How To Love God 101

How To Love God 101

Two stories are told of God and his people Israel in Exodus.  The first story is of how God frees his people from slavery.  The second is God imparting the Ten Commandments to his people.  This shows what may seem to be two extremes.  God first free Israel as a knight would save a princess, but then surrounds Israel with his own laws and decrees.  Do these themes of liberation and covenant contradict each other?  This is not a story of God freeing his people then setting boundaries for them.  Exodus is a story of how God shows his people how to love and have a relationship with him. 

 

In Exodus 19:5-8(English Standard Version) a covenant is made between God and his people:

5Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

 7So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

God is not saying, “Do this or I will smite you.”  God is offering his blessing to Israel much like a man proposes to a woman.  The woman is free to reject the proposal, but once she says her wedding vows she is in a contract of how she will show her love to her husband.  “If you… obey my voice and keep my covenant…” God offers his blessing and “showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:6). “  It takes hard work to not lie, steal, covet, and to not put other things before God.  As a jealous God, God wanted to be remembered in his people’s day-to-day lives.  The Ten Commandments were like little love notes that reminded Israel of him. “In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you (Exodus 20:24b).”  It is important to remember that following the Ten Commandments would not save Israel from their sin.  The covenant that God made did not promise that, but that following the covenant would improve their relationship with God. 

As humans we have much experience with human relationships.  Problems need to be worked out and communication is a key factor that takes effort.  Yet as humans relate to different people differently, so Israel could not relate to God the same way the other nations related to their gods.  Just a husband and wife have to show each other how to best relate to each other God showed his people how to best relate to him.