An Hebrew servant

Exodus 21: 1-11: “Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever. And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.”

Every person in Israel was obliged to remember that they had been slaves in Egypt. Everything they did and believed in was predicated on the fact that the Lord had taken them out of slavery and established them as a viable nation, later they would be established in their own Land. This was an unimaginable scenario while they were still enslaved. The Lord also understood that some people were more successful in their commercial and agricultural lives than others and allowances had to made to cater for those, who often for no fault of their own, fell on hard times. The ancient world had no bankruptcy laws and any person who was in debt was expected to repay that debt, even if they had to sell themselves or their children. These are the background issues behind this section. The Lord made sure that a person would not have to suffer a lifelong sentence for being unsuccessful, they would be released after six years of servitude. However, if a person in this situation was married during their six years then they had to accept the fact that they were not free to marry in their own right and leave their spouse behind. However, a man might find that it was better for him to stay in another’s service or he might love his wife and want to stay with her so the Lord made allowances for that as well. That man could voluntarily stay in servitude for life, with his family. In a land of arranged marriages a man might decide to buy a wife for his son. That woman was to be given special protection and not treated like a slave. She was not allowed to be sold outside Israel and lose her rights as a member of the Lord’s chosen race.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Gods of silver

Exodus 20: 22-26: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.”

It is hard to underestimate the importance of the fact that there is only one God. When people worship more than one God they run into a desperate kind of cosmic confusion. Who do you go to for help in time of trouble? Which God is going to help and, most importantly, where are you going to end up when your life is over? If you can’t answer these questions with absolute confidence then you will always be troubled. If there is only one God, and there is, then it is proper that you worship God in His way rather than in your own way. If you try to tell God what is right and what is wrong you become like Eve and actually worship another God, that is yourself. The Lord didn’t want people to spend hours making altars for worship because the emphasis would be on the altar rather than on the Lord, who was being worshipped. The emphasis on nakedness was because Adam and Eve knew that they were naked as soon as they had sinned for the first time. (Gen 3: 7, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”) Even today there is a dislike of nakedness because we still have that original, but often misunderstood, memory of our sin.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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The mountain smoking

Exodus 20: 18-21: “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.”

The Ten Commandments were the most sacred inner core of Israel’s relationship with the Lord. This relationship was based on the fact that there is only one God, Who is absolutely holy and pure. The Israelis needed to have a deep and abiding respect for the Lord God. This deep and abiding respect is known as the “fear of the Lord”. The fear of the Lord is not the kind of terror that leaves a person helpless and hopeless, it is a respect that understands that the Lord has absolute authority and the power of life and death over all the world. The people saw that the Lord descended on the mountain with a fearful display of power and authority and they were filled with the fear of the Lord. The stood as far away from the mountain as they could under the circumstances and asked Moses to approach the Lord on their behalf. They knew that they would die if they refused to treat the Lord with the proper amount of respect. The Lord lives in thick darkness to protect any sinner who may accidentally see His glory and die if things were otherwise. The secret to living a life in the Lord’s service is to be filled with a holy respect and a deep fear of the Lord.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Covet

Exodus 20: 17: “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.”

The first commandment puts God first in everything, the last commandment is an injunction against any person putting themselves first in anything. Covetousness is a desire to have something that we don’t have. When Moses’ father in law saw Moses judging the people in the wilderness, he advised him to find people to help him with the task so that he wouldn’t become burnt out. One of the qualifications for these under leaders was that they hated covetousness (Ex 18: 21, “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:”) A leader who covets will be likely to use his position of leadership to take ownership of things that he has no right to own. The first time that Israel tasted defeat after they went into the Promised Land to take possession of it was after Achan coveted some treasure (See Josh 7: 21, “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”) A person who covets can be bribed and then justice will be perverted (compare 1 Sam 8: 3, “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.”) This commandment gives us the root cause for breaking the other commandments, if we put the Lord first in everything then we will be safe under His wings, if we don’t then we will want to be first in God’s place and desire things that are not good for us. Covetousness led to the first murder (Gen 4: 5, “But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” Cain wanted the approval that God gave to Abel so he killed his brother.) Covetousness is also the root cause of most other sin. Eve coveted a godlike position so she ate the forbidden fruit, for example (Gen 3: 6, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”). However, the only way to resist covetousness is to put other desires in our minds and not to fight against these thoughts that are natural to every person born on the earth. (Compare Josh 1: 8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” and Phil 4: 8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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False witness

Exodus 20: 16, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

When the Law was established in Israel, every person was responsible for the holiness of the nation. There was no allowance for some people seeing things go wrong but sitting by and doing nothing. Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Burke actually got this idea from reading the Bible (see Deut 13: 1-10, “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.”) The Lord made it clear that everyone under the Law was responsible for every other person’s behaviour as well as their own. If Israel sinned then everyone had to take a measure of the blame. The converse is very important as well for people should not be punished for something they have not done. During the last century there were some restrictive regimes based on fear and people reporting on their neighbours. These regimes eventually fell apart because they were based on lies. The church must be based on the truth as described in the Bible.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Steal

Exodus 20: 15: “Thou shalt not steal.”

The first thing that we discover about stealing is that it is something that happens secretly (see Gen 31: 27, “Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?”) In that case Jacob wanted to leave his father in law but wanted to do so without a fuss so he away shearing sheep. The next thing that we learn about stealing is that it involves taking something that doesn’t belong to me (see Gen 44: 8, “Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?”) The last thing that we find out about stealing in the Bible is that it is not proper for Christians to steal (see Eph 4: 28, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”) This commandment isn’t really hard, if we have to take something secretly or something that doesn’t belong to us then we should not do that.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Adultery

Exodus 20: 14: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Adultery is an activity that destroys the person who acts in this way (Prove 6: 32, “But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.”) When two people come together in marriage their souls are joined together (Gen 2: 24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”) This means that an adulterer damages his or her own soul. This also affects that person ability to form relationships in the future and it affects their ability to form a rich a full relationship with the Lord God. Adultery is also seen as symbolic of worshipping other gods as well. This occurs when a person gives the loyalty and honour that God deserves to an idol or another kind of god (like Mammon). There are many passages in the Old Testament that talk about this kind of adultery (see, for example, Jer 3: 8-11, “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.”)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Kill

Exodus 20: 13, “Thou shalt not kill.”

The Lord gave life and the Lord controls life so no one else has the authority to kill. The Law at this point applies to killing people and not to killing animals as the Law also defines a sacrificial routine requiring the killing of sacrificial animals. This commandment follows on from the instructions that the Lord gave to Noah when he came out of the ark (see Gen 9: 1-6, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”) We learn that there can be lawful killing and unlawful killing. When a person takes another person’s life that person forfeits their own life. This is because a person who has little respect for another’s life doesn’t deserve to live. A relative had the right to avenge a killing but there were safeguards for a someone who accidentally killed another person (see Deut 19: 1-6, “When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it. Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.”)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Honour

Exodus 20: 12: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

This commandment reminds us that God has created an ordered world and everyone has a place in that ordered world. The most helpless creature on earth is a child born to one of Eve’s descendants. This means that any person has to be cared for by their parents, or someone else, for about fifteen to twenty years before that person is truly independent. God, in His wisdom as Creator, understood this and set down a principle to make it easier for parents to complete this vital task. When Paul wrote about people who choose not to glorify God as God, he said that one of the consequences of this was being disobedient to parents (Rom 1: , 30, “Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,”). The Lord also told Israel to establish certain ceremonies and monuments so that parents would have an opportunity to tell their children what the Lord had done for Israel. (See , for example, Exodus 12: 26, 27, “And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.” and Deut 6: 20-25, “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.”) Children are not the only ones who have responsibilities, parents are also told not to provoke their children to anger and to bring them up to know and fear the Lord (Eph 6: 4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”).

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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The Sabbath

Exodus 20: 8-11: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

This commandment acknowledges that the Lord is in control of our day to day existence. The Lord created the world in six days and He rested on the seventh day. In order to celebrate that fact the Lord declared the seventh day as a day of rest for all time. As usual, the Lord allows us to choose if we want to celebrate this day of rest or not. However, for people who choose to have an ongoing relationship with the one true God of creation they need to trust Him and accept the pleasure of taking this day of rest. Are willing to trust the Lord and take the rest or do we want to take control of everything and work on this day as well? A person who has a day of rest on the seventh day will achieve more in a year than a person who works every day.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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The name of the LORD thy God

Exodus 20: 7: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

When Moses first contacted Pharaoh and asked him to let Israel go Pharaoh told his men to give the Israelis more work so that they would not regard vain words. They wanted to worship the Lord in the desert while Pharaoh wanted them to be totally involved in his projects (see Ex 5: 9). The apostle Peter wrote, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;” (1 Pet 1: 18) In the Bible “vain” means something that doesn’t further the purpose of the person in charged. Pharaoh’s purpose was to build cities but Israel wanted to go into the desert, this activity wouldn’t help him build the cities. The Lord has chosen to redeem sinners by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ rather than by vain works. These vain works achieve nothing in eternal terms. We are not to use the Lord’s name for purposes that do not bring glory to His name. It is easy to use the Lord’s name to further our own purposes or to claim that Christianity has another purpose than the one the Lord planned. The Lord Jesus Christ told us, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9: 23) We are called upon to live a life of self denial rather than a life of self indulgence. If we preach that Christianity involves a life of self indulgence then we are taking the name of the Lord our God in vain.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Any graven image

Exodus 20: 4-6: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

The most important commandment comes first and all the other commandments rely on keeping the first commandment. If we don’t believe that there is only One God then nothing else matters, as far as the commandments are concerned. This commandment is often misunderstood and is taken to mean “no idols”. Many idols that people worship, including mammon, are examples of breaking the first commandment rather than breaking the second. This commandment is for those who want to restrict God to something that they can manage. God’s entire creation cannot contain God (see Deut 10: 14, “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.” and 1 Kings 8: 27, “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.”). However, we often want to restrict God to a size that we can manage, this is breaking the second commandment. We may want to think that our God is small enough to fit into our scheme of things so we assume that He is equivalent to something that we can imagine. When Aaron made the golden calf while Moses was on the mountain, he first broke the second commandment (see Ex 32: 4, “And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”) by suggesting that the calf was the God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. However, the moment we break the second commandment we begin to substitute the true God for the God that we have made and we break the first commandment as well.

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No other gods

Exodus 20: 3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

We have seen that God’s commandments are really offers of choice for the Lord doesn’t force anyone to do something they don’t want to do. However, if a person chooses to have a relationship with God then that person can only have that relationship on God’s terms. God made us and knows more about us than we know about ourselves. This means that we can only take full advantage of God’s goodness and love if we accept the truth of His wisdom and appreciate all the good things that He does for us from day to day and well as in the long term. God had taken Israel from slavery in Egypt and He promised them a Land of their own that was flowing with milk and honey (Ex 3: 8, “And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”) The Lord did this so that He could, ultimately, satisfy the promise that He made to Abraham when He first called Abraham (Gen 12: 3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”) All the people of the earth would have access to this blessing if the Lord’s people satisfied His Law and drew the families of the earth to Him. The same condition is true for Christians. If we want to enjoy the full benefits of God’s love we must accept that He is God and always knows what is best for us.

Out of the land of Egypt

Exodus 20: 1, 2: “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

The Ten Commandments begin with an introduction and a preamble. The Lord God had brought Israel to this place and now He gave them some conditions for their ongoing relationship. It is good to remember that the Lord God’s commands are really offers of choice, as we can see from the first commandment, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2: 16, 17) The Lord told Adam what would happen if he didn’t keep that commandments letting us know that this is an offer of choice. However, choice always ties back to consequences, we always get what we choose (compare Ezekiel 18: 4, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”) The Lord’s preamble explains to Israel why He is qualified to give them commands: He brought them out of the land of Egypt. However, the Lord first spoke about Egypt when He spoke to Abraham and verified the promise that He had made concerning Abraham’s descendants becoming a great and rich nation (Gen 15: 13-15, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”) Not only was the Lord able to make a promise, He was able to fulfil it after four hundred years.

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Moses brought forth the people

Ex 19: 16-25: “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that 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 was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.”

This brings to an end one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the world. Twelve months before this Moses was forlorn and lonely fugitive wandering in the desert and looking after his father in law’s sheep. He stopped to look at an amazing sight, there was a bush that was burning but not turning to ash. He met the Lord and the Lord gave him a task to do. The Lord promised that He would meet Moses at the same place. Moses was no longer the forlorn and lonely fugitive, he was the leader of about two million people, a wealthy nation. There is no doubt about it, when the Lord decides to do something He does it in a spectacular way. Christianity is just a matter of small people doing small things in a small way, in combination with Almighty God doing almighty things in His Almighty way.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Sanctify them today

Exodus 19: 9-15: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.”

When Moses finally went up to the mountain to communicate with the Lord and receive the Law, he asked the Lord if he could see the Lord’s glory (Ex 33: 18-23, “And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”) The Lord told Moses that no one could see the Lord and live to tell the tale. This is why the Lord was shrouded in thick clouds when Moses met Him on the mountain. This was entirely for Moses protection but, as time went by, this message led to the Lord Jesus Christ and the ultimate solution for our sin. Not only was Moses protected from death, every man, woman and animal belonging to Israel was told to stay away from the mountain because the entire place was holy with the glory of the Lord.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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On eagle's wings

Exodus 19: 1-8: “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

About three month after Israel left Egypt they came to Sinai. By this time they were established as a nation and were ready to go on to the next stage of being properly organised. The Lord had demonstrated that He would, miraculously, feed them from day to day and He would give them water as well. The Lord showed them that He would lead them as well, using the cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night. Now the Lord brought them to the very place where Moses had first met with the Lord and told him to deliver them from slavery in Egypt. The Lord was well qualified to tell Israel what to do. In the immediate sense as well in the eternal sense. He listened to Israel when they were in trouble (see Ex 2: 24, “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”) and then He did something about their problems. He brought them out of slavery to this place. The Lord compared Himself to an eagle. This is a powerful bird that is able to fly at great speeds. The eagle will carry its young on her wings and keep them safe. Nothing can hold an eagle when it is on the cliffs, it will fly wherever it wants to fly. The Lord is the same, no one can imprison Him and no one can stop Him for doing what He wants to do. The Lord saved Israel from Egypt so that they could be a kingdom of priest, dedicated to the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ could easily have saved Himself from the cross but He chose to save us from sin, death and hell instead. He is the wonderful Saviour!

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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What is this thing that thou doest?

Exodus 18: 13-27: “And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.”

While it may seem to have been a coincidence that Jethro came to see Moses and bring his family to live with him, the Lord was working through the circumstances and this was no coincidence. Jethro had some understanding of leadership and he observed Moses as no other person would have been able to do under those circumstances. Jethro quickly realised that Moses was burning himself out and told him so. He suggested to Moses that he appoint capable people under him to share the burdens so that he would have time to rest and do other things. This was just evidence of the Lord dealing with Moses for good. Not just for Moses but for the good of the entire nation.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Moses told his father in law

Exodus 18: 7-12: “And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.”

Jethro was a priest of Midian and a nomadic herder. He was ideally placed to give Moses advice while Moses led the Israelis through the wilderness. While it is true that the Lord was in control of the situation and the Lord spoke to Moses when Moses needed information, Moses also needed to have another person he could speak to and ask advice. Moses spoke to Jethro and told him everything that the Lord had done to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt. This was an entirely miraculous experience. How could a group of slaves escape from the greatest superpower of that day? Well the Lord intervened and kept the promise that He made to Abraham more than four hundred years before. Jethro was so impressed that he offered a sacrifice to the Lord himself, showing that he understood that the Lord was truly God of all creation. That miracle is only a small miracle compared to the miracle of modern salvation. God came down from heaven to earth to save sinners (1 Tim 1: 15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”) and give His life a ransom for many (Matt 20: 28, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”) Surely we should be so pleased about this good news that we want to tell others about it.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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A stranger in a strange land

Exodus 18: 1-6: “When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt; Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.”

Moses was trained in Pharaoh’s court and expected to be a senior man in the Egyptian government but he chose to suffer with Israel rather than enjoy the temporary pleasures of Egypt (see Heb 11: 24-26, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” However, in spite of that he became a stranger in a strange land and even called his first child Gershom to show that he was. However, later, he called his second child Eliezer to show that God had saved him from Pharaoh’s power. At this stage of his life Moses’ family came to him so that they too could enjoy the greater riches associated with the Lord’s promises.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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