THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #126 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #107
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3811
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #126
THE LIFE OF MOSES #107
MOSES AND MT.SINAI #6
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ( Part 1 )
Ex 19:1-25 Exactly three months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites reach the Sinai Desert. They spend two days preparing to meet God at the ‘mountain of God’ (known as Mt Horeb, Mt Sinai or Gebal Mousa – The ‘Mountain of Moses’).
Ex 20:1-26 On the third day, Moses receives the Ten Commandments on Mt Sinai (near to where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush some six years earlier – see Exodus 3:1).
When God spoke to Moses on Mt Sinai in circa1446BC, He gave Moses a set of ten guidelines by which the Israelites could live their lives in a way pleasing to God.
These guidelines formed part of the solemn covenant agreement (or ‘testament’) between the Israelites and God (also known as ‘The Law’ or ‘The Law of Moses’).
In this agreement or ‘covenant’, God promised to bless the Israelites. They, for their part, agreed to follow in God’s ways.
God’s guidelines for righteous living are known as the ‘Ten Commandments’.
The Ten Commandments (also known as the Decalogue) are ten laws in the Bible that God gave to the nation of Israel shortly after the Exodus from Egypt.
The Ten Commandments are essentially a summary of the 613 commandments
contained in the Old Testament Law.
The first four commandments deal with our relationship with God. The last six commandments deal with our relationships with one another.
The Ten Commandments are recorded in the Bible in Exodus 20:1-17 and
Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
They cover both the religious and the secular aspects of life – how to worship God and how to live in harmony with family, friends, and the rest of society.
They have formed an effective guide to godly living for over three thousand years:
1. Don’t worship any other god - just Me.
2. Don’t make anything or anyone into an idol - and don’t worship them.
3. Don’t misuse God’s name or do evil in God’s name.
4. Don’t do your usual work on the seventh day of each week - treat it as a special holy day (a ‘holiday’).
5. Always show respect to your parents.
6. Don’t murder anyone.
7. Don’t commit adultery by having sex with anyone other than the person you’re married to.
8. Don’t steal from anyone.
9. Don’t tell lies about someone else.
10. Don’t be envious of anyone’s house, their partner, or anything they own.
Many people mistakenly look at the Ten Commandments as a set of rules that, if followed, will guarantee entrance into heaven after death.
In contrast, the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to force people to realize that they cannot perfectly obey the Law (Romans 7:7-11), and are therefore in need of God’s mercy and grace.
Despite the claims of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16, no one can perfectly obey the Ten Commandments (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
The Ten Commandments demonstrate that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and are therefore in need of God’s mercy and grace, available only through faith in Jesus Christ.
