Exo 20:1-2 - And God spoke all these words: 2"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
Deut 5:5b-6 -And he said: 6"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
The Ten Commandments are introduced by a preamble or prologue (Exo 20:1-2; Deut 5:5b-6) that establishes Yahweh's authority to issue the commandments that follow. Yahweh is first identified as "your God," the appellative that identifies Him in His elective and covenant relationship with Israel; He is "the Lord" of Israel'; that is why He has the right to issue these commandments to Israel.
His lordship, however, was not established by an act of coersion, as Pharaoh was their lord by his oppression of Israel into slavery. Israel was not forced into the relationship with Yahweh; Israel came into that relationship by virtue of His promise and His mighty act of deliverance from Pharaoh and His protection from his pursuing armies as well as His provision for them in the wilderness; Yahweh was "your God, who brought you out of Egypt . . ." This truth is important, especially in light of the confusing and un-biblical teachings we often find in the Church about the "law." Bruce Waltke puts things in their right perspective when he says:
The prologue, which is gospel, is the basis for the law, the Ten Commandments. The gospel issues into right religion toward God and right ethics toward humanity, not into humanism and narcissistic egocentricity.1
Israel was not saved by "obedience to the law," as is often taught in the Churches. Israel was saved by grace, by the gracious and generous goodness of God who came to them in their moments of hardship, by His faithfulness in remembering His promises which He made out of His gracious freedom to Abraham. Israel was given the "law" after their deliverance from Egypt, not before. God did not sent Moses back to Egypt with the two tablets of the law to require Israel to prove that they would obey the law in order to be saved. Yahweh saved Israel and then gave her the law.
The expression "who brought you out of the land of Egypt" is a historical fact. The following expression "out of the house of slavery"2 spells out the theological significance of the historical fact. The exodus—like the exile that Israel would eventually live through—was not simply a matter of geography but of significance. All of the thirteen occurrences of this phrase found in the Old Testament, including the six in the book of Deuteronomy, are found in contexts that call special attention to Yahweh''s prior salvific actions on Israel's behalf. Here it highlights Yahweh's earlier initiative in delivering Israel out of slavery that now entitles Him the right to lays down the covenant requirements. For Israel salvation was not merely emancipation from Pharaoh but intrinsically also liberation to Yahweh. This sequence, notes P. Craigie, provides the cardinal principle for interpreting the law and the requirement for obedience.3 It is the failure to remember this that has led many so-called liberation theologies—nurtured by the repressive circumstances of the political regimes in which they found their births to take inspiration from this page of Scripture—to initiatethe violent disposal of their masters, only to fall into a worse trap of their own tyrannical mire. Liberation—and liberty—without a goal greater than ourselves merely sets the ground for more self-centred insurgences. Israel, however, was freed by Yahweh for Yahweh. Christians are set free in Christ for Christ. Any other alternative proposition is idolatry.
Christians are set free
in Christ, for Christ.
Any other alternative proposition
is idolatry.
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2012