The people of Israel no longer simply represented themselves; they now represented God. When He committed in his covenant to make them a holy nation, to make them priests, He was welcoming them onto His team. Not just as spectators, but as fully uniformed members of the team.
When you wear a uniform, your words and actions, the things you do and don’t do, your character, reflects not only you but also on everything that uniform stands for.
God provided Israel with laws and training to develop themselves as a community. For 430 years all they had to witness was Egypt, but now God was beginning the retraining to set them on a new path to become a holy nation, set apart, to be His people and for He to be their God. But the laws were not just for them. The laws also set a higher standard so that as other tribes and nations looked at Israel they saw this was something different. There was something here that was missing from their nation and their lives.
We have the same obligation. When the lives of the Christian community look the same as non-Christians, we misrepresent the uniform that we choose to wear. We face the same struggles, temptations and battles as non-Christians, but we are held to a higher standard. We are not just held to the rule of law, but also to the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.
My Answers:
3.
a.
Book of the Covenant
b.
Because of their time in Egypt and because of the specific Mosaic covenant
c.
Luke 12:48; Ezek 34:1-10; James 3:1; Heb 13:17; Matt 5:14; 1 Cor 4:2; Rom 3:19
d.
Teaching responsibility has made me study deeper. Parenting responsibility has made me a more conscientious role model
4.
They spent 430 years in Egypt. He is starting with community as they have known it and beginning the retraining to shape them ultimately into a holy nation. This does not necessary mean that God is condoning these behaviors (slavery, seduction, etc.), but he is starting them on a journey and training them as they go.
The Notes are Good 