The Covenant That Leads to the Cross

Deuteronomy 5:1-22

The Covenant Renewal (Deut. 5:1-5) The Covenant made with Abraham is renewed through the people of Israel. The current generation at that time is just as bound. We today are just as bound to this covenant that Moses brings before the people of God. We’re bound to it, yet the payment is made through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God is stating His faithfulness for generations to come who will follow Him. This covenant that we’ll see unfold leads us looking for Christ. We cannot fulfill this law, apart from the redeeming work of the cross, burial, and resurrection. If anything, we will note what is required and see just how short we come to grasping a hold of perfection. 

The Compassionate Relationship with God and His People (Deut. 5:6) We have to remember that obedience dosesn’t earn us a relationship with God. God is good and our obedience is a response to our relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Commandments Granting God Alone Reverence (Deut. 5:7-15) We see these ten commandments or also known as the Decalogue, introduced to the people of God in Exodus 20:2-17. Commandments 1 through 4 all convey our response to who God is. Is He our only god? Do we really and truly only worship God through Jesus Christ? It wasn’t uncommon to worship more than one god at that time. Let’s put v.7 and v.8 together. It’s not difficult to create idols. They created a golden calf while waiting on Moses to return from the Mountain with the tablets (Exodus 32). We create objects of worship don’t we? Our jobs, money, hobbies, recreation, sports, and the list continues of things we put before God. 

a. 1st Commandment- v.7 “no other gods.”
b. 2nd Commandment- v. 8-10 “no idols” Deut. 4:16-20.
c. 3rd Commandment- v.11 “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.”
d. 4th Commandment- v. 12 “Keep the Sabbath day holy.” Take a day to worship, reflect, rest, and renew your relationship with Christ!

 

The Commandments Glorifying God Through a Life of Righteousness (Deut. 5:16-21)

a. 5th Commandment- v. 16 “Honor your father and mother”
b. 6th Commandment- v. 17 “You shall not murder”
c. 7th Commandment- v. 18 “You shall not commit adultery”
d. 8th Commandment- v. 19 “You shall not steal”
e. 9th Commandment- v. 20 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”
f. 10th Commandment- v. 21 “Shall not covet.”

 

This Covenant Renders us to the Cross (Deut. 5:22) The law, by nature is a merciful tool that the Lord uses in order to lead us to look towards Christ for salvation. How did the Old Testament saints grasp salvation? They were saved the same way we are, through Christ! They were looking for the Messiah to come, we are looking at the Messiah who has come for salvation. Moses states in verse 22 that the laws were written on tablets of stone. Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”