Moses—The Book of the Covenant

 

In our previous episode, Moses—At the Marriage Mountain, we reached what surely must have been the high point in Israel’s history as a nation—her “wedding” to God at Mount Sinai. This event marked the consummation of the Marriage Covenant that God had made with Abraham some four hundred years earlier, in which Abraham pledged his descendants—those who would one day make up the nation of Israel—to God.  It also marked the end of the centuries-long betrothal period during which Israel grew from just one couple into a nation of millions.

During this period of growth, as a “nation-in-waiting,” Israel was a people without land or laws of their own. Having first lived as sojourners among the corrupt Canaanite nations for many years, and then as immigrants and slaves in Egypt for many more after that, the only laws they were familiar with were the ones that had been created by the worshippers of those cultures’ false gods.

In spite of this, the Israelites did possess something that was theirs alone, and it was this promise by God that had been handed down throughout their generations…

…I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

And God said to Abraham: As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. (Genesis 17:7-11)

No doubt, it was this promise that helped to unify the Israelites and define them as a people who had been set aside for God. However, what it did not do was provide them with the instructions they needed on how they, as God’s People, should conduct themselves personally, in their communities, and in the world at large. And given their centuries-long exposure to the pagan cultures in which they lived, there would have been few if any ways for them to learn just what it meant for them to be in covenant relationship with a Holy God, or what it would take for them to become holy themselves.

Consequently, when the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai, in spite of having witnessed God’s power demonstrated in their deliverance and in His miraculous provisions for them throughout their wilderness journey, they really didn’t know God yet or what being His Chosen People would demand of them. After all, unlike all of the other “gods” they had been exposed to—those fashioned by human hands, He was the One whom they couldn’t see and the One whom they had yet to encounter personally.

All of that changed, though, when they arrived at Mount Sinai—the Mountain of God. There, in preparation for their first real meeting with God, the Israelites spent three days purifying themselves and everything they possessed. Then, on the morning of the third day, God showed up in a mighty way, manifesting Himself to them in a terrifying display of power at the mountain where their union was to take place. Introducing Himself to them as…

…the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (Exodus 20:2)…

…He immediately presented them with the list of laws that Israel, as the Wife of God, would have to live by if the relationship with her Husband was going to endure. Better known as the Ten Commandments, these laws set forth the Standard of Righteousness—or the Code of Conduct—that a people in relationship with a Holy God would be required to maintain.

As we learned last time, this encounter left the people trembling in fear and pleading with Moses to intercede for them with God. So, stepping in as mediator between them and Him, Moses first gave the people God’s very specific instructions for the construction of His altars, then he presented them with a rather lengthy list of the judgments that were to be meted out whenever issues or disputes arose among God’s People. (These judgments, found in Exodus 21-23, were the ones that we didn’t go over last time but which we will briefly address in this episode.)

While it may seem strange to us today for laws and judgments to have been included in what was supposed to have been a “wedding ceremony,” when we recall that the Israelites had no previous knowledge of God’s laws or any “legal precedence” to refer to at this point in their history, it only makes sense that God would establish these things at the very beginning of their relationship together.  For in giving them the Commandments and the Judgments—and placing limitations on their behavior—He was actually establishing the boundaries the people would need to honor in order to ensure both their protection and their future blessings.

So, rather than thinking of them merely as the harsh dictates of a cold, angry, and impersonal God—as they have so often been portrayed—these laws and judgments, as well as their inclusion here, should really be regarded as expressions of love by God for His new Wife.

 

 

The Love in the Law

That Love was the motivating factor in God’s giving of the Law to His People—on the very day of their wedding—should come as no surprise to us. Especially when we remember that…

• • It was the Love of God and His desire for a Family that motivated God to created Man in the first place.
  • It was the Love of God and His desire to be reconciled with His Creation that prompted God to provide Man with a plan of redemption after his fall.
  • It was the Love of God that led God to choose Abraham and enter into covenant with him for his future offspring.
  • It was the Love of God and His desire to dwell with His People that led God to deliver Israel from Egypt and carry her to Sinai where He would make her His Bride.

From the following verses, we can see that it has always been God’s goal to dwell among His People…

And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8)

I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God. (Exodus 29: 45-46)

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

Unfortunately, after Adam and Eve’s disastrous fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, this goal became a logistical impossibility. Their violation of the one commandment that God had given them (to not eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) was all it took to shatter the fellowship they had once enjoyed with their Creator, erect a wall of separation between themselves and God, and make dwelling with Him nothing more than a distant memory. Not content to leave things like that, however, God set into motion His plan for the redemption of mankind—a plan that would provide Adam’s descendants with the pathway to righteousness that they would need if they were ever to enjoy fellowship with God again.

The first step on this pathway was taken by God Himself in the Garden, even before Adam and Eve were evicted from it, when He provided them with a covering for their sinful nakedness through the substitutionary death of an innocent animal. We learn later in scripture that this was essential because…

…according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission [of sins] (Hebrews 9:22).

This first sacrifice became the type for all those that would follow, setting the precedent that sin must first be atoned for before a relationship with God can be restored.  From then on, atonement would take  place whenever and wherever people of faith met with God at their altars of sacrifice—altars which evolved over time from individual and nomadic ones to the corporate and stationary ones in the Old Testament, and from the physical to a spiritual one later in the New Testament.

As we can see from this illustration, at this point in our story, God is getting ready to transition the worship of His People from their many individual altars to the singular and more permanent one that Israel will need once she enters her future home. In fact, when our previous episode ended, Moses was on his way up the mountain to receive from God instructions for the Tabernacle—the place where the Israelites were to worship until the Temple was built.

 

 

Before making that ascent up the mountain though…

…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, “All the words which the LORD has said we will do.” 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, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.”

 

 

The Laws and Judgments in the Book of the Covenant

So, along with the Ten Commandments, here are the Judgments that Moses included in the Book of the Covenant—the laws and judgments that should have helped the Israelites remain faithful during Moses’ long absence up on the mountain…

In Exodus 21:1-11, God instructed this nation of newly emancipated slaves, those who had only known brutal treatment at the hands of their former masters, on the right way to treat their future servants and slaves…

Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them: if you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights. And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

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In Exodus 21:12-26, God instructed a people who had only known violence in the past on the right way to deal with it when it occurs in the future…

He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.

If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.

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In Exodus 21:28-36, God instructed a people whose livelihoods depended on working with animals, how to deal with animal related issues when they arose in the future…

If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted. But if the ox tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.

If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.

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In Exodus 22:1-15, God instructed a people who had never owned property before the right way of managing it…

If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft is certainly found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall restore double.

If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

If a man delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods.

For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, then an oath of the LORD shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. But if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. If it is torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn.

And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good. If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.

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In Exodus 22:16-23:9, God instructed a people whose sense of morality had been corrupted by their previous culture about the moral and ceremonial principles of those living in a godly community…

If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins.

You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.

He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest. If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

And you shall be holy men to Me: you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

[Chapter 23]

You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. 3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.

If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, and you would refrain from helping it, you shall surely help him with it.

You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.

Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

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In Exodus 23:10-19, God instructed His people about some of the Laws that were unique to His worship—such as the Sabbath and the three yearly Feasts…

Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.

Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.

Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning. The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

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In Exodus 23:20-33, God advised His People that they would be accompanied on their journeys by His Angel–whom they were to fear and obey– and promised them that they would be victorious over all their enemies so long as they worshipped Him and Him alone…

Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.

So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

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Sadly, in spite of these warnings and promises—and all of her promises to obey everything that God told her to do—it wasn’t long before Israel proved to be an unfaithful Wife to her new Husband, something which we will learn more about in our next episode.