The objective of this lesson: to challenge Christians to think about our concept of obedience and God's sovereignty.

In Exodus 20:1-17 God gave Israel the Ten Commandments. The first four commands focus on the relationship between Israel and the living God who delivered Israel from Egypt. The next six focus on how Israelites are to treat and relate to other Israelites.

Call the basic division of the Ten Commandments to your students' attention.

To people of a Christian religious background, the Ten Commandments may not seem profound. To the Israelites who spent generations in slavery under the influence of Egyptian idolatry that worshipped many gods, these commandments were profound. These commandments instructed Israelites to conduct themselves in ways that were not typical of other societies in their age and world.

To those who grew up under the influence of Christian ethics, the emphasis of the Ten Commandments is not astounding. However, when these commandments were first emphasized to Israel, people were quite different in their common concepts of right and wrong. There were gods, not one God. The gods were often vindictive and objectionable in their conduct (from a Christian perspective of right and wrong). Because of the gods' evil behavior, people commonly felt evil behavior was justified and acceptable. What a Christian would regard as evil today often was considered good then.

"Because I am the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery, (1) you will not recognize or honor anything else as God. (2) You will not make, worship, or serve idols. (3) One way you will show Me respect is by honoring My name. (4) Another way you will show me respect is this: You will keep Saturday holy.

Because of the manner that God benefited Israelites, God sought a continuing relationship with Israelites (based on an appreciation of God's beneficial acts).

In regard to the fourth commandment, Israel was instructed to keep the Sabbath (Saturday) holy. The seventh day of each week was to be kept holy by Israelites not working. The other six days they worked, but on Saturday Israelites were not to work. Not only did the Israelites not work, but neither were they to allow their children, their servants, their visitors, nor their livestock to work.

The way the Sabbath was to be kept holy was by doing no work. Their world was not a world of fast food and convenience. It was a world in which people struggled for survival every day. By not working for an entire day each week in a rural, agricultural age, Israel would show they depended on God to care for them.

The precedent was no less than the God of creation Himself. When God created the heavens and the earth, He rested from His creative tasks on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3). In six days the creation was complete. On the seventh God did nothing in His creation work.

God asked Israel to do what He did.

Consider when these commandments were given to Israel. Before these commandments were given to the Israelites, (1) they were delivered from Egyptian slavery by God. (2) They were separated permanently from Egypt by God allowing them to cross the Red Sea on dry ground (Exodus 14:16). (3) They were preserved in the wilderness by God meeting their physical needs as they spent about three months traveling to Sinai (Exodus 19:1). After these commandments were given to the Israelites, (1) they received additional laws. (2) They built, furnished, and put into service the tabernacle. (3) They put the priesthood into service. (4) They began the sacrificial system of worship. (5) They completed their journey to the border of Canaan the first time (Numbers 13, 14).

It is important to take note of when the Sabbath law was given to Israel.

This single point is called to your attention: the invasion of Canaan and the fall of Jericho occurred almost 40 years after God gave Israel the law of the Sabbath day in Exodus 20:8-11 (see also Numbers 14:34 and Joshua 5:2-12).

The fall of Jericho occurred long after God gave the Sabbath law to Israel.

First, God gave Israel the law of the Sabbath in Exodus 20:8-11. Second, about 40 years later, Jericho falls to Israel as the Israelites following God's commandments invade Canaan. These were the instructions from God regarding the battle against Jericho (see Joshua 6:1-5, 15-21). (1) The walled city was to be circled silently once each day for 6 days. (2) In this parade around Jericho, seven priests with trumpets were to lead the ark and the march as Israel silently circled the city once for six days. (3) The seventh day, in the same order, they were silently to circle the city seven times. At the completion of the seventh circle, the priests blew the trumpets, the army shouted, the walls fell, and the Israelite army captured the city. (4) Everything in the city was to be killed except Rahab and those in her house. (5) No goods were to be taken by any Israelite soldier. (6) The city was to be burned. (7) The silver, gold, bronze, and iron were to be placed in God's treasury.

Note God's instructions concerning the conquest of Jericho.

Since this was to take place seven consecutive days, the period had to include a Sabbath. The conflict between the commandments in Exodus 20:8-11 and Joshua 6 should be obvious.

There is an obvious conflict between Exodus 20:8-11 and Joshua 6. Israel understood the Sabbath law to apply to travel, to cooking, and to caring for one's livestock. Marching, fighting, and conquering was (and is) work!

The following is an opinion, and is declared to be such. The student is certainly at liberty to accept or reject it.

This is merely expressing a personal view. It is not necessary for anyone to agree with this view. In no way is it to be used to measure a person's faith in God.

The creation account declared God rested on the "seventh day." Exodus 20:8-11 connects the Sabbath with the "seventh day." The attack on Jericho occurred on the "seventh day."

There is a definite biblical connection between the seventh day and the Sabbath.

In the opinion of the writer, the Israelite priests and army marched once around Jericho Sunday through Friday. On the Sabbath, Saturday, they marched around Jericho seven times. By an act of God the city was made vulnerable to them for capture. The invasion of Canaan started with an act of God--just like the escape from Egypt. God was at the core of all that happened. Israelites did not profit from the beginning invasion. Only the metal captured was to be saved and devoted to God.

The view of the writer is that Jericho fell to Israel on the Sabbath.

The point is not to stress the contradictory nature of Exodus 20:8-11 and the events of Joshua 6. The point is to stress God's sovereignty. God has the right to give humans commandments. Humans have the responsibility to obey God when God gives them instructions. We cannot say to God, "You cannot instruct us to do that because You said . . ."

The challenge is not to find a way, an argument, or a means to reconcile Exodus 20:8-11 with Joshua 6. The challenge is to better understand God's sovereignty.

There is a distinct difference in faith in the God who instructs and faith in our own behavior. There definitely are times when we yield to the temptation to place our faith in our acts rather than in our God.

It is too easy to use our human concept of obedience to restrict God. It is too easy to place our faith in our acts instead of our God.

We do not bind God by our concept of obedience. God binds us by being sovereign over us.

God gives commandments to humans. Humans obey God's instructions. God is God, and as God humans neither instruct nor bind Him. Because God is God, He can do what He sees as right and appropriate. We are His creation. He made us. We did not make Him.

1. In the Ten Commandments, what was the focus of the first four commandments?

   The focus was on Israel's respect for God.

    

2. What did the fourth commandment (the Sabbath commandment) instruct Israel to do?

   To keep the seventh day holy (the Sabbath, or Saturday) by not working. No work was to occur in Israel--children, servants, visitors, and livestock also were not to work. Israelites would demonstrate their dependence on God by not working one day each week.

    

3. Why?

   God Himself was their example. When He created this world, He rested on the seventh day.

    

4. What point is called to your attention?

   The invasion of Canaan and the fall of Jericho occurred about forty years after the giving of the laws of the Sabbath in Exodus 20:8-11.

    

5. What were God's instructions for the conquest of Jericho?

   (1) For six days in a declared order the priests, ark, and army of Israel would march around Jericho silently one time. (2) On the seventh day they would march in the same order circling Jericho seven times. (3) The march was to end with the blaring of the priests' trumpets and the shout of the army. (4) The army was to capture the city when the walls fell. (5) Only Rahab and those in her house were to be spared. (6) The city was to be burned. (7) No Israelite was to take anything from Jericho for self. (8) The metal of the city was to be devoted exclusively to God.

    

6. What is the opinion of the writer?

   Jericho fell on the Sabbath.

    

7. Discuss the sovereignty of God.

   The discussion should include the fact that God is God and may do as He chooses to do.

    

8. Can you state the difference between placing faith in God and placing faith in our behavior?

   When we place faith in God we trust Him, not our own reasoning, demands, or expectations. When we place faith in our behavior, we feel secure because we trust what we have done.

    

9. Discuss these statements: "We do not bind God by our concept of obedience. God binds us by being sovereign over us."

   God in no way is restricted by us or our expectations. We are bound by the truth that God is God, not our creation. We are answerable to Him, not He to us. The concept of obedience must hold us responsible to God, not God responsible to us.