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On May 4, 2025 we began a new series called "The Royal Family Code." It's an in-depth look at the 10 Commandments.

Part 1 was called "From Slavery to Royalty" and explored Exodus 19. (If you missed it, click here.) As a part of that I introduced 10 big picture concepts to help with our understanding of the Commandments. I include them again here in blog form so that those who missed Part 1 can catch up. As we go through the series, they can also be consulted for reference.

God is our King, Saviour and Father

 These are biblical titles God gives us to help us understand who he is and how we relate to him. 

There are many examples of bad kings, of course, but here we are thinking about the good kings in the ancient world. Kings have authority, protect and care for their people, and establish order.

Savious save. They rescue people from dangerous situations. 

Fathers give life, provide, teach and love. 

Our God does all these things at once. 

John F. Kennedy was an American President, a position largely thought to be the most powerful in the world. Apparently, even when he was having important meetings at the White House, his son "John John" would sometimes wander into meeting and sit on his father’s lap. Who else would have that kind of access to the most powerful man in the world, and could at the same time have that kind of attention and love from the most powerful man in the world? Only someone who was both a child of the President and an American citizen at the same time.

This is a helpful way to think about who God is to us: King, Saviour, Father. 

We are in a covenant relationship with God

A covenant is a sacred agreement, a contract. It is put in place by God. He agrees to be our God and we agree to be his people. If we are loyal good things happen, if we are disloyal bad things happen.

Ancient agreements were not unique to the Hebrews. The Ur-Nammu Law Code, the oldest known law code, is from a place we today call Iraq. It is preserved in the Sumerian language and dates to 2112 – 2095 B.C. Ancient agreements like this were not uncommon. What is unique about the 10 Commandments, however, is not only what they say, but that they are between God and his people.

Think of a marriage. It is a “sacred covenant.” When I officiate at a marriage ceremony those are the words I use. It is an agreement between two parties. They make vows to one another. With this in mind, the 10 Commandments are the basic stipulations to our end of the bargain. We vow this in the relationship as a pledge of our love and loyalty.

As a side note, the Bible specifies that the original Commandments were writen on stone tablets (Exodus 24:12). Which Commandments were on which tablet? We’re not sure. Some people assume 1-4 were on the first and 5-10 were on the second.

Some scholars, however, tell us that they may have been identical. In ancient societies it was not uncommon for each party to have a copy. Was this the case with the original Commandments? It's hard to be sure, but it's possible.

God has liberated us, and is liberating us

 God begins the Commandments by stating how he has freed his people. He is the charitable benefactor in the relationship: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

If you have ever seen the movie The Shawshank Redemption you will remember that feeling of incredible liberation and ecstasy as Tim Robbins’ character, Andy, burrows his way out of prison and finds freedom on the outside after his great escape. When he finally crawls out of the stinking sewage gutter and lands in the open-air river beyond the imposing walls, he is covered in muck; it is the middle of the night, and it is raining. But he is free and totally alive! He raises his arms in the sky in total disbelief and jubilation, his back arching in victory!

In the same movie we meet Brooks, a lifer in the Shawshank prison. He’s been in there for most of his life. Inside he was the gentle, old librarian. As an old man Brooks is finally granted release. But he is totally lost on the outside world. He doesn’t know how to live since he’s been a prisoner his whole life. He can’t even go to the bathroom unless his supervisor at the grocery store gives him permission. Brooks left the prison but the prison didn’t leave Brooks. The bondage of prison has so controlled him and how he understood himself that he no longer knew how to be free.

The Hebrews are like both of these characters at once—Andy and Brooks. Liberated but languishing. They are no longer fighting for freedom, but they are floundering in freedom. Kevin DeYoung writes: "The 10 Commandments are not instructions on how to get out of Egypt, they are rules for a free people to stay free."

They are not called the 10 Suggestions

They are commandments, not suggestions. I'm not sure we need much more explanation than that. The Lord of heaven and earth actually knows best. 

They reflect God's wonderful character

 The commandments are not random; they reflect God’s character.

For example, we shall not murder because God is a giver of life. We shall not commit adultery because God is faithful and monogamous with his people. We shall not steal because God is a provider. We shall not bear false witness because God is truthful…

J Alec Montyer says that living by God’s law “triggers in us the image of God which is our real nature. In other words, we live the truly human life when we obey the Lord’s law.”

They bless and protect the whole community

To many modern people who could care less about God—and even many Christians who have been seduced by individualism and comfort—think of the 10 Commandments as restrictive rules that matter to somebody else. 

Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim pushes back on that idea: “The focus is on protecting the health of the community, to which end the individual plays such an important role.” The commandments are designed “to protect [the human community] from behaviours that have the potential of destroying it.” (Exodus, 221.)

Just think of a world where everyone honored God with their whole heart; where the name of God was revered; where one full day of legitimate rest renewed and restored us to the very core; where there was no murder, and no threat of murder; where wives and husbands were perfectly faithful all the time; where truthfulness was assumed; where everyone was totally content with what they had and never looked with envy at others. 

Think back to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” In God's people, the world will be blessed. The Commandments are a part of how that happens. 

The express the Great Commandment

We all know the “greatest commandment” as taught by Jesus: to love God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself. Commands 1-4 are about our relationship with God, and commands 5-10 are about our relationship to other people. 

Related to this, Michael Heiser makes the following point: “The law was how one demonstrated that love—that loyalty.” (The Unseen Realm, 169). When you keep the commands, both toward God and neighbour, you are living out the Great Command as summarized by Jesus.

They still apply

Some Old Testament laws are no longer applicable, like the laws about sacrificing animals (since Jesus is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, Hebrews 10:10) and the food purity laws (since Jesus declared all foods clean in Mark 7:9).

But others are still applicable. These are called “moral laws.” New Testament writers presume their ongoing applicability. Jesus himself quotes or alludes to all ten of the commands in various places. 

Only Jesus has kept all the commandments

Matthew 3:15 tells us that Jesus came to “fulfill all righteousness.” He is “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He came to “fulfill the law” (Matthew 5:17). So if you want to know what it looks like to live perfectly, don’t look at yourself. Look at Jesus!

This is central to the good news. Jesus keeps the covenant on our behalf! He fulfills our vows. We are saved (made right with God) not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done. He pays the price for your sin through his perfect life and sacrificial death on the cross. On the cross he gets what you deserve, and at the gates of heaven you get what he deserves. This is a free gift that we receive through faith in him (Ephesians 2:8).

J.H. Hertz comments that the commandments “bear divinity on its face.” (Pentateuch and Haftorahs, 294.) In Jesus’ perfect life of loving and holy obedience we see the divine face of God.

How to live rightly

Again, let's be clear. You are not made right with God by being a morally wonderful person. As mentioned above, you are made right with God through Jesus and what he has done for you.

But the commandments still have a purpose. They lead us in "good works" (Ephesians 2:10). They show us how to live rightly as royal children. This is a blessing not only to us, but to the wider world. Since Jesus lived the perfectly obedient life, when we strive, with God's help, to follow the commandments, we grow in Christlikeness.

I hope these big picture concepts are helpful as we unpack and apply the 10 Commandments.

Puritan biblical commentary Matthew Henry said: “They [the commandments] are enjoined by the infinite eternal Majesty of heaven and earth.” (Commentary, 282.) Let's learn and grow together.