Bible Study Notes - Exodus Chapters 19-40: Mount Sinai and God's Law Revealed

Moses and Aaron with the 10 Commandments by Aron de Chaves (W.Commons); Aaron on the right in his priestly garb

This post covers the rest of Exodus, Chapters 19 to 40.

This is a longer than usual post as it would be good to finish this book since I won’t be posting next week.

The Lord called Moses from the mountain: ‘“… tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”’ (19:3-6)

The phrases marking them as belonging to God – ‘special treasure’; ‘kingdom of priests’; ‘holy nation’ – were all dependent on them keeping God’s covenant and being obedient to Him.

When Moses told them God’s message, the Israelites answered, ‘“All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”’ (19:8)

The Lord then told Moses He would come to him ‘“in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever”’ (19:9); this was to avert any possible accusation that Moses had not met God and had simply made it all up himself.

The Lord told Moses to consecrate the people, basically to wash their clothes, ‘“For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people… ‘Take heed… that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall… be put to death.’”’ (19:10-12)

On the third day, ‘there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain’, and a loud trumpet blast. ‘Moses brought the people… to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain… Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire.’ (19:16-18)

‘And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain’ and told him to bring Aaron, and to warn the people not to break through the smoke ‘“to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.”’ (19:20-24)

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, ‘saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt…”’

Woodcut for 'The Bible in Pictures' by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (W.Commons)

The Ten Commandments are:
’”You shall have no other gods before Me”’ – polytheism (20:1-3)

‘“You shall not make for yourself a carved image”’ – graven images. The Lord refers to Himself as “a jealous God”; Alan Redpath defines that jealousy thus – “God’s jealousy is love in action. He refuses to share the human heart with any rival, not because He is selfish… but because He knows that upon that loyalty to Him depends our very moral life… God is not jealous of us. He is jealous for us.” (added emphasis) (20:4, 5)

‘“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…”’ – swearing (20:7)

‘“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.”’ – Sabbath (20:8-10)

‘“Honour your father and your mother…”’ – obedience to parents (20:4)

‘“You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
You shall not covet your neighbour’s house… your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox… his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.”’ (20:13-17) (added emphasis)

The Lord also told Moses to tell the Israelites not to make gods of silver or gold, but ‘“an altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt… and peace offerings…”’. If they made stone altars they were not to use ‘“hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it”’, and they were not to go up the steps to the altar. (20:22-26)

In Chapters 21-23, many laws are given on a variety of subjects including but not limited to the treatment of servants, violence, animal laws, theft, idolatry and sorcery, money and property lending, and justice.

“These different regulations are as remarkable for their justice and prudence as for their humanity. Their great tendency is to show the valuableness of human life… the necessity of having peace and good understanding… and they possess that quality which should be the object of all good and wholesome laws – the prevention of crimes.” – Adam Clarke.

God not only gave the people the laws for them to live by, but also to establish the framework of principles and precedent for the judges appointed by Moses. This would confirm the unique nature of the laws of Israel among the existing law codes of the other nations, setting them apart in name and in conduct.

God reserved His special attention for widows and orphans who often had no one to care for them: ‘“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me… My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword…”’ (22:22-24)

Chapter 23 covers the law of Sabbaths – the Israelites were instructed to work for six days, then rest on the Sabbath, and their agricultural practices were to follow a similar pattern: ‘“Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow…”’ (23:10, 11)

‘“Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year… the Feast of Unleavened Bread… the Feast of Harvests… the Feast of Ingathering… Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.”’ (23:14-17) – making the pilgrimage to and gathering at the tabernacle would not only unite the nation socially and religiously, but it would also make them trust God to watch over their landholdings while they were away.

The Lord then said, ‘“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared… obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.”’ (23:20, 21) – the ‘Angel’ is the second Person of the Trinity in angelic form, the pre-incarnate Christ; Jesus was with Israel all through their wilderness years. If they listened and obeyed ‘“His voice”’, God would oppose their enemies. (23:22)

When Moses told the Israelites all that the Lord had said, they vowed to obey the Lord’s words, after which Moses wrote down God’s words. (24:3, 4)

The next morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and after the young men offered sacrifices, Moses ‘took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people.’ (24:4-7)

‘Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain… and I will give you tablets of stone and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”’ (24:12); the ‘tablets’ are the tablets of the covenant. ‘And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.’ (24:18)

Chapters 25-31 lay out, in meticulous detail, the instructions for the construction of the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place among the Israelites.

The whole structure was portable, and in the years of their wilderness wanderings, could be quickly dismantled and readied for transport, after which it could just as quickly be reassembled.

The Lord chose Aaron and his sons to ‘“minister to Me as priest”’ (28:1); in total, this phrase was said three times (28:3, 4), stressing the importance of the role in the religious life of Israel.

It is important to note that Aaron and his descendants, of the tribe of Levi, did not appoint themselves to this position; they were selected by God to be the nation’s priests.

The instruction for Moses to put the blood of a sacrificed ram ‘“on the tip of the right ear of Aaron… the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of the right foot…”’ (and the same for his sons) (29:20) was to symbolically sanctify the ear to hear the Word of God, the hand to do the work of God, and the foot to walk in the way of God.

The Lord telling Moses, ‘“I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God…”’ (29:45, 46), underlined an important reality for the Israelites; they had to understand not only the divinity of their God, whose dwelling place was in heaven, but also the fundamental nature of God who chose to make His dwelling place with them.

Having been chosen to be the Lord’s priest, Aaron didn’t have a great start.

The people wondered what had become of Moses as he had yet to come down from the mountain, so they went to Aaron and said, ‘“Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for… we do not know what has become of [Moses]”’ (32:1). Aaron told them to bring gold and he ‘received the gold from their hand… and made a moulded calf.’ (32:4)

Worshipping the golden calf (W.Commons)

The Lord, furious, ordered Moses to return immediately to the people – ‘“Go, get down! For your people… have corrupted themselves… They have made themselves a moulded calf, and worshipped it and sacrificed to it… Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”’ (32:7-10)

God referred to the people as ‘your people’ – Moses’ people – not His people; His fury was so great He was ready to destroy them and start again with Moses.

‘Moses pleaded with the Lord his God…’ pointing out that if God destroyed the people, the Egyptians would say, ‘“‘[The Lord] brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’”’ He begged God to remember His promise to ‘“Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants…” So the Lord relented…’ (32:11-14)

Moses then ‘went down from the mountain [with] the two tablets of the Testimony… the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God… As he came near the camp… he saw the calf and the dancing.’ (32:15, 16; 19).

So angry was he, he ‘cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them… he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.’ (32:19-21)

Moses breaks the tablets of the Commandments (Culture Club - Contributor - Getty Images)

Moses demanded Aaron explain himself, holding him responsible, but Aaron tried to deflect the blame to the people – ‘“You know the people, that they are set on evil.”’ (32:22)

As the people continued in their drunken, immoral celebrations, Moses ‘stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side – come to me!” And all the sons of Levi [responded]… “Thus says the Lord… ‘let every man kill his brother… companion, neighbour.’”’ The sons of Levi obeyed, and about 3,000 people died, most likely those refusing to cease their immoral idolatry. (32:25-29)

While this command may seem harsh, judgment had to be meted out. The Levites understood that none could maintain a neutral stance between good and evil; total submission to the will of God superseded familial ties and loyalty.

The next day, Moses returned to the Lord to intercede on the people’s behalf and asked God to forgive them, ‘“but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”’ (32:32); such was the strength of Moses’ love for his people that he offered up his own life rather than see them destroyed.

The Lord said, ‘“Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.”’ (32:33). He would spare the nation but retained the right to judge individual sinners.

Then God told Moses to lead the people onwards, that He would punish their sin later; that future punishment, yet to be pronounced, was that the entire adult generation would not enter the Promised Land.

When God assured Moses His Presence would go with the Israelites, Moses said, ‘“Please, show me your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you… You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”’ (33:18-20)

At the Lord’s command, Moses cut two tablets of stone to replace the ones he’d broken and again went up the mountain for another period of 40 days and 40 nights.

‘The Lord descended… and stood with him… and proclaimed the name of the Lord… “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation.”’ (34:5-7)

These are all testimonies to the character of God; notice, the first word God uses to describe Himself is ‘merciful’ – He loves His people.

The tabernacle - click on the link for more detailed descriptions and an accompanying video (growinggodlygenerations)

Chapters 35-40 are about the Israelites constructing the tabernacle as specified by God.

While the work was being carried out, the Israelites continued to bring ‘freewill offerings every morning… the craftsmen… spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the… work which the Lord commanded us to do.”’ (36:3-5); despite their stubborn and disobedient nature, the people voluntarily brought more than was needed, eager to contribute to God’s dwelling place.

Chapters 36:8-39:31 are almost identical, word for word, to the instructions received in Chapters 25-31, highlighting how carefully the workers followed the instructions.

The tabernacle was completed almost one year after the Exodus from Egypt.

‘Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.’ (40:34) This was the final confirmation for Moses and the Israelites that all the work they had done in constructing and setting up God’s dwelling place had been properly done.

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If you’re following this series, I hope you’ve found the study notes for Exodus helpful.

It’s quite an exciting book, but there’s also a lot of detail and repetition, which I found confusing the first time I read it.

At the start of the post, I mentioned I won’t be posting next week; it’ll actually be nearer the end of November before, fingers crossed, I post again.

Enjoy the changing season and take care.