Deuteronomy 5:1-33 - The Decalogue The Basis Of The Covenant, The Essence Of The Whole Law, And The Condition Of Life And

Reminiscences of Horeb.

I. THE COVENANT . ( Deuteronomy 5:2 , Deuteronomy 5:3 .)

1. Proposed by God ( Exodus 19:3-7 ).

2. Accepted by the people ( Exodus 24:7 ).

3. Entailed obligations on subsequent generations (cf. Deuteronomy 6:2 ). In this covenant, formally ratified by sacrifice ( Exodus 24:6 , Exodus 24:7 ), Israel

The new covenant in Christ, while in many respects different from, and superior to, that of Horeb, yet resembles it in several of these particulars.

II. THE LAW . ( Deuteronomy 5:6-22 .)

1. Holy in its nature.

2. Internally complete as a summary of duty. "He added no more" ( Deuteronomy 5:22 ).

3. Explicative of the character of God. The absoluteness and unity of God, e . g . taught in first commandment; his spirituality , jealousy of his honor , sovereignty , love , and mercy , in second commandment; his holiness , in third commandment; his searching of hearts , in tenth commandment; while in all he appears as the Source of moral obligation, and the Guardian of rights.

4. To be kept from the motive of love ( Deuteronomy 5:10 ). This Law is not abolished, but fulfilled in Christ, by whose Spirit its precepts are written in the minds and hearts of believers ( 2 Corinthians 3:3 ; Hebrews 8:10 ).

III. THE MEDIATOR . ( Deuteronomy 5:5 , Deuteronomy 5:22-33 .) The mediation of Moses was:

1. Craved by the people ( Deuteronomy 5:23-28 ). The manifestation of God's holiness overwhelms sinful men (cf. Isaiah 6:3-6 ). Moses not only endured this manifestation, but went up alone into the thick darkness where God was. How exceptionally great he appears in this!

2. Acquiesced in by God ( Deuteronomy 5:28-32 ). This transacting through a mediator was in harmony with the principle of his dealings with them from the first. A figure of the mediation of Christ.

3. Suitable in itself . As tending to enhance in their minds the impression of God's holiness and the feeling of their own sinfulness.—J.O.