Show Me Your Covenant (Exodus 34:11-28) *All verses in NKJV*
– We are in the middle of our “Face to Face” series as we go through the Book of Exodus.
– We will conclude the series next week with Pastor Matt preaching on “Show Me the Change”.
– Today I am preaching, “Show Me Your Covenant,” in our “Face to Face” series. We have been walking through the Book of Exodus, as Moses led God’s people out of captivity in Egypt, and into the desert on their way to the promised land.
– Previously, Moses had been on the mountain receiving direction and instruction from God, and when he came down with the 10 Commandments on stone tablets, he found the people had made a golden calf idol and were worshipping it and sacrificing to it…. And Moses smashed the tablets…
– The Israelites had been living in slavery in Egypt, and were surrounded by Egyptian pagan religion. When Moses wasn’t looking, they defaulted back to what they knew…. Worshipping false idols.
– God wanted to destroy them, but Moses begged for mercy on their behalf, and God was merciful. God agreed to stay with them and lead them to the Promised Land.
– Moses went back up the mountain to speak with God face to face (but not look directly at him), to worship him, and to get a new set of the 10 Commandments on stone tablets…
Exodus 34:10-28, (God said to Moses) And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels (wonderful acts) such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.
17 “You shall make no molded gods for yourselves. 18 “The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 “All (the firstborn) that open the womb are Mine, and every male firstborn among your livestock, whether ox or sheep. 20 But the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem him, then you shall break his neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. “And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. 21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 “And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.
23 “Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year. 25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, nor shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning. 26 “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” 27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Big Idea: God’s covenant demands our obedience and exclusive devotion.
- God’s promises come with the expectation of our obedience and faithfulness. (v11)
– Verse 11 says, Observe what I command you this day… In Hebrew, this word “observe” or “listen” also means obey. (There is no distinction between “listen” and “obey” like there is in English. No room for the disobedient to hear or see a command, but not obey it.)
– In these verses: God’s covenant says he will protect them from the people in the land and their enemies, if they are obedient. God offers care and protection in exchange for obedience and faithfulness…
– We see years later, when they are about to cross the Jordan River and into the Promised Land, Moses reminds them of this covenant again…
– Deut. 10:10-13, “As at the first time, I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights; the Lord also heard me at that time, and the Lord chose not to destroy you. 11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, begin your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’ 12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your [f]good (benefit)?
– It can be hard for us today to listen to the expectations of the covenant and not be distracted by the details, wondering how that applies to us… (like don’t boil a goat in its mother’s milk…)
– The principle and heart condition apply to us, and are represented by the new covenant with Jesus.
1- Fear the Lord (means to have a deep respect, reverence and awe for God’s power and authority), and walk in his ways… (for OUR benefit!)
– Proverbs 19:23, The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil. (i.e. consequences…)
– “The rules” end up being for our benefit! Don’t covet, don’t lie, sabbath rest, etc… (Ex: Like a parent instructing a child who is not old enough to understand the “why”…)
2- Serve the Lord with all your heart and soul…
– Matt. 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [i]mammon. (In Aramaic, literally means “riches”.)
– Col. 3:17, And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
3- Keep His commandments…
– 1 John 5:3, For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
– John 15:9-10, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
– The Lord still expects our obedience and devotion, not to be saved, but because we are saved. There are consequences to disobedience that we can avoid… for our benefit.
- There is danger in compromising with the world. (v12-15)
– Exodus 34:12, Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.
– The people of the land worshipped false gods and idols. Having a covenant/treaty with them would mean 1. Recognizing their gods and swearing by them, and 2. Accepting and validating the lifestyle and culture of their treaty partners.
– “Treaty”: to us it might mean “agree to disagree”. But understand this word in biblical context!
– God is saying, “Don’t hang out with them, and don’t do what they do. It’s a trap for you!”
– Why? Because God knows you will compromise your values for the sake of peace, and the cost of compromise is that you will lose your faith, and your children will be led astray.
– God tells them to tear down the Asherah pillars and alters (Asherah was a Canaanite fertility goddess), and if you hang out with them, you will start participating in their ceremonies, and your sons will be lured away by their daughters… and you will become a harlot/adulterer against God.
– Example: We see this exact thing TODAY, thousands of years later, with the sexual revolution… Christians are being asked to compromise, not just “overlook” sin, but accept it and celebrate it!
– Our God is jealous for us, and doesn’t want to share you with sin or with false gods!
– v14: “…for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”
– 1st & 2nd Command: 1. You must not have any other gods but me. 2. You must not worship idols.
– Idol: something we put on a pedestal, representing what we value and worship.
– Worship: to give praise to, honor, and spend our time with.
– Jealousy: Hebrew word “Qanna”, this word indicates a strong desire and a deep devotion to an object or person with the expectation that the relationship will be exclusive and faithful. Sometimes this commitment entails a response of anger based on a real or perceived breach of exclusivity in the relationship. God is often described as jealous, passionately desiring the faithfulness of his people.
– God wants what is His: The exclusive devotion of His people. God does not want to share your worship and love with false gods and idols.
– Example: Think again of a parent’s love for their child. They have many rules that the child may not understand, but will ultimately lead to a prosperous life… bike helmets, avoiding certain things and situations, etc…
- Devotion to God includes worship, obedience, and remembrance. (v20b)
Application: Are we fully devoted to God, or are we making compromises with the world? What habits or influences do we need to remove to stay faithful to Him?
– In our verses today, God restates His expectations of obedience: Keep observing My ceremonies, give Me your firstfruits, keep observing My day of rest, don’t mix in with the pagans and don’t end up worshipping idols… they sounded like obscure rules, but I hear godly advice.
– I hear prioritize worshiping God and His observances, give generously knowing that God will meet all of your needs, rest and know that God is your provider and protector and you don’t need to do it on your own strength… These commands set us up to trust God and believe in His promises to us.
– A key phrase comes in verse 20: …“And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.”
– We all know that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone! We can’t earn it, and we don’t deserve it. It wasn’t free though… Jesus purchased it by his blood on the cross.
– Eph 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
– We put our faith into action, not to BE saved, but because we ARE saved. We should want to serve, and give, and worship, and be obedient to God’s word. We should not come “empty-handed”…
– James 1:22, But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
– In light of salvation and God’s covenant, we should consider how we are spending our time, talents, and resources. Knowing He is a jealous God, how are we investing in our relationship with Him?
– God’s covenant demands our obedience and exclusive devotion. Let’s not come to Him “empty handed”, but ready to offer everything we have to worship and honor Him!
– prayer –
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