Religion 5 Bk 6 Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Liberating Power of the Ten Commandments

Hear the Story

"I am the Lord your God"

Many of our ancestors left their homelands to come to the United States of America,, "the Land of Opportunity." Many continue to flee oppression and seek asylum here; others seek the freedom to pursue opportunities to provide the basic necessities of life for themselves and their loved ones and to live with dignity. Sadly, as happened to some of our ancestors, people are still being brought here in slavery by those who abuse their freedom in their pursuit of wealth and power. Human trafficking is a heinous crime and a sin that attacks the very dignity of the human person. Some of our citizens continue to be enslaved by both social structures and other circumstances that are part of their lives.

Open Ended

In what ways are people in the United States of America enslaved today? What are the forces that contribute to this "slavery"

The Israelites' Journey to Freedom

The Exodus and the covenant that God and the Israelites entered at Sinai reveal the very heart of God's relationship with his people. The Exodus is God's great liberating action on behalf of his people. Just as Jews today, the ancient Israelites remembered, recalled and celebrated the Exodus and God's liberating among them during Passover, as the law of the covenant commanded. For Christians, these Passover-Exodus events foreshadow the saving events of Christ's Death and Resurrection.

The Exodus reveals the very identity of the God with whom the Israelites were to live in covenant. God revealed himself to be the one true God whom they were to worship, a God of freedom and justice who has a special love for the oppressed.

This passage from the Torah summarizes the Israelites' confession of faith in God. It tells of how the Israelties were to worship God when they entered the Promised Land and offer him the gifts from their first harvest.

Open Ended

1. What is celebrated during the Jewish feast of the Passover?

2. For Christians, what do these Passover-Exodus events foreshadow?

3. What did God reveal at Sinai?

4. Define worshi

Moses: Shepherd, Prophet of Freedom and Liberator of God's People

The story of Moses, the prophet of freedom and great liberator, is well known. It has often been portrayed in literature, music, art and film.

After he killed and Egyptian when he came to the defense of a Hebrew slave, Moses fled into the desert, where he found refuge among the Midianites, a nomadic tribe. While his flock was grazing near Mount Horeb, Moses noticed a bush burning but not being destroyed by the fire. On approaching the bush, Moses heard a voice...Moses hid his face, as the voice called to him and instructed him to lead the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt into freedom in a new land.

God was asking Moses to be his voice, to be his prophet. God assured Moses that he would be with him and his people. Pharaoh would free the people, and Moses would lead them out of Egypt to Mount Sinai.

On Mount Sinai God and the Israelites entered a covenant and God gave him the Ten Commandments. God then told Moses to give the Israelites a final instruction.

Open Ended

1 According to the Book of Exodus, how did God identify himself to Moses from the burning bush?

From Coercion to Covenant

With God's grace and Moses' leadership, the Israelites began their journey to freedom. But they soon found that the journey to be difficult, and it tested their trust in God and in Moses. The Israelites' memories of their opression became dull and they longed for the comforts of Egypt. When the Israelites were only a month and a half out of Egypt, they began to complain against Aaron and Moses.

Open Ended

While on the journey to freedom, what complaints did the Israelites make against Moses and Aaron?

The New-Found Freedom of Living in Covenant

At Mount Sinai, God invited the ancient Israelites to enter a life-giving and liberating covenant, and they freely agreed. Then God revealed the details of the law of the covenant, which Tradition has summarized in the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments begin with: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me". In other words, God had freed the Israelites to live in the freedom he wills for all people. Ironically, they could do so only by keeping God's laws. The Ten Commandments point out the conditions of a life freed from the slavery of sin and lived in accordance with God's will.

The Ten Commandments must be understood within the context of the covenant and God's liberating love. The first of the Ten Commandments affirms that God loved his people first. God reveals the Ten Commandments purely out of love and for our own good. God commands us to so live because God wills nothing but the very best for us - out of love.

The Ten Commandments do not just address individual persons; they also address the community of God's people. They are the Law God addressed to "the leaders of your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your women, and the aliens who are in your camp". The covenant is radically inclusive and radically communal.

The covenant is not simply between God and "me"; it is essentially between God and "us". Every member and that the whole community is responsible for living the covenant by obeying the Commandments. The People of God are both a covenant people and a commandment people. Only in a faith community can we live as the People of God.

Open Ended

1. What invitation did God issue to the ancient Israelites at Mount Sinai?

2. What does God reveal to humanity through the commandments?