p. 138 | The Sabbath-School

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Mar 4, 1889

The Sabbath-School.

Old Testament History.

THE GIVING OF THE LAW.

(Lesson 11, March 16, 1889.) 1. How long was it after the children of Israel left Egypt until they came to Sinai? "In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the Wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount." Ex. 19:1, 2.

2. What did the Lord say he would do the third day afterward? "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day; for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai." Verses 10, 11.

3. What precaution was taken to keep the people from touching the mount? "And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it; whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death." Verse 12.

4. What severe penalty was to follow any violation of this order? "There shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount." "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish." Verses 13, 21. See verse 12.

5. With what words did Moses describe this setting off of the mount? "And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it." Verse 23.

6. What other order indicated the solemnity of what was about to be done? "And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes." "And let the priests also, which came near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them." Verses 14, 22. See verse 10.

7. What terrible things did the people hear on the third day? "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled." Verse 16.

8. What caused this? "And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." "And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up." Verses 18, 20.

9. For what purpose did the Lord come down upon Sinai in his terrible glory? "Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments; and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statues, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant." Neh. 9:13, 14.

10. Who accompanied him? "And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them." Deut. 33:2. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." Ps. 68:17.

11. Of what was this giving of the law a manifestation? "Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand; and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words." Deut. 33:3. See verse 2.

12. Where do we find the law of which the Lord spoke from Sinai? Ex. 20:3-17.

13. What is the law called, which the Lord spoke? "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:12, 13.

14. Did he speak anything beside the ten commandments? "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 5:22.

15. As soon as he had spoken them, what did the people say? "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." Ex. 20:18, 19. "And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more." Heb. 12:19.

16. What does Paul say of the awfulness of that occasion? "For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart; and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake." Verses 20, 21.

17. Upon what did God write the ten commandments? Deut. 4:13; 5:22.

18. When will the trump of God be heard again? "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16. "Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.

19. When the voice of the Lord was heard at Sinai, what took place? "And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice." Ex. 19:18, 19. "The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God; even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel." Ps. 68:8.

20. What will take place when it is heard at the last day? "Whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." Heb. 12:26. "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." Joel 3:16. ## NOTES. According to some of the best critics, "the same day," literally, "that day," was the first day of the

third month, or the month Sivan, corresponding to the latter part of our May and the first of June. This was forty-five days after leaving Egypt, when the Passover was celebrated. The second day of the third month was passed by Moses in the mount, three days more were spent by the people in the work of purification, and the next day, the sixth day of the third month, the fiftieth day after the Passover, the glory of the Lord appeared upon the mount. This was the basis of the feast of Pentecost. At this time also, was the harvest of wheat and barley, from the first-fruits of which Israel offered to God thank offerings for the giving of the law and the abundant harvests. These offerings of first-fruits typified the first-fruits of the gospel after the resurrection. Acts 2.

EXODUS 19:5-8 contains the terms of what is called the "old covenant," or the covenant made with the fathers. Jer. 31:32; Heb. 8:9. The conditions were that Israel should obey God's voice, and keep his covenant. If they would do this, the Lord promised them precious blessings. To these conditions they agreed. Verse 8. The sealing of this covenant is recorded in Ex. 24:3-8.

"My covenant," (Ex. 19:5) is God's covenant commanded, or the decalogue. It is the same as "My voice," the voice of God which spoke the ten commandments from Heaven. "And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:13. In a strictly literal sense, the ten commandments are not a covenant; for a covenant is a mutual agreement between two parties. The ten commandments are God's law to man; it is man's duty absolutely enjoined by the great Jehovah; and man is under obligation to obey it whether he agrees to or not. But as the law of God is the basis of all covenants, it is therefore called the covenant. Man may fail to keep the covenant which he has made concerning the law, but the law remains just the same as though the covenant which man agreed to had been kept. So the psalmist says of the Lord, "He hath remembered his covenant forever [perpetually], the word which he commanded to a thousand generations." Ps. 105:8.

VERSE 13.—"There shall not a hand touch it," some translate "him." That is, if a soul should so presumptuously sin against God as to touch the mount, none should lay hands on him either to help him to escape or to arrest him; for they would thereby become partakers in his sin, or would be defiled in laying hands on such a sinner. His punishment was that he should be stoned or thrust through with a dart. Heb. 12:20.

THE one who spoke the law, who called Moses into the mount and talked with him, was our Lord Jesus Christ. This is evident from the following considerations. Christ is the one through whom God has at all times revealed himself to man. "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." 1 Cor. 8:6. Again Stephen testifies in Acts 7:38: "This is he [Moses], that was in the church in the wilderness with the Angel which spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us." This Angel was the Angel of God's presence (Isa. 63:9), the Angel in whom was the name of the great Jehovah (Ex. 23:20-23). These expressions can refer to no other than the Son of God.

AGAIN: Christ is called the Word of God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1-3. He is called the Word of God, because God gave his revelation to man in all ages through Christ. His spirit inspired the prophets. 1 Peter 1:10, 11. He was revealed to them as the Angel of Jehovah, the Captain of the Lord's hosts, Michael the Archangel.

The following from Bruce's travels will illustrate this:— "In Abyssinia, there is an officer named Kal Hatze, the word or voice of the king, who stands always upon the steps of the throne, at the side of a lattice window, where there is a hole, covered in the inside with a curtain of green taffeta. Behind this curtain the king sits, and speaks through the aperture to the Kal Hatze, who communicates his commands to the officers, judges, and attendants." So Christ is the Voice of God and Word of God. M. C. W.