19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”
When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, 10 the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;1 whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
24:1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules.1 And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”
When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, 10 the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;1 whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”
16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
24:1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules.1 And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Joel Brooks:
If you would, open your bibles to Exodus chapter 19. We finally made it to the part in Exodus where the Israelites are given the law of God at Mount Sinai. Actually gonna spend a couple of weeks here at Sinai. This week looking at a broader picture of the law, and next week looking in particular at the 10 commandments. And the reason that we're gonna take 2 weeks to look at this section is because Mount Sinai absolutely dominates the Old Testament.
Joel Brooks:
The next 59 chapters of the Bible are gonna take place at the foot of this mountain. Israel's going to spend the next 11 months here. And so, we're just going to spend a couple weeks, going through this. Let me read the entire chapter. Chapter 19, beginning in verse 1.
Joel Brooks:
On the 3rd moon, the 3rd new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel, you yourselves 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, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.
Joel Brooks:
For all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
Joel Brooks:
And the Lord said to Moses, behold, I'm coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever. Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the 3rd day. For on the 3rd day, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people, and you shall set limits for the people all around saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.
Joel Brooks:
No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot. Whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds long blast, they shall come up to the mountain. So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, be ready for the 3rd day, and do not go near a woman.
Joel Brooks:
On the morning of the 3rd day, there were thick thunders. There were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. So all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now, Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.
Joel Brooks:
The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, 'Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish.
Joel Brooks:
And let the priests who come near to the Lord, consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us saying, set limits around the mountain and consecrate it. And the Lord said to him, go down and come up and bring bringing Aaron with you, but do not let the priest and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them. So Moses went down to the people and told them. Pray with me.
Joel Brooks:
Our father, so many things this week have vied for our attention. We have read so many things, things on our phones, in papers, on billboards. And all those things are fleeting. What we have just read will endure for eternity. Lord, I pray in this moment that my words would fall to the ground, Lord, I pray in this moment that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore.
Joel Brooks:
But Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. The statue of them, should be at the courthouse or not. And eventually, the courts decided that they needed to be removed amongst great controversy.
Joel Brooks:
And, and I remember watching the news about this. And as they were about to remove this enormous statue of the 10 Commandments, a woman stood in between the movers and the statue. And she said, how dare you remove my God? And I remember thinking, well, this woman obviously knows nothing about the 10 Commandments, because she just violated commandment number 1 and commandment number 2 right there, and she has made this statue into an idol, calling it her God. And I remember just looking at her face and just kinda the venom that was there and the hate that was there.
Joel Brooks:
And and then and many of the people around as they were watching on, they were looking at her and going, that's right. That that that that's why I don't belong to any organized religion. That's why I'm not a Christian is because of people like her Always spewing judgment at others, talking about this law of God. This God who speaks with thunder and fire and comes down to mountain and tells us we have to do all of these things. And perhaps that's some of you in this room.
Joel Brooks:
You're pretty skeptical about passages like this and the God who speaks in the thunder. And so, I want us to look at that. I want us to take a honest look at that and just say, what really is going on here as God gives us his law? What do we do with this law? What do we do with this God who thunders down his his commandments?
Joel Brooks:
So first, wanna look at the foundation of the law. I wanna look at the context of the law and hope that this opens up our eyes to see really what God is doing and how he is working in this passage. And so we see the foundation of his law in verse 4, right at the start. Look at verse 4 with me. It says, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself.
Joel Brooks:
Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice. So before any commandment is given to the people of Israel, before Moses is told to write down one single word of instruction, he reminds them how God has saved them, how God came to their rescue. Their lives were miserable without him. They were slaves. They were crying out in desperation for him to come.
Joel Brooks:
And God came and he didn't come to them and say, all right, I got a little contract for you. All right? And I'm gonna give you this contract. And if you agree to this contract, then I will rescue you out of slavery. I will deliver you.
Joel Brooks:
That's not what God does. God sees them in their miserable state, and He loves them, and He rescues them, and He saves them. And the language is He swoops in like an eagle, and He carries them on eagles wings out of Egypt. He does this before he ever issues a command. He loves them.
Joel Brooks:
He redeems them. What he doesn't do is give them a laundry list of all the things that they have to do in order for him to come and to save them. Now, it's only after God has saved them, after demonstrated his love for them, that he's then going to tell them how they need to live. And we need to be really sure that we never reverse that order, that we never reverse it. Because your salvation has nothing to do with the law of God.
Joel Brooks:
You were saved before those instructions ever hit your heart. And we need to be crystal clear on communicating this to people, communicating the gospel to non believers because maybe perhaps some of you in here, if you hear me say you need to believe the gospel, what you are hearing is, okay, what you're saying is I need to turn over a new leaf. I need to become a better person. I need to get my life together. I need to find religion.
Joel Brooks:
And then God will accept me. Reverse that order. God comes to a fallen broken people. This isn't just a new testament gospel. This is an old testament gospel, as well.
Joel Brooks:
And so what we see here at the very start is grace is the foundation of the law, which raises the question, if the law is not for our salvation, what is the law for? Why is why is God giving all of these rules? And it's actually there's a lot of answers. And I just want to look at the first few that come up in this text. And we see the first in verse 5.
Joel Brooks:
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests in a holy nation. God says that if you obey these words that I'm giving you, you are going to be my treasured possession. Then he reminds me, he goes, now all the earth is mine. I actually possess all things.
Joel Brooks:
But if you obey me, you become treasured. I will treasure you if you obey my words. Perhaps the best way you could think of this is, is when you enter into some kind of relationship, a romantic relationship. If a guy is head over heels with a girl, we have lots of single guys, lots of single girls here. If a guy really likes a girl, what's the first thing he's going to do?
Joel Brooks:
He's gonna look her up on Facebook. Alright? That's gonna be the very the very first. He's gonna Facebook stalk her. I mean, that's it.
Joel Brooks:
He's gonna go and look at who are all her friends are, look at the pictures, see what her musical interests are, see the quotes, what she likes to read. You could do all of these things. It's really easy now. But what a guy wants to do is he wants to find out what she likes, what makes her tick. He wants to to to find out, you know, what are some of the ways to really reach her heart.
Joel Brooks:
And then when he he does these things, he becomes treasured in her eyes. It's a way that he can woo her. If do do we still use the word woo? Am I allowed to use that? He courts.
Joel Brooks:
Is that outdated too? He they hang out. You get coffee, you know, whatever you call it. But she will begin to treasure Him as He does those things that He knows she adores. And this is what God is doing here when he's showing us what he likes.
Joel Brooks:
That's what the law is for. He's saying, I like these things. This This is what makes me tick. He's revealing his character. He The law is a way of opening up his heart and letting people get a glimpse of this is who I am.
Joel Brooks:
And so when we see those things and we obey them, he begins to treasure us. Now, years ago, I went to get Lauren a Valentine's present. I don't have the best track record. I've gotten a lot better. I once got her a vacuum cleaner for Valentine's.
Joel Brooks:
It was red. But, I went to Walmart at about 5 in the morning to get her a waffle maker. Alright? She has she wanted a waffle maker. She loves waffles.
Joel Brooks:
She's always wanted a waffle maker, and so I went really early, went to Walmart. And some of you, I just wanna say y'all are already nodding your head. Okay? This she wanted a waffle maker. Alright?
Joel Brooks:
And so I went to go check out, and, the cashier says, you must really like yourself some waffles. You know, it's 5 in the morning. I said, well, actually, it's it's not for me. It's for my wife. It's It's Valentine's Day.
Joel Brooks:
She goes, really? She goes, I'm not going to let you buy this. I was like, really? I was like, I think I'd know my wife, and I think I know that she wants some waffles. So she goes, Can't let you do it.
Joel Brooks:
Can't not mean for her sake. I cannot. She would not sell me the waffle maker for my wife, and I'm telling her, alright. I know my wife. I know what makes her tick.
Joel Brooks:
And it might it might not be what you think she wants, but I know what she wants because she has told me. She has let me in her heart. And this is what God is doing with his law. He is saying, you know what? The world doesn't really get me.
Joel Brooks:
They don't really know who I am, but I'm gonna let you in on a secret. I'm gonna tell you the things that I adore. I'm gonna tell you the things that I love. I'm gonna give you my law. And if you obey these things, I will treasure you.
Joel Brooks:
That's what we see happening here. He's telling us what he likes. And He's telling us what he likes. And when you read through the next few chapters of Exodus, do you know what God likes? You're gonna see that he is passionate about justice, passionate about helping the poor, passionate about sexual purity, kindness.
Joel Brooks:
He is passionate about generosity. These are the things that God likes. And if when if we are in a relationship with him, we want to do those things. We don't do them to get into the relationship. But once we're in that relationship, we really want to please him.
Joel Brooks:
Actually, I say that these are the things that God likes, but I guess a better way of putting is these are the things that God is like. He is like these things that he is presenting us. You see, the law reflects who God is. In just a minute, we're gonna look at some of the particulars of the law. But but you're going to see how the law calls for a radical generosity, Love for both your enemies and love for the oppressed.
Joel Brooks:
And these things are actually a reflection of who God is, who he has already shown himself to be to the Israelites. You know, in Exodus, we've seen this. We've seen that God is a God of mercy because the Israelites were sitting as slaves. Nobody in the world was giving them a second thought. Nobody was giving them a glance.
Joel Brooks:
They were alone in their misery, oppressed, forgotten. And yet, we see how God shows mercy. And then God saves them. When he's hungry, when they are hungry, God feeds them. When they are thirsty, God gives them drink.
Joel Brooks:
When they rebel against him, he is kind to them. God has already demonstrated his character. And what the law is saying now is, do unto others as I have already done unto you. I have done these things to you. Now do those to others.
Joel Brooks:
It's a reflection of who he is as God. And let me just say that anytime you are struggling with parts of the law, for instance, Exodus 23:5 says that if your enemy has a donkey and it kinda rides in a ditch, you're supposed to help your enemy and show love to them. All right. So the equivalent is if your enemy, you know, is when their nice car speeds by your terrible car and blows a tire and is off the side of the road, you don't drive by honk and laugh. You pull over, and you help them.
Joel Brooks:
And if you're thinking, ah, I just really just don't wanna do that. Your struggle in that moment is that you don't understand what God has done for you. You don't understand how you were his enemy, that you hated him, and God has showered his affection and love for you. Because once you understand that, then the the law begins pouring out from you. You begin to honor and obey his law.
Joel Brooks:
Let's look at some of the particulars, some of these laws. We don't have time to go through all of them, but I wanna look at some that are especially countercultural. There's a lot of different ways you could divide up the law. I think one of the most helpful ones came from a pastor named Tim Keller, in which he divided it into the big three, in which you have sex, you have power, and you have money. Those are the big three of all time.
Joel Brooks:
Alright? No matter when what time of history you live, those are gonna be the big three. So let's look at what the law has to say about sex and about power and about money. So let's look at sex. At this point in history, only women could commit adultery.
Joel Brooks:
That was it. In all the societies up to this point, men were allowed to have as many sexual relationships as they wanted, but women, when they were married, could not or would be seen as adultery. And here, God, he he gives his word and he says, no. He says, one man, one woman, and if you ever go outside that whether you are a man or a woman, it is adultery. And so what God does here is he gives women sexual equality.
Joel Brooks:
He he gives women dignity in this. And he raises up this sanctity of marriage. No other society had ever done that before the law. So that's sex. Let's look at power.
Joel Brooks:
Exodus 22 says that, the people are not to oppress anyone. They are to not lord power over the powerless people in the land. Now if you study all the ancient Near Eastern laws at this time, you're gonna find that all of the laws were set up to protect the wealthy and to protect those with power. It didn't have anything to do with the powerless. And so what God sets up here is completely unique, because He is setting up laws for those who have no power.
Joel Brooks:
For instance, the Hebrews were commanded to take care of the poor by giving them loans and charging no interest whatsoever. And the only the closest thing that historians can find to this is from the Hammurabi laws, which was around the same time in which they said you can loan to the poor, and then you could exact 33.3% interest. But God says, no. You loan to the poor, and you don't exact any interest. You don't abuse the powerless.
Joel Brooks:
And then God goes on to say that if anyone oppresses the immigrant or the widowed or the orphan, they are to be killed. Capital punishment for those who oppress the poor, the widow, the orphaned. These groups are extremely important to God. I actually watched the PBS documentary on, the exodus, and I was somewhat surprised that it actually had some pretty good insights, onto this. And one of the things that they picked up on is that every other religion at this time, when the laws were given out for the religion, they basically had to do with the people and how they related to God.
Joel Brooks:
But the Israelite religion here mostly had to do with how the people related to the people next to them. It wasn't just vertical. It was also horizontal. And this was unique. God spends a lot of time telling how you're supposed to treat 4 different groups.
Joel Brooks:
And this is what PBS brought out, says, these 4 groups, the poor, the orphan, the widowed, and the immigrant, Those 4 groups are uniquely special to the Hebrew God, and we see that in the law. Well, finally, let's look at money. So we've looked at sex. We've looked at powerless. Look at money.
Joel Brooks:
And this is where it, it really turns everything upside down. God told the Israelites that they were to give 10% of all of their income to the poor or to those in ministry. 10% of everything that you made was supposed to go to that. No other society was doing this. And actually, if you take there's some other laws that say every 3rd year, you're supposed to get even more money.
Joel Brooks:
So it really comes down to this. You're you're supposed to give 23.3% of your income every year to the poor or to the ministry. I mean, a quarter of your income is to be given away. We see just how much God cares for the poor. And God says that if we do these things, if you do these things, then you're not just gonna be my treasured possession, but you're gonna be a kingdom of priests.
Joel Brooks:
You're gonna be a holy nation. That means a kingdom of priests. Priests are people who point others to God. That's the function of a priest. And God is saying, if you do these things, you become a reflection of who I am and you're pointing everybody to God.
Joel Brooks:
By the way that you care for the poor and the oppressed and the widowed and the orphan. If you truly do that, people will see the Lord. And And what he's saying is this is how you become a missional church. This is how you fulfill God's words to Abraham in Genesis 12, that all the world will be blessed through you. How?
Joel Brooks:
Because I'm gonna raise up a church that is committed to justice, that is committed to generosity, that is committed to kindness, that is going to point to who I am. That's how we bless the world. So what we see here is how we are to be a church on mission. And if you were one here and you're thinking, okay. Alright.
Joel Brooks:
You're understand that. But this is just all law and we are supposed to live by the spirit, not by the law. Just remember that the spirit's function is to write the law on your hearts. The spirit is what enables you to actually do this. The spirit of God gives you the engine we need to actually obey these words with a joyful heart.
Joel Brooks:
We've looked at the foundation of the law, which is God's grace. We are saved and then we obey. I've just given you some of the whats and the whys of the law. They reveal to us the heart of God. And if we obey them, we we pretty much point the world to God.
Joel Brooks:
But now, I wanna give one final reason as to why the law is so important and why we are to obey it. And this reason is crucial because there are gonna be times that every one of us in here are going to struggle to obey certain commands in the law. We're gonna really resist it, probably because we just don't believe it or agree with it or want to do it. So why should we? Well, we see this reason here, yeah, all throughout the book of Exodus, but I'm gonna just walk through it in verse 19.
Joel Brooks:
All throughout chapter 19, I don't know if you noticed, but, Moses is going up the mountain, Moses is going down the mountain. Up the mountain, down the mountain. So, you know, verses 1 through 3, Moses goes up the mountain. Verse 7, Moses goes down the mountain. Verse 8, Moses goes back up the mountain.
Joel Brooks:
Verse 10, Moses goes down the mountain. Okay. So he's going up and down. Now now this mountain range is anywhere between 6 185,500 feet. We're not exactly sure.
Joel Brooks:
But Moses is over 80 years old. He's 80 years old, and he is going up and down this really large mountain. And it's got to be just grinding and tiring on his weary bones. And so when you read verses 10 through 14, you're gonna see how God gives Moses one at a times. He's up on the mountain some very specific instructions.
Joel Brooks:
He says, I want you to tell the people down there that they are not to touch the mountain at all. They are to consecrate themselves. They touch the mountain. They die. And so He sends Moses down there.
Joel Brooks:
He communicates all of that to the people, and then he comes up, and we read this, in verse 20. Says, then the Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses up, Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Verse 21. And the Lord said to Moses, go down. I mean, Moses, he just gets to the top, and the first thing God says is, now I want you to go down.
Joel Brooks:
And then he says, I want you to go down, and I want you to tell them that they need to consecrate themselves, and they can't touch the mountain. I want you to tell them the exact same thing. I just told you the last time you came up here and we had a conversation and I sent you down. Now, I don't know about you. Those those who are married, you probably get this some.
Joel Brooks:
I get this at my house. Joel, would you go upstairs? You know, I'm I'm I'm busy doing this. Will you make sure the kids are dressed and ready to go? Okay.
Joel Brooks:
I go upstairs, make sure the kids are dressed, ready to go. I come down. Lauren goes, Hey, will you go upstairs and really make sure that the kids are dressed and ready to go? And if she says that, I get even though I'm a pastor, I get a little irked. Alright?
Joel Brooks:
I just get a little angry because I say, I went up there. Do you not trust me? I told you. I went up there. I told them that.
Joel Brooks:
They are dressed. They are ready to go. Moses has the same reaction with God. So God tells Moses to go back down and tell him the same thing. And so, look at verse 23.
Joel Brooks:
It says that Moses said to the Lord, Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for you yourself warned us, saying set limits around the mountain and consecrated. And the Lord said to him, go down. And we find in verse 25, Moses went down. Do do you see what God is doing here to this old man? He's teaching him obeyed obedience.
Joel Brooks:
Delayed obedience is disobedience. And he is teaching Moses obedience here to obey him instantly without hesitation even if he doesn't understand why God is telling him to do it. He's to obey. And so let me make a very obvious point here. We all are to obey God's law simply because God tells us to.
Joel Brooks:
Because as a creator, he can tell us what to do, and we should obey him even if we don't get it, and we don't understand or we disagree. And I feel like I need to bring this point out because so often for me, much of my obedience really isn't obedience. It's just that I happen to agree with God a lot of the time. It's really kind of agreement, not obedience. My my oldest daughter Caroline, when she was around, I don't know, 3 or 4 years old, she would go outside, and she would grab mosquito repellent, and she would just suck on it.
Joel Brooks:
She would just pick it up as a bottle, and she would just suck on mosquito repellent. And so we had to tell you know, we had to wean her off that. You you don't do that. Okay? And and Caroline was smart enough.
Joel Brooks:
You know, she didn't do that. We only had to tell her once. Now if one of my other girls, let's say, Georgia, who is 6 now, if she were to pick that up, mosquito repellent, and start sucking on it, and I were to say, hey, Georgia, you you need to quit sucking on the off. Alright? Well, she she's not quite as compliant, not quite as obedient, but let's just say that we would have this conversation.
Joel Brooks:
She would say, well, why, dad? Why do I need to quit doing this? And I'd say, well, there are a number of reasons. You know, for one, it's kinda oily and greasy. It doesn't really taste good.
Joel Brooks:
You don't eat your mom's cooking, yet you do this. I don't really get it. And there's a lot of harmful chemicals in there. And if you you you keep sucking on this, you're gonna get sick. If you suck on this enough, you're going to die.
Joel Brooks:
And Georgia would look at me, and she'd say, valid point, dad. That's that's that's I can't, you know, argue with that logic. She probably wouldn't, but in her own words, say these things. And, and so I hear what you were saying, and so I am I am no longer going to do this. So the question is, did she obey me?
Joel Brooks:
And the answer is no. She just agreed with me. She agreed with me. What's gonna happen the time when I asked her to do something and she doesn't understand my argument, but really really is for her good? It really is for life, but she doesn't get it.
Joel Brooks:
And I have proven myself to her over and over and over that I love her and am committed to her. And we find this with God's law That they're gonna be some commands that we come across. Some things we read in his word, especially in this culture, and we bow up against it. And we're like, I don't understand that, and I disagree with that. Therefore, I don't think I have to obey that.
Joel Brooks:
And God says, I'm not asking you to agree with me. I'm not asking you to understand. Can't you get it through your head? I'm older than you. I'm wiser than you.
Joel Brooks:
I am committed to you. And everything I've done is for your good and for your life. Trust me. Obey. And we need to learn to obey God instead of just trying to find a common ground and agree with him.
Joel Brooks:
This is why we obey the law. Now, these are some of the the whys. These are some of the whats of the law. But the the ultimate purpose of the law is to lead us to Jesus. And we're gonna see more of this next week.
Joel Brooks:
But I want us to go ahead and put a toe in tonight. Turn to chapter 24. This is a pretty astonishing text. We'll begin reading in verse 3. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules.
Joel Brooks:
And all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel who had offered up burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood, and he put it in the basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.
Joel Brooks:
Then he took the book of the covenant, and he read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant of the Lord to all the people all these laws. Then the people says they say, all that the Lord has commanded we will do. About the manna.
Joel Brooks:
You can't gather it on the Sabbath, and they all broke this thing, one simple law. Now He gives them a book. Here is a book of all my rules and my laws. And like every word of it, God, cross our hearts. We are going to obey.
Joel Brooks:
And they don't even just go that far, there is a covenant made in which blood is thrown on them. Basically saying, if we break your law, then may our blood be shed just as this blood was shed. It's it's crazy that they would do this, But what's more astonishing is what happens next. Then Moses and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet, as it were, a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness, and He did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.
Joel Brooks:
They beheld God and they ate and drank. That is astonishing. These people have failed God over and over and over again. They are coming to him as sinners and liars. And you know what God does?
Joel Brooks:
He sits down and he has a meal with them, and he lets them behold his glory to some sense. And you really get the picture. Like they kinda see his a part of him, or they see his his feet, and they even have a hard time describing it. In the Hebrew, they keep saying like this. It was kind of like this.
Joel Brooks:
But the bottom line is God's presence was with them, and they were not destroyed. And so the question is, how in the world can we have a meal with God as sinners and our blood not be required? And we only understand this correctly, see how this is possible if we see this as pointing forward to the blood of Jesus who covers us. In the new testament, we see how this is possible because Jesus celebrates a meal with his disciples, a meal that celebrates and remembers the Exodus. And it's during this time that Jesus, he says these words, drink of this, for this is the blood of the covenant.
Joel Brooks:
My blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. For many for the forgiveness of sins. You can have fellowship with God not because your blood is gonna be spilled, but because my blood is going to be spilled. So this meal in exodus points to the meal we get to have with God and the communion we have with him. To enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:
And he says, so let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Our hearts are now sprinkled clean by Christ's blood. And we're gonna celebrate this now as we come to this table. As as we come to the table and we celebrate communion, I want you to think about a number of things. I want you to think of God's law and how your heart has responded to it.
Joel Brooks:
What God's law has evoked in your heart. I want you to think of your struggles in keeping the law. And I want you to repent. I want you to think of the law and how it reveals to us God's heart. And how it reveals to us God's heart.
Joel Brooks:
And I want you to think of the areas of disobedience in your life, probably stemming from the times you want to agree with God instead of simply obey him. But most of all, I want you to think of Jesus who despite all of that, has still committed himself to you and loves you and gave himself for you. Spirit of God, I ask that you would move in our midst this time, so that we might worship and adore Jesus. And God, that you would be present in our midst in this time, that we would behold your glory as we sing and as we pray and as we take of this meal. It's in your name, Jesus.