This topic will focus on the Ten Commandments, as found in the books of Genesis and Job. Prior to the time God gave the Ten Commandments (so-called) to Moses/Israel at Sinai in Exodus 20.
The books of Genesis and Job reflect most of the moral directives or laws that were later codified for Israel and the Jewish people in the Mosaic Law. My topic “Genesis Principles Predate Moses” notes three dozen of God’s principles seen or implied in Genesis. James Bruckner Implied Law in the Abraham Narrative, p.67 “Genesis is embedded with law.”
God’s righteous standards for mankind and the Kingdom of God, and even glimpses of Christ’s gospel, are seen in the book of Genesis. Albertus Pieters Notes On Genesis “Whoever has learned the Genesis stories has learned all the chief things that can be known about God (apart from the incarnation of God in Christ)…of permanent institutions for the well-being of mankind; we have here the institution of the Sabbath, marriage, government, and worship.” A careful reading of the Genesis narrative bears this out.
Genesis was written/compiled by Moses, as inspired by God’s Holy Spirit. It tells of ancient non-Jews. Some of them applied God’s ways, while others violated the principles of God and His Kingdom.
The Lord said of the gentile/non-Jew Abraham in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed My voice, kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”. Also Wisdom of Sirach 44:20 KJV 1611 edition “Abraham kept the law of the Most High.” Abraham, living ca 2000 BC, was obedient to the Lord. Abraham followed God’s principles/commandments, known in Genesis. (also ref “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?”.)
The book of Job shows that Job practiced the Golden Rule. Jesus said in Mt.7:12, “However you want people to treat you, so treat them”. Jb.1:1 “Job was blameless, upright, fearing God.” Righteous Job (Ezk.14:14) cared for others (e.g. Jb.31:16-20)….ca 1700 BC. Jb.1:8 the Lord called Job “My servant”. Job was the greatest man in the East (Jb.1:3). He wasn’t Jewish. The patriarch Job lived for 200 years (cf. Jb.42:16). Job’s trials probably were in the 1700s BC. see “Job and the Land of Uz”.
Among the ancient gentile Godfearers who obeyed God…were Abraham (Ge.22:12) and Job (Jb.2:3).
In Genesis and Job, there’s no nation of Israel. Later, the Lord had Moses codify the Decalogue or Ten Commandments, seen in Ex.20 & De.5. The Old Covenant for Israel/Jews contained the Ten Commandments and other moral precepts/laws existent in Genesis, which ancient righteous gentiles such as Abraham & Job obeyed earlier. (The Old Covenant also contained ceremonial rituals not seen in Genesis or Job.)
Expositor’s Greek Testament Ga.3:19 “The prohibitions of the Ten Commandments….these sins prevailed before the law [of Moses].” A close reading of actions in Genesis and Job reveals both knowledge of and violations of the commandments which later became the Decalogue for Israel.
Evangelical Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser wrote in God’s Promise Plan and His Gracious Law: “So endemic is the moral law to the whole of the Mosaic law that evidences for its abiding nature can be found in the fact that even before it was given on Sinai it was held to be normative and binding on all who aspired to living by faith. In fact every one of the Ten Commandments is already implicitly found in the Genesis record even before their publication on Sinai. Moses didn’t invent the moral law; God did, and He had already been holding men and women responsible for heeding it millennia before he finally wrote it on tablets of stone.” Living by faith included living by God’s Ten Commandments.
We’ll now go through the Ten Commandments from 1 to 10, according to Ex.20:1-17. As we go, we’ll also show them as implied in the books of Genesis and Job….obeyed or disobeyed…prior to 1700 BC.
#1) Ex.20:1-3 “God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I AM the Lord your God…You shall have no other gods besides Me.” In Ge.1–2 the Lord God is identified as the Creator. He is the true Deity. God told Abram in Ge.15:7, “I AM the Lord who brought you out of Ur”. Abraham’s servant said in Ge.24:48, “I bowed and worshiped the Lord; and blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham”. Jb.1:21 “Job said, ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Jb.42:1-2 “Job answered the Lord, ‘I know that You can do all things.” Abraham and Job knew the Lord God. They didn’t worship pagan gods. Ge.35:1-2 “God said to Jacob [Abraham’s grandson]…‘make an altar to God.’ So Jacob said to his household and to all with him, ‘Put away the strange gods which are among you.” Jacob rid his house of other gods.
#2) Ex.20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourselves an idol or any likeness [graven image or petroglyph] of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath….you shall not worship them or serve them.” The Lord forbad the worship of carved images or heavenly bodies. Jacob’s father-in-law Labán was an idolator. Ge.31:35 “He [Laban] searched, but didn’t find his idols [terraphím, Hebrew]. Again, Jacob and his household put away their own idols. Ge.35:4 “Jacob buried them [idol gods] under the oak near Shechém.” Job acknowledged in Jb.31:26-28, “If I regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon, so that I worshiped them with my mouth and hands, that would have been iniquity…I would have denied God above.” Job knew that worshiping/idolizing heavenly bodies would’ve belied the true Creator God.
#3) Ex.20:7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” Abraham enjoined his servant in Ge.24:3, “I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth”. Abraham’s requirement that his servant take a solemn oath in the name of the Lord indicates they understood the name of God isn’t to be taken in vain. Abraham himself swore in Ge.14:22, “I raise my hand to the Lord God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth”. Misusing God’s name can mean taking His name lightly, blaspheming or cursing Him. Job’s wife berated Job in Jb.2:9-10, “Curse [or renounce, Cambridge Bible] God and die….In all this Job didn’t sin with his lips.” In all his trials, Job didn’t take the Lord’s name in vain. Job blessed God’s name (Jb.1:21).
#4) Ex.20:8-11 “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, and rested on the 7th day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” In the Bible, the 7th day was the first thing God made holy! After Creation, Christ ceased or rested in Ge.2:1-3. “By the 7th day God finished His work which He had done, and He ceased on the 7th day. Then God blessed the 7th day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which He had created and made.” This was the beginnings of 7th day sabbath rest. JFB Commentary Ge.2:3 “The institution of the Sabbath is as old as creation.” Pulpit Commentary Ge.2:3 “A 7th day Sabbath must have been prescribed to man in Eden.” Dwight L. Moody Weighed and Wanting, p.47 “The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. Matthew Henry Commentary Ge.8:12 “Having kept the sabbath with his little church, he [Noah] expected special blessings.” JFB Ge.8:12 “Seven days – a strong presumptive proof that Noah observed the Sabbath in the ark.” Ellicott Commentary Ex.16:23 “Much can be said in favor of the primeval institution of the Sabbath, and its having been known to the family of Abraham.” Matthew Henry Ge.2:1 “Sabbaths are as ancient as the world; and I see no reason to doubt that the Sabbath…was religiously observed by the people of God throughout the patriarchal age.” The patriarchal age included Abraham & Job. The 7-day week, known by the ancients, was a customary time period for feasting (Ge.29:27) and mourning (Ge.50:10, Jb.2:13). Ex.16:27-29 God’s 7th day sabbath law already existed before He gave the Decalogue in Ex.20. In the (supposed) Book of Jasher 70:47, a Pharaoh had decreed 7th day rest for Israelites decades prior to the Exodus. (also see the series, “Sabbath 7th Day”.)
#5) Ex.20:12 “Honor your father and your mother.” We see examples in Genesis of sons honoring, and dishonoring, their parents. Ge.25:8-10 “His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him [Abraham].” They gave their father a proper burial. Ge.28:7 “Jacob obeyed his father and mother [Isaac and Rebekah].” But Ge.9:24-26, “When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.” Dishonoring a parent or grandparent is wrong. Ge.38:8-10 Onán disobeyed his father Judah, and the Lord took Onan’s life. Job’s trials included the deaths of his sons & daughters (Jb.1:18-19). Job was stripped of his honor and dignity; his relatives and associates avoided him (Jb.19:9-19). However, respect or honor for elders in general is seen in Job. Jb.32:4-7 “Elihú had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he.” The younger man Elihu deferred to Job and Job’s three friends, allowing them to speak first. JFB Commentary “In deference to the seniority of the friends who spoke.”
#6) Ex.20:13 “You shall not murder.” Murder was committed in Ge.4:8. “Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” Consequently, God cursed Cain from the land (v.9-13). God commanded Noah in Ge.9:5-6, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man”. Murder is a capital crime; it was condemned from the beginning. Jb.24:14a “The murderer arises at dawn; he kills the poor and the needy.” The poor may be cruelly killed, because they have no more that can be taken from them. Job asserted himself against any charge of hypocrisy in Jb.31:39. “If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or caused the owners to lose their life.” Pulpit Commentary “Either by actual violence or by depriving them of the means of support.” Job was a wealthy man of renown. But he didn’t kill others to take possession of their land (cf. 1Ki.21:18-19).
#7) Ex.20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.” Adultery occurs when a man has sexual relations with a woman who is married or betrothed to another man. The ancients knew adultery was sin. Ge.20:6-9 conversing with Abraham, Abimélech referred to adultery as a great sin. Also ref Ge.26:10-11, where sleeping with Isaac’s wife Rebekah would’ve brought guilt upon anyone who did so. Ge.39:7-9 “The master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph and said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘How could I do this great evil and sin against God?” Joseph viewed adultery as a great evil! Jb.24:15 “The eye of the adulterer waits for the dusk, thinking, ‘No one is watching us.’ He disguises his face.” Also Jb.31:9-11 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door….it would be an iniquity.” Having sex with a neighbor’s wife is iniquity. Adultery was sin for gentiles/non-Jews too…long before Christ’s Decalogue was codified for Israel at Sinai.
#8) Ex.20:15 “You shall not steal.” Regarding Jacob’s wages, Jacob said to Laban in Ge.30:33, “If I have any goats that aren’t speckled or spotted, or any lambs that aren’t black, it will be counted stolen by me”. Joseph’s brothers asserted to his house steward in Ge.44:8, “How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? If any of us has it, let him die.” Many ancient nations had severe (or excessive) punishment for theft. Jb.24:14b “At night he is as a thief.” The Sabeáns and Chaldéans raided & stole Job’s livestock in Jb.1:14-17. Theft was a crime from the beginning. Robert Flockhart The Street Preacher, p.16 “Eve stole the forbidden fruit, and Adam partook of it [Ge.2:16-17, 3:6].”
#9) Ex.20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” The Lord God said man would surely die if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Ge.2:17). But the serpent then spoke falsely to Eve about God’s declaration. The serpent said in Ge.3:4, “You shall not surely die”. In Ge.39:14-20, the wife of Joseph’s master falsely claimed that Joseph had tried to rape her. Her false charge resulted in Joseph being sentenced to prison (perhaps for life). False witness and lies can have grave consequences. Job maintained his integrity, as seen in the following verses: Jb.6:28 “Please look at me, and see if I lie to your face.” Jb.24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false and make my speech worthless?” Jb.27:4 “My lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue utter deceit.” Jb.31:5-6 “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit, let God weigh me on just scales.” Jb.36:4 “Be assured that my words are not false.” False witness and lies were wrong…before Sinai.
#10) Ex.20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” To covet wrongly is to (illicitly) desire something we can’t come to rightfully have or obtain someday. Ge.3:6 “The woman [Eve] saw that the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, that it was desirable to make one wise.” Eve coveted the fruit from the forbidden tree…and she ate from it. Wrong coveting can lead to overt sins such as stealing, adultery, violence and murder. Ge.6:5 “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great, and that every intent of the thought of his heart was evil continually.” Coveting begins in the heart. Laban coveted wealth and cheated Jacob (Ge.31:7), who worked for him. Job said in Jb.31:7 ISV, “If my heart covets whatever my eyes see….” Carteret Carey Theology in the Book of Job, p.27 “Covetousness is regarded in the light of idolatry (31:24-25).” The apostle Paul tied coveting to idolatry in Col.3:5. “Covetousness [or greed], which is idolatry.” Wrong covetousness was in Eden. also see the topic “Coveting – Wrong and Right Desire”.
In the above paragraphs, we’ve found the Lord’s Ten Commandments (implied) in the books of Genesis and Job, for ancient gentiles/non-Jews. Yes, God had moral laws in Genesis, from the beginning. 1Jn.3:8 “The devil sins from the beginning.” Sin isn’t imputed when there is no law, according to Paul (Ro.5:13). Barnes Notes Ro.5:13 “There must have been a law of some kind.” God’s laws, which show how to love God and love our neighbor, existed from Creation…for all of mankind.
Bruckner op. cit., p.208-209 “Law is presented, in this first canonical book of scripture [Genesis], as part of the created order….The basis for all cultures and times. Thinking of Biblical law in the context of creation as prior to the Sinaitic covenant…establishes Biblical law as operative beyond the confines of a historical past or a single culture, and establishes it in the bone and flesh of created humanity.”
To relegate the Ten Commandments solely to the Old Covenant of Ex.20 for Israel, is short-sighted. The principles of the Ten Commandments long predate both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant! They are common to all mankind.
Between the lines of Genesis and Job are seen God’s righteous standards, including the Ten Commandments. Re.22:14 KJV “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life.” Gentiles and Jews who are obedient to God’s commandments, living forever with the Lord Jesus. Praise God!
Bible Topic Exposition 