Exodus
19-20: “Moses Is Called Up To The Mountain And
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at chapters
17 and 18 of the book of Exodus.
1.1.1. The Lord led the people to a place where there was no
water to show them that they hadn’t yet learned to look to Him to provide for them
instead of complaining and grumbling about everything.
1.1.2. After the Lord told Moses to speak to the rock so that
it gushed forth water, the nation of Amalek came to battle against
1.1.3. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law returned to Moses with
Moses’ wife and sons, then rejoiced in what God has done for
1.1.4. Jethro talked Moses into appointing elders over the
people as judges to loosen Moses’ burden and load.
1.2.
In our study
today, we are going to look at chapters 19 and 20 of Exodus.
1.2.1. We will see that the children of
1.2.2. We will talk about this new covenant the children of
1.2.3. We will at the various ways in which ‘law’ is
referred to in the scriptures.
1.2.4. We will also look at the ways in which the ‘law’
is condensed in the scriptures.
1.2.5. We will take an in depth look at each of the Ten
Commandments that the Lord speaks in the hearing of all of the children of
1.2.6. At the outset of this study, I would have you consider
the fact that as we now move into that place where we see the Lord revealing
Himself to
2.
VS 19:1-6 - “1
In the third month after the sons of
2.1.
It was now ‘in
the third month’ after the children of
2.2.
The children of
2.2.1. The Lord will make his ‘name great.’
The
three major religions on the earth look to Abraham as their forefather: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It has been said that more people know who
Abraham is than any person who has ever lived on the earth.
2.2.2. The Lord will make him ‘a blessing.’
Abraham
and his descendants have always been a blessing to the people on the
earth. Today,
2.2.3. The Lord will make it so that in Abraham ‘all of
the families of the earth will be blessed.’
This
promise is Messianic in nature for it speaks of the blessing that only the
Messiah brings to all of the people that are on the earth. Through Jesus Christ, the primary descendant
of Abraham, salvation is made available to everyone on the face of the earth.
2.2.4. The Lord promises to ‘bless those who bless you and
curse those who curse you.’
This
promise speaks of the fact that throughout the history of Abraham and his
descendants that the Lord shall be working in the earth on their behalf. The fortunes of every nation shall be tied to
how they treat those who are the descendants of Abraham. Blessing or cursing shall result.
2.3.
We see here that
the Lord is calling the children of
2.4.
God begins to reveal the conditional nature of the
promises of this new covenant with Israel:
‘If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you
shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
2.5.
3.
VS 19:7-8 - “7
So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all
these words which the Lord had
commanded him. 8 All the people answered
together and said, “All that the Lord
has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.” - Moses came down the mountain and told the
elders the words which the Lord had commanded him, and all of the people
answered and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoke we will do!’, and Moses brought
back this word to the Lord
3.1.
It is interesting
to me how quickly and easily the Israelites committed themselves to fulfilling
their part of the law. Surely, they either
thought that minor infractions of the law were not going to be a problem for
them, or that they actually were going to be able to keep God’s law going
forward.
3.2.
No one can keep
God’s laws perfectly in these fallen sinful bodies, and this agreement is soon
and often violated by
4.
VS 19:9-15 - “9
The Lord said to Moses,
“Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when
I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the
words of the people to the Lord. 10 The Lord
also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow,
and let them wash their garments; 11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third
day the Lord will come down on
Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 “You shall set bounds for the people all around,
saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of
it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 ‘No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be
stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the
ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people
and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. 15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third
day; do not go near a woman.”” - The Lord
tells Moses that He is going to come down to them and speak with them on the
third day, and the people are to consecrate themselves and wash their garments,
then when He comes down and talks with them they shall not come up on the
mountain or touch on the border of it, or they shall be put to death by stoning
or shot through, and he is supposed to set bounds for the people all around the
mountain to keep the people from going up to the Lord
4.1.
It is interesting
here that the Lord tells Moses that He is going to come him in a thick cloud so
that the people would hear the Lord speak with him and also ‘believe in you
forever.’ God is going to establish
Moses’ credibility with the people by speaking directly to him as
representative for the people.
4.2.
The Lord wants
the people to consecrate themselves, most likely indicating both internal and
external cleansing. The people need to
search their hearts and see if there is anything in their lives that is not
pleasing to the Lord, and they also need to wash their bodies and ‘their
garments.’ They are to ‘be ready’
in heart and mind on this third day when the Lord would come down to them on
4.3.
The Lord tells
Moses that He also wants him to rope off the mountain, or ‘set bounds for
the people all around.’ He likewise
wants Moses to go to all of the people and warn them to ‘not go up on the
mountain or touch the border of it.’
4.4.
The person who
touches the mountain is to be put to death, whether by stoning or by being shot
through with an arrow. In other words,
4.5.
Finally, the Lord
tells Moses that when the trumpet blasts for a long time that the people are
supposed to come up to the mountain.
5.
VS 19:16-25 - “16
So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were
thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very
loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp
trembled. 17 And Moses brought the
people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 Now
5.1.
On the third day,
the Lord descended just as He said that He would. In the morning the thunder and lightning
flashes began, as well as a loud trumpet sound.
All the people of
5.2.
When the trumpet
sounded, Moses did as he was told by the Lord to do. He brought the children of
5.3.
It must have been
quite a site for the children of
5.4.
In the midst of
the smoke and quaking and trumpet sounding, the Lord calls out to Moses to come
to the top of the mountain. The Lord
tells Moses to ‘Go down warn the people.’ The Lord is looking out for the welfare of
the people because He knows that some of them might think that it would be a
good idea to draw close to the Lord and look upon Him, but God is holy and
people must come to Him in the manner that He has ordained for them to come to
Him, and no other. He must be looked at
as being holy in all that He does.
5.5.
Knowing the human
heart, the Lord also warns Moses that ‘the priests’ must ‘consecrate
themselves’ to the Lord also so that they do not cause the Lord to ‘break out against them’ and slay them for not
respecting His holiness.
5.6.
Moses tries to
let the Lord know that the children of Israel cannot come up to the mountain
because he has the situation in control, but the Lord again tells him to go
down to the people and again warn them.
So, Moses again goes down to the people and warns them of these
things.
6.
VS 20:1-11 - “1
Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of the
6.1.
When we speak of
‘law’ in the scriptures, we are speaking of a few different things:
6.1.1. There is what is referred to as the ‘Moral Law.’
This
is comprised in the Ten Commandments which we are reading about here
today. The Moral Law reveals the
righteousness of God’s character and thus it has never been set aside. It remains as a standard for every person,
and is a tutor that leads people to faith in Christ for salvation (Gal. 3:24),
as it reveals our sinfulness and inability to keep God’s laws on our own.
6.1.2. There is what is referred to as the ‘Law of God.’
In the New Testament this
usage refers to the Ten Commandments or Moral Law, as seen in Romans 7:22-25, “22
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law
of sin which is in my members. 24
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So
then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on
the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”
6.1.3. There is what is referred to as the ‘Ceremonial Law.’
This
refers to the full compliment of 913 Laws of Moses, or those laws given by
Moses, minus the Ten Commandments.
6.1.4. There is what is referred to as the ‘Law of Moses.’
This refers to the full
compliment of 913 Laws given by Moses, as seen in the New Testament in these
verses: Acts 13:39, “39 and through Him everyone
who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed
through the Law of Moses.” Acts 15:5, “5 But some of the sect of
the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise
them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
6.1.5. There is what is referred to as the ‘Law of Christ.’
This refers to the single
law to “love one another” given by Christ in Galatians 6:2, “2 Bear one another’s
burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”
6.1.6. There is what is referred to as the “law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
This refers to a spiritual
dynamic working within a believer in Chris that energizes him and causes him to
realize God’s will and be able to keep the law of God from the heart: Romans 8:2, “2 For the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
6.2.
It is important
to see that the Ten Commandments are handled much differently than the rest of
the law by the Lord, which also indicates the fact of their transcendence over
other commandments and time itself.
6.2.1. It alone was spoken out loud to the people.
6.2.2. It alone was written by the finger of God on the stone
tablets.
6.2.3. It alone was always to be carried inside of the Ark of
God
6.2.4. It was of this law that Jesus said that not one jot or
tittle would pass away, and that the person who broke one of the commandments
and taught others to do so would be called least in the kingdom of heaven
(Matt. 5:18-19):
Matthew 5:18-19: ““For truly I say to you, until heaven and
earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law
until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments,
and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom
of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great
in the kingdom of heaven.”
6.3.
In many places in
the scriptures, God’s laws were condensed into a smaller more compact
representation. For instance, we see
this in Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man,
what is good; And what does the Lord
require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with
your God?” We see this also reflected in
Matthew 22:34-40 when Jesus was asked by a Pharisee what is the greatest of the
commandments, and Jesus reduced the Ten Commandments to two commandments, “34
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered themselves together. 35
One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the
Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all
your mind.’ 38 “This is the
great and foremost commandment. 39
“The second is like it, ‘You shall
love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the
whole Law and the Prophets.”” The first four commandments comprise those
relating to man’s responsibility to God, and thus they can be summarized by
loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might, just as the Law
is condensed in Deut. 6:5. The last five
commandments refer to man’s responsibility to man and can be summarized by
loving your neighbor as you love yourself, just as the law is condensed in Lev.
19:8. The fifth commandment, to honor
your father and mother is a link between these two sections of the Ten
Commandments.
6.4.
Commandment
#1: ‘You shall have no other gods
before Me.’
6.4.1. This is the commandment to disallow any form of
idolatry. Idolatry is the placing of any
object of thing above seeking and serving the Lord. This refers to more than just the worship of
pagan gods but also includes the areas of our life that we are not willing to
submit to the Lord’s control in our life.
6.4.2. This commandment refers to the loves of our life and
the priorities that we set. Someone once
said that we always have the time to do the things that we really want to
do. Many times God’s people make time in
their life for many things yet do not make time for the Lord and worshipping
the Lord. This is idolatry and the
breaking of this commandment.
6.4.3. God wants us to love Him with all of our heart, mind,
soul, and strength, as Deut. 6:5 tells us.
6.5.
Commandment
#2: ‘You shall not make for yourself
an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or
in the water under the earth.’
6.5.1. The crafting of images for the purpose of worship has
existed since man was created. The
pagans crafted their images of their various gods and then worshipped their
gods in front of these images they had created.
This commandment is the prohibition of crafting an object of our Lord or
an object symbolizing our worship of our Lord.
6.5.2. The history of the Christian church has seen many
battles over icons, with some groups absolutely refusing any kind of limiting
of icons of our worship to be used for the purpose of worship. Their argument usually is a rationalization
that this commandment is meant to be a prohibition of making of pagan images
for worship, but images of our worship as God’s people is a good thing.
6.5.3. Some Christians put up a picture of Jesus in their
house, wear a cross on the neck, put a fish bumper sticker on their car, etc.
as a symbol of their worship of God, and for some this constitutes a breaking
of this law.
6.5.4. God says in the giving of this commandment that He is
a ‘jealous God,’ and some people (like Oprah for instance) stumble at
God being a jealous God. However, when
we realize just who God is in all of His glory and majesty, it is only right
and appropriate that He alone be the object of worship of all of His creations.
6.6.
Commandment
#3: ‘You shall not take the name of
the Lord your God in vain.’
6.6.1. Many in
6.6.2. Being a Christian and yet allowing unconfessed sin in
your life certainly can be considered taking God’s Name in vain. Doing anything that contradicts the nature of
God is taking His name in vain.
6.7.
Commandment
#4: ‘Remember the sabbath day, to keep
it holy.’
6.7.1. This is a commandment to set apart the seventh day, or
Saturday (the Sabbath), to the Lord. It
is not good for a person to work seven days a week. People need at least one day a week when they
can refrain from work and seek the Lord and worship Him.
6.7.2. Some Christians think that this law no longer applies
to Christians and thus they do not worry about working seven days a week or
setting apart a day to worship the Lord together with His people. It is not important that the “whole”
day be dedicated to the Lord. Rest
itself is important and the Sabbath day observance should be a time to be with
family as well. It doesn’t matter what
day you set apart for the Lord and corporate worship of the Lord as long as you
set one apart.
7.
VS 20:12 - “12
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the
land which the Lord your God gives
you.” - God gives to Moses the fifth commandment,
which is the bridge to the last five commandments which involve man’s
responsibility to man: 5) You shall
honor your father and your mother
7.1.
This commandment
does not tell us that we are to “obey” our father and mother, but rather
that we are to ‘honor’ them in our life.
But, this commandment does imply obedience and submission to parents.
7.2.
There are a
number of scriptures that speak to what this commandment refers to:
7.2.1. Old Testament:
7.2.1.1.Exodus 21:15: “He who strikes his father
or his mother shall surely be put to death.”
7.2.1.2.Exodus 21:17:
“He
who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”
7.2.1.3.Proverbs 23:22-25:
“Listen
to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get
wisdom and instruction and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly
rejoice, And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him. 25 Let your father and your mother be glad, And let
her rejoice who gave birth to you.”
7.2.2. New Testament:
7.2.2.1.This passage refers to helping and supporting elderly
parents, Matthew 15:4-6: “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be
put to death.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother,
“Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to
honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of
God for the sake of your tradition.”
7.2.2.2.This verse has a warning and a promise in it,
Ephesians 6:1-3: “Children, obey your
parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor
your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so
that it may be well with you, and
that you may live long on the earth.”
7.3.
Being ‘prolonged
in the land’ is the promise given for this commandment to honor your father
and mother.
8.
VS 20:13-17 - “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 belongs to your
neighbor.”” - God gives to Moses the sixth through the 10th
commandments: 6) You shall not murder,
7) You shall not commit adultery, 8) You shall not steal, 9) You shall not bear
false witness against your neighbor, 10) You shall not covet
8.1.
Commandment
#6: You shall not murder.
8.1.1. The word that is translated ‘murder’ here is
used in various manners for the taking of a life, from manslaughter murder to
pre-meditated murder. So the word itself
does not tells us exactly what the prohibition in this command is for.
8.1.2. When we look at the Old Testament and the way the
manslayer law was implemented, you can see that this law only pertained to
someone who had committed what we refer to as “manslaughter.” A manslayer was not allowed to go to one of
the cities of refuge and take personal revenge upon one who had committed “manslaughter.” However, any kind of “premeditated murder”
would not prevent a manslayer from chasing down the one who had committed such
a murder. Thus, this sixth commandment
must refer primarily to this kind of “premeditated murder,” but not any
kind of accidental murder.
8.1.3. Some Christians have taken the stand that any type of
killing of persons in military service is covered in this commandment, and thus
have become pacifists.
8.2.
Commandment
#7: You shall not commit adultery.
8.2.1. The institution of marriage is the main institution
about which civilization and government is based. Therefore, it would be not only a correct
moral position to prohibit the committing of adultery, but also one which is
essential for the survival and health of a nation and civilization.
8.3.
Commandment
#8: You shall not steal.
8.3.1. This is the forbidden of stealthily taking that which
does not rightfully belong to you. Many
people justify their behavior as not being stealing when they have taken that
which didn’t belong to them, but any attempt to do this is a transgression of
this law, even if it is something as small as stealing a single piece of bubble
gum from a grocery store.
8.3.2. Over charging, committing fraud, and cheating even on
the paying of taxes and surcharges are also transgressions of this
commandment.
8.4.
Commandment
#9: You shall not bear false witness.
8.4.1. Any kind of lying and falsely testifying is a breaking
of this commandment.
8.4.2. Some people try to make a difference between lies that
are told by saying that some lies aren’t so bad and are therefore “white
lies.” However, any kind of lie or
even telling of “half truths” is a transgression of this law.
8.5.
Commandment
#10: You shall not covet.
8.5.1. This law is a different type of commandment because it
involves not overt action of any kind but rather the inner desire or motivation
behind the things that we do. This is a
commandment that prohibits the desiring of doing anything that is sinful in
God’s sight.
8.5.2. The first instance of coveting occurred in Eve’s
temptation when she fell in the garden of Eden:
Genesis 3:6: “When the woman saw that
the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the
tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;
and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”
8.5.3. The apostle Paul wrote about the fact that as a
Pharisee that the thing that caused him to realize his own ability to be
righteous before the Lord based upon obedience to the law was this law
prohibiting coveting: Romans 7:7: “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it
never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the
Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall
not covet.”
8.5.4. The New Testament gives
us many admonitions to flee the temptation to covet, for instance: Hebrews
13:5: “Make sure that your character is free
from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has
said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”
9.
VS 20:18-21 - “18
All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the
sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they
trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we
will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for
God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain
with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached
the thick cloud where God was.” - The people
heard the thunder and trumpet and saw the lightning, and they trembled with
fear, and then they asked Moses to from now on talk directly with God and then
tell them what the Lord had said
9.1.
The awesome
majesty and power of the Lord is now perceived by the people as they have heard
the Lord speak and heard the thunder and seen the lightning flashes and sound
of a trumpet, as the mountain is smoking.
Originally wanting to step forward and see the Lord in His glory, the
children of
9.2.
The children of
9.3.
Moses’ reply to
the people is to ‘not be afraid,’ and the reasons is that ‘God has
come in to test you in order that the fear of Him may remain with you so that
you may not sin.’ The Lord wanted to
put a healthy fear of sin and of Him into His people’s lives.
10.
VS 20:22-26 - “22
Then the Lord said to Moses,
“Thus you shall say to the sons of
10.1. The Lord gives Moses and the children of
10.1.1.If made of stone the stones had to be in their rough
state, no cutting of them was allowed.
10.1.2.You could not build steps up to the altar.
10.2. Both of these commands were enacted to impress upon
the minds of the children of
10.2.1.The cutting of stones implies human effort to improve
oneself through self will and good works.
10.2.2.The building of steps up to the altar speaks to the
fact that man kind shall never be able to reach up to God’s perfections by self
effort and works.
10.3. Interestingly, Moses says that by doing these things
that their ‘nakedness’ would be exposed.
This seems to indicate that doing these things would only prove further
man’s own unworthiness.
11.
CONCLUSIONS:
11.1. Don’t be afraid of the Lord, just realize that He is
holy and righteous. Instead, fear sin
and doing anything that would displease your Father who is in heaven.
11.2. If you do sin, realize that we have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for
our sins. Let Him cleanse you of all
unrighteousness as you confess and repent of your sins that Jesus has paid for
on Calvary’s cross (1 John 1:9).