Exodus 19 – 21
The Israelites arrive in the wilderness of Sinai (the place where God spoke to Moses from the burning bush) just two months after they leave Egypt. Not surprisingly, Moses climbs the mountain to talk with God. God does not disappoint him. He gives Moses instructions for the family of Jacob, the descendants of Israel.
He first reminds them what He did to the Egyptians and then promises them that if they will obey Him and keep His covenant, they will be God’s own special treasure from among all the people on the earth. The earth belongs to the Lord. They will be His kingdom of priests, His holy nation.
Israel answered, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” But, we will find out that words are cheap. When Moses relays these words to God, He tells Moses to prepare the people, to consecrate them. On the third day the Lord Himself will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.
A boundary had to be set which the people were not supposed to cross and, any person or animal that did was to be stoned or shot with arrows. This is pretty serious – if you disobeyed this rule, you were dead.
Imagine how it was. Here you were, miles from what had been your home, out in the wilderness where everything was strange and different. You’d been warned not to cross a boundary or you would die. On that third day, thunder roared, lightning flashed, and a dense cloud comes down on the mountain. At a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, Moses led them to the foot of the mountain. The whole mountain shook violently. As the horn gets louder and louder, Moses spoke and God thundered his reply.
Let’s face it, any one of those things would be enough to frighten people.
God told Moses to bring Aaron up with him.
In Exodus 20, we read the words that would become the basis for many of our laws. If everyone lived their lives according to the Ten Commandments laid out here by God, life would be very different. But now, in this nation founded on these commandments, we have evil people who don’t even want these commandments in any public arena.
The Lord makes it clear that He has the authority to give these commandments because He is the Lord who rescued them from slavery. He also leaves no doubt that He is a jealous God.
Could anyone tell me what is so bad about these commandments that they would engender such resistance?
After God shares these commandments, the people ask that God not speak directly to them, but that Moses should speak to them and they will listen. Moses replies that God came in that way to test them and so that their “fear of him will keep you from sinning.”
God then starts fleshing out some of the Ten Commandments and His law, including how they are to set up and use altars, how they are to treat their slaves, and what should happen if someone is injured by someone else. God gets very specific about these rules.
Tomorrow, it’s Exodus 22 – 24.
Flowers Flowering
For beautiful photography of flowers flowering, check out this site:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/27920977?title=0&%3bbyline=0&%3bportrait=0href=
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