Moses - Servant of God - The Meekest Man in All the Earth
10 - The Commandments Given
In our discovery of the life of Moses we come this time to the events described in Exodus chapter 19. Three months have passed since the people of Israel were brought out of slavery in Egypt. With a demonstration of his great power God has delivered them from the army of Pharaoh and provided for them on their journey through the desert. Last time we saw how God delivered them from their Amalekite enemy by the intercessory prayer of Moses.
Moving on from Rephidim, the site of that victory, Moses and the people journeyed through the desert to the region of Mount Sinai, also known as Horeb. This was a very significant place in the story of Moses. It was there that God first met with him at the burning bush and gave him His special call to service and the future leadership of Israel. It was also at Sinai that God established his first covenant with the people and it was there that they were to stay for about one year.
During that memorable year two significant things happened: first, Israel was given the Law of God; and second, the multitude that had escaped from Egypt was unified into the beginnings of a nation. This period is of great importance for understanding the will and purpose of God as it is revealed in the rest of the Old Testament. The record of Israel's year at Sinai and the giving of the Law occupies the remainder of the book of Exodus and continues through Leviticus and into the early chapters of Numbers.
In the opening verses of Exodus chapter 19 we are told what happened when Moses and the people arrived at Sinai:
"....Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and to tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
So we read that Moses went back and delivered this message to the elders of Israel and faithfully set before them all that the Lord had commanded him. The response of the people was immediate. They said, "We will do everything the Lord has said." Sadly, as time went on, it became clear that the people of Israel did not realise all the implications of their vow to the Lord. How much better it would have been if they had from the start admitted their inability, in their own strength, to do all that was asked of them. How much better to have placed themselves in the hands of their God to work out his gracious purposes.
As God prepared to reveal his law to Israel, He gave a terrifying display of his divine power, warning the people not to approach the mountain. There would be death for any who even touched it and so disobeyed the Lord's command. God told Moses that He was going to come down on Mount Sinai in a dense cloud and the people would hear Him speak with his servant. It was to be an awesome occasion for which the people had to be prepared; they must wash their clothes and be set apart to God by Moses and be ready on the third day. There had to be a cleansing before God visited his people. This teaches us never to underestimate the holiness and awesomeness of Almighty God. It is only by his grace, and in the way He has appointed, that sinners can approach Him and come into his presence. Today we can come before God only through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can come boldly, yet with reverence, before Him only as we have been made clean through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
On the third day Moses and his brother Aaron were allowed to ascend the mountain and there God revealed his perfect Law to them. This revelation that the Lord gave to Moses and Aaron we know as The Ten Commandments. We find these commandments in Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 to 17. They can be divided into two groups: the first four covering love for God, and the remaining six love for one's neighbour. They were to have no other God other than the Lord. They were not to make idols to worship. They were not to misuse God's name - and how we need to be reminded of this in our day. They were keep one day each week holy to the Lord. Regarding their relationships with those around them, they were to honour parents; they must not murder, commit adultery, steal or give false testimony against their neighbour; and finally they must not covet anything belonging to someone else. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ summed-up God's Law in this way: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength and mind and your neighbour as yourself.
God's Law contained in these commandments was given to show the standard of behaviour God required of his covenant people. Someone has said, "It was given solely to the people of Israel and was in force for the period of history from Moses to Jesus. However, as an expression of the character and will of God, it operated on principles that are relevant to people of all nations and in every age." What the Law did show was the extent of man's sinfulness. It showed just how short we have fallen from God's righteous standards because of sin. The apostle Paul underlines this in his letter to the Romans chapter 3 verse 23 where he writes, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Writing to the Galatian Christians in chapter 3 Paul explains that the purpose of the law was to show up sin for what it really is and that the whole world is its prisoner. He says in verse 24, "The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith." No one can be justified before God by the keeping of the law because no one can perfectly keep it. Salvation and forgiveness comes, not through law-keeping, but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel tells us that when a sinner acknowledges his sin and turns in repentance and faith to God, then God, by His grace and wonderful love, receives him, saves and forgives him. The Scriptures teach us that the Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law for us. He is the sinless Son of God, the only one who has lived a perfect life according to God's Law given to Moses. The old hymn says, "There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gates of heaven and let us in." He died as our substitute and saviour on the cruel cross at Calvary. Believers in Him are freed from the curse of the law which is death for all who do not perfectly keep it.
Friend, have you been set free in this way? Set free from trying to please God by keeping his law and living by the "Golden rule"? None of us has or can please God or be justified before Him in that way. The purpose of the law is to lead us to Christ so that we might be justified by faith in his death for us. It is by God's grace we are saved, through faith in Christ. The Christian believer no longer has to try to keep the Law of God so as to be justified before Him, but the Lord Jesus who kept this law is now our example. By the power of his Holy Spirit within, we seek to love the Lord our God with all our heart, strength and mind, and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. The lesson for us is that this should be our daily endeavour.