God's Written Covenant

Introduction/Seeing the Need

Our lesson today covers the Israelites’ response to God’s declaring the Ten Commandments in . Our passage is part of the record of God’s covenant with the Israelites. He had told them previously through Moses, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all 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” (,).

Within the Ten Commandments are the fundamentals concerning how the people of God were to obey him. Obedience is required to God’s covenant people; in fact, a disobedient covenant people is a contradiction in terms - now as then.

The people were still gathered at the base of the mountain, and they were still struggling with what it meant to be obedient to God. They had received the Ten Commandments, and now they were struggling to understand all that they had experienced.

Fearing the Lord -

Exodus 20:18–21 NRSV

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.” Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

The people had been overwhelmed by God’s holy presence. They had experienced terror in the face of the power and the might of God. They had listened to a dialogue between God and Moses, and they had been confronted with the consequences of their own possible disobedience. Having just heard the Lord’s voice followed by the manifestation of his power on the mountain, they are terrified. We are not told exactly how far the people move, but it must be enough that they feel less threatened.

Living and functioning within a world context of the worship of silent gods, dumb idols without the power of speech or the ability to hear and respond as humans might, the Israelites were faced with a new reality. The one true God came to them out of the forces of nature. They had listened to Moses commune with God, and they were impressed.

In verse 20, Moses speaks to Israelites to clam their fears. He explained to them that God expects their obedience and respect, he put their extraordinary experience of God’s appearance to them into perspective. As mediator between the people and God, he interpreted what it means to encounter the holy. Moses suggested that fear, obedience, and reverence are the prerequisites for this encounter.

Fear or an understanding of the power and mystery of God finds its lowest and its highest points in obedience. On its lowest level, it trembles at the unknown; at its highest, it trembles at the unknowable. People stand in awe at the superlative nature of the creative and controlling presence of God in the universe. Obedience actively acknowledges and demonstrates reverence.

What should be the outcome when we incorporate respect for God’s holiness with gratitude for His grace? Effect on the use of the tongue; effect on behavior; effect on prayer life.

In verse 21, Moses affirmed the admonitions to handle fear with trust. He was suggesting that the Israelites wait in awe rather than run in terror. The image suspends humans in the interlude of wonder. Moses was teaching a response to theophany, a way to understand the nature of theophany or those occasions when God reveals himself to people.

How does God reveal himself to contemporary followers?

Hearing the Lord -

Exodus 20:22–26 NRSV

The Lord said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the Israelites: “You have seen for yourselves that I spoke with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. You need make for me only an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. But if you make for me an altar of stone, do not build it of hewn stones; for if you use a chisel upon it you profane it. You shall not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.”

After God spoke directly to Moses in the hearing of the Israelites and handed down the Ten Commandments, he gave three guidelines to frame the worship he expected from the people. God was clear that they should be absolutely sure that their focus was centered upon him. They must avoid the cultural temptation to fashion images of silver and gold. God told them that such an inclination is self-centered rather than God-centered.

The people had grown up in cultures that shaped elaborate representations of the gods they worshiped. Their instinct was to mold images of God that they could have in their possession.

What are some ways to guard against the influence of cultural idols?

In verse 24, God proceeds to instruct his people as to how proper worship of him is to be carried out. He will later give specific instructions about burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, found within the book of Leviticus (, ). Now God will direct thems as to how to conduct themselves in manner that pleasing to him.

God also instructs Moses about the places of sacrifice. Offerings are not to be done in a random, haphazard fashion. God states that wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. Worship is to be carried out according to God’s instructions will bring his blessings to his people.

How do we recognize the warning signs that indicate attempts to relate with God on terms other than his? Regarding the form and content of prayers; regarding the form and content of worship.

When people stand in the presence of God, they know they are on holy ground. This sense of holiness was the essential reality of the Sinai experience. The Israelites were called into consecration before they approached the mountain. When they heard the dialogue between God and Moses, they knew they were privy to a holy encounter, a holy dialogue.

When God handed down his guidelines for those who would encounter him through the experience of public worship, he demanded holiness. God demanded that the effort be totally pure.

The graphic images illustrated here in verses 24-26, speak to God’s insistence on the purity of the worship experience. They insist on the seriousness of worship and caution against careless desecration. Everything that happened, everything that was said in connection with God’s theophany that day at Sinai, cautions us to a serious consideration of our own preparation for the days and the occasions in which we worship God.

Should we do anything special when we prepare to go to church each Sunday? What things should we avoid in order to ensure that our experience of worship remains entirely pure?

Conclusion

Obedience is what God has always required of His people, in both Old and New Testaments. Christians are of the new covenant, God has not come with all the phenomena that we have seen displayed at Mount Sinai in today’s lesson text. Instead he has come to be with us in Jesus, or Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (,).

We do not deal with issues such as preparing burnt offerings and constructing altars on which to sacrifice them - matters covered in today’s text. However, what God requires of us remains exactly what was required of the Israelites. That requirement is captured in one word: obedience. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’” asks Jesus, “and do not do what I say?” (). He also tells us, “If you love me, keep my commands” (). In other words, trust and obey!

Prayer

Lord, teach us the meaning of the holy moments in our lives. Restore our sense of passion and purpose so that a broken world can see Christ in us. Let us stand apart in wonder at your power. Out of fear, may we discover reverence and obedience; in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.