Category: BIBLE/SCRIPTURE

To Rephidim came the Israelites and once again they had a great plight. Not enough water for man and beast to drink. Just like at Kadish and now what should they think?

They hollered at Moses to give him shame.  
Just as in the past they forgot God’s name. 
Moses’s reply was quick and clear, 
remember its God that you should fear.  
After all He has done for both me and you, 
God is so faithful and always so true.

But, maybe we should not be so quick to judge.  In our land of plenty only a small minority are willing to thank God for all we have.

And remember, they lived 400 years in a country that worshipped Pharaoh as their god-man.  

Under those circumstances it might be easy to revert to the thought that their leader was not just a man, but a god-man.

Once again the Israelites were mad, their reply was, why did you bring us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst.”

All through the first five books of the Old Testament
we will find evidence that the Israelites confused the personalities and personages of God with Moses.

We tend to assume Moses was conflicted.  He cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people?
Before long they will be stoning me.”

Protests in that day were symbolized by the stoning of those the people were unhappy with. Moses evidently was afraid of that fate.

We don’t know if Moses was truly afraid the Lord may allow him to be stoned to death or not.  

Put yourself in his place, would you be afraid of that type of riot?

But the Lord had an answer.  He told Moses to Pass before the people with some of the elders of Israel
and take your rod that has performed favorably in the past.

God then assured him. I will be standing there before you on the rock at Horab.  Smite the rock and water will issue forth from it and the people will drink.

This place was named Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested God. Massahtranslates quarreled,  Meribah translates tested.

After that incident there was a fourth crisis that fell upon the Israelite people.

The nation of Amalek, though unprovoked, came and fought with the Israelites. Moses instructed Joshua to pick some men to go out and battle Amalek.

But Moses didn’t just send Joshua, he gave him confidence that he would also be there.

He said, “I will station myself on the top of the hill,
with the rod of God in my hand.”

Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek while Moses, Aaron and Hur went on top of the hill.

I don’t know about you, but that man named Hurcaught my attention, because I never heard of him before. Though I remembered the movie “Ben Hur”.

Well there are three separate men named Hur mentioned in the Bible, all in the Old Testament.

The least-known of the three is simply mentioned by name in Nehemiah 3:9. He was the father of Rephaiah, one of the rulers of Jerusalem who repaired a section of the walls of Jerusalem.

Another Hur in the Bible was one of the five rulers of Midian in the time of Moses.

But the most well-known Hur appears in the book of Exodus. He is described as being from the tribe of Judah. 
As Hur is most often mentioned in conjunction with Aaron, Moses’ brother and high priest of the Israelites; it is likely that Hur also had a place of authority among the people. 
Hur is one of the two men who went to the top of the hill with Moses, while the Israelites’ battled 
against the Amalekites.

At the top of the hill whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he let down his hand Amalek prevailed.

Well you can imagine poor Mosses, his hand grew weary. So they took a stone and put it under his armwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hand
on each side. Mosses hand stayed steady until the sun set.

Some interpret the fact of holding up his hand was so the Israelites could look up and dedicate their hearts to their father in Heaven, and then they prevailed; but when they forgot to look up they failed.

And Joshua overwhelmed the people of Amalek
with the sword.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 45
⇛ return to Exodus

The fourth of the ten Commandments is “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Notice that God did not have to tell the Israelites what day the Sabbath was. 

He had already taught them that they could gather the manna for six days and on the sixth day, Friday, they were to gather a double portion so they would not have to gather or to work for their food on the seventh.

The instructions from God were not to work on Saturday, but it also does not say they were to rest on the Sabbath. Actually they were told to make it holy. In Hebrew “holy” means separate or distinct.

There are actually only two commandments that require positive action. All the others say, “Thou shalt not.”  And remember the Sabbath is the only commandment that requires a ritual.

It’s also important to note that the ten Commandments are universally applicable.

And it is interesting to note that the Christian world is the only non-Jewish civilization to have adopted the Ten Commandments. And the best part of all is
there is a good reason for accepting and adopting the Ten Commandments as our creed: it affirms that God created the world in six days and on the seventh day He rested. This is a good pattern for man to follow to be healthy, wealthy and wise. And the neat part of it is that your children and your animals are just as free from work as you are
on the Sabbath.

After teaching we need a day of rest we are next told to honor our father and our mother. If a child does not honor parental authority he is less likely to honor God. 
In fact, it is so in reverse also. If a child does not honor their parent they are less likely to honor God.

If we pay close attention we will see there are only two commandments telling us who we should honor.  First God and second our parents.

Actually it is more important to honor your parent than it is to love them. The moral success of a society does not depend on children loving their parents, but it does depend on children honoring their parent.

We know in Paul’s writings he repeats “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.   
“Honour your father and mother”, which is the first commandment associated with the promise. It says “so that it may be well with you and you may have a long life on the earth.”

The only moral authority that is higher than parents is God. And then comes the reward! To honor your father and mother is the only one of the Ten Commandments that specifies a reward. The promise is to all of society. It promises the collective nation that if its members honor their parents,
the family will be preserved, it religious traditions and beliefs will be preserved, and the civilization will long endure.

The breakdown of the family is a guarantee of the breakdown of a civilization. God bless those parents
who have raised up a child In the way he should go.

God’s promise is: 
Train up a child 
in the way he should go:
and when he is old, 
he will not depart from it.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 49
⇛ return to Exodus

At this point the Israelites are at God’s Mountain, – Mt. Sinai, and they are warned they cannot touch the mountain when God is there.  When God was no longer there they could go to the mountain because it was not holy if God was not there.

Having fear for what God can do, this fact truly frightened the Israelites.

In the Talmud there is a legend that depicts God holding the mountain over the heads of the people and threatening to drop it on them if they did not accept the law.  The point being made is the Israelites accepted the law out of fear.

When you think about it logically that seems to be what makes people obey a law?  If we are truthful, it is very convincing that we are persuaded to obey
by the combination of love or fear.   

(I behave myself because I don’t want to suffer the consequences of misbehaving, or, because my love for the law giver makes me want to keep the object of my affection happy, whether parents, spouse, or other authority.  I believe my attitude is shared by possibly the majority of people.)

Moses led the people out of the camp toward Gad where they took their places at the foot of the mountain.

Mt Sinai was all in smoke, because the Lord was on it. The Lord had come down upon it; and the whole mountain trembled violently. The Lord had come down upon it in fire. And as Moses spoke  God answered him in thunder.

The Lord had come to the top of Mt Sinai and called Moses to the top with Him. He then told Moses to go down and warn the people not to break through the land to graze. He also said the Priests must remain pure.  After this he reiterated that the people were not to come to the mountain or they would die.

Per normal, telling them once is not enough but poor Moses is naïve enough to think that since they were warned they would not come to the mountain

God, being much wiser than Moses knows curiosity will be stronger than the rule to stay away from the mountain. Genesis chapter 20 makes it abundantly clear that it is God who gave the Ten Commandments and they were not Moses’ idea.

No human is the sole source or responsible for all the words in the Ten Commandments.  God is the sole author and giver of these rules that are given to the people.

The Ten Commandments are also called “the Decalogue”.  The Decalogue is the alternative name 
for the Ten Commandments, and actually means Ten Words.

The Ten Commandments are the first and only example of a covenantal relationship between 
deity and an entire people. They are unique in that God revealed His will not just to a single prophet
or to a privileged class, but to an entire people;
all of whom became answerable to its terms.

The Ten Commandments focuses not only on the relationship with the ruler, but also on each individual’s behavior toward every other individual. They treat both religious and social obligations as expressions of divine will. The Ten Commandments are laws that are simple, absolute, and devoid of qualification.

God gave the Ten Commandments to the ancient nation of Israel. He chose to give the Commandments in the no-man’s land of a desert
rather than in the land of Israel. This seems to signify that they are not just for one nation but apply to all people, from the beginning of their giving clear through to the end.

These biblical principles given to the Jews are set principles given by God, relating to ethics and worship, and play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity.

The first and second commandments go hand in hand, both emphasizing the need to give our worship exclusively to the one true God

The commandments were written on two tables of stone by the finger of God.  The Jews are to follow the commandments anywhere and everywhere thy go, and not just when they are in Israel.

The Commandments  are listed in both Exodus and Deuteronomy.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 48
⇛ return to Exodus

How very fortunate it was that Jethro loved and cared for his family.  And because he did, he came to have great respect for his son-in law, Moses
and all the work Moses had to do.

It was because he saw how taxing it was for Moses to judge every situation for the Israelites that he devised a plan that became the judicial system for that nation during Moses’ lifetime.

Moses, in return, must have had great respect for his Midianite father-in-law, because that was the system he adapted to govern all his people.

The judicial system was set up with heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.  It was set up in military style and worked so well that it freed up Moses’ time. Then Jethro went home to his own land, and his own job.

On the third new moon after leaving Egypt, the Israelites entered the wilderness of Sinai. They made their encampment in front of Mount Sinai, God’s Mountain.

And Moses went up to God. God called from the mountain and said: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptian, how I bore you on Eagles wings.

Well, it’s easy to recall the death of all the Egyptians armies, but when he says he bore the Israelites
on Eagles wings, it takes a little more explanation.

It is very rare for God to do but He is using poetic language to explain what he did for the Jews.

This is where we get a lesson on birds. God is comparing Himself to the Eagle that carries its young on its wings. Other birds put their young between their feet.

It seems the birds fear the birds that fly higher than they do that would snatch the birds off their backs.
But eagles fly the highest so they protect their babies on their wings.

Using that example God is expressing His protective love for His people. In this verse God is expressing
His love for His people by destroying their enemies 
and his care for His people by carrying them on His wing.

God then said, “If you will obey Me faithfully, and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possessions.”

God just said He will be their God and they shall be His people “IF” they will obey His Headship in their lives. And we all know who it was that fell down on the job! But they are not without hope as 
the prophet Hosea said later that God is ready and willing to take them back when they acknowledge they must follow Him. God made it clear that all the earth is His, and He had a chosen people.

After listening to God and knowing what God’s desire was, Moses was to go to the people 
and tell them what God expected.

He did and all the people said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do.  After telling the people God’s desires Moses returned to God.

God instructed him to tell the people that they must stay pure today and they were to wash their cloths.

Then on the third day the Lord will come down,
in the sight of all the people, on Mount Sinai.

The people were warned to not go up the mountain
and to not touch the mountain and if they do they will be put to death.

A ram’s horn was used in a long blast to let the people know when it is safe to return to the mountain.  Then they may climb the mountain
because without God then it is no longer a holy place.

On the third day, as morning dawned, and they had cleansed themselves, and washed their cloths,
as morning dawned there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud upon the mountain
and a very loud blast of the horn and all the people in the camp trembled.

⇛ continue reading Exodus – Part 47
⇛ return to Exodus