Moses—At the Marriage Mountain

 

Over the past several episodes of Act 1, Scene 3 of God’s One Big Story, we have watched as the Lord, through Moses…

• • Delivered the Israelites from their bondage to Pharaoh and the Egyptians—making a show of him and them openly through a series of ten plagues;
  • Led the Israelites to safety through the Red Sea—the very sea that the Lord then used to destroy their former masters;
  • Led the grumbling Israelites through the wilderness—meeting their every need along the way, in spite of their lack of faith and gratitude; and,
  • Led the Israelites to victory over their enemies—even though they had no previous battlefield experience whatsoever.

All of this was designed to bring Israel to the most pivotal and memorable event in her history as a nation—her “marriage” to God at Mount Sinai. This long-awaited union represents the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham over 400 years earlier when, in the covenant he made with God, he “betrothed” his descendants to Yahweh.

As we learned back in Love, Jewish Style, this type of covenant was usually worked out through three distinct phases…

The Arrangement or Negotiation Phase
The Betrothal Phase
The Marriage Phase 

In this case, the Arrangement between Father God and Father Abraham took place back in Genesis 17, where it was sealed by a sacrificial offering on God’s part. At that point, the descendants of Abraham—later to be called Israel—became the betrothed wife of God. This Betrothal lasted until she was matured enough to become a nation—something which took place during her time in Egypt. With her deliverance from bondage there, her betrothal period ended and now, as this episode begins (taken from Exodus 19-20 and Exodus 24), we find her being prepared for her marriage to God.

 

Script #10 of Act 1, Scene 3 of God’s One Big Story
Cast:     Narrator     God     Moses     The People

Setting the Scene: About three months after their deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites leave Rephidim and travel to Mount Sinai—the “Mount of God”—where they will establish forever their identify as the Chosen People of God…

Narrator:  In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.  For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain.  And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying…

God:  Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and 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. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.

Narrator:  So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the LORD commanded him.  Then all the people answered together and said…

People:  All that the LORD has spoken we will do.

Narrator:  So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.  And the LORD said to Moses…

God:  Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.

Narrator:  So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.  Then the LORD said to Moses…

God:  Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.  And let them be ready for the third day. 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 all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.  Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.

Narrator:  So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.  And he said to the people…

Moses:  Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.

Narrator:  Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.  And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire.  Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.  And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.  Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on 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…

God:  Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish.  Also let the priests who come near the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.

Narrator:  But Moses said to the LORD…

Moses:  The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ 

God:  Away! Get down and then come up, you and 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.

Narrator:  So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

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Narrator:  And God spoke all these words, saying…

God:  I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

Narrator:  Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.  Then they said to Moses…

People:  You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

Moses:  Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.

Narrator:  So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.  Then the LORD said to Moses…

God:  Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.  You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.  An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.  And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.  Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

 

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[Missing here are Exodus 21-23—The Laws of a Redeemed People,
Which Will Be Covered in the Next Episode]

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Narrator:  Now He said to Moses…

God:  Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.  And Moses alone shall come near the LORD, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.

Narrator:  So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said…

People:  All the words which the LORD has said we will do.  

Narrator:  And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And 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.  Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.  And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.  Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said…

People:  All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.

Narrator:  And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said..

Moses:  This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.

Narrator:  Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.  But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.  Then the LORD said to Moses…

God:  Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.

Narrator:  So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.  And he said to the elders…

Moses:  Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.

Narrator:  Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.  Now the glory of the LORD rested 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.  The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.  So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

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Our Review

…now takes us back to…

The Most Important Points in Our Story

— You have seen… In preparation for their upcoming marriage, God sent Moses to the people to remind them of all that He has done for them. He wanted them to understand that it was because of His great love for them that He rescued them from their oppressors and whisked them away to the wilderness. His purpose in doing this was to make the descendants of Israel His own Holy Nation—the Nation through whom He would make Himself known to the rest of the world.

Later, in Deuteronomy 7:6-8, as the people were preparing to finally enter the land of promise, Moses reminded them of this very thing when he said…

…you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

In other words, as an act of His Grace, God chose Israel, the least of all nations, to be His treasured nation and His witness to the world. This is entirely in keeping with the character of God because, as the Apostle Paul explains in Corinthians 1:27-29…

…God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

— If you obey My voice… This privilege brought with it certain requirements, however. Since God is holy, for Him to be able to dwell among His People, they would also have to be holy. This would mean that they would have to live according to the standards that He was about to set forth to them. If they did…

…Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples… (Deuteronomy 7:12-14)

— All that the Lord has spoken, we will do… This was the first of three occasions in this episode (Exodus 19:8, 24:3, 7) when Israel, as the Bride, agreed to the terms that God, as the Bridegroom, set before her—essentially saying “I Do” to the everything that marriage to Him would entail.

— Consecrated the people… The people were given three days to purify themselves before their “big day.” In order for them to come into the presence of Holy God, they, their camp, and even their animals had to be cleansed of all impurities. Strict instructions as to how they were to behave and just how close they could get to the mountain of God were also given. These instructions were vitally important, not only from a safety standpoint, but also because the people, from the very beginning of their relationship with God, needed to learn to reverence the Holy One with whom they would be in covenant.

— There were thunderings and lightnings… On the morning of the third day, a loud trumpet blast announced the coming of God to the mountain—an arrival accompanied by thunderings, lightnings, thick smoke, and fire. As the trumpet continued to sound, it became louder and louder, and the whole mountain shook. The people trembled.

— I am the Lord your God… After issuing another warning to Moses and the people about coming too close to the mountain, God began to set forth the terms of their marriage covenant—the things that Israel would have to do if their relationship was going to work…

You shall have no other gods before Me—I am your Husband now, I am to be your only Love.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image…I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God—There is no place in our relationship for anyone else. Give Me no cause for jealousy because it won’t end well if you do!

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain—You must honor Me before others and show me the respect that every Wife owes her Husband.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy—Because I created the world in six days and set aside the seventh day as a day of rest, you will do the same. This will be a day for us to spend together and will be a sign to the rest of the world of your commitment to and trust in Me.

Honor your father and mother—You must respect and honor those whom I have placed in authority over you, beginning with your parents.

You shall not murder—I created life, therefore it is sacred—so treat it as such.

You shall not commit adultery—Just as you are to be faithful to Me, you are to be faithful to your human spouses. Your faithfulness to one another will be a testimony to the world that there is a faithful God and an example to your children of the right way to live.

You shall not steal—I am your husband and will be faithful to provide for your needs—trust Me to do that.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor—I am the God of Truth and My Wife must also be truthful and operate with integrity in all her dealings.

You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor—You are to respect the person and the property of others. Who you are and what you has come from Me—so be satisfied with what I have given you. Envy and jealousy are not becoming to the Wife of God!

These are what we have come to know as the Ten Commandments, but they will not be the only laws and regulations that Israel will be expected to obey. In reality, these Ten Words (as they are called in Hebrew) are merely a summation of those that will follow. Those yet to come will provide God’s People with a more detailed set of instructions as to how they are to relate to and worship Him, how they are to relate to others, and how they are to conduct themselves in the world around them.

— All the people witnessed the thunderings… The people were so frightened by what they had seen that they asked Moses to intercede for them with God. Moses encouraged them to not be afraid–that God needed to instill in them a reverential fear of Himself so that they would not sin.

— Come up to the Lord… Having given instructions about the type of altar He was to be worshipped on, God called Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (Aaron’s two oldest sons), and the seventy elders of Israel to come up on the mountain. Before doing so, Moses wrote down in a book all the words of the Lord. Early the next morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mountain where burnt offerings and peace offerings were made to the Lord. After reading the Book of the Covenant to the people, Moses sprinkled the blood from the offerings on the people, thereby sealing the covenant that they had just made with the Lord.

— So they saw God, and they ate and drank… With the Marriage Covenant between God and Israel completed and sealed in blood, Moses and the others that God had called went up on the mountain and, from a distance, they beheld the glory of God. There they celebrated what would be considered the Marriage Supper that marked the completion of any Jewish Wedding.

— Come up to Me… While the others were still feasting, Moses was called to come up further on the mountain so he could receive a “written copy” of the laws that God had just presented to His people. Leaving the people in the care of Aaron and Hur, Moses headed up the mountain, taking his assistant, Joshua with him.

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In Summary

 

As we bring this episode to a close, let’s try and visualize the picture that it is painting for us…

God, as the Groom, comes down from heaven and takes His position on the top of the mountain. The mountain in this case represents the Chuppah—the temporary canopy under which a Jewish Wedding usually takes place. The Groom is arrayed as a King with His Bride as His Queen.

Israel, as the Bride, having undergone a Mikveh—or ritual cleansing—takes her position before the mountain, as close as she can get to it without being consumed by the holiness of God.

Moses, as the officiating Minister, serves as the intermediary between the two parties, going  back and forth between them and relaying their words to one another. The promises made and conditions that are to be met are recorded in a Ketubah, in this case the Book of the Covenant that Moses reads to the people, and to which all of the people agree.

Once everything is finalized and everyone has said their “I Do’s”, Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons (representing the priests), and the seventy elders (representing the Bride) are called up on the mountain where they enjoy the Marriage Supper prepared for them by God, the Groom.

Moses is then called into the presence of God, where he will receive a “written copy” of the Ketubah that is to be presented to the Bride. He goes up into the cloud of God’s glory that covers the mountain, and disappears from the view of God’s Bride for the next forty days and forty nights—something which will lead all sorts of problems in the very near future.

Before we move on to those problems, though, we will circle back in our next episode and go over some of the additional laws and regulations given in chapters 21-23, that we skipped over today.

 

 

Original photo used for featured image, courtesy Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:10commandmentsCI.jpg
Other original images courtesy of pixabay.com