The Giving of God's Law (Exodus Chapters 19–33)
Three months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai. It was here that God gave to Moses a fresh revelation of His nature and character in the form of an extended system of laws. These laws described God's essential, moral character to provide a proper foundation for standards of behaviour that human beings should adopt towards each other. They also dealt with how failure to keep these laws should be managed, both in terms of human society but, more importantly, in relation to God Himself.
To deal with this, God established a system of sacrifices that needed to be made in order to restore healthy relationships: between God and humanity and also between humans themselves. For a society that depended largely on herds and flocks for basic food and clothing, animals represented assets and wealth. Wherever a failure to keep God's law was established, restitution had to be made, through sacrifice of the animal when an offence against God had been committed or through payment (in kind) to another person who had been wronged.
The entire system of law was summarised in what we have to come to know as the 'Ten Commandments'. These were inscribed on stone tablets that could be presented to the people and preserved as an historical record, allowing the provisions of the law to be passed on through the generations. In God's overall plan for humanity, this law was only a temporary, provisional measure. It was intended to be a 'teacher' that would prepare people for God's ultimate response to the problem of evil that started with Adam and polluted the entire human race.
This is why Christians refer to the books of the Bible that cover the period before Jesus' birth as the 'old covenant'. When Jesus came, He was the 'perfect lamb of God' who gave His life as a one-time-only sacrifice on behalf of all humanity. Jesus carried the entire weight of sin and rebellion on behalf of all people - past and present - in order that the full, undamaged relationship between people and God (and between people themselves) could be restored. Accordingly, the books of the Bible, from the 'gospels' through to Revelation, are know as the 'new covenant'.
The Application of Justice
An important lesson from God's law is that human beings do not respond simply to being told what is 'right' or 'wrong'. Simply passing a 'law' will not guarantee that everyone will keep that law! There have to be sanctions and ways of ensuring that people are held to account for transgressions. As a result, God's law provided for a 'high court': a place where guilt could be established and restitution made. For God's people in Moses' time, this was to be a 'tabernacle' - a large tent that could travel with the people and be set up wherever they made camp to represent God's presence among His people and to provide a focus for the sacrifices that offered an interim means of restitution and forgiveness.
As it turned out, it didn't take long for human weakness, frailty and a fierce desire for independence to surge upwards and spark open rebellion against Moses and God Himself. Whilst Moses was meeting with God on top of the mountain, the people got fed up waiting for him and turned to his older brother, Aaron, to put together for them something visual and impressive that could act as a focus to satisfy their instinctive desire to worship some deity, but without obliging them to think too closely about what a relationship with the one, true, living God might entail.
They were grateful to have been delivered from slavery in Egypt, but the overwhelming and miraculous powers that they had seen at work were too much for them. This God to whom Moses had introduced them was little short of terrifying and they wanted something more tangible and easy to control. Aaron found himself caught between the Rock (of Israel) - the living God - and a hard place: the immediate prospect of civil insurrection and rioting. So, as he later explained to Moses: ‘They gave me their gold and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf!’ (Exodus 32:24)
When Moses eventually came down the mountain, what did he see but the people sacrificing and bowing down to a golden calf! Moses had spent several days with God on the mountain and been given a momentous revelation of God's loving character and desire to repair the broken relationship with humanity. His immediate reaction was to destroy the tablets of the law (before they could come into effect) and to try and stop the rot before it took hold of the people. He challenged those who did want to know God and follow Him to declare themselves and the tribe of Levi stepped up. Moses told them to take their swords and to put to death the ringleaders of the idolatrous rebellion.
The Levites did so, slaughtering many people but, thereby, cleansing the Israelite camp from the madness that had gripped them. We need to understand that our own failures to keep God's law need to be dealt with equally seriously. We must be just as open and forceful over our own sin. It cannot and should not cause us to turn away from the only source of provision for us: Jesus. If we are fixated on earning more and more money, acquiring possessions, or indulging our desires for sex, drugs, food, or gossip, then we need to deal with these things just as forcefully.
God Himself now said He would not go up with His people into the promised land because they were 'stiff-necked' - unwilling to submit to His authority. But He did send an angel to guide them and promised that this angel would help to drive out the inhabitants of the land to which they were going. These inhabitants were comprised of several tribes, each of which was named by the Israelites according to its perceived characteristics:
1. Canaanites - those who humiliate and bring into subjection;
2. Amorites - those who cause terror;
3. Hittites - those who boast about themselves and patronise others;
4. Perizzites - those who cause division and separation;
5. Hivites - small-minded villagers;
6. Jebusites - those who loath (or tread down) others.
As the law made clear, God's character does not allow for any form of compromise when it comes to human behaviour. He is always prepared to forgive, but only when people are willing to admit their sinfulness and show themselves ready to change their way of life. If they persistently refuse to change, there will come a time when God intervenes and brings their wrongdoing to a halt.
Moses had begun to understand this, but he really loved his people so he interceded for them and asked God to forgive them. He even asked God to 'blot him out of the book of life' rather than expelling his fellow compatriots. (Exodus 32:32) In saying this, he showed himself a forerunner for Jesus, who allowed Himself to be crucified in place of His people. We need to be just as diligent in praying for our friends and neighbours, asking God to save them before it is too late. This is what means to 'love our neighbours as we love ourselves'. God deals with people individually. Those who have sinned and persist in their sinning, He will punish by blotting out their names from the 'book of life'. This is why He required the Israelites to completely destroy the inhabitants of the land that He had promised to His people.
An Invitation to know God intimately (Exodus 33:15)
Moses said to the LORD: 'If Your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that You are pleased with me and with Your people unless You go with us?' God agreed and then Moses asked to see His glory. God warned him that 'no one may see me and live', but said that He would hide Moses in the cleft of a rock while He passed by, and then allow him to look at His back – where He had been – but Moses could not see His face. Before Jesus came, that was the way of it: the very sight of God's pure glory would strike any human being dead.
We often see God’s glory after He has been in a situation, but His desire is that, one day, we shall see Him face to face. Until then, He invites us to talk with Him personally - one-to-one. Have you been to Him recently? The way is open; just begin to praise Him and tell Him how much you love Him and let things develop from there. After all, He is your Heavenly Father, and you can call him ‘Abba’ (literally, ‘Daddy’). What father would not speak to his child face to face? (Hebrews 10:19-22)
Mt Sinai to the Promised Land (Numbers 10:11 – 25:18)
These chapters deal with the failure of the older Israelites to inherit the promised land. When the time came for them to set out on their journey, they started whingeing and moaning once more: ‘We remember the free fish we enjoyed in Egypt; the melons, cucumbers, leeks, onions and garlic; now all we get is this manna!’ God reacted angrily and Moses, in desperation, turned to Him for help, so God said: 'Tell them that they can have meat'. He sent a gigantic flock of quail, driven by a storm, to collapse all around the camp. The people began to gorge on them but, whilst they were still stuffing themselves, God struck them with a plague and many died.
Moses' family then turned against him. Whilst on the run from Egypt, Moses had married a woman from another tribe (the Cushites). These people lived in a region to the South of Egypt, what is now Sudan and Ethiopia. She was probably of black, African descent. This did not meet with the approval of his brother and sister (Aaron and Miriam), who seemed to think that this was not appropriate behaviour for a 'man of God'. They began to question Moses' right to speak exclusively for God, angling for greater recognition of their own prophetic gifts.
Once again, the LORD was moved to anger. Having called the three of them to a meeting, He strongly defended Moses, pointing out that he was more than a prophet; God was prepared to talk with him personally, 'clearly and not in riddles'. The LORD then struck Miriam with leprosy and left them. Aaron, realising the awful mistake that they had made, interceded for her and Moses joined him in appealing to God. The LORD then healed her but she was banished to remain outside the camp for seven days as a mark of her disgrace.
Finally, the Israelites arrived at the border of the promised land. Moses sent one man from each tribe into the land as spies. They explored the length and breadth of the land and found that it was truly rich in produce. They cut down a bunch of grapes so heavy that it took two men to carry it back. On returning, they reported that it was ‘indeed a magnificent country - a land flowing with milk and honey' and produced the fruit as proof of this. But they went on to say that the people living there were strong and powerful, including men of giant stature. Two of the spies (Caleb and Joshua) agreed that it would be a challenge but insisted that, with God's help, they could go up at once and take possession of the land.
However, the people as a whole rebelled and out came the familiar cries: 'If only we had stayed in Egypt…’ The people started to talk about stoning Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua but the glory of the LORD appeared and God threatened to strike down the entire nation, leaving only those who had resolutely kept faith with Him. Moses persuaded God to stay His hand and, once again, God forgave the people but warned that they would now turn back and none of those who had put God to the test and treated Him with contempt would ever see the promised land.
A Diversion in the Desert
Thus began forty years of wandering around the desert. Eventually, only Joshua and Caleb of the roughly two million who were rescued from Egypt, actually crossed into the promised land. Those years were years of constant bickering and dissent. Initially, the people recognised that they had made a wrong choice and attempted to cross by themselves the next day, only to be forcibly ejected by the inhabitants. It was not a happy period. Three notable rebels (Korah, Dathan and Abihu) tried to usurp Moses' position and were swallowed alive when the earth opened beneath them. Another more widespread rebellion was resolved when God sent a plague of poisonous snakes that started biting people. Only those who turned in faith to God's offering of salvation (a bronze serpent fixed to a large pole in the centre of the camp) were healed and survived.
This interlude was long and painful but, through it all, we see God's continuing mercy, as well as His authority and strength. We also see Moses’ humility as a leader; his amazing patience and love for people who constantly made life difficult for him. He is an incredible example to us of what it means to serve God's people.
Towards the end of this wandering, the people skirt around to the East of the promised land, on the far side of what we know as the 'Dead Sea'. They encounter specific opposition from the people of Moab; firstly in the form of a prophet-cum-sorceror (Balaam) who is hired to put a curse on the people; secondly in an attempt to subvert them through promiscuity. They then travel northwards to Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim (about halfway between Jerusalem and the Galilee) where they are asked to choose between curses and blessings, before returning to Mt Nebo (due East of Jericho and Jerusalem on the far side of the river Jordan) where Moses is given a view of the promised land but told that he will not enter it.
Opposition from Moab (Numbers 22 to 25)
The story of Balaam is fairly strange and fantastical but illustrates God's infinite superiority over any so-called magical or demonical powers. Moab was the son of an incestuous relationship between Lot (Abraham's nephew) and his eldest daughter. (Genesis 19:37) A similar liaison between Lot and his younger daughter produced a step-brother: Ammon. Both sons became the founders of tribal dynasties and both of these tribes later opposed the Israelites.
Balaam was hired to place a curse on the Israelites but God intervenes several times to prevent him from uttering any curse and to pronounce blessings on them instead. Having failed in that attempt, the Moabites then try befriending the Israelites, inviting them to religious 'celebrations' in which sexual indulgence played a central part. As God's people today, we are still often faced with these temptations: to be diverted by an unhealthy fascination with pseudo-spirituality or an equally dangerous but more basic surrender to sensual pleasures, such as sexual activity, over-eating, uncontrolled drinking or drug-taking. All these things push us outside of what God wants for us in our lives: the best possible experience of life, but anchored within the safeguards that God has set for us.
Blessings and Curses (Deuteronomy 27 to 30)
By the time that the people reached Mt Ebal, the census taken in Numbers, chapter 26, shows that there had been a sharp decrease in numbers. The entire generation that refused to go into the promised land the first time around had died out before they entered it forty years later. Once again, God prepared to take His people into the land He had promised to them. This time, instead of setting out the 'Ten Commandments' on stone tablets, God gets them to set up some large stones on Mt Ebal, cover them with plaster and then inscribe the words of the law on the stones. He then sets up for them another giant visual aid: six of the tribes are to stand on Mt Gerizim (on the other side of a valley from Mt Ebal) whilst the remaining six tribes remain on Mt Ebal. Those on Mt Ebal will then pronounce curses that will follow any disobedience to these laws, followed by those on Mt Gerizim pronouncing blessings that will follow from obedience to the laws.
Similar principles apply for us today as Christian believers. It is worth reading through chapters 27 and 28 to get a feel for the stark contrast that God puts before us. Our faith is very much an 'all-or-nothing' affair. The 'heroes of faith' celebrated in Hebrews, chapter 11, are all people who were wholly committed to their relationship with God, above and beyond anything else in their lives. That is the standard to which we are called. In chapters 29 and 30, Moses presents the people with an opportunity to re-affirm their covenant with God. This same offer of life or death is laid before us today.
‘I call heaven and earth to witness against you that today I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Oh, that you would choose life; that you and your children might live! Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey Him and to cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days. You will then be able to live safely in the land the LORD promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
The Final Chapter
The Israelites had been prepared by God to go into the promised land, but Moses would not be going with them. Earlier, Moses had lost patience with the Israelites and, in a moment of anger, had broken faith with God. It happened at the waters of Meribah Kadesh - as described in Numbers, chapter 20. The people needed water but could find no water in that place. God told Moses to speak to a rock, which would respond by producing a stream of water. Instead, Moses took it upon himself to play the main rôle and struck the rock with his staff.
God duly provided the water but the lesson (about answered prayer, perhaps?) was lost and God would not allow any human to assume a divine authority that God had not given. Consequently, Moses was allowed to climb to the top of Mt Nebo and to view the promised land at a distance, but, standing alone there in God's presence, he died. God buried him but his grave was unmarked so nobody could build any form of monument to him, despite Moses having been one of the most amazing people in the whole of history.
So it was that Joshua, Moses’ assistant, became the one to lead the Israelites into their land. Throughout his time as a special assistant to Moses, God had been preparing him for the next big step. God announced Moses’ death to Joshua: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all these people, get ready to cross the River Jordan into the land I am about to give them – to the Israelites.’ (Joshua 1:2)
Click on the button below to load the QUESTIONS for this study in a new browser tab. You can opt to print the question sheet or simply follow the questions and write down your answers in a notebook or a separate file on a computing device, such as a laptop or mobile 'phone.