The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Kayla M. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Research on the Ten Commandments
God gave the Ten Commandments to ancient Israel through Moses and to His future church through Scripture. He gave blessings to the Israelites when they obeyed, and He continues to bless His people today through His loving commands and the positive effects of obedience to them. The Lord did not give the Ten Commandments until after He had established His covenant with Israel. God's covenant serves as the foundation on which the law is built. At Mount Sinai God told Israel through Moses, "If you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all the nations you will be My treasured possession" (Exodus 19:5). God established His covenant with Israel, setting them apart from every other nation to be His own people. The Lord then prefaced the Ten Commandments with a reminder of His identity and His salvation of Israel. He places the commands in context, saying first, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you…out of the land of slavery" (Exodus 20:1). Israel was to obey God out of gratitude for His gift of salvation, not in the hopes of saving themselves.
As the author of salvation for His people throughout history, God first commanded Israel to "have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). Through this command God gives us the blessing of truth –for "there is no god besides Me" (Deut. 32:38). The only One we can worship in truth, the only One who hears our prayers, the only One who can save us is Yahweh Himself. Another blessing of God's command to worship Him alone is the unity of fellowship believers experience as a result. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:6, there is "one Lord, one faith…one God and Father of all." God expands this subject in the second commandment; "You shall not make for yourselves an idol…bow down to them or serve them" (Exodus 20:1). The blessings of obedience to this command extend to future generations. By outlawing idol worship, the Lord frees us from the chains that would enslave us. In Psalm 115:4-8, David describes that idols "cannot speak…see…hear…feel" and "those who make them will be like them." In His love for us, God protects us from the deadening effects of idolatry.
In the third commandment, "you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God," God reminds us of His holiness and the sanctity of His name as representative of His identity. Elsewhere in Scripture, He establishes that His name is a great blessing to us. His name "is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe" (Proverbs 18:10). Instead of merely commanding us not to misuse His name, God provides a positive alternative by encouraging us to run to His name as our shelter.
God provides the blessing of rest to His people through the fourth commandment. Through His command to "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy," God consecrates that day every week as a rest from work and a time to worship Him. The author of Hebrews writes about a Sabbath-rest for the people of God, and "the promise of entering His rest still stands" through Christ (Hebrews 4:1). God commands us to rest because our works cannot save us. Because only Jesus can redeem us, we can rest secure in Him.
In the fifth through tenth commandments, God governs our relationships with one another and provides the blessings that come because of obedience. In Paul's commentary on the fifth commandment, he writes that it is "the first commandment with a promise – ‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life upon the earth'" (Ephesians 6:23). God also cites longevity as a blessing of obedience through Moses in Deuteronomy. Moses urges the people to obey so that they might "live and prosper" in the Promised Land (Deut. 5:33). Obedience to God's commands against murder, adultery, theft, false witness and coveting can give every society the blessings of safety, unity, fellowship and godly relationships. The greatest blessing of the Ten Commandments, however, is that they reveal our own sin and shortcomings, thus pointing us to Jesus Christ. The only One who obeyed God's law perfectly, Christ gave His life to save us. Let us obey the Ten Commandments out of gratitude for the greatest blessing of all, that God gave His Son for us and we can rest in Him.
