Series: Questions
Title: How Long Refuse Ye to Keep my Commandments and my Laws?
Text: Exodus 16: 28
Date: September 19, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
We will return tonight to
our Questions Series. In this series, we are looking at questions God
asks sinners. God never asks a question
for information. So far every question God has asked was to bring the sinner to
acknowledge their sin.
Our subject will be this
question: Exodus 16:28: And the LORD
said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
Divisions: 1) Who this question was directed to
and why; 2) How does a sinner keep all God’s commandments and laws; 3) We will
answer the question itself—how long
refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
I. NOTICE, WHO THIS QUESTION WAS ADDRESSED UNTO—Exodus 16:28: And the LORD said UNTO MOSES,
How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
Moses was faithful to God.
So why does God say this to Moses? He had been faithful to believe God, to
declare to the people everything God commanded him, to lead the people in the
things God commanded them. By God’s
grace, Moses’ heart was humbled. He walked by faith in Christ, constrained by
the love of God, led of God the Holy Spirit.
·
Before Pharaoh, Moses faithfully spoke the word of God.
·
In Egypt, Moses was faithful so that through Moses, God brought
the curses upon Egypt.
·
Concerning the Passover—Moses faithfully delivered all God’s
instruction and lead Israel out of Egypt.
·
At the Red Sea, Moses faithfully declared the truth.
·
At the bitter waters of Marah—Moses faithfully interceded with God
for his brethren.
·
Here in the wilderness of Sin—Moses faithfully declared everything
God commanded.
Moses was bold to stand
against sinners, while taking sides with God. That is what scriptures mean
saying Moses was “very meek, above all
the men which were upon the face of the earth.” (Nu 12: 3)
Hebrews
3:5: And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a
testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
It was not until much, much
later that the children of Israel finally got to Moses, “…so that it went ill
with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake
unadvisedly with his lips.” (Ps 106: 32-33)
Yet, it was the children of Israel, throughout their journey, that were
rebellious, repeatedly murmuring against God and Moses and so it was in our
text. God sent manna to prove them—(God proves men by Christ Jesus)
Exodus 16: 16: This is the thing which the LORD hath
commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every
man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them
which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and
gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an
omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had
no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 19: And Moses said,
Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20: Notwithstanding they hearkened not
unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms,
and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
Then, God gave them the
Sabbath—so they could rest from their works.
Exodus 16: 22: And it came to pass, that on the sixth day
they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the
rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23: And he said unto them, This
is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the
holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day,
and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to
be kept until the morning. 24: And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses
bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. 25: And Moses
said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye
shall not find it in the field. 26: Six days ye shall gather it; but on the
seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. 27: And it
came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the
seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28: And the LORD said unto
Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
So why did the LORD address
Moses about their disobedience instead of addressing the children of Israel?
Accountable to God
First,
God addressed Moses because Moses was accountable to God for the children God
gave to him to lead.
Hebrews 13:17: Obey them
that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your
souls, as they that must give account,…
Pastors
are accountable to God for the people entrusted to them. Likewise, fathers and
mothers are accountable to God for our children—if there is only a believing
mother, then the mother is responsible.
This
is why your pastor and your fathers beseech you to come hear the gospel, to
listen attentively, to read along in your bibles. It is why we beseech you to
make sure that nothing about you is a distraction before others who are trying
to listen; it is because it is our responsibility to teach you the truth of how
God saves rebellious sinners. This gospel is your only hope.
Type of the Law
The
second reason God addressed Moses is because Moses is a type of the law. What do you think of when you hear the words:
“commandments” and “laws?” Do you think
of the Ten Commandments. At this time, they did not have the Ten
Commandments.
When you hear the words
“commandments” or “law” or “statutes” in the scripture, learn to think of God
himself speaking rather than of commandments written on stone in the letter.
Disobedience is personal to God. From
the time God sent Moses to them, in every word he spoke for God, they had God’s
commandments delivered to them. Most of the things God gave Moses to speak were
trials of faith. God says that is why they disobeyed.
Psalm
78: 22: Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: 23:
Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24: And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn
of heaven….30
They were not estranged from their lust.
So
though they did not have the ten commandments, by disobeying God’s word
delivered by God’s messenger, they had broken the whole law.
James 2:10: For whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
This
is why God said, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
So
Moses is a type of the law. Now, what do we learn about all this disobedience
to Moses? Just as Moses could not make
them obedient from the heart, the law of God cannot make a sinner obedient from
the heart.
Romans
8: 3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,…
There is no defect in the
law; the defect is in man—it is our sin-nature to disobey God, to hate God, to
think we are wiser than God.
For example: What made the
children of Israel save the manna rather than eat it all. They did not trust
God and they were told not to. What made
them want to go out on the Sabbath day and work, rather than rest? They did not
believe God and they were told not to—It is the sin-nature in natural born man
to rebel against God and his law.
Romans
7:5: For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Galatians
3: 21: Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there
had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should
have been by the law.
So here we have, those of us
responsible for others in our sphere of influence—in the church and in the
home—but the law will not make sinners obedient from the heart. So what should
we do?
Mediator between God and the People—Type of Christ
The third reason God spoke
to Moses is because Moses represented God before the people. Therefore, God
gave Moses the word to declare to them then Moses declared it. In this Moses is a type of Christ the
Mediator, the Prophet of God. Notice how the text goes from the LORD speaking
to Moses to Moses speaking to the people and the people then obeying.
Exodus 16: 28: And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to
keep my commandments and my laws? [Then Moses declares to them
what God said to him.] 29 See, for that
the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the
bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his
place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
This is the gospel in type.
For those under our sphere of influence—we are to preach the gospel of Christ
our Bread and Christ our Sabbath Rest. We
will look at these verses more in a moment.
First, let’s make sure we
get the first point—why did God address Moses about the children’s
disobedience?
1) Moses was accountable to
God for those God entrusted to him—like I am responsible for you; like us
fathers are responsible to teach our children.
2) Moses is a type of the
law which can never make men obedient unto righteousness—we ought to bring them
to hear the gospel, teach them to listen, to not be a distraction, but we can’t
make them obedient from the heart—law never does.
3) Moses represents God
before the people—he is God’s mouthpiece to those God has entrusted to him—so was
Christ, so are we and we are to preach the gospel to them as Moses did in type
to the children of Israel.
II. HOW DOES A SINNER KEEP ALL GOD’S COMMANDMENTS AND LAWS? Exodus 16: 28: And the LORD said unto
Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
Faith Alone
A sinner establishes the
righteousness of the law one way: through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart
from any law obedience on our behalf.
Romans
3: 21: But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22: Even the righteousness of God which
is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:
God sent his Son to
establish the righteousness of the law for his people because after we fell in
sin, we could not do it for ourselves.
Romans
8: 3 For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans
9: 30:…the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to
righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31: But Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32: Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works
of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Romans
10: 3: For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans
3: 31: Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish
the law [through faith.]
But if we turn back to the
law for righteousness or to sanctify our flesh then we are “being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and going about to establish [our] own righteousness,
have not submitted [ourselves] unto the righteousness of God.”
The righteousness of God—the
righteousness of the law—is established by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ
who, on behalf of his people, fulfilled it in every jot and tittle as he said
he would. Christ’s Righteousness is imputed to us through faith in Christ. We
establish the law through faith, apart from any law obedience of our own.
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob: they all fully established the righteousness of the law when as
yet they lived their whole lives and died without even having the ten
commandments. They did so by believing
on Christ who established the law on their behalf.
Christ our Sabbath Rest
Verse twenty-nine pictures
the believers rest in Christ, by whom we cease to go about to establish our own
righteousness.
Exodus 16: 29: See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath,…
Christ Jesus is that Seventh
Sabbath—perfect rest—given to his people by God.
Colossians 2: 16: Let no man therefore judge you in
meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath
days: 17: Which are a shadow of
things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Exodus 16: 29:…therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread
of two days;
Christ finished the work of
the six days—establishing the law in precept and penalty for his people—he
said, “it is finished.” Christ is our Bread of Life and our
Perfect Righteousness—given freely to us who believe.
Exodus 16: 29:…abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out
of his place on the seventh day.
God commands his child to
abide in Christ who is our place of Sabbath—of Rest. God commands his child not to go out of
Christ our Place to do any works by our own hand seeking life thereby. John said the same because Christ
taught him the same:
1
John 2: 28: And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear,
we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
Let us not make the same mistake
Israel made. They did not believe God
and so they tried to provide life for themselves and they abode not in the rest
he provided.
Hebrews 4: 1: Let us therefore fear, lest, a
promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come
short of it. 2: For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it. 3: For we which have believed do enter into rest,…9: There remaineth therefore a rest to the
people of God. 10: For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased
from his own works, as God did from his.
God rested on the 7th
day of creation because the works were finished. Likewise, God our Savior, Christ Jesus, sat
down at the right hand of the Father when he had by himself purged our
sins—because the works were finished.
Hebrews 4: 10: He that is entered into his rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11: Let us labour
therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief.
Have we got this point? The only way for a sinner to establish the
law is through faith in Christ. We do not make void the law through faith, just
the opposite, through faith in Christ, apart from our own law obedience, we
established the law. “To establish the
law” means that before God, those who rest in Christ have perfectly kept all
the commandments and all the statutes of God, not ourselves, but in Christ who
fulfilled the law for us and put away all our sins. This is what it means to
believe Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
Romans
10: 5: For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man
which doeth those things shall live by them. 6: But the righteousness which is of
faith…8…what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:
that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Galatians 2: 16 Knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the
law shall no flesh be justified….21: I do not frustrate the grace of God: for
if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Sinner, believe on Christ.
He says, “Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
III. BRIEFLY, LET’S ANSWER THE QUESTION—Exodus 16: 29: How long
refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws.
Christ our Life
A sinner will refuse till we
are born again of God by Christ our Life being formed in us. Christ is the Life
of God’s elect, the Bread of Life, typified in the manna.
When the children of Israel
saved their bread for the next day then went out to work for bread when God
told them to rest—it is an example of someone who does not believe Christ is
enough! It was an example of a sinner who may claim to believe God but Christ
is not their Life or their Righteousness; an example of someone who keeps
seeking life and righteousness by their work.
A sinner will repent from that vain way and believe on Christ only when
we hear this word effectually spoken into our hearts:
John
6: 27: Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for
him hath God the Father sealed. 28: Then said they unto him, What shall we do,
that we might work the works of God? 29: Jesus answered and said unto them, This
is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent….
Is there something else? Not
if Christ is enough. But isn’t there
more for me to do? Not if Christ is enough.
John
6: 35: And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me
shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Those who believe on Christ
give God all the glory because we know this about ourselves and about God.
John
6: 44: No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and
I will raise him up at the last day. 45: It is written in the prophets, And they
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
They shall be all taught of
God. Every man therefore that hath heard
and learned of God—cometh to me. The
reason true believers are not working for salvation is because we believe
Christ.
John
6: 47: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting
life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the
wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven,
that a man may eat thereof, and not die…
From then on the believer
walks by faith, obeying Christ and does not turn back to our works because we live
by Christ.
John
6: 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that
eateth me, even he shall live by me.
That was the chief lesson
taught in the manna, it is the chief lesson taught those who God draws to
Christ.
Deuteronomy
8: 3: And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with
manna,…that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
“The just shall live by Faith”—the
believer is justified by Christ the Faithful and we live by Christ the
Faithful. We walk by faith, not by sight.
We live upon the word of Christ
So do we have this point: A
man will refuse to obey God until God forms Christ within giving us life and
faith to rest in Christ and repentance from trying to gather extra than what we
have in Christ. Then Christ is enough because Christ is All: our Life, our
Righteousness, and our Rest; then we say with Peter,
John
6: 68: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And
we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Amen!