God promised Abraham multiple descendants and a homeland
to bless the world (Gen.12:1-3). Abraham’s descendants multiplied in
Egypt but they became enslaved. They cried out to the Lord and the Lord called
Moses to lead the Israelites out
of Egypt. The Lord brought ‘His mighty acts of judgment’ upon Egypt and their gods
so that Pharaoh let the Israelites go (Exodus 7-12, 12:12). Yet, Pharaoh changed his mind and he pursued
Israel pinning them in by the Red Sea. The Lord divided the sea so that the
Israelites were able to walk through on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army followed
them into the sea and Pharaoh’s entire army drowned. So the Israelites trusted
in the Lord and
in His servant Moses. However, they quarreled when they faced the difficulties
of life in the desert. The Lord miraculously provided the Israelites with food
and water and He gave them a military victory over the Amalekites (Exodus 17). This
brings us to the story of God giving Moses and the Israelites His law at Mount
Sinai. You can watch the video and read the comments
below.
This is a great story because it
shows us something of the holy and awesome character of our God. However, it is also a disturbing story
because you get the impression from the story that God is so ‘holy’, and so ‘far above and beyond us’ that He is
unapproachable. Moses was told to put a boundary around the mountain to
keep people from going up and approaching God; or they would be put to death (Exodus
19:23-24). The story also teaches
that God is a God of grace which we can miss among the ‘thunder and lightning’
and ‘fire and smoke’. Remember that the Lord God had already graciously delivered
Israel out from slavery in Egypt. The Lord carried the Israelites ‘on eagle’s wings’ and He brought
them to Himself. Then God bound Himself ‘in covenant’ to Israel and Israel was
to be God’s ‘treasured possession’.
Consequently, among all the nations Israel was to be a ‘kingdom of priests and a holy
nation’.
The story
tells us how God so loved Israel, that He graciously saved them out of Egypt
and brought them to Himself to be His people. Consequently, as God’s people the
Israelites were to ‘obey Him’ and seek to reflect the character of their
redeemer God. As God’s people they were to ‘Worship the Lord as the only true God’. In addition, they were not
to misrepresent
God by making an idol of any
created thing to represent God and they were not to misuse the Lord’s name. They were to ‘work six
days and then rest’ in imitation of their God who created everything in six
days and rested on seventh day. Also,
they were to honor their parents and love their neighbors as themselves.
As the Lord’s ‘treasured possession’
and a ‘holy nation’ they were to reflect God’s character and in so doing they
would show the nations what God was
like and that they were God’s special
people.
The story also tells us something very
important about man. Man cannot simply approach God any way old he
wants. God came down on Sinai but, only Moses could approach God. Israel was to keep their distance (Exodus
20:18-21). When God manifested Himself on Sinai, Israel only wanted Moses
to speak to God because they feared that if God spoke to them they would die.
God was saying, ‘I’m the Lord the ‘gracious and compassionate God’
and I’m coming down but ‘I’m holy’;
so ‘stand back’. God was
saying, “I’m coming down to ‘make myself known’, but they could not approach the
Lord any old way you wanted (Exodus 20:22–24). God called Moses up
the mountain and gave him His law. Among all the nations God was revealing ‘His
will’ and ‘His character’ to Israel. Israel was free to approach the Lord as ‘His
People’ but they could only approach Him through a mediator and by means of a
sacrifice. God revealed Himself to Israel though ‘His Law’ which was
like a
portrait of the ‘Holy
character of God’. Now when we look
at the portrait of God’s holy character, ‘the Law’ becomes for us something
like a
mirror. In this sense ‘the Law’ exposes
our sin and imperfections and our need
for a Saviour who we know to be the better new covenant mediator, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the embodiment of Israel’s God.
Gal.3:24 ‘the law was put in charge to lead us
to Christ that we might be justified by faith’.
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