Obeying God’s Commands

by Jeff Curtis

In Leviticus chapter 19, it begins with the words: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (v.2). About halfway through, the chapter says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord” (v.18). It concludes with “You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the Lord” (v.37). To be holy, one had to love his neighbor; and to love his neighbor, he had to obey God’s commands.

What commands? The chapter repeats most of the Ten Commandments and may imply others which are not specifically stated.

The first of the Ten Commandments required the Israelites to have no other God but the Lord, and the second forbid them to make or worship idols (Exodus 20:3,4). Leviticus 19:4 says, “Do not make for yourselves idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the Lord your God.” The third commandment forbade taking the Lord’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7); and Leviticus 19:12 says, “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of Your God. I am the Lord.” The fourth commandment required God’s people to keep God’s people to keep the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9-11), and Leviticus 19 twice reminded the Israelites to keep God’s Sabbaths (vv.3, 30).

The fifth commandment is “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Leviticus 19 says; “Everyone of you shall reverence his mother and father.” The sixth commandment is “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Leviticus 19 doesn’t specifically forbid murder, but it does say, “You are not to act against the life of your neighbor” (19:16) – and that sounds like a law against nature.

The seventh commandment forbids committing adultery (Exodus 20:14). Again, there is no specific law against committing adultery in Leviticus 19, but the chapter shows that God was concerned about sexual behavior of the Israelites, for it contains and deals with the punishment deserved by a man who had sex with a slave woman (vv.20-22).

The eighth commandment is “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) and the ninth is “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). Leviticus 19:11 covers both commands when it says, “You shall not steal, nor lie falsely, nor lie to one another.” The tenth commandment is “You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17). No verse in Leviticus 10 forbids coveting, although the chapter requires fairness and generosity toward all (v.9, 10, 35, 36).

Loving a neighbor as oneself begins with keeping God’s commandments, especially those found in the Ten Commandments. With the exception of the Sabbath command, all of these are also found in the New Testament. The principle of love is obvious in the last six of the Ten Commandments, which deal ourselves, we will not murder them, commit adultery with their husbands or wives, steal from them, lie to them, or covet what belongs to them.

Less obvious is the idea that worshipping the Lord alone, refusing to make or worship idols, and not taking God’s name in vain are also ways of showing love toward our neighbors. The first and second commandments are closely linked; those who follow the Lord treat other people right (1John 4:21 – “And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”)

Who is Jesus?

by Jeff Curtis

Near the end of Jesus’ debates with the religious leaders, Jesus also made one of the clearest affirmations in His entire earthly ministry regarding who He was and is. It is His quotation of Psalm 110 in His discussion in Mark 12:35-37 that catches our attention. He quoted from the early portion of the psalm, showing that He was David’s Lord. He then asked His hearers, in effect, “How can this be if I am not the Son of God?” Matthew 22:46 says, “No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on ask Him another question.” By making this psalm – a psalm that His hearers accepted and believed – the centerpiece of His argument, Jesus closed the mouths of His critics and sent them away with His divine claims ringing true in their minds.

Using this messianic psalm and our Lord’s use of it as a foundation, let’s use it as a foundation to ask, “Who is Jesus?”

1. Jesus is David’s Lord. He is the Promised One, the Messiah. Jesus interpreted Psalm 110 by saying, “David himself said in the Holy Spirit,

 ‘“The Lord said to My Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I put your enemies beneath Your feet.’” David calls Him “Lord”; so, in what sense is He his son?” (Mark 12:36-37).

 David could not have been referring to one of his later descendants who would be such an excellent king that he would become David’s Lord. Such an argument does not harmonize with Jesus’ claim. He was asserting that He was more than David’s descendant; He was claiming that He was David’s Lord and that David was led to acknowledge this fact through the Holy Spirit.

2. Jesus is the Son of God; otherwise, He could not have been David’s Lord. The psalm He quoted said that He was Lord, Yahweh, said to Him, “Sit at My right hand until I put your enemies beneath Your feet (Mark 12:36). The eternal God, the Father of all of us, asked Jesus to come take His seat at his right hand, a place of honor and power. He asked Him to sit at this place until all His enemies had been made His footstool. The symbolism of the footstool has always been that of conquest. When one puts his feet on a stool, he obviously has complete control over that stool.
3. Jesus is our Lord. Since Jesus is the Messiah, He is the One whom God sent to save us and lead us to eternal glory. If Jesus was David’s Lord, He is also our Lord and everyone else’s Lord. God sent Him to be the Savior and Messiah of all people. God who loves everyone wants everyone in the world to be saved, sent Jesus, incarnate among men, to be the mediator between God and man. Is sacrifice on the cross reaches backward to the people of the past and forward to the people of all remaining time.

Conclusion. Whoever believes the testimony of Jesus as He presented this argument of His deity to the Pharisees has to believe that He is the Promised One, the God-man, the Son pf God, and our Lord. The integrity of Jesus demands these far-reaching conclusions. In light of these weighty implications, we shouldn’t be surprised that the same application of this psalm appears throughout the New Testament. Jesus’ quotation of Psalm 110 is the most clearly stated confirmation of His Messiahship in the New Testament.

The remaining part of Psalm 110 proclaims the victory that will accompany the reign of the Messiah. God will hand the scepter to Him, and He will lead His followers into complete victory. What a Savior!