Who Is This God?

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Deuteronomy 5:6

Brought You Out – When Pharaoh first heard Moses’ demand that he let the people of Israel leave, he scoffed, “Who is this god that I should obey Him?”  Pharaoh didn’t know Yahweh, and he had no intention of giving credence to the request of some foreign god.  After all, he considered himself a god.  Why should he pay attention to a rival?  A few years later, Pharaoh had a very different appreciation for the God of Israel.

Each of us begins our journey as a pharaoh and a slave.  As much as we long for freedom, we also scoff at this foreign God Who asks us to submit to His authority.  We want freedom without conditions.  It generally takes a few plagues for us to realize that unconditional freedom is a demonic myth.  Jesus knew it only too well – “You cannot serve two masters.”  To be brought out of the land of bondage is not to be set free to serve ourselves.  It is to released to serve another God – the God of Israel.

The slavery mentality that accompanies those who have been rescued is deceptive and dangerous.  More often than not, it seduces us into operating on the false dichotomy of “slave versus free.”  With that kind of thinking, we chafe under any new master.  We fail to see that the inherent design of human being is submission.  The only real choice is whom we will serve, not if we will serve.  But notice, if you will, that God’s rescue precedes His covenant requirement.  God brings us out of bondage before He gives the Law.  Therefore, the Law is never the means for attaining favor with this new Master.  It is a response to this new Master’s prior benevolence.  God’s children experience rescue, not revolution.  They do not cast off their own fetters.  They are removed from slavery to a despot, and elected into submission to a benevolent dictator.  We either play the game by Pharaoh’s rules or by God’s, but God’s rules come after His act of rescue.

Pharaoh’s rules begin with personal glorification.  “Who is this god that I should listen to him?”  The only person who can utter such a statement is a person without the lesson of tragic humility.  Even a slave can have the heart of Pharaoh.  All that is required is an attitude that no one can tell me what to do with my life.  Such a mistake leads to incredible misery.  It is God’s intention and plan to take us out of this pitiful state.  But that is not the same as freedom.  Don’t be confused.  Slaves are still slaves.  What changes is the character of the Master, not the status of the slave.  Paul’s favorite word for himself is not “bond-servant” but “slave” (doulos), and for good reason.

This verse is the introduction of the ways of this new Master.  What follows is the covenant code – the rules that govern slave behavior in the kingdom of Yahweh.  There is no covenant without these rules.  There are no “free” men in God’s kingdom.  All of these covenant rules begin with a reminder: “I am the Lord Who asher hotsetikha (brought you out).”  Rescue entails ownership.  Now you belong to a new suzerain Lord.  But this is a suzerain Lord who acted first with love.  The rules are nothing more than the proper response of one who has been showered with loving kindness.  They are not a means of earning credit, any more than a marriage license is a substitute for a devoted heart.  The covenant exists because God loves us – and we are eternally grateful.

Now we are ready for rules.  After all, He is the One Who brought us out.

Topical Index:  Grace