Grace Bible Church
Robert R. McLaughlin
Pastor Teacher
Weekly Review
The Mosaic Law. The Ten Commandments.
080617
So far we have noted the very important principle that the Mosaic Law was the divine standard that God used to demonstrate the sinfulness of the human race as well as his principles of establishment. All God wanted to do when He gave the Law was to reveal the helplessness and hopelessness that the human race has without help from Him.
ROM 7:7-14, What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
It is important for you to know that the Mosaic Law is divided into three parts which all have a different meaning for the individuals it was given to.
The Law is divided into three general categories: Codex #1; Codex #2; Codex #3.
Codex I is the Ten commandments, or the Decalogue also known as the freedom code; the Decalogue or Ten Commandments.
- Codex II - Spiritual Code; which includes the complete shadow presentation of Christ and His saving work.
- Codex III - Establishment Code; civil statues of Israel.
Codices I and III protected human life, freedom, privacy, and property.
Codex II charged individual believers and communicators of God’s Word with accurately presenting the Gospel and teaching of Bible doctrine.
Codex III = establishment principles.
The first five commandments declare the principle of spirituality or the possibility of establishing a relationship with God; the last five apply to man’s relationship toward his fellow man. And so we continue with the Ten Commandments and the first five that focus in on a person’s relationship with God, if they so desire.
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall make no idols.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Keep the Sabbath day holy.
- Honor your father and your mother.
Therefore, the Ten Commandments are not a set of laws to follow but are the principles God has set forth for the protection of life, liberty and property of a people within a national entity. When a nation operates under these divine norms and standards, the result is individual freedom and happiness and national stability and prosperity.
First of all, we had the concept of Privacy and Private Property.
Both of these are mentioned specifically in the Decalogue and are protected by the divine laws declared in the Ten Commandments. Any attempt to invade the privacy or the property of an individual is destructive to freedom and to the proper function of a national entity.
Secondly, there is the importance of the concept of Right Man and Right Woman. Divine Institutions #2 and #3, Marriage and Family, are protected by the principles in the Decalogue.
Both of these institutions were designed by God for the protection of the right man-right woman relationship and for the instruction and protection of the children resulting from that relationship. Now, if you do not believe in right man and right woman that it is your problem.
The pattern of the right man for the right woman was established at the creation of man, GEN 2:21-25, So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. And the man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
And the reason why Adam said in GEN 2:24, For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother is because one of the greatest dangers to marriage is interference from parents.
Interference into the privacy of the two who have made the decision. Sometimes this interference comes from family members, sometimes it comes from friends or people who have no right to stick their nose into the marital affairs of others. Marital problems are no one else’s business except those involved in the marriage.
The Hebrew word for naked `arowm; meaning that they were totally transparent with one another, no secrets but just intimacy. In fact, I am a firm believer that the right man and the right woman should also be best friends.
However, this word actually means they were not ashamed or embarrassed about each other’s physical appearance.
PRO 18:22, He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.
ECC 9:9, Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.
1CO 7:17, Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And thus I direct in all the churches.
And the reason why the Adam also said GEN 2:24, For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother is because one of the greatest dangers to marriage is interference from parents. Interference into the privacy of the two who have made the decision.
Sometimes this interference comes from family members, sometimes it comes from friends or people who have no right to stick their nose into the marital affairs of others. Marital problems are no one else’s business except those involved in the marriage.
And regardless of age or any other factor, when the right man and the right woman are together and naked, they are not ashamed.
And all of this sets a precedent and sets up the importance of the Ten Commandments and respect and honor toward divine institution #1,2, and 3.
- Your Freedom.
2. Your choice in the opposite Sex.
3. Your responsibility as a parent.
And although you cannot control whether you have a child or not at times, if you do take care of him or her if you can.
Now, this leads to us exactly what I believe the Lord wants us to learn today and that is the divine institution of the doctrine of the military and warfare.
What does the Bible say about WAR!
First of all, we begin with the principle that in spite of man’s efforts for peace throughout the ages, warfare will exist until the Millennium (1,000 literal years), Mat 24:4‑7.
MAT 24:3-6, And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for {those things} must take place, but {that} is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.”
So, we will be dealing with wars and rumors of wars, nation will rise up against nation, or ethnic groups verses ethnic groups until the Lord comes back and sets up His Kingdom known as the Millennial Reign of Christ!
However, there will be no warfare in the Millennium, says Isa 2:4, Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.
Man has never accomplished and will not accomplish in the Church- age or Tribulation what only Jesus Christ can accomplish in the Millennium...which is perfect peace.
Just as the Lord Jesus Christ made perfect peace with God at His First Advent, so He will provide the basis for no more war at his Second Advent.
Therefore, war is a bona fide part of history. In fact, war is used by God to kill off the leaches of society; in reality it is a cleansing agent. This is why the Bible teaches in ECC 3:8, “There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.”
NUM 21:14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord, what He did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon.
The misnomer OR MISUNDERSTANDING of war is found in the word “sword” in MAT 26:52, “for all who draw the sword shall perish by the sword.”
Here, the sword in this passage refers to crime and capital punishment. Peter was not a soldier; and his act was a criminal act. Peter thought that he had a just cause as a Christian so he advocated civil disobedience.
Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ rebuked him and said that all those who draw the sword as a criminal in civil disobedience shall perish by the sword as a criminal of civil disobedience.
So the sword refers to the power of the state or the government. In fact, the sword also refers to capital punishment in ROM 13:4, for it (government) is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.
GEN 9:6 is the first statement of capital punishment.
GEN 9:1-6, And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the terror of you shall be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.
Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
So, there is a difference between the sword as a criminal and the honor of fighting for your country as a military soldier. And, in spite of what some may say!
A second important principle concerning the military or divine institution #4, nationalism, and that is what our present administration seems to believe and that is that a strong military PREVENTS WAR and PROTECTS divine establishment.
All freedom comes ONE WAY = through military victory.
There are two factors which protect a nation.
- The spiritual factor of Bible doctrine in the soul, prayer, and the grace of God. NEH 4:8‑9. And this has to do with the percentage of mature believers in the nation.
NEH 4:7-9, Now it came about when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. And all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it. But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
- The second factor that protects a nation is military preparedness.
NEH 4:12-20, And it came about when the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.
When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. And it came about from that day on, that half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.
Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.
And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. “At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
So two factors protect freedom.
- The spiritually mature believer.
2. Military preparedness.