You’ve probably heard of the 10 commandments. You may even know what they are. Starting today we will take a look at the history behind them and why God felt the need to give them. Then, next week we will begin to look at each of them and discuss what they meant for Israel back then and for us today. Let’s start with some questions. What is your perception about the 10 commandments? Are they just suggestions? Are they just old fashioned ideas that are not relevant today? Are they so simple and obvious that it wasn’t really necessary for God to spell them out? Have you ever really thought about them? Who is supposed to be obeying the 10 commandments? As you consider those questions, we’ll begin to trace the story back beyond the day they were delivered and see how it all unfolded. You may have in your mind that it all began when Moses brought the 10 commandments down from Mt Sinai on stone tablets, so he could read them out loud. And therefore, all the world would know God’s laws of how to conduct yourself. But that’s not exactly how it went down. Here’s the background setup so you’ll have a context for the revealing of the 10 commandments. We’ll pick the story up 2 months earlier, just before God delivered the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt. We have to keep in mind, that all the plagues God sent on Pharaoh and Egypt were really spiritual warfare.
God was establishing His dominance over all the gods that the Egyptians worshipped. Every plague had a god or multiple gods connected to it. Per God’s command, Moses and his brother Aaron asked Pharaoh to allow God’s people to leave Egypt to worship Him. Pharaoh made a big mistake with his answer to Moses. This sets the stage for the plagues that follow. Exodus 5:1-2 “Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him? That is not an odd question when you realize how many gods Egypt worshiped. Who is the Lord? Well, you’re about to find out. He is the God over all the little gods you’ve been serving. Here is where we get some spiritual insight as to why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Exodus 12:12 “12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.” God separated Himself from all the little gods of the Egyptians in the sight of all Israel. So they get to see clearly that Yahweh, the Creator, Almighty God, Owner of heaven and earth, is far above all other beings He created, including fallen angels who wanted to be worshiped as gods. God judges the little gods of Egypt by demonstrating His power over them, and then Israel departs from Egypt with God leading the way. He leads with a cloud by day and fire by night.
Exodus 13:21-22 “21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” God leads Israel to the red sea, but of course we know the story of how Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued them. We like to think of these events as nice little Sunday school stories, but the reality is much different. Exodus 14:4 “4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.” Pharaoh didn’t just change his mind about releasing Israel, God hardened his heart toward them again. By destroying the Egyptian army in the red sea, God wanted to show everyone in Egypt that He was behind the plagues that were the judgment on their gods. They needed to know that He is the One true God. Exodus 14:19-20 “19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.” The cloud that had been leading Israel since they left Egypt moved from in front of them to behind them. This was to keep the Egyptian army from attacking them. The cloud was lit, and was kept separated from the darkness. The purpose was to keep the Egyptians in darkness and provide light of Israel.
Remember what we talked about last week? Darkness and light cannot coexist. Israel must be separated from Egypt. Exodus 14:21-22 “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” It says that God sent a strong east wind that pushed the water to form a wall on either side of their path forward. Can you imagine what it sounded like to the Israelites camped by the edge of the red sea that night? The sound of Egyptian chariots behind them and the sound of hurricane force winds in front of them pushing back the water. The fear of the power of God must have been overwhelming. Who is this awesome God, who commands clouds and wind and water? After the children of Israel cross the Red sea and witness the destruction of the entire Egyptian army, they travel for another two months, and finally arrive at the base of Mt Sinai. The mountain of Moses, where God delivers the 10 commandments. There is some debate about where that mountain actually is. There is a mountain in Saudi Arabia that is most likely the true location of Mt. Sinai. It’s not the traditional sight that is located in Egypt and here is plenty of debate over the true location. But there is strong evidence that this is the actual site of the biblical Mt. Sinai. Here is some of the evidence.
The top of the mountain is black. It’s not just colored rocks. It’s charred from being on fire. There is no other charred rock below the top. There is also no other mountain top around it with a black top. Why would this mountain top look like it’s been burned with intense heat? Exodus 19:18 “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.” There is a large rock very near the mountain. It’s on a hill that’s about 100ft high. The rock its self is about 6 stories tall. It stands out from the geography in the area. The thing that makes this rock special is that it is split in two from the top to the bottom. And there are signs of water erosion on the rocks below and around it. You may wonder, Why is that so special? There are plenty of split rocks that show signs of water erosion. It’s special because this one is in the desert and there is no water source anywhere near it. But we do have the biblical record of God telling Moses to strike a rock and water will come out of it so the children of Israel could drink in the desert. This happened while they were camped near Mt. Sinai. There is an ancient altar that has been discovered on the mountain. God had instructed Moses how to build an altar to make sacrifices, which is what he did at the foot of the mountain. But wait, there’s more. There are stone encampments all through the valley below the mountain. This is what you would have if a million people stayed in a location for a little while. Israel was at Mt Sinai for about a year.
And guess what else they found? Petroglyphs that depict cows and other Egyptian symbols. There is no reason for Egyptian style petroglyphs to be in Saudi Arabia...unless the people who put them there had just come out of Egypt. Remember what happened when Moses went up the mountain to talk with God? When he didn’t come back for 40 days, the Israelites decided he wasn’t coming back at all, so they went right back to worshiping the gods of Egypt. They brought Aaron, Moses’ brother their gold jewelry and he made a golden calf for them to worship. As a kid I knew the story of the golden calf, but that seemed weird to me. Of all the things he could have made, why a cow? This is why: Hesat was the Egyptian god represented by the cow. Back to the story. Exodus 19:3-6 “3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” God reminds them of what He has already done for them and says if they will keep His covenant, they will be His treasured possession. But why did God feel the need to say this? It was because Israel had already been complaining about having left Egypt. But, you see, to God this was more than just a casual complaint about being hungry or thirsty. It was about their desire to abandon Him as their God, and their longing to go back to the
gods of Egypt. Here was their rational: In Egypt we were slaves, but at least we had guaranteed food and water. That is a problem we have today. We’d rather live according to the slavery of the world’s system with the false promise of safety. Would you rather live as a slave to sin with the false guarantee of having your wants...or live in the freedom of Christ and have faith in God for your provision? Let’s move on. Moses told the people what God had said about keeping His covenant. Then after a couple of days this happens. Exodus 19:16-19 “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.” God did not just speak to Moses, He spoke the 10 commandments directly to Israel. Deuteronomy 4:12-13 “12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.” After seeing the fire, smoke and lightning, then hearing the voice of God, the people were afraid. And you would be too.
Exodus 20:18-21 “18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” God was showing them just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to His power. All He did was speak, and it scared them so much they were afraid they would die. God wasn’t threatening to kill them, He just needed them to know who they were dealing with. Did God love them...yes, of course. He had called them out as His own treasured possession. He loved them more than they could imagine and had performed miracles to provide for them, after freeing them from the Egyptian slavery. His love was not in question. God’s love drives Him to do what is necessary to protect His children. Just like any parent who loves their children, they give instruction so the child knows how to conduct themselves...for their own protection. A parent who lets their child just do whatever they want, doesn’t actually love that child. Love will drive you to do hard things that your child may not understand in the moment. What may look mean or harsh from the perspective of the child, is just the practical application of love from the parent. It’s not so the child will be afraid of them. Understanding that God loves you is important, but going further and understanding that He loves you enough to correct your behavior is just as important.
That is what it means to fear the Lord. It’s not about being afraid He will kill you if you mess up, but to respect His love for you so much that you will want to live according to His kingdom principals. It’s not a terror type of fear, but a reverence and respect for God. It’s about being afraid you’ll disappoint Him after all He’s done for you. Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” Do you ever wonder how pastors and people in ministry end up getting caught doing very unethical and immoral things? They will say they love Jesus, and that is absolutely true for most of them. The problem is that they love Jesus, but they have no fear of God. Here’s a big question for you: Do you love God, but don’t fear Him? If so, you should seriously reconsider that position. It’s time to stop playing church and begin to understand who we are dealing with. Just like He wanted Israel to know, He also wants you to know that He is Yahweh, the Creator, Almighty God, Owner of heaven and earth. And we should respect him as such. Are you living as though there are no consequences to you ignoring the principals of the kingdom...the laws of the King? Does that seem wise? Have you been set free from the bondage of sin, only to still desire to live in the slavery of the world’s system and its false promise of provision. God loves you and wants you to surrender to His Kingship completely, so He can be your provision and protection. Are you ready for that level of His love?
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