Message 52
Scripture Reading: Exo. 20:1-17; 34:28; 31:18; Deut. 4:13; Psa. 19:7-8
As we consider the giving of the law recorded in 20:1-17, we need to realize that this event took place on the mountain of God, where God’s people had been brought to have fellowship with Him.
When I was young, I was influenced by certain books of systematic theology to consider the law as something negative. Concerning the law, a negative impression was made not only on my mind but on my whole being. For many years thereafter, I thought of the law in a negative way. As a person under God’s grace, not under the law, I did not care for the law. As far as I was concerned, the law in the Bible was not positive. However, I gradually came to realize, especially from reading the book of Exodus, that nothing that is of God or from God could ever be negative. On the contrary, everything that comes out from God must be positive. This is true, then, of the Ten Commandments recorded in 20:1-17.
If we consider the law only according to our mental knowledge, we shall view it in a negative way. But if we realize that the law was given in a positive situation, we shall see that the law is the living word of God which infuses His substance into His loving seekers. Paul says that the law was ordained through angels (Gal. 3:19). However, there is no mention of angels in Exodus 20. According to this chapter, the law was given directly by God Himself.
Concerning the giving of the law, verse 1 of Exodus 20 is of great significance: “And God spake all these words.” The conjunction “and” joins chapter twenty with chapter nineteen. We have seen that in Exodus 19 God brought His people to His mountain to have fellowship with Him. God had brought the people out of Egypt and had gathered them unto Himself at His mountain. This means that God came down from heaven to earth to have fellowship with His people. It was, of course, impossible for man to ascend to heaven, where God was. But in Exodus 19 God descended to a particular mountain, where He could meet with His people. At the very place where God was meeting with His people and where they were contacting Him in fellowship, the law was given. Some theologians may neglect such a picture of the giving of the law. They may have the tendency to exclude God and to concentrate on the law in a negative way. This was the reason that, as a youth, I was given the impression that God in heaven gave the law through the angels to His people on earth. According to this concept, God was far away from His people when the law was given, and they had no way to come into contact with Him. According to this view, the law-giving God did not contact the people, and the law-receiving people did not meet with God.
When I was young, I also was taught, according to John 1, that the law was given through Moses, but that God did not come to man until the time of Christ’s incarnation. However, in Exodus 19 and 20, we see that God did come down to meet with His people before Christ’s incarnation. Even prior to the time of Exodus 20, God had appeared to Abraham. But that appearing was on a very small scale. In Exodus 19 and 20, more than two million people were gathered at the mountain of God when God came down to visit them and to give them His law.
After God had brought the people out of Egypt to the mountain of God, He began to have fellowship with them and to speak with them. Exodus 31:18 indicates that He communed with them. There, at the mountain of God, God was talking, conversing, having communion, with man. According to 19:4-6, God said that He had borne them on eagles’ wings and had brought them to Himself. He also said that they would be His personal possession, His peculiar treasure, and would be unto Him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These words were part of the very positive conversation between God and His people. Such a conversation was not the decree of certain laws; it was a time of fellowship in which God spoke to His people.
As 20:1 indicates, the giving of the Ten Commandments was the continuation of this conversation in fellowship. This verse does not say, “And God gave commandments to the people.” It says, “And God spake all these words.” What we have in chapter twenty is not merely a list of commandments. The fact that 20:1 says that “God spake all these words” shows that the Ten Commandments are God’s words. In 34:28 the commandments are even called “the ten words” (Heb.). According to 2 Timothy 3:16, all Scripture is God-breathed. This indicates that the Scriptures are God’s breath. God’s speaking is His breathing. Whenever God speaks, His breath conveys His element into the ones who receive His word.
The conjunction “and” at the beginning of 20:1 is very important, for it connects chapter twenty to chapter nineteen. Chapter twenty is thus the continuation of God’s speaking in chapter nineteen. As we have seen, the Ten Commandments are God’s words and are even called the words of God. Have you ever heard that the Ten Commandments are the ten words? There is a big difference between words and commandments. Commandments are requirements that we must keep and fulfill. God’s words, however, are His breath, for God’s speaking is His breathing. By speaking, He breathes something out of Himself and into those who hear His word. The fact that the Ten Commandments are called ten words means that they are not simply laws for us to obey. These commandments are not just so many decrees of divine legislation. God did not merely give His people ten laws, ten commandments; in fellowship with them He uttered the ten words. If the commandments were nothing more than laws, God’s people could do nothing more than try their best to keep them. But since the Ten Commandments are also God’s words, the very breathing of God, it is possible for those who seek God in love to receive these words into them as God’s very breath.
In the light of this, I would ask you to consider Moses’ experience of spending forty days in communion with God on the mountain. When he came down from the mountain, he had something more than ten commandments inscribed on two tablets of stone. He was a man who had been thoroughly infused with God’s element. During those days of communion on the mountain Moses experienced a divine infusion, the infusion of God’s substance into his very being. However, this matter is not given its rightful place by Christians, who mainly say that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and that when Moses saw the children of Israel worshipping idols, he threw down the tables of stone in anger and broke them. The Bible indicates that Moses had received not only two tables of stone, but that the very element of God had been infused into him and caused his face to shine. Although Moses could cast down the two tablets and break them, he could not get rid of the transfusion he had received during his time of fellowship with God on the mountain.
In principle, this is also true in our experience with the Lord. Although we may not be able to keep the commandments, we cannot get rid of what is transfused into us when we hear God’s words in times of communion with Him.
In my ministry I have often told people that if we abide in the Lord according to John 15, we shall spontaneously live out the life of the vine tree. Certainly there is no need for the branches of a vine to strive to keep any commandments. They simply abide in the vine and live out the life of the vine. Although I have ministered along this line, I have wondered about John 14:21 and 23, two verses which seem very much like the commandments in Exodus 20. John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me,” and verse 23 says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” To a certain extent at least, these words of the Lord Jesus seem to be a repetition of the word in Exodus 20. The reason for this is that, as far as the basic principle of life is concerned, the Old Testament and the New Testament are the same. In ourselves, we are not able to keep the commandments of God in the Old Testament or of the Lord in the New. Regarding this matter, Paul said in Romans 7 that it is not possible for us to keep the law. In particular, Paul deals with the commandment concerning covetousness, a commandment which concerns not only our outward behavior, but also our inward condition. Although we in ourselves are not able to fulfill all the commandments, we can abide in the Lord and experience Him abiding in us that we may be infused with Him. Consider once again Moses’ experience on the mountain. Because he had received a marvelous transfusion from God, he could abide in God, and God could abide in him. As a result of such an infusion and mutual abiding, Moses could keep God’s commandments, not by his own efforts, but by the substance of God which had been infused into him.
At this point, I would like to call your attention to the title of this message: “The Law Being the Living Word of God Infusing His Substance into His Loving Seekers.” The law is not only a list of divine commandments; it is the living word of God which infuses God’s substance into those who lovingly seek Him. If we consider the Ten Commandments only as laws and then try to keep them, we are not proper in our approach to the law. We should not apply the Ten Commandments in this way. On the contrary, we should be those who love God and seek Him. In this matter, we should be like Paul in Philippians 3, one who was pursuing Christ out of love and even running after Him. Out of love for the Lord, we should pursue Him, contact Him, and abide in His presence, dwelling together with Him. If we do this, day by day we shall be infused with God. Then automatically we shall walk according to God’s law. We shall keep the requirements of the law, not by our own efforts, but with what has been infused into us of the Lord through our contact with Him. Once we have been thoroughly infused with God’s substance, He Himself from within us will keep His own law. We should remember that the law was given on the mountain of God, the place where God’s people could be infused with His substance. Thus, we should not regard the law simply as His commandments, but as the word of God and the testimony of God, which not only express Him, but also infuse His substance into those who seek Him in love.
Let us now go on to see how two different kinds of people dealt with the law. These two kinds of people are the loving seekers of God (Matt. 22:36-38) and the letter-keepers of the law, the Judaizers. Of those who lovingly sought God, let us consider the experience of the psalmists in the Old Testament and that of Simeon and Anna in the New Testament.
According to the book of Psalms, the psalmists loved the law to the uttermost. Some may teach that the law is something negative, but the psalmists treasured the law. For years I was bothered by this fact. I even somewhat belittled the law in the book Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms,where I pointed out the contrast between the law in Psalm 1 and Christ in Psalm 2. I still believe that it is correct to make a contrast between the law in letters and Christ. If we love the law apart from Christ, we have missed the mark. However, it is right to love the law as a testimony of God and as a type of Christ. Let us now consider a number of passages from the Psalms which indicate how the psalmists dealt with God’s law.
The psalmists loved God. Psalm 18:1 says, “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.” In 73:25 we have the testimony of one who loved God absolutely: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.” The writer of this psalm loved God to such an extent that neither in heaven nor on earth did he have anyone besides God Himself.
The psalmists were also those who sought God. Psalm 42:1 and 2 say, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” The writer of this psalm was thirsty for God, seeking Him as a hart panting for water. Psalm 43:4 shows how the psalmist sought God as his exceeding joy, and 119:2 and 10, how he sought God with his whole heart.
In Psalm 27:4 we see the psalmist’s desire to dwell with God: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” The psalmist longed to dwell in God’s house all his life. A similar desire is expressed in 84:1-7. Those who read these verses are sure to be impressed by the sweetness of dwelling with God. Psalm 90:1 declares, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” Once again, we see the psalmist’s desire to dwell with God and even in God. The same desire is expressed in 91:1, where the psalmist declares, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” We see in these verses something beyond caring for the letter of the law. The psalmist aspired to dwell in the secret place of God’s presence. Those who have such an aspiration will certainly be infused with the element of God.
Psalm 27:4 also expresses the longing of the psalmists to behold the Lord’s beauty. To behold the Lord’s beauty is to see Him face to face. The same longing is found in 105:4: “Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.”
In their experience, the psalmists were also infused with the riches of God. Psalm 52:8 says, “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.” As a tree absorbs riches from the soil, the psalmists absorbed the riches of God. They were like olive trees planted in the house of God, and they were being infused with God’s riches so that they could grow spiritually. Like olive trees, they grew with the riches that had been infused into them.
Psalm 92:13 and 14 also reveal that the psalmists were infused with God’s riches: “Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and green” (Heb.). Here we see four aspects of being infused with God’s riches: planted in the house, flourishing, bringing forth fruit, and being full of sap and green. What we have here is not teaching or theology, but the experience of the living God as the life supply. The psalmists were not merely law-keepers; they were those who sought God and were infused with His riches. Therefore, they were planted, they flourished, they brought forth fruit, and they were full of sap and green. Through such an infusion from God, they spontaneously were strengthened to keep the law and to live out the law.
The experience of the psalmists was the same in principle as that revealed in the New Testament. According to the Gospel of John, when we abide in the Lord, He infuses us with His element, and we absorb the life juice of the vine into us. Then we shall bring forth fruit. This is not a matter of keeping the law; it is a matter of living out the law.
Psalm 92:10 says, “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a wild ox: I shall be mingled with fresh oil” (Heb.). In the Old Testament oil is a type of the Triune God as the Spirit. To be mingled with fresh oil is thus to be mingled with the fresh Spirit. This is not merely to learn the law or to strive to keep it. It is to seek God in order to be fully mingled with the fresh Spirit so that we spontaneously may live Him and have a daily walk that corresponds to what He is. To repeat, this is not to keep the law; it is to live out God and thereby to have a daily living that corresponds to God’s law. Instead of trying to keep the law, we should live the law by being infused with God’s riches.
The psalmists also enjoyed the riches of life. Psalm 36:8 and 9 say, “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” These verses sound very much like a portion from the New Testament. In principle, the psalmists enjoyed the Triune God the same as we do today. To be satisfied with the fatness of God’s house and to drink of the rivers of His pleasures are to enjoy the Triune God. To say that with Him is the fountain of life means that with Him is the source of life supply. Once again we see that the psalmists were not trying to keep the requirements of the law, but were seeking after God. In their pursuit of God, they were infused with Him. Spontaneously they lived not only according to the law given by God, but also according to God’s nature. Their living automatically corresponded to God’s law, which was an expression of God’s nature. Hence, they lived God’s nature. Their living was an expression of His nature. Instead of being those who endeavored to keep the law, they were those who lived the law. We thank the Lord for showing us this important matter.
Furthermore, the psalmists were supplied with God to keep His word, the law. Psalm 119:57 says, “Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.” When the two points in this verse are put together, we see that the psalmists were supplied with God as their portion and were thereby enabled to keep His words. The use of the word “portion” reminds us of Colossians 1:12, where Paul tells us that Christ is the portion of the saints. Because God was the portion of the psalmists, the psalmists could keep God’s word, by which they meant the law.
In order to keep God’s word, the word of the law, the psalmists took God as their portion. We should not think that in ourselves we are able to keep God’s law. To keep the commandments of the law is a great matter, and we are not sufficient for this. If we would keep the law, we need God to be our portion. Only when we enjoy Him and are supplied with Him shall we be able to keep the law. Again we see that in principle the experience of the psalmists in the Old Testament was the same as our experience today.
As those who lovingly sought God, the psalmists treasured the law of God. Psalm 119:14 says, “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.” The psalmists treasured God’s testimony as their wealth. Psalm 119:72 continues, “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.” Then in 119:127 the psalmist goes on to say, “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” These verses reveal that the psalmists not only loved God, but also treasured His law, which was to them the word of God and the testimony of God. They valued God’s law more than silver and gold. They treasured the word of God.
Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” This verse indicates that the psalmists tasted the sweetness of the law. How precious to them was the sweet taste of the word of God!
The psalmists also hoped in the word of God, the law, and dwelt on it. Psalm 119:147 and 148 indicate this: “I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word. Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.” Early in the morning, before dawn, the psalmists would hope in God’s word and dwell on it. By this we see that the psalmists enjoyed God’s word in the morning watch.
All these verses show that the psalmists were loving seekers of God. Spontaneously they were infused with God and lived out the law of God. The same should be true of us today. If we are infused with Christ, we shall live Christ. As the law was God’s word, so Christ, typified by the law, is the Word of God. As the psalmists loved God’s law, treasured it, tasted it, hoped in it, and meditated on it, so we today should love Christ, treasure Him, taste Him, hope in Him, and dwell on Him and even in Him. Far from being negative, the law as the living word of God is very positive.
Simeon and Anna were also among those who lovingly sought God. As they waited for Christ, the Holy Spirit was upon them (Luke 2:25). They also had the revelation of the Holy Spirit (Luke 2:26) and walked by the Spirit (Luke 2:27). Dwelling in the temple, they served God with fastings and prayers (Luke 2:37). They thus enjoyed God and received His infusion. Like the psalmists, they spontaneously lived the law of God, and their living corresponded to God’s expression. Because they had been infused with the substance of God, they could live a life which corresponded to the law as God’s expression.
Now we come to an altogether different category of people who dealt with God’s law, the Judaizers. When the law was in the hand of the psalmists, it was lovable. But when it was in the hand of the Judaizers, it became something negative. According to Matthew 15:8, the Judaizers did not have a heart for God. According to Galatians 6:12-13, they were legal and dogmatic in the letters of the law. How different they were from the psalmists, who loved God and had a heart for God! Because the psalmists were living and rich in the experience of God, they were not legal or dogmatic, as the Judaizers were.
Before he was saved, Saul of Tarsus was zealous for the law (Phil. 3:5-6). As a Judaizer, he was even a blasphemer of God and a persecutor of man (1 Tim. 1:13). When he was Saul the Judaizer, he did not truly love God. Instead, he was zealous for the law according to religious tradition. For this reason, when Saul was converted to Christ, he repudiated the law. Therefore Paul belittled the law misused by the Judaizers.
As we contrast the situation of the loving seekers of God with that of the letter-keepers of the law, we see that in this matter the principle is the same both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. If we love the Lord, seek Him with our whole heart, dwell with Him, and enjoy His riches, His substance will be infused into us. Spontaneously He Himself will become our living. Thus, what is lived out of us will be the expression of God. This kind of living corresponds to the law of God. As a result, we become true worshippers of God. True worshippers of God are those who are according to what God is, who correspond to what God is, and who reflect what God is. To keep the law cannot make anyone a true worshipper; a true worshipper is one who is infused with God and lives out God, who thereby becomes a person according to what God is and corresponding to what He is. The living of such a person corresponds to God’s living and reflects what He is. This is the living testimony of Jesus.
We have pointed out repeatedly that, in principle, the enjoyment of the Old Testament saints was the same as that of the New Testament saints. We have seen that if we abide with God and are infused with Him, we shall automatically live Him out. Our living will then correspond to God’s law, for we shall be one with Him and shall live Him. Therefore, in our experience the law, God, and Christ will be one.
If we read Exodus 20 in this light, this chapter will be altogether new. We shall see that the Ten Commandments, given to God’s people on the mountain when they were communing with God, are words received in fellowship with God. These words bring the transfusion of God’s element, which enables His people to have a living that corresponds to what He is.
A crucial difference between the psalmists and the Judaizers was that the psalmists sought the law with God, whereas the Judaizers pursued the law utterly apart from God. The situation is the same today in the way different Christians use the Bible. If we are today’s psalmists, we shall seek the Bible, the Word of God, out of love for the Lord and for His word. However, it is possible for students of the Word to read the Bible without truly having a heart for the Lord. Their intention may be to gain knowledge with which to formulate a systematic theology. Therefore, students of the Scriptures may become today’s Judaizers.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, the Judaizers were not willing to contact Him in a positive way. They wanted to know the Bible, but they were seeking the knowledge of the Scriptures apart from Christ. For this reason, the Lord Jesus said to them, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that testify concerning Me; and you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). We also may be those who seek the knowledge of the Bible apart from the Lord Himself. It is definitely possible to read the Bible apart from Christ. But if we pray-read the Word, we shall be in contact with the Lord as we read the Word. This is the reason we treasure pray-reading.
If we see that the law is God’s word and if we realize that the word of God is His breath, then we shall see that the law is God’s expression of Himself. The law typifies Christ, for He is the One who truly expresses God. Some students of the Word have not seen that the law is the word of God and that the word is the breath of God. Actually, the law, the word, the breath, and God are one. Christ Himself is God’s living law. To us, Christ is the real law, word of God, expression of God, and breath of God. We may be regulated by Him and live according to Him. In the heart of God the law is actually Christ Himself. God does not give us a law that is separate from Christ. The law He gives is Christ as His expression and His very breath. Therefore, Christ is our law, the very Christ who is the Word of God, the breath of God, and the expression of God.
It is a dreadful mistake to pursue the study of systematic theology in such a way as to separate the Bible or the revelation of God from God Himself! Today we must heed the warning not to separate the Word of God from Christ. God’s word is His breath, and His word is something out of Himself which not only expresses Himself, but also imparts Himself to us so that we may receive Him. If we take God’s word only as dead letters, we shall become today’s Judaizers, those who are zealous for the knowledge of the law, but who are not truly seeking God out of a loving heart. But if we take the Word as God’s breath and are thereby infused with His substance, we shall become today’s psalmists, His loving seekers.
As we read 20:1-17, we should pay attention to the fact that the last five commandments are given in a way different from that of the first five. In the case of the last five, we are simply told not to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet. The first five commandments, however, are given in an atmosphere full of love, even of intimacy. In verses 2 and 3 the Lord does not say, “The first commandment is that you must not have any god besides Me.” On the contrary, the Lord presents Himself to His people in a very special way: “I am Jehovah thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Heb.). This is a word of love. In reminding the people that He saved them and delivered them from bondage, God speaks to them as if He were a young man courting a maiden. His words are words of love.
The word love in verse 6 is very important. In verses 5 and 6 the Lord speaks of love and hate. If we hate the Lord, He will visit our iniquities until the third and fourth generation. But if we love the Lord, He will extend mercy for a thousand generations. Such a word was spoken in an atmosphere of love and intimacy. The Lord wanted to know whether His people would love Him or hate Him. Even the commandments regarding not taking the Lord’s name in vain and keeping the Sabbath day were uttered in an atmosphere of love.
Many Christians neglect this aspect of the giving of the Ten Commandments. They have not seen the fact that the first five commandments, which refer to God Himself, were given in an atmosphere of love and intimacy. Instead, in speaking of the law, most students of the Word pay their full attention to the letter of the law and altogether ignore the loving atmosphere in which the law was decreed. They do not realize that the law itself is God’s expression.
We have seen that the word of the Lord Jesus in John 14:21 and 23 is similar to that uttered by the Lord in 20:4-6. In 20:4-6 the Lord said that if we love Him, He will show mercy unto a thousand generations. In John 14 the Lord Jesus said that if we love Him and keep His word, He and the Father will love us and make Their abode with us. In both cases the words uttered are words of love. It is not too much to say that the whole Bible was written in an atmosphere of love and intimacy. The Bible may even be regarded as the story of God’s courtship of man. Song of Songs is a superb illustration of this. This book, written in an atmosphere full of intimacy, is a book of love. If we love the Lord, we shall surely treasure His word and want to keep it. Then the Lord will show mercy unto a thousand generations.
The law is the word of God, and the word of God is God’s breath. Through His words, God breathes Himself into us, infusing us with His substance to make us His expression. With the divine substance infused into us, we automatically live a life that corresponds to what God is. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament speak of this.
We have seen that Christ Himself is the real law, word, breath, and expression of God. Today we should regard the Bible as God’s breath. By pray-reading the Word, we breathe God’s element into us. In this way we are infused with what God is, and spontaneously we begin to live Christ. Our living will then correspond to what God is. In this way we become the living expression of God, His living law.
If we pray-read 20:1-17 adequately, these verses will bring us into God and will transfuse the substance of God into us. The more we contact God in this way, the more we shall be saturated with Him. Consequently, we shall spontaneously live in a way that corresponds to the law of God. Instead of trying to keep the law, we shall live out the law. Far from being Judaizers, we shall become today’s psalmists, those who seek the Lord lovingly. The key here is our love for the Lord and for His word. If we love Him and keep His word, He will come to us and make His abode with us. How wonderful! The Bible truly is a book of love.
In conclusion, let me repeat, the law as the word of God is God’s breath for us to breathe in God, that we may have the strength of life to live out the law, which corresponds to God’s nature and expression.
