EXODUS 17-24 ARRIVAL AT MOUNT SINAI AND THE COVENANT2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Exodus 17-24 Arrival At Mount Sinai And The Covenant

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012. Exodus chapter 17 is where we begin this evening, and we'll be going through chapter 24.

which was our reading today in the Bible in three years. And so we're continuing on looking at the passages that we've been reading this week. And as we're looking at the book of Exodus, once again, the meaning of Exodus is exit or departure because one of the main events that Exodus talks about is the children of Israel leaving Egypt. They were in bondage there in Egypt. They were there in

430 years, but now they leave Egypt and now they're heading out into the wilderness and they're meeting with God. And that's what we're looking at this evening. And so Moses recorded for us the things that are here in the book of Exodus during the wilderness time as they were out wandering in the wilderness.

there around 1446 or so, is when Moses was writing these things down. It covers about that time period. And it records the covenant that God makes with the Hebrew nation. And we'll be beginning to see the workings of that this evening in our chapters. As they meet with God at Mount Sinai, God shares with them

his requirements, the law. He shares with them the covenant and they agree, yes, we will follow that. We want to follow you as our God and we will be your people. And they enter into that covenant with the Lord. And so we've been seeing the formation of the Hebrew nation. Now we begin to see yet further them being set apart as God's people as he gives to them these things, this law, this covenant that binds them together.

Well, in our timeline, we've covered quite a bit of territory. Just with the book of Genesis alone, we covered a couple thousand years. We spent some time looking at their bondage in Egypt. And then now that big wilderness bar is where we're at. As the children of Israel are in the wilderness...

They've already left Egypt. That's what we covered last week. And so now they're in the wilderness. They're going to be spending about 40 years there in the wilderness. And that's the time period that we'll be covering throughout the remainder of the book of Exodus. If you want a closer look at that timeline, there's handouts on the back table called the Books of Moses Bible Study Resource. And you can get a better look at the timeline and look at that for yourself.

Here's a map of some of the regions that are referred to in the book of Exodus, just to give you some reference. So Egypt, of course, is where we were. That's where the children of Israel were in the land of Goshen. They were delivered from Egypt and they go out into the wilderness and into the region of Sinai.

The land of Canaan there, a little bit north, is the land that God had promised to the nation of Israel. He promised it to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob. It's where the nation of Israel is today. It's that land that God had promised to them. And so although they're in the wilderness now, God is going to be taking them to that promised land, just as he said.

We also have seen the land of Edom, which is where Esau and his descendants dwelt. And then Midian as well. That's where Moses spent that 40 years in the wilderness as a shepherd. He was there in the land of Midian. And so that's where that was located, just on the other side of the Gulf of Aqaba there. So that's a little bit of the geography. To give you a little bit of a reference, we'll talk a little bit more about that today as we look again at the location of Mount Sinai.

Well, last week we ended looking at this with the time in the wilderness, and so I'd like to give a little bit of perspective about the time frame of when things are happening. Israel left Egypt, of course, at Passover, because it was at Passover that the angel went forth and

killed all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt except for the homes that had the blood on the doorposts, on the top and then the two sides according to the instructions that God had given. And that was the day that they celebrated Passover. And it was at that time then they exited out from Egypt. Well, one month out, as they've been

Out in the wilderness for one month, God now provides for them manna. And so now they have this supernatural, miraculous provision of food that will be given to them throughout their time in the wilderness over the next 40 years. They arrive at Sinai at about two months after they left the land of Egypt. And we'll be hitting that today in chapter 19, where they finally get to Sinai. And now God's going to be establishing his covenant with them.

And so they're going to spend, as you can see in Exodus 40 verse 17, the tabernacle is set up. That happens about a year after they left Egypt. And so they're spending about one year at Mount Sinai. So they go there, they camp there for about a year. They kind of settle there for some time. And then now they're going to be leaving after that and then heading towards the land of Israel.

But as they get to the border of Israel, of course, they refuse to enter in. We'll see that in the book of Numbers. And so then God says they will wander in the wilderness for 40 years. And then after that whole generation has died, then the next generation will head into the promised land. And so fast forwarding a little bit in Joshua chapter 5 verse 10, they have their first Passover in the promised land. And it's the 41st year.

year since they left Egypt. And so they have that one year in the wilderness that was legitimate. They were camped at Sinai. Then they were supposed to go right into the promised land, but they refused. And so they spend that 40 years wandering in the wilderness. And in the 41st year, they celebrate their first Passover in the land of Canaan that God had promised to them.

So that's a little bit of an overview of Israel's time in the wilderness. Again, the thing to emphasize, and it'll become important later on, is that first year in the wilderness was ordained by God. There was a legitimate wilderness time, but the extra 40 years they wandered in the wilderness because of their unbelief and their disobedience to God.

Well, we begin looking at our chapters this evening in chapter 17. Exodus chapter 17, verse 6 is our key verse for us. It says, "...behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

So here in verses 1 through 3 of Exodus 17, we have the people thirsty once again. And like before, we saw last week, they begin to complain again against Moses because they are thirsty.

And so in verses 4 through 7, God gives Moses the instruction and he provides water for the people from the rock. And so Moses is to go and strike the rock and then water flows forth from it. Then we also see in verses 8 through 16, a battle that takes place between the nation of Israel and the people of Amalek or the Amalekites.

And so what's happening here is the people are thirsty. They're camped at Rephidim and God says, okay, here's how I'm going to provide for you. Go a little bit farther to Horeb. And there at Horeb, I will provide water. And it was there at Horeb that Moses strikes the rock.

Now the issue with the people as they were complaining, in verse 7 Moses explains as he names the place where he struck the rock, Masa and Meribah, it means tempted and contention, because it says there at the end of verse 7, the people are saying, is the Lord among us or not? And so what we see happening here is the people are now complaining again because they're thirsty.

And their complaint is, hey, is God with us or what? I mean, if God were with us, I don't think we should be thirsty. I don't think we should have to have some type of need or lack of water. I think it should always be provided. Maybe God's not with us after all. And so the people are complaining against God and his provision. They're really saying, is God with us or not?

And so Moses here is declaring that they are tempting God. They're contending with God as a result of this attitude that they have. Now,

As I mentioned last week, I think it's important for us to understand. Whenever we see the children of Israel complaining, we're very quick to kind of judge them and say, man, I can't believe it's only been a few days. How come they're complaining already? How could they forget about God's miracles and provision? But I would encourage you as we look at the chapters this evening and ongoing, that when you see the children of Israel complaining, remember

remember that they represent us well, that they accurately, very accurately portray us. And we in their shoes, in their circumstances, sometimes even in lesser circumstances, we are in the same way, you know, we tend to complain against the Lord and begin to gripe and bicker in the same way that they did. And so they're there thirsty saying, is the Lord among us or not?

And so God does this miraculous work as Moses strikes the rock at God's command and water comes forth from the rock. Now there's a very similar miracle to this in Numbers chapter 20, which we'll get to, of course, in a few weeks. There at Kadesh Barnea, it's a different location, but it's the same type of thing where God tells Moses to speak to the rock and he provides water for the people through that.

Now, for us here at Calvary Chapel Living Water, here in Exodus chapter 17, there's a little bit of a root to our fellowship here because the name Living Water comes from, well, if we'll back up to Exodus chapter 17, where God provides water from the rock.

Then God is also going to establish the Feast of Tabernacles, which is where people will set up tents and booths later on in history, and they will do so to remember their time in the wilderness. And as part of the Feast of Tabernacles, they developed a tradition of pouring out water on the temple steps to remember the time that God poured out water from the rock.

And it was in that Feast of Tabernacles, during that time of the ceremony when they would pour out the water, that Jesus stood up and said, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. In John chapter 7, verses 37 through 39. And so this is the roots really for where we get our name, is Jesus made that declaration that he will bring forth water from us, that living water. And that's where we get the name Calvary Chapel Living Water from.

So just a little side note in case you want to know that. Well, the last part of the chapter is a battle that takes place between the children of Israel and the Amalekites. There's this battle with Amalek that takes place. Now, Deuteronomy chapter 25 gives us a little bit more insight about what was happening here.

Moses and the children of Israel did not begin this fight. They didn't seek out this fight. But Deuteronomy 25 verse 17 and 18 tell us what happened. The people of Amalek came up behind the nation of Israel as they were traveling. And it says there that they attacked the rear ranks, the stragglers, when you were tired and weary.

And so what they did was they came up behind the people and they kind of, you know, took out the easy prey. Those who were weak and tired, those who were kind of straggling a little bit, that's the people that Amalek attacked.

And so Joshua now is sent into the battle. This is the first mention of Joshua here in the Bible. And he's sent into the battle while Moses goes on top of the mountain. He lifts up his hands. It's a picture for us of intercession as he's interceding on behalf of the army. And as a result of his intercession, they are victorious and they have victory over the nation of Amalek in this battle.

God says this is significant. So verse 14, he says, write this for a memorial in the book. And throughout our time in the book of Exodus, you'll see God giving instruction to Moses. Write this down. Make sure you record this. He wanted to make sure the details were kept. He wanted to make sure that these things were preserved for the people so that they would know exactly what took place and exactly what God said.

Well, here you have a picture of a possible location of the rock that was struck, the rock that split, and the water that burst forth. I say it's a possible location because the exact location is not known, but there in the region is this rock that is interestingly split kind of down the middle, and so water could have come forth from the bottom there and provided, you know, water for the people. Now,

I may be messing up my dates a little bit, but if my math is correct in my head, this event took place about 3,500 years ago. So, you know, the terrain tends to change over that period of time. So we don't know exactly where it was at, but it's an interesting spot that possibly is the location of the rock that Moses struck.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the Apostle Paul tells us, though, there's some significance to this rock. He says that the rock was Christ. And so this rock represents for us Jesus Christ. And again, as Jesus stands and he says, if anyone believes in me, out of his innermost being will gush forth these torrents of living water. And so it's a picture for us of the work that

God wants to do as we believe in Jesus, that he will flow forth from us the Holy Spirit, which is represented by these waters.

Well, one more look at the geography of Exodus, and we've added there Amalek, the northern part of the wilderness. That was the region where the Amalekites dwelt. And so as the children of Israel are out in the wilderness, they came down up behind Israel and attacked them from the rear in the way that is described there in Deuteronomy chapter 25. Exodus chapter 18, the key verse is verse 26. So they judged the people at all times.

The hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves. Here in chapter 18, we have a couple things happening. First off, in verses 1 through 12, we have Jethro visiting Moses. He doesn't come alone. He brings Moses' wife and his two sons. Now, we don't know exactly when this

His wife went back to her father, but it very possibly was in Exodus chapter 4. You might remember the whole circumcision incident. It's possible at that time that she, with her boys, went back to her father while Moses continued through all of the plagues and the Exodus and came out of Egypt, and now they're being reunited together. Whatever time she went back, she was with her dad, with her sons, and now Jethro brings them out to meet Moses again.

where they're at in the wilderness. As they meet Moses...

Moses tells them all the things that God did. And I find it very interesting in verse 11, Jethro says, now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods. Jethro basically becomes a believer at this point as he recognizes, whoa, Jehovah or Yahweh truly is God. He's greater than all gods. And I think it's interesting at the end of verse 11, it says, for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, he was above them.

We talked about in the past couple of weeks how the plagues against Egypt were not just, you know, strange things that took place, but really judgments on the gods that the people of Egypt worshiped.

And here Jethro is making that point as well. He says, "...and the things which they behaved proudly." The gods, you know, of the Nile River. And it was, you know, their pride was the Nile River. And so God turned the river to blood. Their pride was the frog and the fertility of the frog. But...

God plagued them with frogs and so on and so forth. And the things that they were supposed to be gods of, God proved they're not gods at all. And so he defeated those false gods before their eyes.

Well, as Jethro is now there, he's heard about the things that took place. And then he sees what's happening as the next day, Moses begins to judge the people. And there's a great long line as there's all kinds of disputes and all kinds of, you know, different questions that have come up. And so Moses is the point of contact. He's the one who can decide cases for them. And so there's this great long line, people all day long coming to Moses, who

for counsel, for decisions, for judgments. And so in verses 13 through 23 here of Exodus, we have Jethro counseling Moses to appoint judges.

So Jethro says, hey, this isn't a good thing for you. You're going to wear yourself out. You're going to wear the people out because you can't handle all of the decisions that need to be made. And so you need to delegate this and distribute these decisions. Select some elders who can help you deal with these decisions and cases that are brought before you.

And so Jethro's advice is given, and then verses 24 through 27, we see Moses heeding Jethro's advice and putting those judges in place, those elders in place. Now in Numbers chapter 11, we also have an account of elders being established and put in place. And in that account, it's God who's telling Moses to call the elders together so he'll anoint them with the same spirit that is upon Moses.

And it's very possible that Numbers chapter 11 and Exodus chapter 18 are one in the same event, that it's the same event that's happening. It's just being talked about from different perspectives, from Jethro's perspective versus God's perspective there in Numbers chapter 11.

One thing I find interesting here in this chapter is verse 23. As Jethro is giving advice to Moses, he says, if you do this thing, that's if you follow the advice I'm giving you, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure and all this people also will go to their place in peace. I really appreciate this about Jethro. As he's offering advice to Moses, he says, look, here's my advice. If you do this,

But he also adds that condition, that very important condition, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure. And we find that, well, when we are giving advice, we need to leave room for the same type of encouragement. You know, someone comes to you for counsel, someone comes to you for advice. What do you think I should do in this situation?

Well, that's interesting. Okay, here's what I think you should do. Here's the way that I see it. If you go this way and if God commands you to go this way. So this is what makes sense to me. You want to double check it with the Lord and then as you do, then you'll be successful or God will bless you or whatever is appropriate for the advice that you're giving. And the same thing is true when we're receiving advice. I think it's very important for us as we seek out counsel.

The Bible is very clear. It's wisdom to seek out counsel. We need to seek out the counsel of others. And it's the wise thing to do. It's appropriate and commanded. But at the same time, we cannot just take someone's word for it. Well, Pastor George told me this is what I'm supposed to do. We also need to seek the Lord on our own and say,

Well, Pastor George said that. The Lord told me to do that. So this is the direction I'm going to go. And so we always need to have that direction from the Lord along with the counsel of others. And as we counsel others, we also need to encourage them to include God in the picture, to seek him and to follow the direction that he gives. You know, we're so quick to say, here's what you need to do. You must do this. We've got the solution for everybody's problems, right? That's often the case. That's how we feel.

But we need to be careful and make sure that we add that in. And God so commands you. If this is what God wants for you, this is what I see would be best for your life. Well, now we head into chapter 19 of Exodus. Verse 20 is the key verse. It says, So here you have...

Mount Sinai, this infamous mountain where God is meeting with the nation. And here, the covenant of God is going to be established with the people. In verses 1 and 2, we find them arriving at Mount Sinai and beginning to camp there. In verses 3 through 13, you have the beginning of this covenant where Israel agrees to obey God. They're agreeing, yes, we will do what God says. We will follow his instruction. We will follow his word.

And then you have there in verses 14 through 25, the Lord descending on Mount Sinai. There's this awesome display as the Lord descends in a cloud upon the mountain. And there's, well, as we'll see, there's great fear among the people as there's this awesome demonstration of the presence of the Lord as he meets with them there at Mount Sinai.

Now, something that we will see throughout the time in the Old Testament together, throughout the time in the books of Moses, is that these covenants that God is making with his people are very often conditional.

Not conditional on God's part, but conditional on the people's part. If you would look with me at verse 5, it says, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine.

God is saying, look, you're going to be my people. You're going to be a special treasure to me. He's also saying, I'm going to go before you. I'm going to bless you. You're going to be victorious in the battles as I'm with you. And he's promising these different things. But these promises that God gives are conditional. There you see the word if there in verse 5. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice.

And so much of the promises and the covenant that we see in the Old Testament is conditional upon the people obeying God's voice. And whether or not they obeyed God's voice determined whether or not they would receive the promises that God had given to them. And then we see in verse 8, it says, Then all the people answered together and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do.

So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. And so God says, look, here's the conditions.

If you'll obey my words, if you'll keep my words, here's what I'm going to do for you. Here's the blessings, the promises that I have for you. Here's the covenant that we will enter into if you will obey my words. And so the people respond, yes, we will obey your words. And Moses takes that back to the Lord and says, yes, the people say they will obey. And so what we have here is this kind of negotiation going on where God says, here's what I have to offer you.

It's based on the condition, if you will obey, the people say, we accept that offer. We will obey. We will walk with you in obedience to your commands. Now, of course, we know that they are not faithful to do that. And so we'll see as we develop later on, as we go through the books of Moses, that they do not receive much of what God promised as a result of their disobedience to God.

Another interesting thing that's happening here in Exodus chapter 19 is we have a sign being fulfilled. You might remember back in Exodus chapter 3, when God first appears to Moses in the burning bush, he tells Moses, this will be a sign to you when I've brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. God had appeared to Moses here at Mount Sinai and

and told him, hey, go, tell Pharaoh, let my people go, bring the people out of Egypt. Now God has brought them back here, and it's the fulfillment of that sign that God declared, I'm going to bring you out, and you're going to be back here, and serve the Lord here at this mountain. So we see the fulfillment of God's promise to Moses from Exodus chapter 3 here in Exodus chapter 19.

Well, again, looking at the time in the wilderness, because there in Exodus chapter 19, verse 1, we have the time reference. They arrive at Sinai about two months after they left the land of Egypt. Now, I thought it was interesting. One commentary, it's the Jamie and Fawcett Brown commentary, does some calculations and points out that they enter into this covenant with God 50 days after leaving Egypt.

which is interesting because if you are familiar with the feasts, the Feast of Pentecost is 50 days after the Passover feast. And so it's at the Feast of Pentecost that they enter into this covenant with the Lord. But that's also interesting for you and I as New Testament believers because in Acts chapter 2, 50 days after Jesus was crucified,

The Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church and the church is born there in Acts chapter 2. And so there's some parallels there as the covenant with the church through the Holy Spirit and the covenant with the Lord at Mount Sinai happens around the same time at the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover.

Whereas they're there camped at Mount Sinai, here on the map you have a couple possible Mount Sinai locations. Now, as I mentioned, this is taking place, this is talking about events that took place about 3,500 years ago.

and Israel was mobile. They weren't, you know, camped out. They didn't build homes, and so there's not a lot of evidence that would have been left behind for there to be, you know, to be able to find exact locations. In the land of Canaan, where Israel dwelt and lived for many years, there's lots of evidence, and archaeology has uncovered all kinds of things, but the exact location of Mount Sinai is not known. Now, the one at the bottom there, Jebel Musa,

is the traditional location of Mount Sinai. In fact, if you look at the map in the back of your Bible, that's where it'll be. They indicate that that's where Mount Sinai is. And that is a possibility. It's been the tradition of the church for about 1,500 years, I think, that that's the location of Mount Sinai.

There's another one that's suggested, though. It's there to the right, Jebel El-Laz. This is suggested by a couple different groups and based on some various studies and things. It's an interesting possibility.

It's popular, you know, in some respects, in some circles. It has some difficult challenges, though, because it is quite far, and it does not really fit the timeline unless you really try to force it and manipulate things, because there are certain times that are mentioned as far as, you know, how long it takes to get from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, for example, and it'd be very difficult to do that if that's the location of Mount Sinai there at Jebel El Laz.

Well, the third one there on the top is Jebel Kashim al-Tarif or something like that. These are Arabic names, so I don't speak Arabic. I don't know exactly how they pronounce it. But that's an interesting location as well. For me, that's kind of the most interesting. It's a lower mountain, which makes some sense. Jebel Musa and Jebel Al-Azhar are both around 8,000 feet high, which would make going up and down very, very difficult. Jebel Kashim

the other one on the top there. That one's the lower mountain. And so Moses going up and down the mountain, as often as we see here in the text, seems to fit also the time frame to get to Kadesh Barnea within 11 days is very reasonable. To get there from the land of Egypt in that 50 days is very reasonable. And so it seems to fit

with the passage. But throughout history, there's been, you know, a dozen other mountains that have also been suggested as Mount Sinai. So none of these are the for sure it's the one and this must be the location. But those are good, strong possibilities as far as where Mount Sinai might be. Exodus chapter 20, verse 19 is the key verse. It says...

Then they said to Moses, you speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die. Here we have the laws of God being established with the people. The 10 commandments are given in verses 1 through 17. Verses 18 through 21, the people are terrified at God's presence as he descends with a cloud. There's great shaking. There's just all this chaos.

amazing power of God being displayed and so the people are fearful and so they say to Moses you represent us you go to God you hear what he has to say you tell us what he says but don't let him speak directly to us we're too fearful we're afraid that we will die because of who he is and then in verses 22 through 26 God gives instructions the laws for altars that that will be built

In verse 18, it says, now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. And so it gives you a little bit of a picture. Of course, it's probably nothing in your imagination compared to what it actually was as they stood there before the mountain and they saw God's presence fall upon the mountain. But it gives us a little bit of insight. Now,

If you want to consider something later on, I would encourage you to consider Hebrews chapter 12, where the author of Hebrews gives a comparison to the mountain that could be touched, the mountain that shook with God's presence, and the mountain that

God has promised or that God has provided through Jesus Christ under the new covenant, Mount Zion versus Mount Sinai. And there's some interesting things to consider there in Hebrews chapter 12 as you have a fresh understanding of the people standing there before the mount of God as he descends upon it.

Well, now the next few chapters are going to be covering various laws. As God is there and Moses is up on the mountain with him, God is giving him specific instructions and regulation for the people. And that's why we have the law of the altar here. And so God says, look, when you build an altar to me,

He's not talking about the tabernacle altar. That comes a little bit later. But just in general, when you build an altar to the Lord, here's the instruction. It's not to be fancy. You're just to make it out of dirt.

Maybe out of rocks, but if you make it out of rocks, you can't quarry the rocks. You can't, you know, decorate them. You can't cut them to fit perfectly. You just got to pile some rocks together and make that as an altar. God wants to make sure it's nothing elaborate. It's not elevated, that there's not steps that you have to climb to get to the altar.

basically that the altar is not really a big deal in itself because the real big deal is the relationship with God. And so he's making sure that they understand that the altar has to be built in these specific ways.

Well, here I have for you listed the Ten Commandments. I expect you to memorize this, and there's going to be a test next week, so you better have them in order. So, the first commandment is, no other gods before him. They're in verse 3. And so, God is to be first. He's to be foremost. There's to be no carved images. They're in verses 4 through 6.

You're not to take his name in vain. They're in verse 7. And then you're to remember the Sabbath in verses 8 through 11. These first four commandments deal primarily with an individual and their relationship with God. That he's to be their God. They're not to have carved images. They're not to take his name in vain. They're to honor the Sabbath and spend that time with the Lord. And so these first four commandments deal with the individual and their relationship with God.

Then the final six commandments really deal with the relationships between individuals. So verse 12, honor your parents. Verse 13, you shall not murder. Verse 14, you shall not commit adultery. Verse 15, you shall not steal. Verse 16, you shall not bear false witness, or that's lie or slander or be a tailbearer. And then verse 17, you shall not covet.

And so these are the commands that God gives regarding our relationships with one another. These Ten Commandments, probably contrary to what we would assume or we might think, these Ten Commandments are actually delivered verbally at this time. The tablets come a little bit later. We'll get to that in chapter 31 where Moses comes down with the tablets. But these are being delivered right now verbally today.

And they're being delivered verbally to Moses and then to the people. And that's when the people say, hey, we're fearful. You represent God to us. And then Moses goes back up the mountain. Now, as we look at these 10 commandments, there's a lot of things that we could discuss. We're not going to really, except for Romans chapter 3, verse 20, where Paul says, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin.

It's important that you understand the Ten Commandments are not a way for you to be able to have access to God. The Ten Commandments are not a way for you and I to be able to get to heaven. The Ten Commandments are a way for us to have revealed to us or for us to see for ourselves that we need a Savior. The whole point about the Ten Commandments is for us to know that we're sinful.

To know that we are not perfect and that we need the Savior that God has provided. His name is Jesus. And so that's the purpose of these commandments. That's the whole point is that the people would understand that they need God. Not that they would get righteous by following these commandments, but that they would be shown that they're not righteous because they're not able to keep the commandments. Chapter 21.

Verse 1 is the key verse. He says, now these are the judgments which you shall set before them. So again, chapters 21 through 23 are just a bunch of various different laws that God is giving to Moses. It's an overview, really, of the laws that we'll be studying in more detail in the book of Leviticus.

And so we'll be spending more time talking about those things there. And at the end of God delivering all of these things to Moses in chapters 21 through 23, then in chapter 24, we see Moses writes it down in a book and then he relates it to the people. So these are the laws as God is delivering them to Moses and he's recording it for us that we might know what God said. So verses 1 through 11, we have the laws concerning servants.

The laws concerning servants, well, when you have a servant who is Jewish or Hebrew, they're not to be permanent servants, but they're to go free on the seventh year. Now, this type of servitude or this type of service or slavery would be possible there in their culture and in that context for a person who is in one of four conditions, right?

If a person was in extreme poverty, then they would have the option to basically sell their liberty and become a slave to just try to make ends meet, just try to be provided for. And you can see that in Leviticus chapter 25 verse 39. Another way that someone would become a servant in this way is a father might sell his children into servitude. And we'll see that in Exodus chapter 21 verse 7.

Another way that a person could become a servant in this way is the case of bankruptcy, where in order to pay back his creditors, he would become a servant to his creditor. We see that in 2 Kings chapter 4. And then finally, the fourth way that a person might become a servant in this way is if you had stolen something and you were not able to pay back

the restitution that was required, then you could become a servant in this way. But Hebrew servants were to go free the seventh year. So it was a six-year max term of servitude. And then that seventh year you were to be set free. God also gives the instruction here that you were to leave the same way that you came. So if you went into the servitude and you were married, then you left with your wife or your spouse. If you came in single, then

Even though you got married, then you would leave single. And so the wife that was also a servant of your master would stay there. And so often that would be the reason why you have the final thing, which was the option to serve your master forever. And so if you think, you know what, I've got it good here. I don't want to go try to live life on my own anymore. I'm going to become a permanent servant. God gives the instruction for how to do that there in verses 1 through 11.

Well, then in verses 12 through 27, he gives the general laws concerning violence. So if there is a murder that takes place, the penalty is death. If it's a manslaughter, that is, if it's an accidental killing, it wasn't premeditated, it was accidental.

God says provision will be made, and we'll see that in the book of Numbers with what is called the cities of refuge. God appointed certain places where people could run to if they accidentally killed someone, and they would be protected there. They would not be in fear of the avenger of blood. They would be preserved there, protected in the city of refuge.

If someone was caught kidnapping, the penalty would be death. Cursing parents, George shared a little bit about this Sunday evening, the penalty for that was death. Assault, if someone assaulted somebody, injured them, then it was required that they would pay them for the lost time, but also the medical costs associated with whatever injuries were sustained in the assaults.

If you were to kill a servant, the penalty would be death. If you were to hurt a pregnant woman and there was no harm to the woman or the baby, then the husband would decide what the penalty would be. But of course, if there was harm, then the penalty would be appropriate.

And here's the instruction where God says, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. That was to be the limit and the standard by which these things were judged. Now, as we look at these laws and many other things here in the books of Moses, something to consider is that God is giving instruction to the congregation, to the multitude, to the nation. They were

They never had need before of these kinds of laws because, well, when they were independent in the land of Canaan, they were just a small family of 70 people. Then they went to Egypt. Under Egypt, or in Egypt, they were subject to Egypt's laws. They've never had to govern themselves.

They were always a small family or they were ruled by the land of Egypt. So now as they exit Egypt and are now meeting with God and becoming their own nation, God is having to set up the standards, the rules from the ground up. Otherwise, it would just be everybody doing whatever they felt like was a good thing to do. And so that's why there's all this detail here is because God is establishing these things that they would not have otherwise.

Well, then in verses 28 through 36, he gives the rules or the laws concerning animals. So if an animal kills somebody, that animal is to be put to death. But if that owner or if that animal tended to be violent and the owner was warned, hey, your dog almost bit my head off, you know, you got to keep it tied up. And then the dog does.

kill somebody, then the owner is accountable for it and will be put to death if that animal kills somebody. But there is the option to pay if the victim's family offers. And so that's an opportunity for them to show mercy.

uh if the animal kills a servant the owner is to pay them 30 pieces of silver which would be the the fair price for a servant if the animal falls in a pit uh then the pit owner pays for it so you're walking down the road and your lamb falls into someone's you know ditch uh and you're like hey why do you have this ditch here with no cones up uh then the owner the owner has to pay for it because they should have been put fair warning there that there was a ditch um

And so on and so forth. All right. Exodus chapter 22. Verse 9 is the key verse. It says,

So here in Exodus 22, we have some various laws concerning property in verses 1 through 15, and then various other laws regarding some different things in verses 16 through 31. So when talking about the property, the main theme that God is emphasizing here in verses 1 through 15 is restitution.

that when there is property damaged, when there's property stolen, that it must be made right. And be made right is not just restored, but also restored with penalty. And so if an animal is stolen and killed, then in some cases, if it's an ox, it's to be restored fivefold. So you steal one ox...

You have to pay back five oxen. You steal one lamb, you have to pay back four lambs. There was these guidelines that God said, you have to make it right. And so it was a way for the thieves to kind of be rehabilitated as they had to work to pay back what they owed as a result of their theft.

If a thief is struck as they're breaking in, it says that there's no guilt for the bloodshed because the thief was breaking in and so there is no guilt there. If an animal is stolen and found alive, so if this animal is stolen and then killed...

Maybe you eat it or whatever, you have to restore four or fivefold. If it's found alive, you don't just give the animal back, but it has to be restored twofold. So again, it's about this restitution. To make it right, you have to pay back what was taken plus the extra amount to bring restitution. If an animal eats its neighbor's crop, you have to make restitution. And that's why there in verse 9, it has this, the judges are to decide between these cases,

of property whatever kind of property was damaged or stolen or affected and there's disputes then the judges have to determine and decide what's fair and what's right to to pay back well then in verses 16 through 31 you have these various laws so if a man seduces an unmarried woman then he has to pay the dowry uh for her so that uh he would be married to her

God commands them not to let a sorceress live. That's not to be tolerated, and so they're to be put to death. Those who practice sexual intimacy with animals, they're to be put to death. Those who sacrifice to another god, they're to be put to death. Also, he gives instruction not to mistreat strangers.

or widows or the fatherless. He gives instruction not to charge interest when they lend to the poor. He gives instruction to not curse rulers or those in authority. He tells them don't delay the offerings of the first fruits and don't eat meat that's torn by dogs. I don't think I would be tempted to do that, but just in case you are, he gives the instruction for that. Chapter 23.

Verse 17 is the key verse. Three times a year, all your mail shall appear before the Lord God. So chapter 23, again, we're still with Moses. He's been up on the mountain with the Lord for a little bit. Chapters 21 and 22, God's giving him all these things. He's writing it down. Chapter 23 continues that on. In verses 1 through 9, we have laws concerning justice. So he says, you shall not circulate a false report.

This is one we don't have time, but I would encourage you, camp on it on your own and consider. God's law says you shall not circulate a false report. You have responsibility to validate, to verify what you say.

And if you hear something and you pass it on to somebody else, but it's a false report, well, that's forbidden. You have a responsibility to verify, is that really the case? Is that really the truth? And there's some very recent, as recent as this week, some very prominent speakers or teachers and pastors have been slandered publicly for

without going back, the people who are slandering them don't go back to the original source, to the person that they're slandering and say, is this true? And then when the person reveals, hey, that was a very inaccurate article that was written and all these people have slandered me, then they look very foolish and they've broken God's law because they've circulated a false report. Listen, the biblical model is when there's a question that

You go to the source. You go to the person directly. You're responsible. If you carry on, if you pass on, hey, did you hear about this? Did you hear about that? Did you know that this happened? And you're circulating false information. That is wrong. It is sinful. It's against God's commands. Not only is it gossip and slander, but it's a false report that you're circulating and you are accountable for that.

So think about that. Meditate on that. Let God speak to you. Okay, so more things. Bring back your enemy's stray livestock. So your enemy, you know, has a sheep that's wandering. You're like, ha ha, serves him right. No, you can't do that. You got to bring it back. They're not to pervert the judgment for the poor. So just because they're poor, you can't, you know, not provide judgment or righteousness for them. Don't take a bribe. Don't oppress a stranger. Those are the types of things that are listed there.

And then in verses 10 through 13, we have the laws concerning Sabbaths. So God said, six days you have to work. The seventh day is a Sabbath day. It's a rest day. That's Saturday. And so Saturday you're supposed to rest. You're not supposed to work. Don't work the fields. Don't plow the fields. You know, don't put your servants to work and say, I'm going to rest. No, your whole household is to rest on that seventh day.

In addition to that, God also appointed Sabbath years. So you're to work your land for six years. The seventh year, you're not to work the land. You're not to plant. You're not to harvest. You're not to plow. You're just to let the land do whatever it's going to do for that seventh year. It was a way that God provided for the poor and various other things. And so the Sabbath day and the Sabbath year are appointed here.

Then he also declares to them the three annual feasts. They're in verses 14 through 19. We'll come back and talk a little bit more about that. And then verses 20 through 23, we have God's promises. Notice again, it's that condition, if you obey. So here's the promises. Here's what I'm going to work for you. Here's what I'm going to accomplish if you are obedient. So it was an agreement between them. We'll obey you. And God says, this is what I will do for you.

Well, here you have the calendar of Israel with the three annual feasts that were required. And for these feasts, all the Hebrew males, all the men, were required to appear before God. The other feasts, they were required to keep. We haven't looked at the other feasts yet, but there are other feasts on their calendar. They were required to keep, but they didn't have to do so at Jerusalem before the Lord.

Here for these three feasts, they were to appear before God there at the tabernacle or the temple or in Jerusalem, which is where it later became. So the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that's the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they were required to keep. The Feast of Harvest, they were required to keep and to appear before the Lord. That's also known as the Feast of Pentecost.

And then the Feast of Ingathering, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, they were required to keep. So the first month, the third month, and the seventh month, they were required to appear before the Lord. So later when they're in the land of Israel, wherever they live in the land, they have to go to Jerusalem three times a year for these feasts in order to be obedient to what God had given to them.

Well, also in chapter 23, we have God talking about his angel. It's the angel of the Lord.

And here's a list of some of those references of when we've seen the occurrence of the angel of the Lord. We've already talked about it a few times, so I'm not going to get into details. But essentially, when you see the angel of the Lord, it's a reference to Jesus appearing in the Old Testament before his virgin birth. And so they're called Christophanies, when Jesus appears to his people, even though he hasn't been born yet, which he can do because he's God and he's always existed.

All right, chapter 24, last chapter this evening. We finish it off in verse 12. It says, Then the Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain and be there, and I will give you tablets of stone and the law and commandments which I have written that you may teach them.

So now God calls Moses back up the mountain. He's been on the mountain receiving all these things that we've been talking about. He goes down, delivers it to the people. And in verses one through eight, Israel again agrees. All right, that sounds good. Those laws make sense. We agree. We're gonna be obedient to God. And then God calls Moses back up the mountain. So you see, he's already gone up and down a couple of times. That will continue. He'll be going up and down the mountain to meet with the Lord. And then God calls Moses back up the mountain.

And so here in chapter 24, we have Moses on the mountain with God again. And God says, I'm going to give you tablets of stone that have the law written on them. And so as Moses goes up the mountain this time, it's going to be for some time. In fact, we'll find in verse 18 that it's 40 days that Moses is up there on the mountain.

And the next few chapters, as we keep reading through this week, chapters 25 through 31 are all the things that God spoke to Moses while he was up there on the mountain for that 40 days.

And so we have all the different parts of the tabernacle being described and set in place. So we'll be looking at the tabernacle this week. And all of that is given to Moses. So all of these next chapters, 25 through 31, are the things that God gives to Moses as he's up there for that 40 days. The next time Moses comes down is Exodus chapter 32. And he comes down and that's when they are worshiping that golden calf.

And he breaks the tablets and we'll see that as we read forward this week as well. So he's going to be up there for some time. He comes down again at the end of 40 days to the people worshiping this false God. Well, as we finish up this evening, I want to just highlight one thing here in Exodus chapter 24. And we'll close with that thought. Here in Exodus chapter 24, God calls Moses up the mountain.

It says in verse 16, Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day, he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. So put yourself in Moses' shoes for a second. God calls you up the mountain. So you go up the mountain, and nothing happens for six days. It's not until the seventh day that God begins to speak.

God called him up there, but then he had to wait six days before God began to speak to him. I think this is interesting and important because, well, we see throughout the scriptures the need, the necessity, as George was encouraging us earlier, to wait upon the Lord. I think many times when we are there before the Lord,

20 minutes is long enough. All right, God, I guess you're not going to say something. So I'm going to just do what I think I need to do. But the need, the necessity to wait upon the Lord. I mean, not just doing what we want to do when we think we need to do it or whatever, but we need to learn to be still, to know that he's God, to wait. I would have gone up the mountain and

Again, after a short period of time, maybe a day, I could last a day on the mountain. But then I would have been thinking, maybe God didn't speak to me. Maybe I wasn't supposed to come up the mountain. Maybe I should go back down. But Moses waited there upon the Lord six days. There's a depth there. There's a maturity. There is, well, there's a great example for us to wait upon the Lord.

Yesterday I was at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs and the assistant pastor there, Dale Goddard, was sharing a study with the leadership. And he was talking about how it's sad, but many of us as believers today really do not go very deep with the Lord. He was kind of comparing today's books versus last generation's books and how there's not the depth that there once was.

And that carries forward also in the lives of many believers today that, well, we really do not have that depth where we've waited upon the Lord. We've heard from Him. It's so easy. We have so many distractions to get caught up and to do what we think or to get distracted and just not really know how to spend time with the Lord. But Moses here, he was with the Lord constantly.

Even though God was not saying anything for six days. He had some serious quiet time. And I just want to encourage you as we wrap up, as we look at these things, listen, God is real. And we can wait upon Him and He will provide for us and meet our needs. But we must wait. Wait upon the Lord. Learn to sit at His feet. Learn to be quiet. Learn to be okay with the silence. Learn to be okay when God's not speaking. And just to wait upon Him.

Until He speaks. Until He reveals Himself. Until He gives you the direction. Learn to go deep with the Lord. Make sure you develop that. Don't just get distracted. Don't just think, let me give you an example. So you're reading through the Bible in three years. You come across a passage and you think, man, I don't get this passage. What does it mean? It's very easy. Well, hey, I have...

This quick access to these commentaries online. I have these bookshelves that's right here. I have, you know, the questions that I can send in the text message right away. I encourage you to do that. Send in the questions. But also, learn to just sit on it and keep reading it. And maybe wait a few days as you keep reading it and keep reading it. And wait for God to speak. Let God show you what that passage means. He's alive. He's real. He wants to speak to you.

And so we have a great example here in Moses, learning to wait upon the Lord. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I do pray that you would help us to learn to wait upon you. God, that we would not be so quick and so anxious to try to solve it or fix it ourselves. God, that we wouldn't be so quick to just turn to someone else to tell us what you're saying. God, I pray that you would help us to sit at your feet and to learn to hear your voice and even to be comfortable with the silence, the waiting,

As we consider and we continue to pray and we give you opportunity to speak to our hearts. Lord, there's a depth that's required. There's a time investment that is required. I pray, God, that you would help us not to be so impatient. But, Lord, that we would be comfortable waiting upon you and allowing you to speak to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.