So they saw God, and they ate and drank (Exodus 24:11).

How amazing is this! They saw God and fellowshipped with him with food and drink. We are told a little of what they saw:

And they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity (Exodus 24:10).

It appears that they were given a vision of the throne of God, somewhat like Isaiah's vision or the vision of John the apostle in the Book of Revelation. Likely, they were seeing Jesus, who always appears as the visible representation of the invisible God. 

Who saw God? We are told,

Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel (Exodus 24:10).

Do you notice Nadab and Abihu? These were the two that offered unauthorized fire and were struck down by God. Even they saw God. So, seeing God did not mean automatic holiness or continual obedience, just as the Israelites' experiencing the many miracles during the Exodus did not mean continual obedience and faith. Aaron would participate in the idolatry of the golden calf. Moses would fail to honor God at the waters of Meribah. "Experiencing God" was no guarantee of persevering faith. 

Friends, I bring this up because some believers think that all they need is to "experience God" in order to find favor with God and walk in obedience to Him. Yet, the Bible speaks of humility, discipline, study, and persevering faith. If by "experiencing God" we mean these kinds of things, then we ought to pursue it; however, if by it we mean some mystical experience of ushering in His Presence, then this is not something that the Bible condones as the way of holiness. Such an understanding is closer to the Hindu and New Age teaching of transcendental meditation than it is to the teaching of Scripture. The Christian life is lived not through transcendant experiences but through faith and obedience to God's Word (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth (Exodus 23:13).

The LORD made it clear to the Israelites entering the Promised Land that they were to completely destroy any hint of idolatry from the land. This included both the idols and the people that worshipped them, and even their posterity, who might try to revive what was destroyed when they got older.

So here too God forbids even the naming of the gods of the nations. And He forbids anyone seeking to hear about them. 

Why? Isn't it okay, as long as these idols were not worshipped? Couldn't the Israelites just keep them as a matter of historical record? 

Apparently not! Any lingering vestiges of the idolatry risked corrupting the people of God. Israel's history provides example after example of this type of destructive corruption. Aside from the obvious corruption via the Ashtoreths and Baal worship, we even read of things like Gideon's ephod and Moses' bronze snake being a stumbling block to the people of Israel. Perhaps this is why we read in Paul's letter to the Romans,

Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil (Romans 16:19).

Paul does not write that they should be wise in what is good and wise also in what is evil. He specifically tells them to be innocent in what is evil. Innocence suggests freedom from any experience with what is evil. In other words, it is better that a person never experience an evil in the first place than to experience it and discover that it is evil from their experience of it. 

Friends, what does this mean for us? I contend that this means that we ought not to pursue an unhealthy interest in anything ungodly or idolatrous. Even for the sake of knowledge, we risk self-corruption. Our children do not need to know the details of Baal worship. We may need to shelter them even from some of the glorified presentations of the occult, witchcraft, and idolatry in popular books and movies today. We ought not to have souvenirs in our homes that portray the idolatry of other lands. It may be unwise even to expose our children to museums that highlight Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam or any other world religion. 

And as much as Paul admonishes believers to be innocent in what is evil, he also encourages them to be wise in what is good. In other words, time and attention should be given to godly and morally excellent things:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Philippians 4:8).

In the Old Testament, there was of course nothing so excellent as the Law of God. The Israelites were commanded to immerse themselves in the Law, so that their every activity, conversation, and thought would be deeply influenced by it:

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (Deuteronolmy 6:6-9).

Therefore, instead of Harry Potter books, C.S. Lewis books may be better to have around the house. Instead of artwork that depicts African images of idols or Asian potrayals glorifying ancestor worship, perhaps we can fill our homes with passages from Scripture and even representations of the great stories of the Bible. 

It is enough that believers are aware of evils in the world. They do not need to be deeply knowledgeable about them. The Bible makes clear that such curiosity can open a pandora's box of harm. 

But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you (Exodus 23:25-27).

Notice what God promised Israel if they obey Him. He would bless their food, so that they would never lack bread or water. No one would get sick. No one would miscarry or be barren. Everyone would live a full life. All their enemies would run from them. 

Prosperity preachers would say to Christians today: "Name it and claim it!" 

So, if you obey God today, will He keep you from sickness, miscarriage, and untimely death? That is what "name it and claim it" implies. 

Again, a pastor recently used a passage in Malachi to declare that sometimes God does not answer our prayers today because we do not give our tithe:

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows (Malachi 3:10).

Now, a forty-five minute message may not afford the kind of time to provide the context for every passage this pastor mentioned, which were many, but it may have been better to leave this one out. Thankfully, the pastor was not teaching the congregation to "name it and claim it," but he also did not make a distinction between the Jewish Levitical tithe and Christian giving. He also did not explain that this passage was directed to the priests and not to the general populace (see the 2nd comment on Malachi 3 here).

Now, I've given these examples without much explanation. Since I have written extensively in the past, demonstrating how Christians are no longer under the Old Covenant Mosaic Law, I will simply supply two key verses in this regard:

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second... When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:7,13).

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (Romans 7:6).

We are New Covenant Christians. As such, we are no longer under the Old Covenant Mosaic Law. Consequently, we must be very careful then how we apply Old Testament passages to our lives, particularly those blessings and curses given specifically to Israel and directly associated with obedience to the Law of Moses.

Careless handling of Old Testament passages leads to careless application, requiring us to make all kinds of excuses for why God did not deliver on His promises. Someone may well say, "I have given my tithe faithfully for over forty years, but I have yet to experience the outpouring of God's blessings on me. In fact, I am having trouble even holding down a low-paying job." 

As you read these chapters, you may be tempted to selectively apply them to your own lives. Don't do it.  These laws are not meant for you but for the children of Israel in the Promised Land. So, even if your child curses you (Exodus 21:17), don't think you need to put your child to death, even if at the moment you may want to do it.

Even so, as you read these laws, without getting caught up in the specifics, you can learn something of the moral and equitable nature of God. Notice also, that this list of laws and consequences will not be annulled when the sacrificial system is established in Leviticus. You will discover that animal sacrifices were only designed to cover "unintentional" sins, not intentional ones like these. These laws given to Moses would only be annulled through the blood of Jesus Christ, who would inaugurate a New Covenant to replace it.

Finally, notice how the Mosaic covenant was ratified. It was done so by blood:

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded. We will obey.” Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the LORD has made with you in giving you these instructions" (Exodus 24:7-8).

Just as the Old Covenant was ratified by blood, so also the New Covenant would be ratified by blood, the blood of Jesus Christ:

For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20).

You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24).

Unlike the first covenant, the covenant with Moses, which was faulty and temporary,

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it... In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:7,13).

the New Covenant, ratified by the blood of Jesus, is an everlasting covenant:

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Therefore, we do not follow the Law of Moses, along with its commands, decrees and ordinances, but we follow the new way of the Spirit of Jesus, which is presented for us in the New Testament:

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter (Romans 7:6).

Friends, you are members of the New Covenant, which has been ratified by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, don't make the mistake of putting yourselves under the yoke of the Old Covenant again, which is weak because of the sinful nature and unable to produce in you the righteousness that God requires (Romans 8:3).

Back to the text, keep in mind that these laws were meant to be practiced in the land, the Promised Land that they were about to enter. Note that if they were careful to obey these laws, God would bless them with prosperity, health, fertility and long life (Exodus 23:25-26). 

Do you know that these are the very promises "Prosperity Theologians" like to cite to defend their "prosperity gospel," which teaches health, wealth and prosperity for obedient Christians. But one thing they fail to understand is that Christians are not under the Old Covenant. Therefore, none of the promises for obeying the Law of Moses, and thank God, none of curses for disobeying, apply to us. 

We criticize these prosperity theologians, as we should, but I am convinced that many preachers really don't realize the full implications of their criticism. Just as the prosperity folks quote a bunch of Old Testament promises to prove their prosperity message, these preachers quote a bunch of New Testament texts describing suffering to reject prosperity theology, yet never do the two arguments meet. Why? Both fail to understand what is going on.

Both are right within the context of their dispensations. Under the Old Covenant the prosperity message is as true as true can be. Under the New Covenant, the message of suffering is as true as true can be. Only rarely do I hear it preached and explained that the New Covenant has replaced the Old, and that is why the promises claimed by the prosperity theologians are invalid. Yet, this is exactly the biblical basis for denying the prosperity gospel. 

I think one of the reasons this teaching is not affirmed is because it would dismantle not only the message of prosperity theologians but many messages of some evangelical preachers as well. Who hasn't heard a message from 2 Chronicles 7:14,

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 

And it is preached that this promise can be claimed by Christians today, even though it is clear that this is an Old Covenant promise given to the people of Israel with respect to the Land of Canaan. To make such an application to Christians today would be to do exactly what prosperity theologians are doing with other texts of the Old Testament. Who hasn't heard a message from Malachi 3:10, 

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

And it is preached that this promise can be claimed by Christians today, even though it is clear that this is an Old Covenant promise given to the Levites that violated the Mosaic Law with respect to the tithe that was to be brought into the storehouse for the priests.

And it is claimed, even by notable people like John Piper, that when he affirms things like "tithing," he is just retaining the "principle" of the tithe in "honor of the Old Testament."  Yet, in the same breath, he will criticize prosperity theologians for dishonoring Christ with their prosperity message. Aren't they "honoring the Old Testament" and retaining the "principle" of prosperity in the Old Covenant? These glaring inconsistencies rise almost to the level of political posturing that we see in our candidates for President today. They pick the arguments that work for them and conveniently ignore the rest. This is theological hypocrisy. 

Friends, this is why you must learn the Bible for yourselves. Otherwise, you will be "indoctrinated" by the traditions of men, even "good" men, and God forbid, continue to pass on their misguided thinking to others, who in turn will perpetuate the error to still others from generation to generation. We are children of the New Covenant, which has been ratified by the blood of Christ, and we live no more under the old, conditional and temporary covenant of Law but in "the new way of the Spirit", which is defined by grace, freedom, and the longing for resuurrection. 

Someone asked, "Why are these commandments that God gives Moses to give to the people so specific?  Is it because the Israelites need specific guidance at this time?"

I responded.. To some degree the Bible answers that question in passages like Deuteronomy 6:1-3, 

This Scripture tells us that these laws were for Israel when they enter the Promised Land of Canaan. Therefore, they are very specific to the kind of moral lifestyle they are to have in the land. The Law would guide the people and the generations after them to fear God and to prosper in the land. I think a case can be made that a number of specific provisions in the law were given to stand in contrast to the idolatry, immorality, and wicked practices of the Canaanites. This is certainly in keeping with what we read in Exodus 19:5-6: "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy (lit. 'set apart') nation."

Just as an aside, we traditionally understand there are 613 commands in the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are unique in that they were directly spoken by God and written by the finger of God on tablets of stone. Also, they have no curses or blessings per se (except for the command to honor parents) associated with each provision. Even the grammar is a bit different in that the "You shall not" (Heb lo) is stronger and more absolute than the "You will not"(al) in the other commands. But this does not mean that the Ten Commandments are meant to be eternal while the remaining commandments are temporary, as some have surmised, for it is not so much a matter of certain laws being temporary but rather the entire covenant, the Ten Commandments and the other commandments together, was temporary. This entire covenant was what the writer of Hebrews wrote became obsolete with the death of Christ (see my discussion on the law in yesterday's comments).

However, the distinguishing marks of the Ten Commandments from the other commandments were likely given to show that the Ten Commandments provided the overarching principles whereas the remaining provisions gave the specific application to Israel in the land that they were going to possess. Since the Ten Commandments could not be applied in the same way for every situation, some 603 provisions would give the people guidance with respect to certain specific moral, ceremonial and civil situations.  It is also in the specific provisions that we find both the blessings and cursings (cf. Deuteronomy 28), associated with obedience and disobedience respectively.

Do you think that the 613 laws are very detailed? Apparently, the religious rulers of Jesus day had added many more provisions on top of these. But for some perspective, just the U.S. tax code law itself is over 67,000 pages long. When you consider this, the Book of the Law of Moses does not seem so long or that specific. Interestingly, Paul writes that "the law was made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers" (1 Timothy 1:9). I wonder that the specific provisions of the law were as specific as the people of Israel needed them to be as they entered the land of promise.