What do you know about God? How did you learn it? Chances are that most of what you have been taught about God came from your family upbringing or from church leaders and teachers. For the children of Israel, there was no such structure. They had spent years in Egypt, surrounded by pagan worship, with little to no formal training regarding the things of God.
God sees their ignorance of Him and knows that it will hinder them in the future as they move into the promised land. So, He leads them to Mt. Sinai. There, He gives them the law. Why? Was it just because He wanted to give them orders?
No, God was giving them the law so they could better understand Him. He wanted them to know His ways, to walk in His holiness, and to be blessed by doing so. Today, God is speaking to you. His word is revealing who He is. This is not because God wants you to simply obey, it is because He wants you to know Him and to be blessed by living His way, the best way.
-Pastor Conley
Exodus 19–20:21 (MEV)
1 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day they came into the Wilderness of Sinai.
2 When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness. Israel camped there before the mountain.
3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel:
4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.
5 Now therefore, if you will faithfully obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is Mine.
6 And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.
8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Indeed, I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and always believe in you.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes,
11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai.
12 You shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves so that you not go up onto the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death.
13 No hand will touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be beast or man. He shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”
14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.
15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”
16 So on the third day, in the morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet. All the people who were in the camp trembled.
17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.
19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice.
20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they force their way to the Lord to look, and many of them perish.
22 Let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain, and sanctify it.’ ”
24 Then the Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest He break through against them.”
25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
1 Now God spoke all these words, saying:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 You shall not make for yourself any graven idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water below the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of them who hate Me,
6 and showing lovingkindness to thousands of them who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.
8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or your sojourner who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
18 All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.
19 They 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, so that the fear of Him may be before you so that you do not sin.”
21 The people stood a distance away as Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.