CSSA 1-1-20 - ISRAEL AT MT. SINAI

Language Thai

20. ISRAEL AT MT. SINAI

"Thou earnest down also upon MT Sinai and gavest them right judgements and true laws, good statutes and commandments"

Aim

To show how God gave His laws and commandments to Israel, His chosen people.

God had delivered Israel from Egypt and led them for three months through the wilderness, until they came at last to Mt. Sinai, as He had earlier promised Moses (Exodus 12).

You will remember that the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt and most probably had little or no understanding of God and how He wanted them to live. It was necessary that this chosen people should know God's way, for God said, "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation" (Ex. 19:6). In order that Israel could be fit subjects of God's Kingdom they must know right from wrong. So it was necessary to give them laws to show them God's ways so that they might obey them and please Him. These laws also pointed out to them how wrong it was to sin against their God.

Exodus 19 and 20.

ISRAEL AT MT. SINAI: Exodus 19:1-15

When the people came to Sinai, they pitched camp and Moses went up into the mountain to speak with the angel of God. Moses was told why God had led the Hebrew people through such difficult journeyings and what His purpose was with them. The wonderful message of their future now became clear when God said, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar (ie a special) treasure unto me, above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (vv. 5, 6).

Moses came down to the people and gave them this wonderful promise to which they replied, "All that Yahweh hath spoken we will do". Then God told Moses that He would meet with all the people in three days' time. They must wash themselves and be prepared for this great and awe-inspiring occasion. Barriers were set up around the mountain because God said the place was holy. They were warned not touch it or they would die. "There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall be surely stoned ... whether it be beast or man" (v. 13).

THE WORD OF GOD - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: Exodus 19:16-25; 20

On the third day, there were "thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled" (v. 16). Moses brought all the people to the foot of the mountain and then God came down and covered the top of it with fire and smoke and the whole of the mountain trembled greatly. Imagine the wonder that filled the people, watching in silence. Here they were in the very presence of Yahweh, although they could not see Him. The voice of the trumpet sounded long and grew louder and louder.

Moses alone went up into the mountain and there God gave him instructions, which he took back to the people. Then from out of the midst of the fire and cloud, the people heard the voice of God, clear and terrifying (Deut. 4:11-13), proclaiming the ten commandments.

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Thou shalt not take the Name of Yahweh thy God in vain
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honour thy father and mother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shall not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.

9) Thou shalt not bear false witness.
10) Thou shalt not covet.

When God had finished speaking, the thunderings and lightning and sound of the trumpet continued and the people were terrified. They said to Moses, "Speak thou with us and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die" (Ex 20:19).

So Moses went back up into the mountain, where God gave him further laws, which he later recited to the people. All these laws and commandments would help them learn to be a special people to their God. They would learn how to treat each other and how to deal with the nations among whom they were to live. God also promised to send an angel before them to lead them safely to the Promised Land but He warned them, "Beware of him ... for My Name is in him" (Ex. 23:21).

When Moses had finished reciting all these commandments, the people readily agreed to obey. "All that Yahweh hath said, we will do, and be obedient". (Ex. 24:7). They made a covenant or solemn promise to be God's special people. From Sinai they were to go forward as the nation of Israel to inherit the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

LESSON FOR US

The greatest of all lessons is clearly seen in the ten commandments. If put into practice in our lives day by day, they can help us to become true sons and daughters of God. We must learn to think of God first in all things, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. To love God, the Lord Jesus Christ said, with all our heart and mind and strength, is the first and greatest of all the commandments. "The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." See the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 22:37-40.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

The purpose of God in giving Israel His law, was to teach them the way they should go, for His law was intended to be obeyed. It was to teach Israel right from wrong, and to remind them that they were a holy or separate people and were never to forget their God. So the law of God brought Him to mind in every way, in the home, in their education and in their daily work.

When we look at the ten commandments, we see that they are divided into two groups of five. The first four relate to the way Israel was to worship God: the fifth concerns family life; and the remaining five show the care they had to take in treating their neighbours.

Although today we are not bound to keep the Law of Moses, we must still obey these commandments, for the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to do so (See Lesson For Us). For example, nine of the ten commandments are repeated in the New Testament, and the fourth commandment (regarding the Sabbath), is to be obeyed in its true sense for we must not please ourselves but delight in doing God's will every day (Isa. 58:13-14).

The Law of Moses has been put away but God is still calling out of all nations men and women of faith. Those who accept the Truth in the appointed way, by belief and baptism into Jesus Christ, are accounted as "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people", as Israel was under Moses (I Peter 2:9; cp Exodus 19:5-6).

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