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THE LAW IS GIVEN (EXODUS 24:9-18) LENT DAY 9

REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is “The Law is Given” Generally, the law is the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members. It may be enforced by the imposition of penalties. Biblically, God’s law is the set of commandments given to believers to guide their relationship with God, their neighbour and the environment. We shall reflect on the fact that to please God as the community of faith we must obey His instructions or His Word.

God desires to deepen His relationship with the Israelites after liberating them from slavery in Egypt. Israel’s relationship with God can only be fruitful, peaceful and successful when they trust God and obey His law. It was for this reason, “The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” (Exodus 24:12). In other words, it is impossible to have a relationship with God without doing His will which is expressly stated in His instructions, commandments or law.

Again, the law represents the terms and conditions of God’s covenant with the Israelites. God has made a covenant with Israelites and has given them the terms and conditions of the covenant. In the covenant relationship, God has promised to be their God and when they call on Him He will save them. He will bless, protect and grant them long life and prosperity if they remain faithful in obeying and following the instructions given in the Covenant. This why in Deuteronomy, Moses said to the Israelites “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “(Deuteronomy 30:15-20)

Dear friend, as the community of faith of the New Covenant established upon the old Covenant, Jesus Christ has become the human and divine manifestation of God’s Law. God has made this possible so that if we believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour and follow His teachings and perfect examples we shall be deemed to have fulfilled the Law hence our salvation. Jesus said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. (Matthew 5:17). If it becomes difficult to obey the law of God then turn to Jesus and emulate His nature and character. We are told in John 1:1-5 that since the Law was God’s Word to humanity, so Jesus is also the human and divine manifestation of God’s Word therefore “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5). We have life through human and divine manifestation of God’s Law in the person of Jesus Christ. In other words, when we believe and obey Him we shall be saved. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) Just as those who disobeyed God’s law and perished under the Old Covenant, we those who reject and disobey Jesus shall also not be saved under the New Covenant. The only difference between the Old and New Covenant is Jesus Christ. From hard-written laws which often disobeyed to a perfect human and divine manifestation of God’s Word (or Law) in the person of Christ. Paul further explained “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4. The Good News is that “…, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Without our willingness as individuals, a church or a nation to establish a relationship with God honour and follow His direction for our lives, the future will be uncertain and clouded with hopelessness. Proverb 3:5-8 makes it abundantly clear that “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” In other words, the Lord will grant us success in an unpredictable world and an unknown future if He is at the heart of our future aspirations and vision. My dear friend, to have Jesus Christ as the human and divine manifestation of His law in your heart? The Lent season offers us the opportunity to reconnect with Jesus so that the just requirement of the law shall be fulfilled through Him. We must be willing to trust and obey God and lean not on our own understanding. Again we must totally rely on Him and through prayer and faith, walk with the Lord all the time. The History of Israel teaches us that any time the Israelites break away from God by disobeying Him they become insecure and are easily overpowered or defeated by their enemies but when they follow the commandment of God, He remains their only hope, strength and source of prosperity and peace.

In summary, we have reflected on the theme “the Law is given” We have discovered that to please God as a community of faith we must obey His instructions or His Word. Again, Jesus Christ is the perfection of the Law therefore through faith and determination to follow His teaching and examples through the power of the Holy Spirit we shall please God and be justified by His grace. Shalom.

PRAYER

GRACIOUS GOD, LEAD US TO ALWAYS HAVE A CLARITY OF VISION CENTERED ON YOUR WORD AND YOUR DIRECTION FOR OUR LIVES. MAY OUR FUTURE ASPIRATIONS AND DECISIONS BE GUIDED BY YOUR WILL FOR US AS INDIVIDUALS,  AS A NATION AND AS A CHURCH. AMEN