The Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes

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God reveals His divine plan of redemption for Israel by the time we read Exodus chapter 20. The Lord’s mighty hand released the nation of Israel from their taskmasters. He brought them to His holy mountain and there He will personally write the Ten Commandments (Decalogue) and give them to Moses for the people. God pours out His sovereign law out on a tablet and written on the hearts of men. Through these laws, the LORD sets in motion His divine plan for social, religious and national order for all mankind. Fast forward a few millennia and see another member of the Godhead revealing a new set of edicts given in the Beatitudes, during the Sermon on the Mount. When people conform to Jesus will, they receive blessing. through comparing and contrasting the Ten Commandments with the Beatitudes we uncover amazing truths.

First, consider the hearts of the people in the audience during the conveying of the Ten Commandments and Beatitudes. The condition of Israel’s collective heart predisposed them to reject God and His laws at Mt. Sinai. This act of disobedience led the LORD to punish them. They had to wander the desert for forty years until the disobedient members had passed away. The people had sin in their hearts and the LORD did not possess them. They set their needs and desires in front of the LORD. They focused on their own flesh, not on their souls, nor their nation and certainly not upon Jehovah.

Similarly, Jesus encountered self-centered attitudes of the people when He gave the Beatitudes during the Sermon on the Mount. The crowd hoped that the Messiah would rid them of Roman rule, lead the nation back into regional prominence and improve their standard of living. While some heard and believed His message, th...

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...ever pondered the New Testament term “perfecting of the saints?” God’s calls His people to aspire to the perfection of Jesus Christ. The original commandments showed us the impossibility of this requirement, but Jesus came to meet this need. Hebrews 7:11 compares Jesus and Melchizedek, “Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?” 3 The plan of our Creator becomes obvious when you consider the result of the incorporation of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. God’s Ten Commandments represent His requirement of righteousness and the Beatitudes embody His love and forgiveness. This hallmark becomes the narrative of all redemptive history .

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