The God of Love
By Terance Clark February 15, 2025 6 Minute Read
Week 17
This Weeks Passage: Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
In the 5th century a Christian leader by the name Augustine of Hippo decided to change the 10 Commandments. He eliminated the first one and then expanded the last one into two. The Christian church has been teaching them this way ever since. This weeks lesson brings us to Mount Sinai where God speaks the famous ten words that has pretty much become the standard of morality around the entire globe. But what was the purpose of the 10 commandments. Let’s look at the story.
He’s the Same God in the OT and the NT
God gets a bad rap. Whenever he shows love and compassion in the Old Testament it somehow gets translated as harsh and stern, but when Jesus shows coldness in the New Testament its depicted as loving and kind. We don’t seem to understand that God is the same always. He hasn’t changed, love has always been his motive for all that He does and what takes place at Mount Sinai is not a cold harsh God laying out the law, but a loving kind God taking an oath to be faithful to His people. Isn’t it amazing how we can misinterpret the actions of someone so easily.
“Love has always been His motive“
God tells them I am jealous for you (Ex. 20:5). Jealous is not a good translation. The word is actually more like zealous or passionate for you. It’s a term of love not control and He gives them some very specific steps to take in preparation for their special day. It started with cleansing their hearts and minds and their clothes and even a bath. These are all ancient steps one takes before a marriage that the Jews still practice to this day. Yes, God was marrying His people and those commandments were simply the terms of the marriage covenant also a normal practice of the day. As you walk through each phase of what occurred that day each one was an aspect of a normal marriage ceremony culminating with a covenant meal do you see why God invited Moses and the leaders up to the mountain for a meal.
God Chose to First Introduce Himself
What’s interesting is the very first commandment is an introduction where God introduces himself to the people. He says I am the LORD using His real name. The point is that He begins by introducing Himself as their God. The first command or expectation of the covenant is that we believe in who He is. A couple of weeks ago I shared that God’s name implies He is faithful and trustworthy. That He will do everything He has promised and we can fully put our whole being into His hands. That is what the first command is all about. He is introducing Himself as the one who has come for you and you can fully put your life in His hands. He will be faithful to fulfill everything He has promised. You can fully trust Him to care for you. That is what a marriage is all about. It’s about trust and commitment and promise. It’s about giving yourself fully to this other person and promising that you will never let them down and then following through. The first command is to believe in Him. When we can’t believe in Him there is no relationship.
It’s interesting that the first command is no longer sited in Christian theology. We now say the first command is to have no other Gods. So, rather than begin our relationship with the knowledge that God is loving and faithful we have chosen to highlight that He expects us to just serve Him without recognizing what He has promised us. It’s no wonder why we see Him as an angry harsh God. Full of expectations and requirements but failing to love first and it’s all wrong because of one man who chose to change the commandments.
“So change your view“
As we have celebrated Valentine’s Day this week, the truth is that God is love. He has always been love. He doesn’t just change into a loving God in the New Testament it has always been His nature. The problem is when you already believe something about someone you tend to just see them in that light. So change your view. Stop believing the lie that God is angry and mean. As you read the Old Testament what I like to call the original scriptures begin looking for a loving God and I guarantee you will begin to see all the places where He tells us and shows us He is the God of love.