ? And Aaron said unto them, Break off the Golden earring, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people break off the Golden earring which were in there in ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them in their hand, and fashioned the it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be the gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 32:1-4). Amazing as it seems, just a few weeks after God turned the most powerful nation on its ear to give these people their freedom, they went back to worshiping idols as they had back in Egypt. What's worse, when Moses caught them at it and demanded an explanation, Aaron lied, actually claiming that the idol has shown up of its own accord. "The people gave me their gold. I put it into the fire, and out came the calf !" he said. I know that situation was serious, but I have two admit, us some times I have to chuckle about what Aaron said. It proves that human nature never changes. Except, it is truly born again ! That which is flesh is flesh; and that which is of the Spirit is spirit. I used to make up the same kinds of lies as a child. You probably did too. That's what Aaron did. Of course, God and Moses everyone who ever read that claim in the thousands of years since, know it's not true. We know the calf didn't come from that fire. Where did he come from ? It came from Egypt--- not the land of Egypt the Israelites had left behind, but from the Egypt they carried inside them. That calf was a product of their old, unrenewed, slavery- influenced, fearfilled minds and hearts. Because the inner image of that golden calf (and all it represented) went with them when they left the land of bondage, when they were under pressure, it came out.