Moses gets God’s COVENANT

After being led by God through the Sinai desert, Israel finally encamped a short distance away from Mt. Sinai. From the mountain, God spoke the Ten Commandments out of a storm of fire, smoke, lightening and an earthquake. The Ten Commandments were the ‘high points’ and overview of the whole Law, which they had not received yet. In addition to the Commandments, Moses wrote down a covenant from God that He promised to take care of them if they would obey it (Ex. 20-23). God’s word demands a response! Also, they were to obey the voice of His angel (Heb. mal awk, ‘to dispatch, messenger’) who had the character of God and was involved with judging sin and was probably a theophany of Jesus (Ex. 23:20-23). Oxen were then sacrificed as their innocent blood was used to ratify the Covenant and as the peace offering between sinners and a perfect God, which also mirrored the sacrifice of Jesus (Col. 1:19, 20). The blood meant that whoever broke the covenant should die! God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God (Matt. 26:27, 28).

Moses gets God’s LAW

The book of the Covenant was left with the people as the priests, 70 elders, and Joshua and Moses went to the base of the mountain and saw God. This vision included viewing His feet on a magnificent sapphire platform and was not a total view of God, which would have cost them their lives (vs. 11; Ex. 33:20; John 1:18). Then they ate a meal with God in covenant fellowship. After leaving national oversight to Aaron and Hur, Moses and Joshua go near the storm cloud and wait to hear from God. After six days, God called Moses so he left Joshua, entered the storm, and became the mediator between God and man. God’s timing is rarely our timing. God desires a faith-filled relationship with believers—many times through waiting and disappointment. Waiting and disappointment are used to expose pride, anger, immaturity, and rebellion. God will often give the ‘what’ of His will, sometimes the ‘where’ and ‘how’, but rarely the ‘when’ or ‘why’. For the next 40 days God gave Moses instructions about the ark, tabernacle, and priestly responsibilities. He was also given two Ten Commandments, written by God on stone, which completed God’s reason of rescuing Israel—worship (Ex. 3:12; 1 John 2:5). Worship is an action not a feeling!