Connecting Through the Word Moses at Mt. Sinai and the Giving of the Law Exodus 19:16-20 & Exodus 20:1-17 & Galatians 3 Exodus 19:16-20 16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Exodus 20:1-17 1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor s house; you shall not covet your neighbor s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor s. Galatians 3:19-24 19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Chapter 19 When God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, He gave him an encouraging promise: 'When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain" (3:12). That promise had now been fulfilled. The Jews were at Mount Sinai, "the mount of God" (v. 1; 4:27; 18:5; 24:13), and would remain camped there for the next eleven months. God had redeemed His people (Ex. 1-18), and was now going to claim them as His own and enter into a covenant relationship with them (Ex. 19-24), just as He promised (6:6-7). At least eight times, Moses had asked Pharaoh's permission to lead the people into the wilderness where they could worship Jehovah, and each time, Pharaoh had refused. But now Israel would meet their God at the holy mount and worship Him. Many wonderful things occurred at Sinai that day, but the greatest was that God's people heard God's voice speaking to them personally. "Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?" (Deut. 4:33; 5:23-27) When God spoke to His people, by His grace He called them to a very special life.
Called To A Life Of Maturity (Ex. 19:1-4) The picture of being carried on eagle wings. If freedom doesn't lead to maturity, then we end up imprisoned in a bondage worse than what we had before, a bondage from within and not from without. From God's point of view, Egypt was a furnace of affliction for Israel (Deut. 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Jer. 11:4), but the Jews often saw Egypt as a "nest" where they at least had food, shelter, and security (Ex. 16:1-3; Num. 11:1-9). God delivered them from Egypt because He had something better for them to enjoy and to do, but this meant that they had to "try their wings" and experience growing pains as they moved toward maturity. When we're maturing in the Lord, life becomes a series of open doors that lead to more and more opportunities for responsible freedom. But if we refuse to let God mature us, life becomes a series of confining iron bars that limit us. A baby is safe and comfortable in the mother's womb, but at some point the baby must be born and enter a new and demanding world of growth and maturity. From birth to death, the "turning points" of life usher in new freedoms that bring with them new privileges and new responsibilities: walking, instead of being carried; riding a bicycle and then driving a car; working at a job and earning money; learning to use that money wisely; making friends; getting married; raising children; retiring. At each "turning point," we lose something as we gain something; and this is the way the maturing process works. Whenever the Jews complained about God's dealings with them and yearned to go back to Egypt, they were acting like little children, so God had to discipline them. "It took one night to take Israel out of Egypt, but forty years to take Egypt out of Israel." How long is it taking the Lord to get us to fly, or are we nestlings who don't want to be disturbed? Called To A Life Of Dignity (Ex. 19:5-8) In Egypt, the Jews were nothing but weary bodies, slaves who did their masters' bidding, but the Lord had better things planned for them. They were to be His special people, and He would use them to be a blessing to the whole world (Gen. 12:3). God's treasured possession (v. 5). A kingdom of priests (v. 6). A holy nation (v. 6). God's people today (1 Peter 2:5, 9).
Called To A Life Of Sanctity (Ex. 19:9-25) The emphasis in this chapter is on the sanctity of the nation as the holy people of God, and three images stand out: The changing of their clothes (19:10-11, 14-15) The distance set between the people and God (19:12-13, 20-25). The storm on Mount Sinai (19:6-19; 20:18-20). Called To A Life of Responsibility (Ex. 20:1-17) The Ten Commandments The laws which God gave unto Israel fall into three classes: the moral, the ceremonial and the civil. The Moral Laws which are found in the Ten Commandments. These are for everyone! The Ceremonial Laws For Israel to prepare them for the promised Messiah. The Civil Laws For Israel to give them a government of order, respect, protection and peace. A great blue print for all societies to follow to have communities living with each other in respect and peace. The Ten Commandments DL Moody: The commandments of God given to Moses in the mount at Horeb are as binding today as ever they have been since the time when they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people. The Jews said the Law was not given in Palestine (which belonged to Israel), but in the wilderness, because the Law was for all nations." The Ten Commandments are binding on all men, and especially upon Christians, and that for the following reasons: First, because it is both right and meet that the great Creator's authority should be proclaimed by Him and acknowledged by His creatures. This was the demand which He made upon Adam, and every sober mind will acknowledge it was a righteous one. Even the unfallen angels are beneath a regime of law: of them it is said, "Bless the Lord ye His angels that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word" (Psalm 103:20). Only a spirit of lawlessness can inveigh against the statement that every human creature is responsible to keep the law of God. Second, because the Ten Commandments have never been repealed. The very fact that they were written by the finger of God Himself, written not upon parchment, but on tables of stone, argues conclusively their
permanent nature. If it was contrary to the mind of God that those living during the Christian dispensation should regard the Ten Commandments as binding upon them surely He would have said so in plain language. But the New Testament will be searched in vain for a single word which announces their cancellation. Third, because we need them. Has human nature so improved, is man so much better than he was three thousand years ago, that he no longer stands in need of the Divine Law? If the covenant people of old required to have such statutes are the Gentiles today any less selfsufficient? Are men now so little prone to idolatry that they need not the Divine command "Thou shall have no other gods before Me? Has the enmity of the carnal mind been so refined that it is no longer timely to say "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain?" Are the children of our so devoted to their parents and so marked by the spirit of obedience that it is superfluous to say to them "Honor thy father and thy mother?" Is human life now held in such reverence that it is idle to say "Thou shall not kill?" Has the marriage-relationship come to be so sacredly regarded that "Thou shall not commit adultery" is an impertinence? And is there now so much honesty in the world that it is a waste of breath to remind our fellows that God says "Thou shalt not steal?" Rather is it not true that in the light of present-day conditions the Ten commandments need to be thundered forth from every pulpit in the land? Fourth, because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself respected them. Galatians 4:4 tells us that He was, "made under the Law." On entering this world He declared "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy Law is within My heart" (Psalm 40:8), and the record of His earthly life fully bears this out. When the ruler asked Him, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He answered, "Thou knowest the commandments 'Do not commit adultery,'" etc. Whatever may have been our Lord's reason for returning such a reply, one thing is clear He honored the holy Law of God! When the lawyer tempted Him by asking. "Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matthew 22:36), His answer once more shows Him maintaining the authority of God's Law. Fifth, because of our Lord's teaching on the subject. In the Sermon on the Mount we find Him saying, "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or
the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill For verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19). What could be clearer than this? So far from affirming that He had come to cancel the Law, He declared that He would fulfill it. Yea, more, He insisted that the Law shall remain, and remain intact so long as the earth remained. His words that not "one jot or tittle of the Law should pass away (become obsolete) proves conclusively that the fourth commandment (on the Sabbath) would remain in force equally with the other nine! Finally, He solemnly warns us that the one who should teach men to break one of these commandments, shall suffer loss in a coming day. Sixth, because of the teaching of the New Testament Epistles. In them we find the Ten Commandments recorded and enforced. At the close of Romans 3, where the apostle treats of Justification, he raises the question, "Do we then make void the Law through faith?" and the emphatic answer is "God forbid: yea, we establish the Law." In the same Epistle he declares again after quoting five of the Commandments. "Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (13:10), and love could not "fulfill" the Law if it had been abrogated. Once more, in 1 Corinthians 9:21, Paul says, "Being not without Law to God, but under the Law to Christ." Seventh, because God has threatened to chastise those Christians who disregard His Law. In the 89th Psalm there is a striking prophetic passage which brings this out plainly. In Psalm 89:27-29 God declares of Christ, "I will make Him My Firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for Him for evermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and His throne as the days of heaven." And then God solemnly adds. "if His children forsake My Law, and walk not in My Judgments; If they break My statutes, and keep not My commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes." How much of the afflictions that so many Christians are now groaning under are explained by this scripture!
Watch this video on the Law by the Bible Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2& v=3bgo9mmd_cu In the Bible a sharp distinction is drawn between "the Law of Moses" and "The Law of God:" Law of Moses was given to Israel Law of God was given for everyone Only the Ten Commandments were written with the finger of God in stone placed in the Ark of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat on top. The dwelling place of God in the Tabernacle in the midst of His people. For believers we are now under the Law of Christ. 1 Corinthians 9:21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. Romans 13:8-10 8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. The Ten Commandments 1. Do not have other gods 2. Do not make carved images or idols 3. Do not take name of God in vain 4. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy 5. Honor father and mother 6. Do not murder 7. Do not commit adultery 8. Do not steal 9. Do not bear false witness 10. Do not covet The first 4 our relationship to God vertical Number 5 Relationship to parents Last 5 Relationship with others horizontal The first and last really take care of all the rest. Know God, Love God, Obey God Never see the last commandment in a law book because it is a condition of the heart. No law can change that.
Things to remember about the Law It was given in love Deuteronomy 33:1-4 1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said, The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand. 3 Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you, 4 when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. With our best intentions and our best effort it is impossible for us to keep the whole law. The law is God s revelation of His standard of holiness and glory. To break God s law is called sin. Romans 3:21-23 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, As we realize how we have failed to keep God s law and feel the burden and guilt of our sin, we now can receive God s gift of Grace. Galatians 3:24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Romans 6:20-23 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.