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Bible Story from Lesson 1
Mountain
Climbing Moses
Exodus 19, 20, 24
The
Israelites were finally out of Egypt. God had kept his promise. Moses climbed
Mt. Sinai to talk with God. God called to Moses from out of the mount. He said,
"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles
wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice
indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above
all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of
priests, and an holy nation." (Exodus 19:4-6) God told Moses to repeat
those words to the people.
Moses
went down the mountain. He gathered all the leaders and repeated God's words to
them. They agreed to obey God's instructions. So Moses headed back up the
mountain.
God
spoke to Moses again. “I want the people to wash their clothes and take a
bath.”
What
do you know? Someone besides your mother is saying, "Get a bath." This
bath had more significance than just getting clean. God wanted to illustrate the
importance of purity. God told Moses to expect a long, loud trumpet blast on the
morning of the third day. The trumpet blast was their signal to come to the
mountain. It was important that no one touch the mountain. They must stand back
from it at a distance. This was a very serious and holy time. It was
too holy for someone to collect rocks or be curious. Anyone that touched
the mount or crossed the boundary was given the death penalty. So Moses went
back down the mountain.
Everyone
got ready. They washed their clothes and took a bath. I wonder if the children
put their hands over their ears to stop the sounds of the terrible thunders and
lightning that must have awakened them on the third morning. They were shocked
to see the thick cloud sitting on top of the mountain. Then, a loud, a very
loud, a very, very loud trumpet blast was heard. The people were so frightened.
Even the adults began to tremble. Have you ever been that afraid? Moses brought
the people to a low place beneath the mountain. He showed them the boundaries.
The trumpet blast grew still louder and louder. Moses spoke and God answered him
in a real voice. The Lord descended upon the mount in a fire. The smoke covered
the entire mountain and the ground shook violently. God called to Moses to come
up to the top of the mountain. Moses was quick to obey. He climbed the mountain.
Now
wait a minute! Have any of you ever climbed a mountain? I've climbed a couple
little ones, and it's tough. I took a long nap after just one trip. Moses is
around 80 years old.
God
told Moses, "Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the
Lord to gaze, and many of them perish." This was not just another day in
the wilderness. It was a matter of life and death that they obey God and respect
His Holiness. So guess what? Moses went back down the mountain. Moses warned the
people not to come up into the mountain or cross the boundary.
Exodus
20:1 "And God SPAKE all these words saying." Did you ever notice that
the people HEARD God give THEM the ten commandments? God spoke verses 2-18. Can
you picture this situation? There was a thick smoke that covered the mountain
and a bright fire on top of the mountain. The ground shook and a trumpet blew
louder and louder. Quaking! Shaking! Smoke! Fire! What does that sound like to
you? The exact same adjectives are used for volcanoes. A video of a volcano
might give you a small idea of the awesome scene that met their eyes, ears and
noses on that memorable morning. (This wasn't a volcano. This was a miraculous
revelation of God, but a volcano is given as a frame of reference.)
The
people did exactly what most people I know today would do. They backed away.
What would you have done? I can picture them as they grabbed Moses' sleeve,
"Come here, Moses. Moses, we're scared. From now on you talk to us. You
tell us what God has to say. We'll listen to what you say. Just ask God not to
talk to us anymore. It's too frightening. We might die." The people must
have shook their heads and clamored in agreement with the speaker's words.
The
people cowered in fear as they stood their distance, but Moses climbed the
mountain in the thick darkness to God. (Exodus 20:21)
I
believe God still wants to talk to His children, but we refuse to listen. Are
you like Moses that drew near God or like the fearful, unbelieving Israelites?
Oh, don't misunderstand me. God still loved them. He wasn't about to leave them
in the desert alone, but they missed a prime opportunity to experience God's
presence and personal direction.
God
gave Moses laws to share with the people. They are recorded in Exodus 21:22 -
23:33. He told Moses to come back and bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy
elders to worship from a distance.
Moses
went down the mountain. That makes four round trips, two round trips the same
day. He's no spring chicken. That Moses was a mountain climbing man. I believe
God supernaturally strengthened him to do it.
He
repeated God's words to the people. ALL (that's what the Bible says) agreed to
keep the commandments. Before Moses went to sleep that night, he wrote down all
the words that God had spoken to him.
God
gave His people the commandments with an awesome, earth shaking (literally)
display of His glory. It was a momentous and serious occasion. God did not want
the people to take His commandments lightly. But just a few pages over in your
Bible you will find they openly broke His commandments. How foolish these people
were. Can you believe after such an awesome display of God's glory, they would
deliberately disobey?
Don't
be foolish. Recognize that these laws were not hatched up by some goody, goody
that wanted to rob you. Almighty God gave them because He wanted a “holy
nation, a peculiar treasure.” The key to being that “peculiar treasure”
was and is obedience. These events took place before God gave Moses the stone
tablets. That forty day adventure takes place in Exodus 24:12-18.
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Click here to see the Sample Lesson of God's Laws for Kids.