Herein I commence my “Exodus as premise for…” series, all of which you can find here.
I have heard many Atheists point out, in complaint, that the first four of the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, do not even pertain to ethical issue. This is a styled counterargument to the Judeo-Christian claim that Judeo-Christian ethical principles are premised upon them.
Note that the first commandment states, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” It seems to me that Atheists do not recognize what this is because they are the worst sorts of fire and brimstone preachers. That is to say that they instantly jump into condemnation and do so without a premise—and when they do attempt to assert a premise they beg, borrow and steal from Judeo-Christian ethical principles. Thus, they do not recognize that this first commandment establishes the premise for all those which follow.
Since, “I am the LORD thy God” who is that one that “brought thee out of the land of Egypt” in freeing the Hebrews “out of the house of bondage” therefore, He has the right to establish ethical principles, “remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God” (Numbers 15) and “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today” (Deuteronomy 15) also, “you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes” (Deuteronomy 16). In fact, it is noted that “Then people would say: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 29) and “the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 26) so that by being freed they were entering into a covenant.
Now, since God enjoys this exclusive right then it is an ethical commandment to “have no other gods before”1 Him since, and we loop back around to, He has the right to establish ethical principles since He enjoys the exclusive rights.
The Hebrews were to “fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!” (Joshua 24) and sometimes, “they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Judges 2).
Thus, it is unethical to “not make…any graven image, or any likeness” so as to “bow down thyself to them, nor serve them” because “I the LORD thy God am a jealous2 God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of” who exactly? “them that hate me” and yet, “shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
Following from this it is therefore unethical to “take the name of the LORD thy God in vain” since it is He who liberated the Hebrews, “Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 22).
They were also to “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” because “in six days the LORD” created everything “rested the seventh day” and we are to be like Him as He showed Himself to be a liberator, “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5).
The rest are largely self-explanatory, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” All are reflective of God’s very nature and essence which is the ethos: the oughts, should, the imperatives.
Now, my point has actually been to elucidate that which is constantly peppered throughout the Bible such as that God stating “I am the LORD” (Exo 12) which also explains why, thereafter, He had the right to state “I am the LORD thy God” and “have no other gods before me” as any true and worthy god could have prevented Him from doing that which He did and it was “against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment” (Exodus 12). Also, He did so due to compassion for the Hebrew’s suffering.
For these same reasons, He did this so as to make an impression upon all nations who would hear of it again validating “I am the LORD thy God” and “have no other gods before me” as any true and worthy god could have prevented Him from doing that which He did. This also served as a constant reminder of a premise upon which to establish His right to command and also as an empathy premise since the Hebrews were to treat non-Hebrew foreigners well since Hebrews were once the foreigners.
Beginning with “the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates’” (Genesis 15) which sets the stage for all that which follows. This continues when “Joseph had been taken down to Egypt” (Genesis 39) 3. God stated, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there” (Genesis 46). Yet, after Joseph’s success in Egypt, “a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph…spoke to the Hebrew midwives…and he said, ‘When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.’ But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive” (Exodus 1)4.
In the next segment, all of which you can find here, we will consider Exodus as premise for God’s mighty acts due to His compassion.
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