The Everlasting Covenant - 9.2 Commandments Before Sinai

Home > Abraham to Sinai >
Email | Print | 
.

9.2 Ten Commandments Before Sinai?

By Hubert F. Sturges, www.everlastingcovenant.com, Octdober 2009

     "On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because The Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. And The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up" (Exodus 19:16-20, RSV).
The giving of the ten commandments at Sinai was literally an earth-shaking occasion. It was a water-shed experience. But was this the first time that these commandments were known? Please read carefully. You will be surprised to find evidence that these commandments were known long before Sinai.

The ten commandments were first codified and recorded on stone at Sinai. We have no record of a formal law before Sinai. However, the patriarchs knew the will of God and patterned their lives after Him. They also knew the ten principles of the law and that transgression of any one of them was sin. Let us look at the evidence for this:

The First Commandment

    "I am The Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2-3, RSV).
Verse two of this passage is the preamble of grace. The ten commandments were ten promises that by grace, God would make of His people “an holy nation.”

Adam and Eve in Eden loved, believed, and obeyed God. God was the center of their lives, their thoughts, words, and actions. They patterned their lives on what they saw of God. The commands of God to them were pleasant and interesting. They would have dominion of the earth. They would have a family and populate the earth. They would live healthy lives. And God commanded that they not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

In their sin, disobeying God, Adam and Eve chose to believe and obey Satan. Instead of the promised blessing, they felt guilt, despair, disappointment, disease, and eventually death. Satan usurped God’s gift of dominion of this earth (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). Life for Adam and Eve suddenly became difficult. And losing their pleasant association with God, they were cast out of Eden.

Idolatry became widespread after the flood and was recognized as sin:

     "Your fathers lived of old beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods" (Joshua 24:2, RSV).
The Second Commandment

    "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I The Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments" (Exodus 20:4-6, RSV).
In the house of his uncle Laban, Jacob was exposed to idolatry. After his twenty years service, he returned to Canaan. God told Jacob to get rid of his “strange gods.” Jacob collected them from the members of his household along with their earrings and buried them under the oak in Shechem. God made it clear that idolatry was a sin, and that He alone was to be worshiped.

     "God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau." So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; then let us arise and go up to Bethel, that I may make there an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone." So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem" (Genesis 35:2-4, RSV).
The Third Commandment

    "You shall not take the name of The Lord your God in vain; for The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His Name in vain" (Exodus 20:7, RSV).
Profanity is the common expression of taking the name of the Lord in vain. An attempt to worship God in false religion is also taking the name of God in vain. And even God’s people take His name in vain when they fail to live up to their profession.

Israel was warned specifically to avoid idolatrous practices.

    "and so profane the name of your God ... for all of these abominations the men of the land did, who were before you, so that the land became defiled" (Leviticus 18:21,27, RSV).
The Fourth Commandment

    "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to The Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11, RSV).
After the six days of Creation, God set aside the seventh-day to be the Sabbath. On this day God rested. The day was set aside to be holy, and for fellowship between God and man. It was a special day, made for the benefit of man.

     "And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation" (Genesis 2:2-3, RSV).
Several weeks before Israel arrived at Sinai, and well before the ten commandments were given, the people were commanded to observe the Sabbath by not gathering Manna:

     "Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none" (Exodus 16:26, RSV).
The Fifth Commandment

    "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which The Lord your God gives you" (Exodus 20:12, RSV).
In this command the family and society is strengthened. Long before Sinai, Noah's son sinned by dishonoring his parent

     "When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan" (Genesis 9:24-25, RSV).
The Sixth Commandment

     "You shall not kill" (Exodus 20:13, RSV).

The first murder occurred when Cain killed Abel. It was recognized as a sin and Cain was marked and banished.

    "And The Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand" (Genesis 4:10-11, RSV).
The Seventh Commandment

         "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14, RSV).

When Joseph refused to commit adultery with Potiphar's wife he recognized it as a sin.

     "But he refused and said to his master's wife, ‘Lo, having me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand; he is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God" (Genesis 39:8-9, RSV)?

The Eighth Commandment

          "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15, RSV).

To eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil can be considered a theft, though there were deeper issues involved. When Jacob fled from Laban, Laban caught up with him and accused Jacob of stealing his gods -- a sin. And Jacob in turn accused Laban of dishonesty in his wages. These were both recognized as sins. (See Genesis 31:30, 41).

          "Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat" (Genesis 3:11, RSV)?

The Ninth Commandment

           "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16, RSV).

The first lie, spoken by Satan, occurred right in the Garden of Eden:

"And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die" (Genesis 3:2-4, RSV).

    "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44, RSV).
The Tenth Commandment

     "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's" (Exodus 20:17, RSV).

To covet is the sin least understood. It is the sin of wrong motives and is easily hidden. However it is the well-spring of commandments #6, 7, and 8. Coveting was a sin that began very early, right in the Garden of Eden.

    "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit" (Genesis 3:6, RSV).
Jacob, the younger of Isaac’s twin boys coveted the birthright that would normally go to Esau. Coveting led him to trick Esau to “sell” him the birthright for a “mess of pottage.” When Isaac intended to give the birthright to Esau, Jacob deceived his father by preparing goat’s meat for the expected venison, and wrapping himself in goatskin to simulate Esau’s hairy skin (Genesis 27:9-29).

In turn Jacob was deceived by his uncle Laban and given Leah instead of the expected Rachel for a wife (Genesis 29:25).

In this case coveting led to lying, deceit and dishonesty and almost loss of his life.
..................................................
Adapted from Wayne Blank
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2000/20000725.htm