When I exegete a book, I tend to get very bogged down in the details and so, I decided to develop a series of a few short lessons on various books of the Bible, where I attempt to simply deal with the primary points of each verse without getting too bogged down in detail. Each lesson is 4–5 pages long and designed to be read at one sitting. Although it is always nice to have a Bible open when studying this, I have, in almost all cases, included the relevant Scripture within the study.

As these lessons are completed in real time, only the three sets of links are to be found.

At this point in time, Moses is preparing Israel to hear the voice of God. God will speak the Ten Commandments so that all Israel will be able to hear Him.

Exodus 19:14–15 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 third day; do not go near a woman." (ESV)

Moses and the people are at the Mountain of God. They are being purified; and God is going to speak to them.

The people were going to be ceremonially clean, so their clothes would be washed, they would be washed, and they were not to have intimate relations with their wives.

Exodus 19:16a Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning,... (NKJV)

Suddenly, the environment of the mountain changes drastically on the morning of the third day.

Before this, all of the purification rites have already taken place.

Exodus 19:16b ...that there were thunderings and lightnings,... (NKJV)

There is great thundering and lightning. The word used for thunderings is the masculine plural noun qôlôt (קֹלֹת) [pronounced kohl-OHT]. In the plural, this word means, sounds, voices, noise; loud noises, thunderings. Strong’s #6963 BDB #876. We also have the masculine plural noun b^erâqîym (בְּרָקִים) [pronounced beh-raw-KEEM], which means, lightenings, lightening flashes. Strong’s #1300 BDB #140. This whole thing is quite dramatic. What the Israelites could see and hear would have struck fear in their hearts. Recall that, when God reveals Himself through signs and miracles, it is always appropriate to the size of the crowd, whether that is one person or two million people. Everyone can see the lightnings and hear the thunderings. Let me suggest that this is more intense than any of these people have ever seen before.

The thunder and lightning and the dark cloud all speak of judgement. Jesus Christ was judged under a thick cloud of darkness so that even people witnessing the crucifixion could not see it occurring. Even the boldest of people have some sin, some shortcoming that they would be embarrassed to have other people know about. Much, much worse than this is the idea of a perfect Jesus Christ coming in contact with the penalty for our sins. The degradation and the pain and the suffering which He endured on our behalf is something which God would not allow anyone to see. Therefore, Jesus was covered with a thick darkness.

Exodus 19:16c ...and a thick cloud on the mountain;... (NKJV)

The word translated thick is the fairly common adjective kâbêd (כָבֵד) [pronounced kaw^b-VAYD], which means, heavy, overweight, abundant, numerous, dull; hard, difficult, burdensome, grievous; severe; very oppressive. Strong’s #3515 BDB #458. This thick cloud is a manifestation of God; and this thick cloud hangs all over the mountain. I believe that the people sense a Presence and it makes them very uneasy (as we will see).

What appears to be the situation is, there is a rainstorm taking place right on the mountain itself, whereas Mount Sinai appears to be a live volcano, possibly ready to explode.

The Black Smoke of a Volcano (a photograph); from Zastavki.com; accessed December 20, 2023. This is sized to be used as a wallpaper.

Exodus 19:16d ...and the sound of the trumpet was very loud,... (NKJV)

The word for sound is Qôwl (קוֹל) [pronounced kohl]. It means, sound, voice, noise. Strong’s #6963 BDB #876. Now, no one is playing a trumpet. However, there is a very loud sound which the people can only describe as the sound of a trumpet.

Even though the NKJV has the trumpet, there is no definite article here.

David Guzik: Beyond all one could see, hear, and feel, then came a long, loud blast of a trumpet, a trumpet coming not from the camp but from heaven itself - no wonder all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Generally speaking, there were two reasons for a trumpet: (1) the males are all being summoned to fight in a war; or (2) a very important announcement is being made. In this case, it is the second reason. I say this, but bear in mind, this is a sound like a trumpet. That is simply what the people hear. The great announcement to be made is Exodus 20.

There is actually sound like a horn in the atmosphere which is heard throughout the world. I came across a number of videos on YouTube where a person is hearing this weird, horn-like sound somewhere off in the atmosphere. Describing the sounds being heard is quite difficult to do; so that a sound like a trumpet is the best that we can come up with. These YouTube videos could be very similar to what is taking place here.

Exodus 19:16e ...so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. (NKJV)

All of this that the people are seeing, hearing and experiencing is very unnerving. They are extremely afraid. They are so afraid that they are trembling. This is an experience of sensory overload to them.

Exodus 19:16 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. (NKJV)

Throughout Scripture, we will see that God tends to be very theatric. He is looking to implant strong visuals in the hearts of the Israelites. Ideally speaking, this makes a lasting impression on them (however, even such an impression will wear off).

Below the surface of the earth, the tectonic plates are shifting. There is possibly molten rock under the surface below Mount Sinai, and there are gases and black smoke escaping from the mountain. For some reason, there are sounds like loud horns in the atmosphere.

Moses speaks with God (Gerard Hoet – 1728); from Rob Bowman; accessed November 1, 2023.

Exodus 19:17a And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God,... (NKJV)

Moses brings the people forward to the mountain, but keeping the prescribed distance from it.

Here and elsewhere, Moses continues to act as a mediator between man and God. God must go through a man and this is why Moses and Aaron both appeared before Pharaoh. Aaron, as we have studied, was not God's first choice—his presence destroyed the analogy of just one man standing in the gap between man and God. In that case, it was the analogy of Jesus Christ the prophet, speaking God's Word to man.

At this point, Moses is both the prophet and the priest; representing man to God (as a priest) and God to man (as a prophet). Moses alone stood in the gap between them just as Christ alone stands in the gap between us and a holy God. It is only when we are purified in Him and by Him that we can stand before God.

Moses is a type of Christ; and Jesus is the antitype (the fulfillment of the type).

The people had been camped out near Mount Sinai, and Moses brought them forward, out of their camps, to meet their God. Throughout most of the plagues, Israel was bypassed by God, so they did not fully appreciate His greatness. At this point, the sons of Israel are frightened.

Exodus 19:17b ...and they stood at the foot of the mountain. (NKJV)

Moses cordoned off the mountain; the people are not to come up onto the mountain. They are not to come that close to God (that is, a manifestation of God). However, they are to stand there at the foot of the mountain so that they can see and hear all that is going on.

Moses had designated the mountain itself off limits. There was a boundary set up around the mountain and the people stood outside of this boundary at the foot of the mountain. Because of one of the verbs used earlier in this chapter, it appears that there is a sloping plateau around the mountain (or on one side of the mountain).

To the people, the mountain represented the place of God; or the place where God manifested Himself. The people certainly did not have a complete understanding of the nature of God. However, they would have had some basic information. God was associated with this mountain; the people could come up to the base of the mountain but no further; and even to be able to do that, they must be ceremonially cleansed. They learned by this the perfection and holiness of God (which we all fall quite short of).

Exodus 19:17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. (NKJV)

Moses was clearly expecting God to speak to His people. They were here at the foot of God’s mountain; so shouldn’t God speak to them? I do not know that the people were expecting this to happen.

Exodus 19:18a Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke,... (NKJV)

The mountain smoked, something that the people had never seen before. It was not just a bit of smoke coming up here or there; the entire mountain was enveloped in smoke.

Exodus 19:18b ...because the Lord descended upon it in fire. (NKJV)

The reason that this was taking place was, God had descended upon the mountain. He is said to be in fire because God is judgment; and fire represents judgment.

We do not know exactly the form that the fire was in. Was it like a forest fire on the mountain? Was it a series of lightning strikes from above? Was it some molten metals being cast into the air? Whatever the people could see, it appeared to be like fire.

The fire here speaks of judgement in the Bible and smoke often represents the propitiation of God. The people had been ceremonially cleansed, allowing God to be propitious toward them. God would judge the Lord in our stead, and this is the true basis for God being able to be propitious toward us.

Propitiation means an appeasement; God is appeased, satisfied, conciliated. What is taking place represents God being propitiated (appeased, conciliated) by the judgment spoken of by all of the fire on that mountain.

The people of God are at the foot of Mount Sinai. Some very strange sights and sounds are before them.

Exodus 19:18c Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace,... (NKJV)

The smoke associated with God was going up, as if a great oven. Although I would guess that there is very little vegetation on this mountain, it is covered in smoke or enveloped by smoke.

The sons of Israel are standing before Mount Sinai, and there is fire and smoke on the mountain.

Exodus 19:18d ...and the whole mountain quaked greatly. (NKJV)

In addition, the mountain was quaking. It would have been loud, the people would be seeing movement of the mountain itself, and they felt the shockwaves of it. They could see the mountain move and they could feel the ground beneath them shake.

In our society, people who have never even seen California or Japan know what an earthquake is. That is because of the kind of world that we live in. We have newspapers, television reports and magazines, all which deal with the phenomenon of earthquakes. For Israel, an earthquake would be a very rare event; something that many Israelites would not even know about. Therefore, their vocabulary does not have a specific word for the quaking of a mountain. The word found here is chârad (חָרַד) [pronounced chaw-RAHD], and it means tremble, shake. This describes what the mountain did. This figure of speech—giving an inanimate object an action or an emotion normally attributed to animate objects—is called personification. This word was used more because they did not have a regular word to mean quake, earthquake.

A translator or commentator has observed that this mountain is behaving very much like a volcano. It is not out of the question for that to be the case, even if there is no evidence of volcanic activity in that region today (earthquakes are often associated with volcanic activity).

God's presence causes the great geological disturbance because of the strength of His presence. God, in Scripture, often uses that which He has already made. Let me suggest that God moved the Arabian Plate and that the smoke on and around the mountain came from volcanic activity. God possibly even moved the Israelites from Egypt to this mountain specifically because of the geological activity which was going to take place at this time.

We do not tend to associate Saudi Arabia or anywhere around there with volcanic activity.

However, Wikipedia reads: The Red Sea rifting began in the Eocene, and the separation of Africa and Arabia occurred approximately 25 million years ago in the Oligocene, and since then the Arabian Plate has been moving toward the Eurasian Plate. The opening of the Red Sea rift led to volcanic activity. There are volcanic fields called the Older Harrats, such as Harrat Khaybar and Harrat Rahat, cover parts of the western Arabian Plate. Some activity still continues especially around Medina, and there are regular eruptions within the Red Sea.

The Israelites have moved east of the Red Sea (and, east of modern Medina), but these things are close enough to have activity where some of these faults are which can affect areas which are quite a distance away.

According to Norfolk.gov: A magnitude 5.5 eastern U.S. earthquake usually can be felt as far as 300 miles from where it occurred.

I am simply offering this as one possible explanation (which I believe to be correct). Although God is able to certain produce such things out of nothing; throughout much of Scripture, he appears to use our natural earth and its resources for His demonstrations of power. There are some miracles which are flat out miracles, like the changing of water into wine; but many others have underlying natural explanations.

To the people here, the exact nature of the events was not an issue (miracle or natural). They were right in the midst of this, and it was quite unnerving.

Some commentators, struggling with God's ability to perform miracles, did at one time attribute this to the natural phenomena of volcanic activity. Others have pointed out that there are no traces of volcanic activity on the Sinai Peninsula, so another explanation which has been given. Barthel (a very liberal commentator) suggests that Moses somehow invented or discovered gun powder and set off a few charges to get everyone's attention (Barthel came up with some very odd theories, so odd, I wonder why I even mention him).

I have suggested that Mount Sinai has a natural amphitheater adjacent to it. Furthermore, it would possibly be a mountain which shows signs of volcanic activity (all we have in context is smoke, but no actual eruption). However, all of this is close enough to the plates beneath the Red Sea, for this to be interconnected.

When you don't have any real faith in God, there are not a lot of alternatives. This is one thing that I don't get—but then I have never really spoken to any Christian liberals on this topic—who or what is their god? He is like the wizard of Oz? Is he like the man behind the curtain who really is without any supernatural powers, but subject to the universe in which He finds Himself? Or have they arbitrarily decided that He has chosen not to ever work in miraculous ways, contrary to Scripture? Maybe I am wrong on this point, but it seems to me that because they have never witnessed a spectacular miracle (or something which they could identify as a miracle) they have concluded that miracles, therefore, have never occurred.

For me, it is much easier to take the position, if God was able to create the earth and all that is in it; then it is logical that He can overrule, from time to time, the laws of nature which He set up. And He is also able to time His plan the coincide with natural phenomenon as well (I believe that is the case here).

Mt. Sinai charring and burn scars remain (a graphic); from Some Jesus Things; accessed November 1, 2023. Quite frankly, I have no idea if this is Mount Sinai; but there should be some mountain similar to this in that region. Some have suggested that Mount Sinai was a volcano.

Exodus 19:18 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. (NKJV)

As I have suggested on previous occasions, God’s signs and miracles are appropriate for the audience. Here, there are as many as two million onlookers (it is not clear if all Israel was here or just the men came forward). They can all feel the earth shake and they can all see the smoke. They can all hear the horn-like sound. No one is left out. They all experience the same thing.

In any case, all that happened on the mountain would have been visible to all of the people. God made His Presence fully known by the sons of Abraham who stood at the foot of Mount Sinai.

Exodus 19:19a And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder,... (NKJV)

A trumpet is heard; it is extremely loud and it appears to be moving about. More likely, this is a sound which can only be compared to a trumpet. There are a number of sounds recorded on YouTube and similar media sources which report trumpet sounds. There is a news report of odd sounds in Oklahoma (video); personal recordings from south-central Alaska (video); and five skyquakes (video). Interestingly enough, someone that I am connected to on Facebook recently posted a video where they are hearing similar sounds in the air, and are wondering, “What is this?”

One Jewish rabbi notes that, usually, when a ram’s horn (or trumpet or whatever) is blown for a long time, the volume begins to drop off. Here, it appears to get louder or it retains its intensity.

All of this is very theatrical. Recall that God has been speaking to Moses all along (and even to Aaron); but at this point, God has turned Mount Sinai into a unique and frightful weather event where there is thunder, lightning, fire, and a sound like a horn. The ground that the sons of Israel are standing on is shaking. There is probably volcanic activity associated with the mountain. So God is preparing the people for an amazing event. This series of events is even greater than God appearing to Moses before and giving him directions for interacting with Pharaoh.

Exodus 19:19b ...Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. (NKJV)

For whatever reason, Moses is attempting to communicate with God; and the people heard Moses’ voice followed by great thundering. We do not have any idea as to the content of Moses’ speech. If I were to guess, he is calling out Y^ehowah Elohim! But we really have no idea.

Exodus 19:19 And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. (NKJV)

There is the sound of a very loud trumpet blast, as God is about to speak to the people.

Exodus 19:17–19 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. (NKJV)

Moses has no idea about what is coming exactly. He has interacted with God for perhaps three months now (all that we have studied takes place over a relatively short period of time). All Israel has seen things that are hard for us to even imagine. And Moses has gone up and down Mount Sinai and God has spoken to him on the mount, giving Moses specific instructions about purifying the people to meet God. However, there is no indication that Moses has any idea what is coming next. If you know a little bit about the book of Exodus, you know that God is going to speak to this people, giving them the Ten Commandments. But if you are studying this for the first time, then you have no idea what is coming up next, unless you have read ahead. Similarly, Moses does not know what is about to take place.

Lightning and Smoke (a photograph); from Kelley Latta Ministries; accessed November 1, 2023.

The people of Israel are all standing before the Mountain of God.

Exodus 19:20a Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. (NKJV)

All of the fury of the weather about the mountain appears to signal that God is coming down upon this mountain.

God needed for Israel to understand the gravity of the situation; to understand somewhat of His might and power. God required that man feared and respected Him (something that we lack today in much of the United States). Had there just been a clear day with perhaps a rainbow and a garden of flowers and birds singing nice things in the background, then the Hebrews would not grasp how momentous this event was; nor would they have developed any fear or respect for God. The Hebrews had to be close enough to hear God call Moses up to the top of the mountain.

Because God is a Spirit and because God is omnipresent, when we speak of God coming to the top of Mount Sinai, we are really referring to a manifestation of Him. God is choosing to manifest Himself as being there. God is not confined to our universe in any way. He made the universe that we live in and designed all of the laws of physics which define space, time and matter (the three things which God created simultaneously in Genesis 1:1).

Exodus 19:20b And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain,... (NKJV)

With an indescribable voice, God calls out to Moses, summoning him up to the summit of the mountain. I am assuming that this was an audible voice. Who else heard it? We are not told.

Exodus 19:20c ...and Moses went up. (NKJV)

Moses goes up the mountain.

It would seem that the conditions previously described—the thunder and lightning and the trumpet sound—that all of this is still going on. I would assume that these conditions continue while Moses is on the mountain. These things would have held the attention of the Israelites as we move forward to the giving of the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 19:20 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. (NKJV)

God manifests His Presence at the top of the mountain and calls Moses up. Moses continues to act as a mediator between God and man.

Exodus 19:21a And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people,... (NKJV)

The word translated warn is actually the Hiphil imperative of ʿûwd (עוּד) [pronounced ģûd] (I am using ģ to refer to a guttural sound) and it means to bear witness, to testify; in the Hiphil according to BDB, it can mean to protest, to affirm, to solemnly warn. Strong’s #5749 BDB #729.

God has already instructed Moses about the boundaries around Mount Sinai. He was to reiterate this warning to the sons of Israel, not to try to come up the mountain.

In the final verse of this chapter, Moses will go down and say these things to the people.

Exodus 19:21b ...lest they break through to gaze at the Lord,... (NKJV)

A personal note in the realm of linguistics: I have never liked the word lest; because it is Old English and rarely used in today's English, I believe that it needs to be replaced. However, it is the perfect, one-word translation of the conjunction pen (פֶּן) [pronounced pen]. The simple one-word translation for pen (פֶּן) is, lest. When the translator was feeling particularly robust, he would translate this word lest...peradventure. However, we can get by with splitting it into a more modern that...not. For instance, ...that they not break through to gaze at the Lord,...

Exodus 19:21a-b And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord,... (NKJV)

Moses has climbed up the mountain, perhaps to its very summit; despite all of the thundering and lightening, and the sound of trumpet blasts from above.

It appears that there might be some people who have decided that they might want to climb up this mountain to view God. We have something which is analogous to the high priest entering the holy of holies. Moses is the high priest and on the mountain, he is in the presence of God, within the inner veil (this is an analogy, not a direct parallel). The people are outside and are not allowed to come into the holy of holies because their cleansing is ceremonial but not real. In the same way, Jesus Christ alone could go to the Father, having given His life for our sins. Just as there are people today who are so arrogant as to think they can come to God with their puny and filthy good deeds; there were Israelites who thought they could follow Moses up the mountain and come into God's presence (they were thinking of doing this). Their true uncleanness in the presence of God's perfection would have caused them all to die. So Moses had to head back down the mountain to warn the people; because God was not willing that any of them should perish. God needed for the people to know the limitations of their relationship with Him. He could not have some person talking out of the side of his mouth saying, “Well, hell, I am just as good as Moses. I’ll go up there myself.”

The people are not allowed to go up onto the mountain to see God. Because of their sins, they cannot approach God in any way, apart from God’s very specific instructions. This does not indicate that they are any worse than anyone else (at this point). If you or I were in the crowd, the same instructions would have applied.

Exodus 19:21a-b And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord,... (NKJV)

This appears to be God the Father speaking of the Revealed God (Who is Jesus and has manifested Himself upon the mountain).

Exodus 19:21c ...and many of them perish. (NKJV)

If the people tried to come up the mountain, they would perish.

In the next chapter, the people will appear to be very afraid of God and this seems like an odd thing to warn the people about. (Who would do such a thing?) However, the depths of evil of the Exodus generation are just beginning to be revealed. These warnings are legitimate, as this is a very rebellious generation. When God tells them, Do not do X; many among them now want to do X.

God has already given this directive to Moses (vv. 12–13). So, already, Moses has set up the perimeter line, over which the people were not to cross. He has overseen the purification of the people, as well as the warnings. Furthermore, I would think that these people are scared out of their minds right now. Nevertheless, it appears that God wants Moses to double-check the people.

Being omniscient, God knows what the people are thinking. He also knows all that Moses has done. In fact, God knew in eternity past all that Moses has done and was going to do. God allows Moses to approach Him, despite his past.

Exodus 19:21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. (NKJV)

God wants Moses to prepare the people for an experience which they have never had before. They will actually hear God’s voice. Exodus 20 is God speaking audibly to His people. This experience is going to frighten the hell out of these people (that is just an expression); a people who, nevertheless, are going to continue to rebel against God.

Exodus 19:20–21 (NKJV) (a graphic); from Slide Player; accessed November 1, 2023.

Exodus 19:22a Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves,... (NKJV)

There have been previous references to a nascent Sabbath in the Scriptures; and there has certainly been a priesthood which has existed since Noah exited the Ark (which priesthood is not very well- defined in Scripture). Although these things will be clarified and specified for nation Israel in the Law, they already exist in some form.

Throughout Genesis, the patriarchs were involved in priestly duties; and Moses’ father-in-law was a priest. So the concept of a priesthood was not unknown to these people. Also, recall that people of Israel skipped the 7^th day when it came to collecting manna. So there was some understanding of the Sabbath day even prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law.

God tells Moses is to speak to the priests specifically and to tell them to ceremonially cleanse themselves.

The priests were not necessarily the family of Levi at this time (recall that Moses father-in-law, not even a Jew, was a priest in Midian) and although they were not coming up the mountain either; they had to be particularly careful about being ceremonially cleansed.

Exodus 19:22a Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves,... (NKJV)

It is fascinating that Moses speaks of the priests here, because the Law will define priests as only those coming from the line of Aaron. So, prior to the giving of the Law, there were men who were called priests. Moses’ father-in-law is called a priest; the people of Israel are called a kingdom of priests (v. 6); and this is the first mention of a subgroup of Israelites known as priests. So, prior to God’s full description of what the priesthood in Israel would be in the Mosaic Law, there was some sort of priesthood which already existed.

Therefore, there has been an organized group of men called priests in Israel, and they are somewhat different from the priesthood which God will organize in Leviticus (and in the final chapters of Exodus). How this nascent group of priests arose, who they are, and exactly what functions they have is unknown to us. I would postulate that they are likely the patriarchal figure of each extended family (remember the first Passover?). Animal sacrifices existed right from the time of the ark. Whoever these priests were, they represented man to God and they would offer up animal sacrifices before the people (this offering of animal sacrifices is likely their most important function).

That there is a nascent priesthood in existence already is simply an educated guess on my part. This notion is based upon this reference to priests here in v. 22 along with a few references to animal sacrifices throughout the book of Genesis. How and when they operated while the Jews were in Egypt is unknown to us. How the original priests organically developed is also a matter of speculation.

Recall that, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was a family priest. We recently studied how he came on the scene and told Moses, “You cannot be judging each and every dispute that two million people are going to have. You need to farm out this work to wise and honest men.”

Perhaps a temporary priesthood arose for the same reason. Let me suggest that Jethro, or Aaron, or someone like Joshua suggested to Moses, “You cannot offer up every single animal sacrifice. This has to be in the hands of other men.” Given that the priests are mentioned here, it seems like that there is a temporary group of priests set up by Moses at this point. This is not specifically stated in the Scriptures. Another (and more likely) possibility is, the Israelites themselves had some sort of an organized priesthood prior to Moses coming on the scene. Whatever their origins, these are men whose position as a specialized priesthood is recognized by God right here.

Israel has been 2 or 3 months in the desert-wilderness; and Moses set up a court system which the people could access. There is no reason why a similar situation could have been done for the priesthood as well. Or, in the alternative, perhaps a priest system already existed in Israel.

Who exactly this temporary priesthood consisted of and what exactly their function was, beyond offering up animal sacrifices, we do not know. All the details of this nascent priesthood are not recorded, I believe, simply so that we do not confuse the Levitical priesthood (actually, the Aaronic priests) with whatever priesthood existed previously.

Exodus 19:22a Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves,... (NKJV)

God has a warning for this nascent priesthood:

Exodus 19:22b ...lest the Lord break out against them.” (NKJV)

God warns that even those who see themselves as representing Him; even they are subject to divine discipline. They are to prepare themselves for what is to come, which would mean, they are to consecrate themselves (set themselves apart ceremonially).

Exodus 19:22 Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.”

Referenced here is the pre-Levitical priesthood. We do not know from where this priesthood arose. These may have been the heads of families who acted as priests; or these men could have been chosen by Moses. This pre-priesthood is a temporary measure, just as that tent of the Lord (not the Tabernacle of Exodus 40) was a temporary place where Moses would meet with God.

A tent of sorts and a priesthood of sorts are already in existence; but these things will become very well-defined in the Law God will give to Moses.

Exodus 19:21–22 And the Lord said to Moses, “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.” (NKJV)

Some people in Israel were contemplating going onto the mountain, despite all that has happened, and God warns Moses about this.

The Christian Community Bible understands this in a slightly different way. Christian Community Bible (1988): When Yahweh had come down to the summit of Mount Sinai, God called Moses who went to the summit where Yahweh said to him, "Go down and give this warning to the people, lest they rush to see Yahweh and many of them perish. Even the priests who come near Yahweh must purify themselves lest Yahweh break out against them." (vv. 20–22) So, Moses has already been to this summit and he has already warned the people (specifically the priests)—according to the Christian Community Bible.

Exodus 19:20–22 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, “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.” (NKJV)

Exodus 19:20–22 Y^ehowah came down upon Mount Sinai over the top of the mountain. Then Y^ehowah called to Moses to the top of the mountain—and so Moses went up. Y^ehowah then said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to Me [lit., Y^ehowah] and see [My glory] and [as a result] many of them perish. Also [tell] the priests, those who come near to Me [lit., Y^ehowah], they must consecrate themselves so that I do not [lit., Y^ehowah does not] break out against them.” (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Moses comes up the mountain at least twice at this point (vv. 3, 14, 20).

God has warned Moses about some of the people coming up the mountain to Him. Moses will say, “Listen, I have already warned the people about this.”

Exodus 19:20–22 Y^ehowah came down upon Mount Sinai over the top of the mountain. Then Y^ehowah called to Moses to the top of the mountain—and so Moses went up. Y^ehowah then said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to Me [lit., Y^ehowah] and see [My glory] and [as a result] many of them perish. Also [tell] the priests, those who come near to Me [lit., Y^ehowah], they must consecrate themselves so that I do not [lit., Y^ehowah does not] break out against them.” (Kukis mostly literal translation)

This is going to seem odd to Moses for God to tell him this again, and then require him to speak to the people. However, there must be people who, when God begins to speak, will rush onto the mountain. I would suggest that these are people who would be demonically influenced. They are there; God knows that they are there, and God wants to make certain that such people will keep their behavior in check by their own human volition. The primary reason that God cannot have people doing this is, there cannot be a half dozen people make a rush for the mountain and die in the process while God is giving the Ten Commandments. That just would not work. God will require their full attention and it has to be based upon the function of their collective volition.

Exodus 19:23a But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai;... (NKJV)

God has told Moses to go down and warn the people about coming onto Mount Sinai, lest they die. Moses has so warned the people. Moses responds to God, saying that the people are unable to come up the mountain.

Exodus 19:23b ...for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain... (NKJV)

What God did was the Hiphil perfect of ʿûwd (עוּד) [pronounced ģûd] and it comes from the unused root to repeat and it means to testify, to bear witness, to reaffirm, to reiterate; to solemnly admonish. Strong’s #5749 BDB #729.

Moses reminds God that He had told them over and over to cleanse themselves and that they were not to come up the mountain. Moses was assuming that a few clear, simple directives are all that are needed to keep the Hebrew people in line.

Moses points out that God admonished them not to come up the mountain, and that He set a border around it.

Exodus 19:23c ...and consecrate it.’ ” (NKJV)

Consecrate is the 2^nd person singular, Piel perfect of qâdash (קָדַש) [pronounced kaw-DAHSH]. It means, to regard as holy, to declare holy or sacred; to consecrate, to sanctify, to inaugurate with holy rites. This verb contains the 3^rd person masculine singular suffix, which gives us, ...and consecrate [or, regard as holy, declare holy or sacred] it.” It refers to the mountain.

Moses says that he is very aware that God has consecrated this mountain (that is, the mountain had been set apart from all else). Moses is indicating that the people are aware of this as well.

Throughout the Old Testament, there is a constant separation between the carnal and the holy, between the unclean and the consecrated thing. This separation is constantly reenforced throughout Scripture. It is never suggested that, “You’re over halfway there, so come on aboard!” Something is either holy or it is not; it is cleansed or unclean.

God has already told Moses to do this; and Moses has already done this. This information has been solemnly given to the people.

Exodus 19:23 But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ” (NKJV)

This is such an odd conversation between God and Moses; however, there must be a reason to explain why God further questions Moses about this. Are there people down below who might suddenly come up the mountain? Are they that fearless and disobedient? That appears to be the case.

God will tell Moses, “Go down [anyways], and bring Aaron back up here. But no one else.”

In Moses’ mind, these things have already been taken care of (and he tells God this). God responds with some very strong language.

Exodus 19:24a Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down... (NKJV)

God answers Moses with two very terse, Qal imperatives. The first is hâlak^e (הָלַךְ) [pronounced haw-LAHK^e], which means, go, come, depart, walk; advance. Strong’s #1980 (and #3212) BDB #229. The second is yârad (יָרַד) [pronounced yaw-RAHD], which means, descend, come down, go down. Strong’s #3381 BDB #432.

In no unclear language, God again tells Moses to go back down the mountain.

Exodus 19:24b ...and then come up, you and Aaron with you. (NKJV)

God tells Moses that he can come up the mountain and that, on occasion, Aaron can come up the mountain. However, this is qualified by the words with you. So, Moses may come back up the mountain; but he must bring Aaron with him.

Remember the scene, that God is about to speak to all of the people; to give them the Ten Commandments. Prior to this, God wants both Moses and Aaron up with Him on the mountain.

Of course, God is not actually on the mountain; He is simply manifesting Himself as if He is on the mountain.

Exodus 19:24c But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord,... (NKJV)

However, no one else is allowed onto the mountain. They are not to break through the boundary to come up to see God.

A word used twice, here and in v. 22, has been pârats (פָּרַץ) [pronounced paw-RATS] and it means break through, burst out, break in pieces, break out violently in swift judgement. Strong’s #6555 BDB #829. It is in the latter sense that this is used (see also 2Samuel 5:20 1Chronicles 14:11 15:13 Psalm 60:3 106:29). In v. 22 and 24d, this verb is used of God breaking out in violence against the people.

In v. 23c, there is a similar but different verb when used of the people. It is the Qal imperfect of hâraç (הָרַס) [pronounced haw-RAHS] and it means pull down, break in pieces, destroy. Strong’s #2040 BDB #248. There is a barrier between God and man and the people are not to break down that barrier.

Exodus 19:24c But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord,... (NKJV)

The portion of v. 24 that began this dissertation is:

Exodus 19:24c But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord,... (NKJV)

Despite all of the preparations that have been made, it appears that there might be a rebellion brewing among the people, where some priests and others are thinking about climbing up this mountain of God.

Moses does not realize this nor do the people, but God is about to speak to all of them. There cannot be any interruptions from a few individuals who want to rush onto the mountain.

Exodus 19:24d ...lest He break out against them.” (NKJV)

If people come up the mountain, unauthorized, then God will break out against them (even if these men are priests). This suggests that God would do such men harm (and probably kill them).

Throughout the Bible we have instances of where God either speaks of Himself in the 3^rd Person or He speaks of another Member of the Trinity. One Member of the Trinity is speaking to Moses here (I would assume, God the Son, the Revealed God); but He warns that God the Father (or the Holy Spirit) would break out against any intruder who tried to climb the mountain after them.

Exodus 19:24 Then the Lord said to him, “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.” (NKJV)

It appears that the primary reason that God calls Moses up to this mountain is to specify who exactly may come up the mountain and who may not. Bear in mind, this is the first that the people have come to the Mountain of God, and God has set up some very specific ground rules and now He is reiterating those rules.

Moses Forbids the People to Follow Him (a watercolor James J. Tissot, 1896-1900), Kept at the Jewish Museum, New York; from Jesus Walk; accessed November 1, 2023. Moses and Aaron are standing apart from the people.

Exodus 19:25a So Moses went down to the people... (NKJV)

After what appears to have been a very short time on the mountain, Moses comes back down to the people.

When Moses has trouble following directions; God brings Aaron into the picture. Aaron will represent the man-ward side of Jesus Christ and Moses the God-ward side of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 19:25b ...and spoke to them. (NKJV)

The simplest explanation for this discussion between God and Moses is, God really had the concern that, there were some people who were ready and willing to come up the mountain to see what was going on. If that is true, then this odd conversation between God and Moses makes perfect sense.

The people will develop a much stronger sense of reverence and fear after God speaks to all Israel, giving them the Ten Commandments audibly. However, it is possible that, at this point in time, there was less of that fear and reverence.

Exodus 19:25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. (NKJV)

God knows the hearts of His people. He knows that there are some of them who will, during the giving of the Ten Commandments, suddenly rush up the mountain. They would die as a result. God also knows that, with one more warning, the people will not do this. Moses seems to think that this is not necessary; and God knows that it is very necessary. Sometimes some prohibitions must be reiterated in order for all to hear them and obey them. Moses has got it, Moses understands that the people cannot come up the mountain. However, there are a handful of the people who do not have this prohibition firmly in their souls. God tells Moses, “Go tell them again not to do this.” Since God is telling Moses to do this, it is necessary.

V. 25 marks the end of chapter 19. Moses speaks to the people one last time prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments.

If you follow this narrative in the Hebrew, it would be easy to get the wrong impression as to the exact set of events. What will follow in the next chapter are the Ten Commandments. One could easily understand this as Moses coming down the mountain and giving the people the Ten Commandments (that would be a misinterpretation). More literally, v. 25 reads: And so goes down Moses unto the people and so he says unto them. Usually, what would follow these words is, the content of what Moses would say. In the original text, there is no space or chapter break between this and Exodus 20:1, which reads: And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:1–3; ESV; capitalized) It would be easy to interpret this as Moses coming down the mountain and giving the Ten Commandments to the people himself. Now, in v. 22, it will be crystal clear that God spoke aloud to the people of Israel. God, in speaking with Moses on the mountain again, says, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, You (pl) yourselves have seen that I have talked with you (pl) from the skies.” (Exodus 20:22b; CGV with quotation marks)

What I have done here to used a form of logic to zero in on what is being said. Normally, after a sentence like v. 25, we would expect to read the content of what Moses said. We could mistakenly continue with the point of view until we reach Exodus 20:22, which indicates that God spoke the Ten Commandments to all Israel audibly. That means that we must come back here to v. 25 and interpret it slightly differently. Therefore, in my own translation, I have added the words these things to the end, to indicate that was the content of what Moses had to say.

Exodus 19:25 Moses then went down to the people and he said [these things] to them. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

These things refer back to the things which God told Moses this second time he is on the mountain.

The form of logic which I used here is known as an indirect proof. You take an hypothesis and follow it out. If you come to a point where you have a contradiction (either an internal contradiction or a contradiction to the hypothesis), then the initial hypothesis must be wrong to begin with.

Parallels Between Exodus and Acts (a graphic); from Slide Player; accessed August 11, 2017.

These are some interesting parallels. Don’t know if these parallels are intentional on the part of God the Holy Spirit or not. It certainly does provide a contrast between Law and grace.

I will use the Legacy Standard Bible translation below. The Legacy Standard Bible (©2021) is the update for the New American Standard Bible (©2020). In working with the LSB as of late, I have noticed that it has slightly fewer footnotes than the NASB. The NASB modernized the language of the ASV considerably. Also, over the years, there is an interesting evolution in the name of God in the Old Testament:

Chapter 19 Index

Introduction

vv. 1–6        Israel at Sinai/Moses goes up the mountain/Israel to be a priest nation

vv. 7–9        The people agree to what God says/Moses goes back up the mountain

vv. 10–15      God defines the boundaries for the mountain/the people are cleansed

vv. 16–25      Moses goes back up/God sends him back down

Introduction: Exodus 19 is one of the most important chapters in the book of Exodus, but it is rarely thought of as such, seeing that it is in the shadow of Exodus 20 (where the Ten Commandments are given). Everyone knows about the Ten Commandments; few know much about the events which led up to the Ten Commandments.

In this chapter, Moses reminds the people of how God brought them to this place and to Himself. God is infinite and outside the limitations of time and space; however, there are times when He appears to confine Himself to a specific time and place. God will so manifest Himself on Mount Sinai. God brought all Israel to Mount Sinai. Personally, I believe that all of the amazing sights and sounds are possibly very natural and related to Mount Sinai just at that point in time in the earth’s history.

What takes place there—the shaking of the ground, the thick black smoke and the sound of trumpets—are all natural phenomenon which occur today; and God brought Israel to that place where all of that was going to be taking place at that exact moment in time. Whether God kicked this set of events off, or whether they just occurred naturally, we do not know, but these things will all be associated with Israel meeting God on this mountain. Obviously, no one is able to see God, but they will be able to feel the earth shake, they will see the thick black smoke coming from the mountain, and they will hear the loud sounds which appear to be horns. All of the primary senses are going to be engaged by these things. All of these things taking place all at once are going to make a lasting impression on the Exodus generation. If any generation of Israelites has a reason to fear God, this generation does—but, surprisingly, they don’t. Now they will be fearful, but their fear is emotion that will simply come and go.

Also in this chapter, Israel’s place as a nation in the world is explained. They will become a priest-nation to God, a nation which represents all mankind to God. Despite being a relatively small nation, Israel will be pivotal in world history (which modern Israel still is, in many ways, even though it is no longer a priest nation or a client nation to God).

There were many powerful nations at this time (circa 1445 b.c.), but can you name any of their rulers (besides the pharaoh of Egypt)? Do you know what these nations have done? Probably not. So, do you know anything about a shepherd named Abram who moved from Iraq to Canaan? Even today, millions of people know something about Abram (Abraham); whereas, they know nearly nothing about the great and powerful nations that existed at this same time or about any of their rulers (who would have seemed to be great and mighty at the time).

Application: The real movers and shakers of any generation are men with a spiritual relationship with God. Kings and various rulers may seem to be powerful at the time, but their influence fades from history; while the influence of men like Abraham and Moses continue even to this day.

God begins in this chapter to define what Israel will be as a nation. At this point in time, properly speaking, Israel is a very large number of people, but they do not occupy the land yet which God has given them. As soon as they go into Canaan and take that land, then they will be considered a national entity. At that point, Israel will have a national relationship with God.

At this point in time, Israel is about to hear the voice of God. They must be prepared for this.

There is a great deal of importance attached to the ceremonial cleansing of the people and the isolation of Moses as being the only intermediary between the people and God. He will go up and down Mount Sinai, but if anyone else gets too close, they will die. Moses is a type of Christ, being the only one who may stand between God and man. At times, Moses will be accompanied by Aaron. As a pair of sanctified men, they represent the Hypostatic Union.

Despite all of the thick clouds, and the thundering and the lightning, God will call Moses up the mountain and he will go. At the end of this chapter, even Aaron, as the high priest of the land, be allowed to come up the mountain.

Let’s begin our brief review of this chapter:

Israel at Sinai/Moses goes up the mountain/Israel to be a priest nation

Israel left Egypt on the 15^th of the first month.

Exodus 19:1 In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. (Legacy Standard Bible)

We do not know what part of the third month we are in, but if this is the beginning of the third month, then we are only one month and two weeks from Egypt. We have spent a considerable amount of time on this section. I lean toward this being the case, given that the 15^th day has been once referenced in Exodus (Exodus 16:1) and once implied (Exodus 12:6).

In any case, the amount of time between Israel leaving Egypt and now is very short.

Exodus 19:2 Then they set out from Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. (LSB)

Rephidim was quite the remarkable place. The second no-water test occurred at Rephidim; and Israel had to fight against Amalek. See Exodus 17 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

From Rephidim, Israel traveled to the desert-wilderness of Sinai. This would indicate that they are close to where God wants them to be. They are camped in front of Mount Sinai.

Exodus 19:3 Now Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: (LSB)

You may recall that Jacob and Israel is the same person. On occasion, Jacob represents the carnal side of his descendants and Israel represents their spiritual side. The house of Jacob refers to those who are spiritually separated from God (even though these people are all believers); and the sons of Israel represents those who are in fellowship with God.

God spoke to Moses from the mountain and He was given instructions for Israel. God will remind the people of Israel of how they got here; and then God will tell them what they will be to Him as a nation.

Exodus 19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. (LSB)

God reminds Moses (who will remind the people) that God destroyed Egypt and the Egyptian army. God also brought Israel to this place, as if they had flown there on eagles’ wings. The fact that all Israel is now before Mount Sinai is an amazing set of circumstances.

I believe that the reason God brought them there to Mount Sinai at this point in time is, there would be a number of natural things occur on Mount Sinai that every Israelite will experience. Israel would feel tremors beneath their feet, they would see the dark clouds over Mount Sinai (which will exhibit signs of volcanic and/or storm activity); and they would hear the horns (a strange but natural phenomenon which occurs even today).

Exodus 19:5 ‘So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;... (LSB)

God warns the people to listen to His voice and to keep His covenant. God would see His covenant with Israel as a single document; while we understand it to be a series of covenants that began with Abraham.

God promises Israel that they will be His treasured possession among all the people of the earth. That is, God would make Israel into a treasured possession, something not true of any other country to this point in time. God can make a promise like this, because all the earth is His.

Nation Israel and the people of Israel will be God’s people on this earth.

The relationship between ourselves (as gentiles) and Israel is clearly laid out back in Genesis 12:3 (God is speaking to Abraham): “I will bless those who bless you [Abraham and his descendants of the promise], and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (ESV) This is why no nation should tolerate antisemitism. This is the key to why the United States is so blessed and protected today (despite our many shortcomings). Nations like the Soviet Union (now Russia) and Communist China have had various plans of attack against the United States for decades now. It is only God’s grace which has preserved us. We are a nation with close ties to nation Israel and to the people of Abraham. It is this attitude which has saved the United States over and over again.

Back to the narrative in Exodus 19:

God continues to speak to Moses about nation Israel:

Exodus 19:6 ...and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” (LSB)

At this point in time, Israel is essentially two million people wandering about in the desert-wilderness. However, this nation is known to God and God has a place where He will plant them (which place He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

God is telling Moses what he is to tell the elders, and the elders will teach these things to the people.

Israel is to be to God a kingdom of priests and a nation set apart from all other nations. God is calling upon Israel to be His priest nation.

A priest acts as an intermediary between man and God. God can have no direct contact with man because man is a fallen creature. However, God allows man to have representation before Him, and that representation is a priest (this is no longer the case). Obviously, any priesthood of men will be imperfect. At some point in the far future, Jesus would become the true High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16 5:1–10 7:17 Psalm 110:4).

As a nation, Israel will act as a priest for all other nations on this earth. The way to God is through nation Israel. It is not specifically through nation Israel, but through the truth that nation Israel preserves, which is the truth about the Revealed God (by the Revealed God, I mean an understanding of God in the way that He specifically reveals Himself to man).

From Israel will come the Scriptures, which Scriptures will preserve and protect all of their years on this earth as a priest nation. Israel will reach out to other nations and tell them of their God, Y^ehowah, Who is a God of righteousness and forgiveness (however, God cannot forgive if that forgiveness compromises His righteousness).

Because Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will take upon Himself our sins, God can forgive us without compromising His essence.

The people agree to what God says/Moses goes back up the mountain

Exodus 19:7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which Yahweh had commanded him. (LSB)

Moses called together the elders of the people, and he spoke these words to them. They were to listen carefully to God’s words and then to teach these things to their various tribes.

Exodus 19:8 And all the people answered together and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh. (LSB)

When the elders gathered before Moses and heard these words they said, “All the Y^ehowah has said, we will do!” And apparently all of the various subgroups who were taught these things had the same response.

Moses, continuing to act as an intermediary, brings back this response to God.

Exodus 19:9 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. (LSB)

It appears that this is a second time on or near the mountain when God spoke to Moses. He promises to come to Moses in a thick cloud.

When God speaks to Moses in Exodus 20, it will be loud enough for all the people to hear. God is going to give Moses the Ten Commandments and the people of God will hear God speak.

It is fascinating that God calls for the people to believe in Moses forever. Moses is the person recording these words (or he is directing Joshua to record these words), so believing Moses forever means, to believe these words which have been recorded. We are able to study these words written down 3500 years ago, because nation Israel preserved them.

Christians today still value these words recorded by Moses.

God defines the boundaries for the mountain/the people are cleansed

Moses again speaks to the elders and they break the people up into groups and tell them what God has said to Moses.

Exodus 19:10–11 Yahweh also said to Moses, “Go to the people and set them apart as holy today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day Yahweh will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. (LSB)

God is going to speak to Moses and He will allow all Israel to hear His words. Therefore, they must be ceremonially purified before Him. Even though the people are not going too close to the mountain, they will hear God’s voice, so they must be cleansed for that.

The people will not actually see God, but they will see how God manifests Himself upon Sinai.

Exodus 19:12 “And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. (LSB)

There is to be no access to the mountain for the people. If anyone even touches the mountain, God requires that they be executed.

Exodus 19:13 ‘No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or surely shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” (LSB)

God calls for anyone violating this command to be stoned or shot through (with an arrow). Even an animal which touches the mountain was to die. So, if a person gets too close to the mountain and touches it, he is to be executed by the Hebrew people. However, they are to be executed from afar (the people are not to touch such a person, as he is unclean).

When God gives the signal, which is the sound of a ram’s horn with a very long blast, the people are to approach the mountain, yet remain outside the boundary the Moses has defined for them.

Exodus 19:14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and set the people apart as holy, and they washed their garments. (LSB)

Moses is receiving these instructions on the mountain itself. He comes down from the mountain and is going to prepare the people to be ceremonially clean before God.

First thing that they will do is wash their garments. This is a ceremonial cleansing.

Exodus 19:15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” (LSB)

This was to take place on the third day after Moses tells them what is going to happen.

The men were not to even have relations with their wives. That even is considered to make a man unclean (at least, under these solemn circumstances).

Moses goes back up/God sends him back down

Exodus 19:16 So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. (LSB)

On the third day in the morning, there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud all on the mountain; and the people heard the very loud trumpet sound. They had never heard a blast as loud and as long as this one before.

I would submit to you that all of these are natural processes related to tectonic plates being moved about, and molten rock moving closer to the surface. This also appear to take place underneath an ominous set of storm clouds. God timed their trip so that they would arrive to Mount Sinai just as all of this natural phenomena is taking place.

Exodus 19:17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. (LSB)

Moses brings the people out of their camps to the foot of Mount Sinai for the purpose of meeting God. Obviously, no one will actually see God; but they will see manifestations of God’s Presence.

Up to this point in time, Moses has always acted as a go-between them and God. Today, this was going to change. No one would have the close contact that Moses would have, but it will be close enough for the people. It will be too close, in fact. As we will find out, the people will not like this.

Exodus 19:18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because Yahweh descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. (LSB)

All of this smoke and fire speak of judgment. The relationship between man and God is always based upon justice. God’s righteousness and justice must always be preserved, even in His interaction with man. Even though we often hear about God’s love, that is an anthropopathism, because there is nothing lovely about us.

As the people move closer to God and God moves closer to them, judgment is key. No one is blissing out saying, “I can feel God’s love because we are so close to Him!” The people are filled with fear. God’s justice can either approve or condemn. No matter how many cleansing ceremonies have taken place, each individual man knows of his own shortcomings and why God should curse him.

Exodus 19:19 And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder; then Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. (LSB)

The sound of the trumpet continues and it keeps getting louder. Moses apparently tries to speak, but God replies with thunder.

Exodus 19:20 And Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. (LSB)

What appears to be the case is, Moses is high on the mountain, and he comes down to a summit; and then God calls him back up.

Exodus 19:21 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to see, and many of them perish. (LSB)

God warns Moses about the people, that they may come too close to the mountain. Moses is to go down and warn them—again.

Basically, the idea is this: God is a God of justice, and no one standing before Him is clean.

Exodus 19:22 “Also let the priests who come near to Yahweh set themselves apart as holy, lest Yahweh break out against them.” (LSB)

Apparently, Israel had some sort of a priest system which was probably organized, but it is not a system that we know much about. The concept of the priesthood is similar to what will become the Levitical priesthood: priests stand between man and God.

Exodus 19:23 And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain, and set it apart as holy.’” (LSB)

Moses apparently tells God, “You already told us about this and how the mountain was to be set apart from Israel. The people already know this. I told them all about it.”

God is fully aware of what Moses has already done. However, let me suggest that there were some people from among the Israelites who were ready to violate this prohibition of God’s. God could not have any distractions during the giving of the Ten Commandments (next chapter).

Exodus 19:24 Then Yahweh said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest He break out against them.” (LSB)

God tells Moses to go down and come back up with Aaron. Apparently, Moses was to again warn the people again not to come too close to the mountain.

Exodus 19:25 So Moses went down to the people and told them. (Legacy Standard Bible)

Moses goes down the mountain and warns the people again.

The Ten Commandments, because they are unique and remarkable, are going to require an extensive amount of introduction. After the Ten Commandments, there is going to be a great deal of time spent on the other laws and ordinances given by God.

It is at this point that we begin Exodus 20, which is the beginning of the dictated Law of God. Most of what we read from this point forward are God’s words, God’s laws and God’s dictates (with some narrative included). There have been many false statements made about the Mosaic Law and its origins; therefore, there is considerable introductory material to understand.

Back in Genesis 11 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD), we follow out the line of Shem (one of Noah’s sons) all the way down to Abram (Abraham’s given name at birth). There are nine generations of elders, beginning with Shem and going to Terah (Abraham’s father). You may recall that these men are said to live longer than we do. In our lives, one generation dies out and they are replaced with the next generation (the greatest generation has almost all died out and my generation, the baby boomers, is about to die out; and we will be replaced by the Millennials and the post-Millennials). That was not the case for these nine generations. For the most part, they were all alive when Terah was born; and they pretty much all died out before Terah died. Something like this has never happened before or since.

At the time of Terah (Abraham’s father), the nine generations of elders were alive on this earth after the flood. However, during Terah’s lifetime, these men were beginning to die out. It was actually a very strange thing. All of the men who had been alive during the flood and after were all dying out together in the same generation. There were eight generations between Shem and Abraham and all of them lived an unusually long lives. However, there was a gradual decline in their lifespans during those nine or ten generations (ten generations if you include Shem and Abraham).

Exponential Curve (a graphic); from nku.edu; accessed June 19, 2024.

Interestingly enough, the decline in their lifespans is an exponential function with a negative exponent. Such a graph is preserved in this paragraph. The graph looks like this and many human, animal and plant functions show exponential increases (positive exponent) or decreases (negative exponent) which conform to such a curve. The decrease in the age of these men conforms to such an exponential curve. All life has a close personal relationship with the exponential function. Somehow, the writers of Genesis seemed to intuitively know about this kind of curve thousands of years before logarithms and exponential equations found their way into the mathematical consciousness.

So all of these men (the nine generations of them) are born at different times, but they all die out in the same generation (because each succeeding generation has a decreased lifespan). Nine generations of men, all born at different times, nevertheless died out in the same generation.

While these men are dying out, God speaks to this person Abram, who lived in Ur of the Chaldees. God said to him, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”  (Genesis 12:1b–3; WEB)

This is quite a remarkable prophecy that continues to be true today. While Abram was alive, there were many well-known families and groupings: there were Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, and Sinites. However, these were not families or nations that God chose to bless. God chose to bless the Israelites, who come from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, you know some Jews or you know of Jews, but you don’t know any Canaanites or Hittites or Jebusites, etc. The Jews are God’s people. The others were not. God first promised to preserve the Jews and then He preserved the Jews. God’s laws (known today as the Mosaic Law) helped facilitate their preservation.

So we have two concurrent sets of events. God calls Abram; but at the same time, all those with close ties to Noah, Shem, Ham or Japheth began to die out (that is, the nine generations of elders).

Let me suggest that, when it came to right and wrong, these nine generations spoke with much the same voice (that is, they were all pretty much in agreement with one another). However, suddenly, all of these old voices of wisdom are gone. They all die out during the same time period. God knows that He must choose a man through whom His wisdom will be preserved and revealed to all the nations.

Codes of Law

After Terah and the rest of those generations died out, leaders would rise up and they would try to determine what laws would be best for their people. Men were well-respected if they could put together a set of laws which seemed fair and just. I have heard the term philosopher-king reasonably applied to such men. If any society was able to function in accordance with these laws, so much the better. These various sets of national laws are very similar to what we call the laws of divine establishment today. The laws of divine establishment are laws which are for humankind, not just for Christians and not just for Jews.

There are many critics of the Bible who make bizarre claims like, Moses essentially copied his commandments and writings from other sources. Now, interestingly enough, Moses would have been an expert in foreign cultures and laws. He received the greatest education that any person could have received in Egypt; and he thrived in this learning (Acts 7:22). As a matter of fact, there were actually many previous sources for ancient law, and Moses would have had access to many of them. However, this does not mean that he copied the laws of ancient Babylon (or, whatever).

Some of these legal codes which have been preserved. I know that the date of the Torah to be around 1450 b.c. I am not sure about the other laws. There is a great deal of documentation for the Mosaic Law being recorded when it was. One fundamental difference between the Mosaic Law and any of the other ancient law codes is, the level of preservation. The Mosaic Law was preserved by men who had the specific job of replacing worn out manuscripts, which has been written on very perishable materials, with new copies on new materials, which were in turn replaced with newer copies. This preservation process began soon after the giving of the Law and continues right now, even today. Today, these laws are preserved through modern printing in hundreds of languages. At the same time, the existing ancient manuscripts which are the basis for the Law and the Prophets are preserved as well.

The oldest actual manuscripts of the Old Testament go back to approximately 200 b.c. and are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was commonplace to replace old manuscripts with new ones, at which time the old ones were then destroyed. These words were preserved by both Jews and Christians; and in many ancient languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Koine Greek and Latin) and in virtually all major modern languages (the Bible can be found translated into any major world language). Although various groups and denominations differ as to how to understand, interpret and apply the Mosaic Law, we do not have any important differences when it comes to the actual text. What we study as Christians could be based upon Jewish, Protestant or Catholic translations. There is little difference as to the actual text.

The only difference is the approach and interpretation. For instance, there are several different views of the fourth commandment (keeping the Sabbath), but the text and context of the fourth commandment are the same no matter what kind of Bible you pick up. In my verse-by-verse studies of Exodus, where multiple translations are recorded and consulted, there are far more differences between a modern paraphrase and the old King James Version, than there are between a specifically Jewish translation and a specifically Catholic translation. Check any verse in any chapter of Exodus—the chapters I have done are linked from this master document: Exodus Links (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) (Folder)—and you will see that I have typically reproduced the work of many translators (for each passage, I might use 50 of the 90 or so translations that I refer to) and what is most fascinating is, most of these translators do not appear to have any sort of theological bias seeping into their translation (the Jehovah’s Witness translation is a glaring exception to this, which is why I do not include their translation side-by-side with the others).

Regarding the various translations, you would be hard-pressed to find any passage where you could make the claim that one translation is very Catholic, another is very Jewish and another is very Protestant.

Below, where I have given some examples, you could not say, this is clearly a Protestant translation (or a Jewish or a Catholic translation). No matter who is preserving and translating the text, there is a scholarly attempt to be accurate and reasonably consistent.

Rather than simply make this claim, let me give you an example of this general lack of theological bias (I arbitrarily chose fourteen translations of Exodus 20:1–2 using seven of my own general classifications) (if there were any notes or section headings, I included these with the translation):

Thirteen Translations of Exodus 20:1–2:

Ancient texts: (These are English translations from the languages Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic)

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)                   And so says Elohim all the words the these, to say, “I [am] Y^ehowah your Elohim Who brought you out of a land of Egypt out from a house of slaves. (Kukis slavishly literal translation made directly from the Hebrew)

Revised Douay-Rheims                     And the Lord spoke all these words:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (A translation made directly from the Latin)

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta                   God spoke all these words, saying,

"I am Mar-Yah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (A translation based upon the Aramaic text)

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English                        And God said all these words:

I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.

Easy English                                      The 10 commandments

Then God spoke all these words:

‘I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of Egypt, out of the country where you were slaves.

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.                   God said to the people of Israel:

I am the LORD your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.

The Living Bible                                 Then God issued this edict:

“I am Jehovah your God who liberated you from your slavery in Egypt.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

The Heritage Bible                        See Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13 where the words, The Ten Commandments, appear, and 10:4 where they are called Ten Words, and Deuteronomy 5 where the Ten Commandments are listed again.

And God spoke all these words, saying,

I am Jehovah, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out from the house of servitude.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

New American Bible (2002)                     Then God delivered all these commandments:

"I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

[1-17] The precise division of these precepts into "ten commandments" is somewhat uncertain. Traditionally among Catholics ⇒ Exodus 20:1-6 is considered as only one commandment, and ⇒ Exodus 20:17 as two. Cf ⇒ Deuteronomy 5:6-21.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible                      Then God said all these words:

א “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery. (Kukis note: it is the tradition of the Jewish Bibles to use Adonai or Lord rather than the proper noun Yahweh (or, Y^ehowah)

Kaplan Translation                             The First Two Commandments

God spoke all these words, saying:

I am God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.

God spoke...

The Ten Commandments are repeated in Deuteronomy 5:6-18.

I am God...

This is a commandment to believe in God (Sefer HaMitzvoth, Positive Commandment 1; see Josephus 3:5:5; Philo, Decalogue 1:385). Others, however, state that belief in God is too basic to be an actual commandment (Ramban on Sefer HaMitzvoth, loc. cit.).

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Expanded Bible                          The Ten Commandments

Then God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt ·where you were slaves [^L from the house of bondage].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Brenner’s Mechanical Trans.       ...and "Elohiym ^Powers" spoke all these words saying, I am "YHWH ^{He Is}" your "Elohiym ^Powers", who made you go out from the land of "Mits'rayim ^{Two straits}", from the house of servants,...

Modern English Version               The Ten Commandments

Now God spoke all these words, saying:

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

First of all, I could not do this with any other law code anywhere from any era (we might find one or two English translations of it). And secondly, you should notice that, despite the various classifications and approaches, there are no remarkable differences between the translations, despite there being many differences. Even in Catholic Bibles, you are not going to be reading the text and come across a passage where they clearly inserted some of their specific doctrines into the text (at least with the books I have translated word-by-word, verse-by-verse, I have not come across this). The same is true of Jewish translations and of Protestant translations. The translations are simply translations and theological bias does not enter into it (there may be some exceptions to this, but I have never seen any).

When it comes to preservation and near universal acceptance, the Bible has no equals. In fact, it has no contenders. The Bible is studied in virtually every nation in the world today, except where it is outlawed (and even where the Bible is outlawed, people still study it). Communism has made concerted efforts to destroy Christianity, yet, in every communist dictatorship there are always Christian cells.

Interestingly enough, no one is offering up a religion based upon ancient Egyptian law or upon ancient Sumerian laws. (Islam, by the way, came along 2000 years after the Law of Moses, and yet, it seems to be more barbaric and ancient by comparison.)

There are several differences which occur to me regarding the Mosaic Law and other ancient law codes: (1) The Ten Commandments have no historic comparison. You can select any law system and similar laws may be found, but not all ten, not so organized, and often written for very specific situations (as opposed to the universality of the Ten Commandments). (2) The laws given to Israel are all-encompassing. Every aspect of their lives is dealt with, and often for different reasons (for instance, the dietary laws primarily preserved the people of Israel in an era prior to refrigeration). (3) The detail of historic scholarship regarding the Mosaic Law is not found with any other law code. In fact, one of the most referred to codes, the Law of Hammurabi, does not even exist in its entirety. About a third of it is missing.

Let me suggest that the many ancient of rulers were often wise elders, having lived hundreds of years. These men would often try to develop a law code which closely adhered to the time of Noah, to the concepts of right and wrong known during the time of Noah. Some peoples were very moral and had a desire to do that which was known to be right in the eyes of God. This would not be all peoples, but it would be true for some nations.

Cuneiform law

I do not want to go into great detail about these various forms of law, but they should be at least superficially discussed. Judaism and Christianity are inaccurately accused of simply copying these other laws and traditions (there are many internet memes about this). There is simply no truth to this trope.

From Encyclopedia Britannica: Cuneiform law [is] the body of laws revealed by documents written in cuneiform, a system of writing invented by the ancient Sumerians and used in the Middle East in the last three millennia BC. It includes the laws of the majority of the inhabitants of the ancient Middle East—especially the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, Hurrians, Kassites, and Hittites—who, despite many ethnic differences, were in contact with each other and developed similar civilizations.

Notice the explanation of Encyclopedia Britannica: these civilizations developed very similar laws because they kept in contact with one another, developing similar civilizations as a result. Ancient history instead suggests that far more often, these civilizations were at war with one another.

Another and better explanation for the similarity of these law systems is, they all come from the thinking and morality of Noah and Noah’s three sons. For hundreds of years, these people had almost an innate understanding of what law ought to be, as they had elders among them who actually knew people who went all the way back to the ark. Because of this very similar culture going back to the elders who go all the way back to Noah, their cultures are going to have great similarities when it comes to morality and law, even though these groups of men separated as per the Tower of Babel in Genesis 10 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). Nevertheless, all of the men had a connection to the ark (men who actually knew Shem, Ham or Japheth) died out during Terah’s lifetime (Terah is Abraham’s father). This nine generations of elders all died out within the same generation, one generation before Abram.

Encyclopedia Britannica understood that the similarities between these laws was uncanny, but how could they explain that? So they suggest that these various nations simply kept in touch with one another. But the actual explanation is, their elders learned a morality from the same source—Noah and his three sons.

These groups of ancient laws include:

The code of law found at Ebla (2400BC)

Code of Urukagina (2380–2360 BC)

Code of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur (c. 2050 BC). Copies with slight variations found in Nippur, Sippar and Ur

Laws of Eshnunna (c. 1930 BC)^[2]

Code of Lipit-Ishtar (c. 1870 BC)^[3]

Babylonian law

Code of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BC in middle chronology)

Hittite laws, also known as the 'Code of the Nesilim' (developed c. 1650–1500 BC, in effect until c. 1100 BC)

(I took this list directly from Wikipedia).

Regarding these ancient laws, more information can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_legal_codes

I was going to cover these all, but I don’t really know how edifying that would be. I might say a few things about the Code of Hammurabi (which is perhaps the most quoted code when it comes to a modern slandering of the Mosaic Law).

None of these codes have a Ten Commandments (or five commandments or twelve commandments). What critics do is, take a list of 300 laws from the Code of Hammurabi and they pick and choose three or four of them which outlaw a specific kind of murder or a specific kind of stealing, and then say, “Moses took from these laws.” He did not. The universality of the Ten Commandments is not found in those other laws. Furthermore, the laws which we will study were all given directly from God, not from Moses.

One cannot find such a universal list of the most fundamental laws anywhere else in human history, even though we can find full or partial lists of ancient laws online. Some people will try to stylize some set of laws and try to update the Ten Commandments in some way, but the end result is always inferior to the original.

In Wikipedia, when listing the various ancient laws, they post this:

Law of Moses /Torah (10th–6th century BC)

Yet what we are studying in Exodus 20 takes place in approximately 1445 b.c. If Moses is the author, then he would be writing around 1445 b.c., not in the 10^th century b.c. (or later). If someone wrote this after the 10^th century, then this is certainly not Moses.

There are two predominant views of the Law of Moses: (1) It was written by Moses when the Bible says it was (circa 1445 b.c.). (2) Or, it was written by several people (or groups of people) and then assembled by other groups of people, and introduced to the Jewish people somewhere between the 10^th and 6^th centuries b.c. (Wikipedia assigns these dates to the Mosaic Law). Interestingly enough, in Wikipedia’s entry Book of Exodus, they claim the writing of the Mosaic books did not even begin until the 6^th century b.c.

The second interpretation is known as Documentary Hypothesis or the JEPD theory. JEPD stands for Jehovah, Elohim, priests, Deuteronomy). Their hypothesis is, two men (or two groups of men) produced some side-by-side manuscripts. The Jevovist wrote chapters where the word Jehovah was used a lot; the Elohimist wrote chapters where the word Elohim was used a lot. Did these two men know one another? We don’t know. Were these two groups (if these chapters were written by groups of men) knowledgeable of one another? We don’t know.

The priests (who somehow already existed, but apparently without written authority) possibly wove these two sets of documents together; and maybe the priests just did their own thing, writing the book of Leviticus (which has a lot of information about the priestly class). This theory, for some reason, also assigns a different author to the book of Deuteronomy. So, there are a minimum of four men involved in this process, and, who knows, maybe a dozen or more? Does anyone know how many men there were, or who they were, or when exactly the existed? Nope. None of that is known.

We have the collected opinions of various named rabbis going back thousands of years, but the production of the most fundamental text in the Old Testament—we don’t know who did it or when they did it (that is, if we believe the JEPD theory).

This odd theory originally came about when historians determined that Moses had no access to writing materials back in his day (an assumption which turned out to be false).

We have just studied nineteen chapters of the book of Exodus. Has it appeared at any time that you were reading two different authors? There is only one incident which is repeated. When Moses had his first meeting with Pharaoh, we see this presented from human viewpoint (where the threats made by Egypt seem overwhelming to the Hebrew leaders) and then we see this same meeting from the divine point of view (where the threats made by Egypt have no long-term impact). This, by the way, is my interpretation of those two chapters (I have not really checked around to see if anyone else came up with the same idea).

In the JEPD hypothesis, there was also a priestly group who submitted their Leviticus chapters and maybe another group (or person) which wrote Deuteronomy (and maybe not). Somehow, all of this got mixed together into four or five books (depending on how you understand Genesis to be worked into this mix), and this final version, was completed somewhere between the 10^th and 6^th centuries b.c. In one place, Wikipedia gives that range; in another place, Wikipedia claims that this process did not even begin until the 6^th century b.c. My reason for emphasizing this discrepancy is to emphasize that there is no true agreement on this theory.

At some point in time, long, long after the time of Moses, this well-edited conglomeration of writings was presented to the Jewish people as if these writings had been done by Moses many centuries previous. The theory is, the Jewish people simply accepted them and treated these writings as if Moses had written them many centuries previous. “Moses wrote these and here it is 800 years later, and we have never seen these writings before, but now you are telling me that Moses wrote this? Okay; sure. We completely accept that.”

I first heard about this theory in Josh McDowell’s book, More Evidence that Demands a Verdict. My initial reaction was, this is absurd, why did Josh McDowell spend so much time discussing this goofy theory? I had not heard of this theory until I read McDowell’s book. Well, it turns out that many (possibly most) seminaries actually teach this theory as truth.

First of all, and most importantly, there is not a shred of evidence for this theory anywhere. Choose any single aspect of this theory, and you will find no evidence for it at all, except that there are some chapters of the Mosaic Law where the name Elohim is found more often than the name Jehovah and vice versa. There is also a verse of Scripture where someone discovers the Law, at a point in time when the Law had not been used for awhile (perhaps a generation)—these two things are the sum total of the evidence for this theory.

Documentary Hypothesis claimed to have solved two basic problems: (1) it explained how the Mosaic Law could be written even though Moses has nothing with which to write (again, this was a false assumption). (2) It explained why some chapters of the four books of Moses use one name of God more often than another. However, what this theory does most effectively is completely undermine the authority and accuracy of the Scriptures by suggesting that Moses did not write them. That is the actual unstated purpose of such theories (the same things are supposed about New Testament writings—particularly the gospels).

There are many problems which this theory introduces. Let’s assume that JEPD is true and see where such an assumption leads us. Israel, at some point, either began its very complex set of rituals or changed over from its original religious structure to the religion of this manuscripts said to be written by Moses (and the JEPD theory claims were not really written by Moses). Here is the most fundamental problem. Most of us know what religious people are like. When a people are doing X for centuries and then someone comes along and says, “We need to do Y instead,” are you aware of any group of people anywhere at any time who simply went along with it? A good example of this are the Mormons. There was the Protestant Christian religion, which most of America practiced, and then Joseph Smith came along and claimed to have these sacred golden tablets (no one ever saw these tablets, by the way) with a new set of doctrines for Christians. What happened was, Joseph Smith peeled off a number of people who followed him, and this group continues even to this day. They are not a majority of Christian-type believers; and they never have been and they never will be. This is typical. When a charismatic leader comes along, he can often ensnare a group of people—even a large group of people—and sometimes that cult continues and sometimes it dies out when the leader dies out. But the JEPD theory says all Israel used to do one set of acts of worship with one set of doctrines; but then, at some moment in time, there would be a whole new worship package and everyone adhered to this new worship package. If you know anything about religious people, that would never, ever happen, ever. At best, this new worship package might become a popular cult, and there would be two sets of worshipers—those who favored the old religion and those who favored the new religion (which is being falsely sold as the original Mosaic religion). It is quite illogical to think that any nation would simply accept a whole new worship package and simply go along with it.

The practice of the Jewish faith involved carefully manufactured artifacts. It involved a complex set of holy days. The rituals, as we will find out in Leviticus, were extremely specific and complex. It would have required a great deal of study to figure out what gets done when. How exactly does a people follow a few simple rituals and then suddenly, their religious acts become 100-times more complicated. How exactly is this sold to the people? Or, why would the priests place this burden on themselves?

Or, there is the possible option that nothing changed. That is, Israel had from the very beginning a super-complex worship package. Then, hundreds of years pass and then suddenly, the faked document of the fake Mosaic Law appears (between the 10^th and 6^th century b.c.). Let us assume that it did not change anything. As we are going to find out—sometimes painfully—that the Mosaic Law system was extremely complex. The sacrifices and rituals and feast days etc. etc. are not something you simply learn in a few hours and then you follow them. The documents which describes when do you do this and when you do that would have to already be in existence at the foundation of that whole worship package. These practices are far too complex not to be done without actual instructions. But If such a document already existed, then no new document package of rules are regulations would be needed. If what you need is already in existence, and it says the same thing as a new set of documents, then why would anyone accept a new document? Of what necessity is this new document?

If such writings did not exist previously, then where did Israel’s extremely complex set of laws come from? If these laws and practices are already in existence, did no one think to write them down except hundreds of years later? And not just one person wrote them down, but essentially a committee developed them over perhaps a few hundred years. But we do not know the names of anyone from this committee nor do we have any of the original manuscripts which were used to undergird the Mosaic documents. What we have is a frankly bizarre theoretical solution for a situation which does not require a solution.

This theory, besides not having any evidence, produces far, far more questions than it answers; and it produces far more problems than it alleges to solve. Essentially, in order for the JEPD theory to be true, one of two things had to have happened: (1) the entire nation would abandon one religious package and take up with another very complex religious package; or (2) unnecessary documents were produced to justify practices which had already been in existence for hundreds of years (it is unclear, under this theory, whether there existed some founding documents or not). It would have been impossible for a system as complex as the practices found in Y^ehowah worship to not have any founding documents from the beginning. It would also be impossible for a very religious nation to have one set of worship practices and then, essentially overnight, change those practices dramatically.

There is another big problem with the JEPD theory. As we will find out, about a third of the book of Exodus will be about Tabernacle worship (obviously, we are not there yet). But, do you know what did not exist in the 10^th to the 6^th centuries b.c.? Tabernacle worship. The people who supposedly developed the faked Mosaic documents never saw the Tabernacle and never participated in Tabernacle worship. They only knew the Temple (which David planned and Solomon built). So the people who put these documents together never actually went to the Tabernacle (it did not exist at that time that the JEPD documents were produced); and their parents did not go to said Tabernacle worship and their grandparents did not go). Yet, somehow the decision was made, to write long detailed chapters about something that they had never seen before, something which the writers actually knew nothing about.

The JEPD theory provides solutions for problems that do not really exist; and then it introduces a whole new set of problems which have no explanation (such as, how do you get a large set of religious people to completely change all or most of their beliefs and practices?).

I know that some of those reading this have no idea that such a great controversy exists. I recall reading Josh McDowell’s second Evidence That Demands a Verdict, and he seemed to go on and on and on about this weird theory (which, at the time in my Christian life, I had not heard anything about). The theory seemed so odd to begin with, I had no idea why McDowell was spending so much time on it. With more research, many years later, I come to find that this is a relatively well-accepted theory (not by me or by conservative theologians; but has nevertheless found its way into many seminaries).

Interestingly enough, very few pastors or commentators actually teach anything about the (so-called) original J documents or E documents. A pastor-teacher who does this will see perhaps a quarter (or more) of his flock suddenly disappear—overnight. I am telling you that if a pastor-teacher taught JEPD on one Sunday, the next Sunday, his congregation would be decimated. Some pastors have found this out the hard way. What I am telling you is, there are some pastor-teachers who actually believe this theory, but they would never teach it.

Often, when reading commentary that assumes the JEPD is a true theory, many readers will simply discard that commentary. If the author is wrong about this fundamental aspect of the Law, then how many other things is he wrong about? So, when a commentary begins to talk about the Jehovist origins of one chapter, and the Elohimist origins of another, that commentary is often shelved and never taken down again.

Illustration: Let me offer up a parallel situation. You are confused by love, and a friend of yours strongly recommends a book about love. Well, you get a copy of this book and find out that the author believes that there are perhaps 57 genders beyond male and female. How seriously are you going to take this author? When the author references gender #3, so you keep reading or do you chuckle to yourself and discard that book?

So, just in case I have not made my position clear, it is this: Moses is a real person and he wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy during the time that these events take place. You may recall that Exodus 15 had to have been written right then and there, because it contains a song written by Moses which all Israel sings, that song being based upon God’s defeat of the Egyptian army. My point being, there are many chapters of Exodus written right then and there, immediately after the incidents take place. We will find a number of internal proofs in the book of Exodus as we continue forth.

When introducing the book of Exodus, I explained that Moses is the original author of this material, and we have since supplemented that with additional proofs (such as, Exodus 15). This can be found in the Introduction to Exodus (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) or in the first lesson or two of our weekly study (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). When we come to the chapters on the Tabernacle, I will speak about this theory again. A third of the book of Exodus makes no sense (the third that deal with Tabernacle worship) if the JEPD theory is valid.

I am spending a lot of time introducing the Ten Commandments. How are they relevant to us today?

The primary purpose of my teaching Genesis through Deuteronomy is, it is important for the believer to understand the Law of Moses (which, strictly speaking, is Exodus through Deuteronomy).

Exodus 20 is the giving of the well-known Ten Commandments, which is also called the decalogue, and known to some as the freedom code. As R. B. Thieme, Jr. pointed out, there are people who have never picked up a Bible before and have never read even a portion of the Bible who could name at least five of the Ten Commandments (that was in his day; today, maybe only two or three of them).

They are not called the Ten Commandments until Exodus 34:28 (see also Deuteronomy 10:4). Unlike most of the Law, all of the Israelites heard God give the Ten Commandments audibly. In fact, a great deal of the previous chapter was given over to them simply being prepared for such a direct encounter with their God.

The people will hear the ten commandments but that will be all that they can bear.

The commandments given by God cover three basic categories: (1) our relationship with God, (2) the Sabbath (which might be considered an aspect of our relationship with God), and (3) our relationship with our fellow man (which are the last 6 commandments).

The first category identifies to Whom our allegiance is due and why. Even though this is the Law, it is given specifically to Israel (Exodus 19:3 Leviticus 26:46 Romans 3:19 9:4) and not to the Gentiles (Deuteronomy 4:8 Romans 2:12–14) and not to the church (Acts 15:5, 24 Romans 6:14 Galatians 2:19). Nevertheless, the mandates herein stated, with the exception of one, remain in effect for all time. In fact, most of these commandments, particularly those dealing with people, are strengthened in the New Testament.

The commandment which no longer remains in effect is the mandate to keep the Sabbath. This was to teach the Hebrews that they could do nothing for salvation. God had provided for their every need in eternity past and they were to reflect upon that for their day of rest. The fact that we can do nothing and that God has done everything on our behalf is one of the central themes of the Bible in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Sabbath was analogous to salvation—the Jews could enter into God's rest by believing in the Revealed God (Jesus Christ).

It is likely that you have heard, at some point, that Moses copied Hammurabi’s Babylonia Code of Law. That is completely false and ridiculous. We will be studying the Law of Moses (more properly, the Law of God); and you are going to find it to be quite different in content and organization from Hammurabi’s code (most of which you can find on the internet). Hammurabi’s code reads like case law. Or, like someone just started writing down a bunch of laws, very much tied to that day and age. The Mosaic Law will begin with the primary and most essential laws—which laws stand up to this very day. Then, throughout the next few chapters of Exodus, these laws will be further expanded. God will apply those laws to a variety of circumstances as related to that time period.

When it comes to the application of these laws, there will be a few similarities between the Mosaic Law and other ancient law codes. These similarities are based upon two things: (1) there would have been a similar concept of law and morality among mankind, almost as though these laws were written on man’s heart; and (2) the circumstances and environment of ancient Babylonia and ancient Israel were very similar—therefore the application of these principles of laws would seem similar. They had farms, slaves and domesticated animals. Therefore, the basic Ten Commandments were specifically applied to the regulation of such things.

Was it possible that Moses was aware of the code of Hammurabi? I think the chances of this are very likely. Moses received the greatest education of his time, inasmuch as he was being prepared to become the King of Egypt. His education would have been diverse, wide-ranging, and it would have including anything from the outside world that would have seemed to be pertinent to his studies to become a future pharaoh. Acts 7:22–25 Exodus 2:11–25

In doing my research, I was surprised to come across this statement:

The Encyclopedia Britannica: The best known ancient code is the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. The Romans began keeping legal records, such as the Law of the Twelve Tables (451–450 bc), but there was no major codification of Roman law until the Code of Justinian (ad 529–565), which was compiled long after the dissolution of the Western Empire.

The best known ancient code of law is the Ten Commandments; followed by the rest of the commandments which came out of the basic ten. Hammurabi’s code may have predated God’s commandments to Moses (and to all Israel), but they are not better known or more revered.

Stop random people on the street and ask them if they have heard of the Ten Commandments and if they could name any of them, I am guessing that half of the people could. Ask these same random people about the code of Hammurabi or even quote from his code, and you will get blank stares from perhaps 99 out of a hundred.

What seemed to be a real thing in ancient history was, developing a code of law for a nation. This was nearly a universal pursuit. Since the flood and the Tower of Babel, mankind moved all over the globe; and man soon organized into national units. This would have just seemed like a natural thing to do. Part of the greatness of a national entity would have been its system of laws and governance. The morality of their laws had to be generally accepted by all. Why would Charley Brown want to obey the law if he disagreed with half of them? Obviously, this aspect of a society would be ranked far behind the strength of their army and the size of their territory; but, there would come a point where there must be law and administration.

I must admit that, for many years, I did not understand prophets and the like speaking to the political leaders of their day and criticizing their morality. In the back of my mind, I have often wondered, what’s the deal? Why do they do that?

However, let me suggest two reasons: (1) people do not want to obey the law of the land when it is written and enforced by hypocrites. If the law only applies when they want it to and to the people they want it to, then there is no real law. This is happening today in the United States. Martha Stewart was put in jail for insider trading; but Democrat politician Nancy Pelosi was not. How do you respect the law, when it is intentionally applied to only some of the people? So, leaders with immoral lives caused their leadership and their laws to be ignored. (2) For a long period of time, the primary celebrities of a national entity were their leaders. Therefore, when they exhibited immoral behavior, it was not abnormal for the population to imitate them and their rank behavior.

There is one more thing to cover here, and this is to set us up for God speaking the Ten Commandments. To whom was God speaking?

At this point, God is speaking directly to Israel. This is not actually made clear until we get to Exodus 20:22, which reads, And Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the sons of Israel, ‘You + yourselves have seen that I have talked with you + from heaven.’ ” (Updated Bible Version 2.17; I added in quotation marks). You + means you all, you (plural). When did Israel see this? In Exodus 20:2–17 (the very words that we are abut to study).

Exodus 20:22 helps us to frame this entire chapter. Moses is not telling the people what God said to him in Exodus 20 (which could be one understanding of Exodus 19:25). Moses did come down from Mount Sinai and he did speak to the people, and he told them what God told him in Exodus 19:21–24.

So Moses comes down from Mount Sinai and speaks to the people and tells them, “Do not rush the mountain; do not come close to this mountain.” And then, while Moses is there with the people, God speaks aloud to them all (to Moses and the people).

Part of any confusion which may result from Exodus 19:25 (So Moses went down to the people, and told them.—UPDV 2.17) is Moses’ natural economy of language. When he records this information, he does not repeat the things which God said to Moses from vv. 21–24. We saw this during the plagues where God told Moses what to say and then Moses came down and said these same words to Pharaoh. We only read the words once. We did not read them as God speaking to Moses; and then reread them when God spoke the same words to Pharaoh. Moses quoted these words only once, and we understood from the context that the same words were spoken twice).

When it comes to the Ten Commandments, we simply go right into it. What we do not have here is, and right after Moses spoke to the people, telling them what God said, then God spoke the following words aloud, so that Moses and the people standing there with him could hear them.

This was quite an amazing event, and Moses does not think to set us up for it. We figure out exactly what happened by going to v. 22 of this chapter.

The Ten Commandments

This entire event of giving the Ten Commandments was set up in the previous chapter. The people of Israel are encamped at Mount Sinai, out in front of the mountain. Moses has gone up and down the mountain at least twice so far; having spoken to God. God gave Moses 2 days to purify the people, so that has been what has taken place in the two days previous to this. There are thick clouds, thunder and lightning all around the mountain. God gave Moses some last minute instructions, to tell the people not to come close to the mountain, and Moses did that. That takes us to the end of Exodus 19.

God now speaks, and all Israel can hear Him.

Exodus 20:1a And God spoke all these words,... (NKJV)

To speak is in the Piel imperfect; the intensive stem because of the gravity of the situation.

God is speaking all of these words to the people of Israel directly.

The final words of the previous chapter are: And Moses came down unto the people and so he said to them. Because of these final words, it is very easy for a person to interpret this as Moses coming down and saying these things to the people. “God spoke all of these words...” Even though we lack the words to say (which act like quotation marks in the ancient Hebrew), they are not always found when a person speaks.

The Ten Commandments were not originally given orally by God to Moses and to the people of God. God tells Israel, through Moses, “You all better back up a bit.” Moses tells this to the people and then God speaks.

Now, later, God will speak through Moses to the people. The Ten Commandments are first given by God to the people; and then this will be followed up with the judgements—that is, specific offenses of the law will be given along with judgements (or the punishments) of the same in Exodus 21:1–23:13. In many ways, the judgments later given by God directly to Moses will expand on the Ten Commandments. The judgments which follow the Ten Commandments will be spoken by God to Moses, and then by Moses to the people (as per the request of the people in Exodus 20:18–19).

The Ten Commandments are not written on the tablets of stone right at this time but rather given audibly to all the people of Israel. Later, God will write them in stone with His finger. It appears that only the ten commandments were written upon the stone, but not the myriad of other laws given by God to Moses directly. These first tablets are those which are broken into pieces when Moses returns to find the children of Israel practicing idolatry in his absence.

So far, in Exodus 20, we have only gotten this far:

Exodus 20:1a And God spoke all these words,... (NKJV)

There are two basic ways to understand this chapter: (1) God speaks to all of the people of Israel and they hear the Ten Commandments directly. Everyone there hears the Ten Commandments audibly. Or (2) things are so crazy with noise and lightning, that the people ask that Moses go up the mountain to hear these words and then come down and tell them.

Option #2 requires that the people of Israel believe that they somehow have options in the way that they receive the Word of God, and then they express their preferences to Moses. They will, in fact, express their preferences to God, but only after they have directly heard the voice of God.

The first interpretation requires the people to hear the Ten Commandments and pretty much freak out as a result. Up to this point in time, Moses has been the faithful communicator, telling the people what God wants them to do. He has been doing this from his first meeting with the elders back in Exodus 4 until now (I bet the seems like a long, long time ago, but in real time (by that, I mean, Exodus time), that was only a few months ago).

The first interpretation is correct. Exodus 19:25 reads: And Moses came down unto the people and so he said to them [all these things]. That is, Moses relayed the information found in chapter 19 to the people (Moses spoke to the elders and they conveyed this information to the groups that they were responsible to).

But then, God speaks to the people of Israel all directly.

Exodus 20:1a And God spoke all these words,... (NKJV)

From this point forward, God speaks the Ten Commandments to the people (which dissertation we have not yet studied). At the end of God speaking audibly to all of the people of Israel, this is what happens next:

Exodus 20:18–19 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us [anymore], lest we die." (ESV; capitalized) I added the word anymore to express what is happening.

What just happened to the people of Israel was one of the most frightening things that these people have ever experienced. God spoke directly to them. God spoke the Ten Commandments to all Israel. God speaking to them along with all of these other noises and sound effects really shook them up. They tell Moses, “You speak to us; don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.” In other words, “We do not want to hear God say anything else to us directly.”

Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin." (ESV; capitalized)

The idea is, God spoke to the people directly, causing them to fear Him, so that they not violate these Ten Commandments. The idea is, they would be too afraid to violate God’s commands.

Moses takes up for God, at this point, and here in v. 20, he speaks extemporaneously. Throughout much of Exodus, from Exodus 4–19, God speaks to Moses and Moses speaks to the people. Moses did not go off-script, as it were. God spoke to Moses then Moses spoke these words to the elders of the people (as per Exodus 19:3–7). For the most part, Moses did not simply speak his own words, but this is what he does in v. 20:

Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin." (ESV; capitalized)

Moses understands what has taken place, he knows that the people are all shook up, and he attempts to calm them down. God did not tell him to say any of this; Moses just thought to say this on his own (not realizing that what he said was not true).

The times where we have Moses just speaking with authority are quite rare in the book of Exodus. On the other hand, this will be pretty much the entire book of Deuteronomy. Most of the time in Exodus, Moses is speaking the exact words of God, either to Pharaoh or to the people of Israel.

Moses tells the people not to be afraid and that God is testing them. Their fear/respect for God is to guide them away from sinning against Him. It won’t.

Exodus 20:21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (ESV; capitalized)

Remember how Mount Sinai was cordoned off, to keep the people from off of the mountain? At this point, the people step back. They don’t want to be anywhere near this mountain. They don’t want to take any chances with taking a step too close to it. They have just heard God’s voice and they are deeply affected by it. “Don’t let God speak to us! Go, listen to God’s words and then you tell us, Moses!”

Therefore, Moses approaches the mountain, intending to go up. The people step back; Moses steps up. He went to where God was, which was the thick darkness which subsumed the mountain (my interpretation here).

Exodus 20:22 And the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: 'You [pl.] have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you [pl.] from heaven. (ESV; capitalized)

From that point forward, God speaks to Moses, telling him what to say. Here is where we fully understand that God was speaking directly to the people. “This is what you will say to the people of Israel: ‘You [all] saw for yourselves that I [God] spoke with you [all] [= the people of Israel] from heaven.’ ”

Now, normally, I don’t like to jump ahead like this and reveal what is going to happen 20 verses down the line. However, it would be easy for someone reading this, to look only at Exodus 19:25–20:2 and get it in his head that I have misinterpreted this passage. Then, from this point, down to v. 22, be skeptical of whatever I write. If you mistakenly think that I am mistaken in my overall take, and we cannot proceed without clearing up this correct interpretation.

It is easy to follow a logical many-step process and get stuck back on step 2, even though the logical steps move forward 10 steps after that. So, it is important to get the person stuck on step 2 unstuck (in this case, we are reading enough so that you understand that God, for most of Exodus 20, is speaking directly to the people).

R. B. Thieme, Jr. ran into the problem constantly when he taught. Particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. When explaining a particularly difficult concept, he would go back and repeat the introductory material many times until he was certain that his congregation was getting it. A pastor-teacher who meets with his congregation 8x a week could do this. However, when committing such information to written form, repetition does not work.

Therefore, based upon what we have studied, we must interpret this chapter like this: God speaks to all Israel, so that every person in Israel actually hears God’s voice audibly. Every person hears the Ten Commandments spoken directly to them by God. This frightens the people considerably, and they ask Moses for God not speak to them directly. This interpretation requires no fancy footwork, no convoluted explanation, etc.

Now that we know God is speaking these words aloud to the people of Israel, we can officially begin the exegesis of this chapter (again):

Exodus 20:1a And God spoke all these words,... (NKJV)

All the words which God is speaking is vv. 1b–17. Vv. 18–21 will be narrative, which includes Moses and the people speaking with one another. At v. 22, God speaks again, but it will be specifically to Moses; and God will tell Moses to speak these same words to Israel (something that we do not read in vv. 1–2 of this chapter).

Exodus 20:1b–2a ...saying: “I am the Lord your God,... (NKJV)

When giving the Ten Commandments (which is what the first half of this chapter is), the speaking of these words comes from the entire Godhead. Therefore, it begins with Elohim said... Elohim is often used for the Godhead (all 3 members of the Trinity). This plural noun, however, uses singular verbs, and God identifies Himself as Jehovah your Elohim.

Interestingly enough, your is the 2^nd person masculine singular suffix, indicating that, even though God is speaking to all two million Israelites, He wants them to know and understand these words as individuals. I am speaking to each and every one of you, is the sense here.

Exodus 20:2b ...Who brought you out of the land of Egypt,... (NKJV)

God tells the people, “I brought each and every one of you out of Egypt to where you are standing right now.”

Throughout these times in the desert-wilderness, God reminds the Israelites on a regular basis that it was He Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. You think that seeing all of those miracles up close would have had a permanent affect on these people, but that is not the case. As we will observe, this is the whiniest group of ninnies that we will every become acquainted with. There are maybe a half dozen men who will reach any level of spiritual growth; but there will be some 2,000,000 who keep on being mixed up beyond belief. This is despite all they have seen and heard.

Stop for a moment here and ask, why did this information not stick? Why did these people experience these great miracles, these great acts of God—miracles that every one of them saw with his or her own eyes—and yet, they do not seem to advance spiritually? They have seen great miracles for the past few months, and yet, they are not advancing spiritually. Why?

We advance spiritually by what is in our souls. We advance spiritually by the doctrinal information that we know and believe. If Bible doctrine is circulating in our souls, then we are growing. It is just like having blood circulate throughout our bodies. Our blood takes the nutrients necessary from the food that we eat and takes it to the right place for physical growth and improvement. The parallel is simple. Doctrine presented by a doctrinal teacher (in this case, God or Moses) is like the food that we eat. The nutrients of that food is like the Bible doctrine which then circulates throughout our souls.

We advance spiritually on the basis of truth which is believed, not on the basis of empiricism. These people saw some amazing things, but never put it all together. They did not connect the essence of God to the things which God did. They were unable to put the promises of God side-by-side the acts which they had all observed. The people of Israel were unable to connect God’s guarantee of logistical grace to the manna which they received every single day while living out in the desert-wilderness (except for Saturdays, of course). They never developed an understanding of Who God is. They did not know what God would do, despite being told these things. As a result, these people were unable to understand God, to trust God, and to act in accordance with the character of God.

Understanding Who God is and how He acts in relation to us is necessary for spiritual advance. Merely seeing logistical grace is not enough. You must believe in God’s logistical grace.

I do not know what is going to happen in the future. I admit that, on some occasions, I am rather apprehensive about the future. But who controls human history? Jesus Christ. Who guides the protects client nation USA? Jesus Christ. Because I know the character of God, I better understand that the future is in His hands—despite the precariousness of pretty much everything related to the United States right now (I write this in 2024).

Let me draw an analogy. When we are children, we depend upon our parents. We know that we can go to our father or mother and they are going to make everything alright. Or, if one of them has no character, then we can generally depend upon the other one (and we learn who we can trust very early in life). As children, we did not know what was going to happen in the future; but we knew who we could turn to for help, protection and guidance. Now that we are adults, God is our Father. If we have learned any doctrine, we know that we can go to Him for help, protection and guidance. In fact, we know that we can do that, even if we make an awful mess of our lives.

If you have been a believer for any period of time, then you have observed and understood that God has been acting in your life in many ways. Now let’s say that you run into a problem, one of life’s speed bumps, as it were. Have you doubted God then? If the observations of your life were not imprinted on your soul as spiritual principles, then every problem that you face makes you question God. However, if you understand Who God is and what your relationship is to Him, then you adjust to life and life’s curves as you face these things.

Let me suggest another analogy. I was a geometry teacher and I insisted on teaching proofs. This was very difficult for many students, and they often felt as if they were running head first into walls trying to figure out what I was teaching them. It was not sinking in. Then that day came, and the student got it, and he (or she) would say, “Holy crap, Mr. Kukis, I understand what you have been teaching us all this time!”

There are times when each of us has this moment, when doctrine and our lives intersect, and we say, “Holy crap, God, I understand what you have been teaching me all of this time!”

This helps to explain why the disciples of our Lord saw Him do miracles and healings every day and yet, they did not understand what was happening when He was crucified—even though He told them three times what was going to happen. The disciples scattered in fear (John being the exception). This is because they did not connect what they saw Jesus do with Who Jesus is. The disciples did not begin to put things together until after the resurrection and after their faith-perception kicked in. That is, there were things about Jesus which they needed to understand and believe. Once that took place, their lives made much more sense.

This is what we have so far: Exodus 20:1–2b Elohim spoke all of these words, saying, “I [am] Y^ehowah your Elohim; [it is] I Who brought you out from the land of Egypt,... (Kukis mostly literal translation)

The word you is a 2^nd person masculine singular suffix in the Hebrew. God speaks to each person individually (even though He is speaking to all Israel). Every person has his own experience in being brought out of Egypt. God is trying to get them to connect what they understand about Him to their own personal experience to that point in time. “God brought me out of the land of Egypt, out from bondage, and He has provided me with food and water, even though we are traveling through an uncultivated land. Maybe I can depend upon God in the future.” This is what the people of Israel should be thinking, individually.

At church, there may be a half dozen people that you know. Each day that you interact with them, saying hello (or whatever), you know about your own life. You know what has brought you to this point in your life at church. Well, these people that you interact with have also had a series of life incidents which brought them to that point in church as well. They have also received a few kicks while they were down. Some of them are hanging there by the thinnest strand of doctrine, but they are there. God, by using the 2^nd person singular suffix is recognizing all that has happened to each individual to bring him (or her) to that point in their lives where they are now free and He (God) is speaking to him (to each individual believer in Israel).

Exodus 20:1–2b Elohim spoke all of these words, saying, “I [am] Y^ehowah your Elohim; [it is] I Who brought you out from the land of Egypt,... (Kukis mostly literal translation)

One point brought out by R. B. Thieme, Jr., which I have not seen anyone else do prior to his time, it bring out the relationship between the decalogue (= the Ten Commandments) and freedom. Prior to even giving the Ten Commandments, God ties these commands directly to Himself and He also ties them directly to the freeing of the Israelites from the bondage to Egypt. This is the beginning of Jewish freedom and the first thing that they hear under freedom from bondage to Egypt is the Ten Commandments. A nation which operates under the framework of the Ten Commandments is a nation which is free. These commandments protect the volition, the property and the relationships between people so that each person can have a maximum amount of freedom without infringing on the freedom of others. “These are your limits, as a people. These are your boundaries. Stay within these boundaries, and you will enjoy great personal autonomy.”

Some people struggle with the concept of freedom being directly tied to restrictions. The freedom of the Hebrew people is tied directly to these restrictions, known as the Ten Commandments. Such people complain, “If I have restrictions, then I no longer have true freedom.” But it is the application of these restrictions which provides our freedom.

Between you and your next door neighbor is a property line. You have a certain amount of freedom concerning what takes place in your yard; but when you cross over into your neighbor’s yard you have no freedom, only limitations. Your lack of freedom in the yard of your next door neighbor preserves your neighbor’s freedom. This is why we do not steal, murder or commit adultery. Such restrictions provide those around us with greater freedom.

Exodus 20:2c ...out of the house of bondage. (NKJV)

The people of Israel were slaves; and God brought them out of that slavery.

When God speaks to anyone—especially in this era—He often identifies Himself with some specific set of acts. That is, God often takes the past experiences of the hearer and ties it to His Person. Ideally speaking, the experiences which God affirms helps to explain to the Israelite exactly Who He is.

At this point in the book of Exodus, God is speaking audibly to all Israel.

God brought this people out of Egypt. Every single person hearing Him has experienced being set free from bondage to Israel.

Exodus 20:1–2 And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (NKJV)

Throughout the Old Testament, there are parallels. The entire exodus event relates to us and to God saving us. We are all in the slave market of sin. We have no way out of this slavery. We cannot purchase ourselves from the slave market of sin. No one can purchase us unless that person is outside of the slave market of sin. We are born with a sin nature; and Adam’s original sin has been imputed to that sin nature at birth. At some point in time, we begin to sin and we continue sinning for all of our lives. We cannot take ourselves out of this slave market of sin; we cannot take anyone around us out of the slave market of sin. This has to be accomplished by an outside force (just as God brought Israel out of Egypt, using Moses, as an outside force).

Moses represents Jesus Christ, our Savior. The theological term for this is typical. Moses is the type (the shadow form) and Jesus is the antitype (the fulfillment of the shadow). Moses is a real person, and what we are told about him is actual history. However, he is also a type (a shadow image).

Jesus is born outside the slave market of sin. He is born without a sin nature (this is the purpose of the virgin birth; as the sin nature is passed along by the father of the child, not by the mother). Because Jesus is born without a sin nature, Adam’s original sin did not automatically attach itself to the infant Jesus. There was no place for Adam’s sin to be imputed to, as Jesus is born without a sin nature. Jesus lived His entire life without committing a single sin.

So, you see how the Exodus event is analogous to our personal salvation; to us being purchased by God the Son, taking us out of the slave market of sin. We do not have the coin of the realm to purchase our own freedom, but God the Son does. We are in the slave market of sin; Jesus comes from outside the slave market of sin.

Exodus 20:1–2 God spoke all of these words directly to the people of Israel, saying, “I am Jehovah your God. I am the One Who brought you out from the land of Egypt, taking you out of bondage. (Kukis paraphrase)

God has removed the people of Israel from Egypt; He has taken them out of slavery and He has given them freedom. However, this freedom does not mean, “Now, you get to do whatever you want. Go crazy!”

Freedom is not absolute and it does not exist in a vacuum. In today’s society, freedom requires property ownership, authority, and some form of law (which the authority enforces).

The people of God now belong to God. He has purchased them off the slave market of sin; but now they are indebted to Him (just as we are indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ for saving us). This freedom given the people of Israel is not absolute, just as our freedom in Christ is not absolute.

We continue studying the first two verses of Exodus 20 along with the concept of the Mosaic Law.

Exodus 20:1–2 And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (NKJV)

Even though the first five books of the Bible are called the five books of Moses, the Law, the Torah; every one of these designations should have an asterisk next to it. Moses did not write Genesis. In fact, God spoke much of Exodus from chapter 20 forward and all of Leviticus (apart from Leviticus 9–10). If we focused on the Law of God, most of it would be found in the final third of Exodus and almost all of the book of Leviticus and, interestingly enough, almost all the book of Deuteronomy (which was written by Moses). It is Deuteronomy which informs us, early on, as to the extent of the inspiration of Scripture. Someone might allege that only the direct words of God, as found in the passages just cited, could be considered the inspired word of God. However, nearly all of Deuteronomy was written and then spoken by Moses, yet it carries with it all the force of the Law previously given. If the actual words of Moses can be considered the Law of God, then how can we understand his words as being anything other than inspired? (This sounds like a very good topic to expand upon in the introduction of Deuteronomy, whenever we get that far.)

Since we are beginning with an extended portion of text which are words directly from God, we are getting prepared for that. That is why we have an extensive introduction to this chapter.

In general, the Ten Commandments are a mixture of spiritual, moral and legal laws. Relationship to God is covered in the first four commandments and relationship to man is covered in the rest. Our personal relationship with other men and property rights are covered in the last six commandments. These are not specific laws but general principles designed for the nation Israel. The Ten Commandments are a framework upon which is based many of the other 600+ laws given us throughout the Pentateuch. These more than 600 laws which are found in the Law of Moses may be condensed to these Ten Commandments and the Ten Commandments may be summarized as our Lord did: "You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. And a second is like it, You will love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matt. 22:35–40; Deuteronomy 6:5 Leviticus 19:18).

A perfect man would have perfect love toward God and toward man. Knowing this, how could any man with some shred of personal honesty claim to keep the Law? I look at these two simple commands and I immediately recognize my personal inadequacies and my certain need for a Savior.

The Ten Commandments have real significant spiritual value today (such as you will have no other gods before Me; such as the implications and applications of you will not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth); and some are absolutely necessary for a lawful society (You will not murder; you will not steal). Some portions of the law are strictly our moral duty toward our fellow man (You will not commit adultery; you will not covet); our moral duty toward God (you will not use the Lord's name in emptiness).

Application: The entire basis of one political party today—the one trying to sell the American people on socialism and fairness—is countered by the final commandment, you will not covet. If you obey that commandment, you are no longer interested in people who are much wealthier than you are.

Application: If you do not covet, then you understand that you ought not judge people on the basis of their wealth. An extremely rich person may or may not be greedy; he may or may not be immoral. If you judge someone to be greedy and immoral simply because he has wealth, then you are violating Jesus warning do not judge others. I have known many people who automatically think the worst of a businessman, lawyer, CEO, or millionaire—they simply assume what they have done is immoral and illegal. People in these realms do not necessarily have any unusual character defects (no more than you or I). It is arrogance and greed and jealousy which cause a person to judge any person who is financially better off than he is.

The Hebrews are given a rationale for the first three commandments. Y^ehowah delivered them from slavery and has promised them from the time of Abraham (but actually from eternity past) the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. We have the additional rationale that there is no other God; those worshipped as gods are demons; not God. We know...that there is no God but One (1Corinthians 8:4b). Therefore, they ought to be devoted toward the God Who did that on their behalf.

In this first section of the decalogue, there will be 3 laws specifically about the relationship between man and God. Because these laws are given to Israel, we might suggest that these laws are specifically given to Israel and to no one else. However, every one of these laws finds a parallel in the New Testament (however, the 4^th commandment—the command to observe the Sabbath—does not come into the Church Age as a legal obligation for gentiles or for Christians).

The ESV (capitalized) translates Exodus 20:3 as: "You shall have no other gods before Me.”

The Kukis slavishly literal translation is: [There] will not be to you elohim others against My faces.

When translating, there is always the problem of deciding, how accurate and how literal does one want the translation to be? Many times when we have the verb to be followed by the lâmed preposition affixed to a 2^nd person singular suffix (or any suffix), that this can be legitimately rendered you will have; or, in this case, you will not have; even thought the verb is a 3^rd person masculine singular suffix verb (that is, he, she or it is, will be). So, the most accurate way to render this as, [There] will not be to you other gods before Me. It might be reasonable to interpret other gods as the subject of the verb, giving us, other gods will not be to you before Me. However, sometimes the sense of these words can be obscured by too much accuracy. So, most translations have some form of, You will not have any other gods before Me.

It is Y^ehowah Elohim Who purchased these people out of slavery. He redeemed them. Therefore, they belong to Him now. This may seem harsh at first that these people go from one form of slavery to another, but remember what the Lord Jesus reassures us with these words, “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:30; BSB)

It makes a big difference to the slave as to who owns the slave. Some masters are terrible and some are wonderful (I realize that many young people who read this believe that all slavery is despicable and they cannot relate to degrees regarding this particular topic). Nevertheless, the Hebrew people enslaved to God is far preferable to their being enslaved to the Egyptians. You may recall that pharaoh not only put more work on them than they could bear, but then he punished the Hebrew people for not being able to do the impossible (this punishment was short-lived, because God still had a plan, despite the negative volition of pharaoh).

If slavery is something that you cannot relate to, then, consider this: if you are over 25, you have probably had a good boss and a lousy boss. There are some terrible bosses out there and everyone has worked on a job for a lousy boss. The very fact that there are lousy bosses out there does not somehow invalidate the concept of having a job. The boss of the Hebrew people is God. They were not to have anyone before Him in this regard.

Here is how far that we have gotten in Exodus 20:

Exodus 20:1–2 And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (NKJV; capitalized)

Vv. 1–2 give us the rationale for Israel to follow the commandments. God bought the Hebrew people out from the slave market; but now, they are beholden to Him rather than to the pharaoh.

This brief introduction leads us to the first commandment:

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. (NKJV)

The Kukis mostly literal translation reads: Exodus 20:3 [There] will not be to you other gods [= elohim] before [or, against, besides, in addition to] Me.

I realize that this translation does not match the intensity of Thou shalt have no other gods before me. This verse begins with the negative lôʾ (לֹא or לוֹא) [pronounced low] and the 3^rd person masculine singular of the Qal imperfect of hâyâh (הָיָה) [pronounced haw-YAW] and it means to be, to come to pass. The subject is not the 2^nd person singular or plural; it is the 3^rd person singular; therefore, this should be translated, there will be no, or there will not be.

This is followed by the lamed preposition which means to, for, in regards to. This preposition has as its object the 2^nd person singular masculine suffix; therefore it means to you, for you, in regards to you.

The word for gods is elohim; so this could be translated as a singular or plural (strictly speaking it is a plural noun with the –im ending). The general rule for all translations is that if this word speaks of the Godhead; then it is capitalized and rendered in the singular as God. If context indicates that this is some pagan god or gods, it is then translated, gods. In any case it is the exact same word (the ancient Hebrew written language does not have any capital letters). The Hebrew reader, despite this being the same word, understood from context whether this meant God of gods.

This verse terminates with the preposition ʿal (עַל) [pronounced ģahl] (I have used ģ to represent a hard guttural sound—as if you are attempting to remove phlegm from the roof of your mouth—rather than a g sound). This preposition means upon, above, beyond, over, in addition to. There are no gods above and beyond our Lord, so we should have no God in addition to Y^ehowah. Translating this preposition before seems to leave the door open to having a secondary god to worship below Y^ehowah. Therefore, I prefer the translation besides or in addition to. There is no other God other than the triune God, Who is one in essence, yet three in person. This is appended with the 1^st person, singular suffix, from whence we get Me.

The Kukis mostly literal translation is: [There] will not be to you other gods [= elohim] before [or, against, besides, in addition to] Me.

For every one of the Ten Commandments, save one, there is a corresponding commandment in the New Testament. We have already looked at 1Corinthians 8:4. This passage goes on to say, For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords [the many gods refers to demons and demon royalty and the many lords refers to human celebrityship and royalty], yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we through Him (1Corinthians 8:5–6; NASB1995). If you would like something stronger, then 1Corinthians 10:21: You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (NASB1995)

The second commandment:

Exodus 20:4a “You shall not make for yourself a carved image... (NKJV)

The second commandment is a warning against idolatry. It focuses upon the idolatry of specific religious objects, but can be applied to any form of idolatry.

Specifically, there is a warning against the making of an object and then worshiping it. Obviously, that is worshiping the product of your own hands, although that does not have to be the case.

If you somehow have reverence regarding a picture or painting of Jesus; or if you carry rosary beads, or have a statue of Mary hanging down from the mirror in your car, you are being idolatrous. People can even develop a confused relationship with the cross, with the sign of the cross, with the stations of the cross, etc. None of these things are called for in Scripture. They are not magic objects nor are they not good luck charms. If you are going through a very difficult time and you take the cross around your neck and hold it or rub it, thinking that it might give just that little extra oomph when it comes to communing with God or dealing with difficulties in life; that is idiolatry. Now, don’t get me wrong here. You can wear a cross; you can have crosses among your jewelry; or you can that little ichthus fish thing (as a car sticker or a piece of jewelry, whatever). As long as you do not see it as good luck or as something that might give you just a little more heft when speaking with God in prayer. When it comes to your relationship with God, much of what is the Christian life is taking place within the confines of your thinking. You think accurate Bible doctrine; you act according to accurate Bible doctrine; you use the faith rationales for difficult circumstances. But anything handmade cannot be a part of your worship or prayers. This includes kneeling in front of some religious artifact in church (like a large cross, a statue of Mary, or whatever). There is no place in your church which is just a little more holy and that, if you go to that spot, you’ve got a better chance to get what you pray for. That is idolatrous thinking. Your prayers from somewhere in your church are no better than prayers made from inside your own house, as long as you are in fellowship.

An idol can also be the product of your own mind or your own thinking or your own research. The problem is not the shape of the cross in your church or as a part of your jewelry. The actual cross of Christ did not look like this: †; it looked more like a T. However, even if you have a religious symbol which is more accurate in shape, that still does not give you some kind of a magical symbol to somehow make your spiritual life better. There are spiritual mechanics and spiritual skills for the believer to employ; and none of these include some sort of religious artifact of any sort.

God has given us a great deal of information about Him in Scripture. We stick with that exact information. We do not take it further into some other realm, based upon our own fantasy thinking.

Exodus 20:4b ...—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,... (NKJV)

We are not to produce any object that represents any of the unseen world. We do not make an object that we believe represents something in the heavens. This might be angels or God or the throne room of God.

I need to footnote this particular commandment, otherwise, you may become confused later in the book of Exodus. God would require that very specific religious artifacts to be constructed (like the Mercy Seat over the Ark of God). However, these artifacts would be utilized in very specific ways—and these artifacts were never to be worshiped. The last third of the book of Exodus, we will study the making of the furniture for the Tabernacle.

On top of the Mercy Seat (we have not studied this yet) are two angels carved out of gold. One represents the elect angels and the other represents the fallen angels. All of angelic creation will watch mankind and watch Jesus very specifically during His 1^st advent.

Now, you may have thought that I was overly harsh when talking about crosses. God will actually use the Ark of the Covenant when Israel walks around Jericho. This was under God’s direct supervision. However, when the Jews later appropriated the Ark of God to use in another battle, they failed spectacularly. They grabbed up the Ark as a good luck charm, essentially, and it did not work. Many of them died as a result.

Exodus 20:4c ...or that is in the earth beneath,... (NKJV)

We do not make any images of that which we believe to be living below us. This likely refers to the several compartments of Hades.

The Bible speaks of a great unseen world; and God forbids us to try to make physical representations of it.

Exodus 20:4d ...or that is in the water under the earth;... (NKJV)

There is water under the earth (underground wells), but that is not under discussion here. We are not to make any images related to the unseen world and how it is related to underground water wells. This is somewhat perplexing to me. Here, I think we need to separate the reality (water tables beneath the ground) and the ethereal—the place of men who have died and angels who have been imprisoned—is described as water beneath the earth.

The second commandment reads:

Exodus 20:4 “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;... (NKJV)

V.  4 begins the commandment against idolatry. There is a great, vast reality far beyond what our five senses perceive. It is a realm occupied by our triune God, by angels and by demons. We are not to create anything with our hands which represents these things in the regions which are beyond sight and sound.

Gill sees these images as being common animals on the earth or in the seas who are worshiped. This does not mean that we cannot produce artistic renderings of various animals. We will find out in subsequent chapters that the Hebrew people will have Aaron make a golden calf and they will worship that. That violates the second commandment. However, Christians used to identify one another during times of heavy persecution by using the figure of a fish. They did not worship the fish nor did they worship their drawing of a fish. They used this symbol as a way to identify one another (the letters for Greek word for fish formed the acronym, which stood for: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior). That fish might be on a door or etched onto a post. This symbol indicated, at times, that this was a meeting place for Christian believers. There was nothing illegitimate or sinful about the fish symbol.

The Fish Symbol (a graphic); from Pinterest; accessed May 1, 2024.

Many people in hearing this verse just zip right by it without a thought. They have not built any idols lately, nor do they worship Satan. Therefore, they feel as though everything is fine here. However, the idols which we create today are of a subtler nature. For some it is wealth and fame; for others position and power; for others it is recognition and admiration; for others it is the accumulation of material things; for others, it is the accumulation of status symbols. Some people build their entire lives around striving for these various idols, attempting to attain them, and being envious of those who have the things that they want. This is a form of idolatry. An idol is in the soul. You do not have to have a Buddha or a Mary statue in your house in order to be an idolater. All you have to do is to put something else ahead of God—that is the essence of idolatry. When that thing placed ahead of God, and if it has some spiritual significance, then it is all the more damnable. Furthermore, there is but one way to know God and that is through His Word. Any person—no matter how religious or how nice and how soft spoken they are—does not want to know God's Word, then he does not want to know God and, by definition, is an idolater.

If you believe the government is capable of taking care of you and giving you good healthcare and equaling out all of the disparities of life, then you are in idolatry. No government can do this. There never has been a government been capable of providing such things. We had a president during my lifetime who honestly believed that he could end poverty (well, it is difficult to determine if a politician is being honest about anything). This president was going to end poverty, despite the fact that Jesus said that this could not be done. This president and every president after him, has been redistributing trillions of dollars, and still there is poverty and even people starving in the United States. Over the decades, the number of people who lack a house has increased.

Many other countries have more poverty than we do, but the United States is a client nation to God, and these other countries are not. It is not that our poverty programs are working; it is simply the blessing from God that gives us reduced poverty numbers in the United States. But, no matter what, there will always be poverty.

If you somehow believe that socialism is the answer to all economic woes, then you are in idolatry (and, just so there is no confusion on this, Jesus was not the first socialist—that is socialist propaganda from an economic system that rejects Jesus).

For those who reject God, you are automatically by definition in soul idolatry. You either worship things, possessions, culture, yourself, your intelligence, science, the position of man on this earth—you have something that you do obeisance to. Most often, it is self-worship and faith in your own abilities and your own mind. I recall an atheist who still studied religions to find the good that was in them; he did not see that as a contradiction (nor do I). He is arrogant enough to decide that he is able to pick and chose from what Satan has provided and determine which is good, moral and important and what is not.

Whereas I am loathed to make pop culture references, Bob Dylan wrote you gotta serve somebody. When you are in idolatry, you are in slavery. Recall, these commandments are the basis and the framework for true freedom (that is, these commandments make it possible for you to live side-by-side other people and still have personal freedom). If you are idolatrous, whether overtly or in your soul, you are under slavery to Satan or to one of his many programs (Satan has a lot of programs).

Now, on the other hand, we are all in this world. We live in a particular country, state and city; we have certain friends; we have a family; we interact with coworkers, people at school, people at church. Being doctrinally oriented does not mean that you have to be an insane fanatic. For the average person, some doctrinal teaching once a day, 30 minutes to an hour and thirty is reasonable. You will spend the rest of the day working, buying food, preparing food, and eating food; sleeping, etc. Also, there will be things taking place within your family which require your attention. There will be games which you might play as a family, projects which you do as a family; or even entertainment which you might enjoy together as a family. All of this is normal and God does not expect you to shirk your family responsibilities. Furthermore, God does not want you to do less than satisfactory job at work so that you might sneak away and study your Bible.

When it comes to the amount of time spent on Bible study, there are exceptions to this. A pastor-teacher, missionary or evangelist may spend more time directly involved in God-stuff; in studying and teaching. You might be a writer and put in a full day of writing (whether that be two hours or four or six). People have to determine, through the filling of the Spirit and Bible doctrine, what God expects us to do, and most of the time, it is all about establishing a balance. We cannot ignore the realities of this world that we live in when establishing that balance. You want to get away to that cabin out in the woods; I want to get away to that cabin out in the woods. However, this is not the practical solution for most people.

Exodus 20:4 “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;... (NKJV)

No Other Gods (a graphic); from YouTube; accessed May 7, 2024.

The first verse of the prohibition of idolatry is:

Exodus 20:4 “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;... (NKJV)

V. 5 will continue this commandment.

Exodus 20:5a ...you shall not bow down to them... (NKJV)

We begin v. 5 with the negative lôʾ (לֹא or לוֹא) [pronounced low]. Strong’s #3808 BDB #518. Next is the 2^nd person singular, Hithpael imperfect of shâchah (שָחַה) [pronounced shaw-KHAW] and it comes from a root word meaning to sink, to depress. It means bow down, worship, prostrate oneself. The Hithpael stem is the intensive reflexive, meaning you will not bow yourself down or you will not prostrate yourself. Strong’s #7812 BDB #1005. This phrase is completed with the lâmed preposition, which means to and it is affixed to the 3^rd person, masculine plural suffix (them). No Strong’s # BDB #510.

The people were not to make any images based upon the unseen world, nor are they to worship these images in any way. This certainly applies to statues of Mary, statues of Jesus, or any saint that a person might pray to. We do not pray to saints. Some people pray to Saint Jude, as the patron saint of lost causes and of prayers. If you want to make your prayer a lost cause, then pray to Saint Jude. However, people who have died have not been made into conduits of prayer. We pray directly to God the Father. If you have direct access to God the Father through Jesus His Son, why on earth would you think that going through some human-anointed saint would be better than that?

When we divided up a passages into small phrases, we often lose the flow of the overall passage. However, this verse is going to require a lot of exegesis and explanation because many important issues are raised here. Therefore, even though the second commandment is comprised of vv. 4–6, I will have to break that up into many separate parts in order to cover it properly. Then we will gather up these individual pieces and look at them as a whole.

Exodus 20:5b ...nor serve them. (NKJV)

We do not serve these images or these manufactured gods. They should not be made in the first place; and if there are some idols which exist, they should have exactly no impact on our lives at all.

This is followed by the waw conjunction (which we usually translate as and, but it can be translated in a number of different ways). Then, the negative and the Hophal (causative passive) imperfect of ʿâbad (עָבַד) [pronounced ģaw^b-VAHD] follow. The verb means to work, to serve, to enslave, to labor. Strong's #5647 BDB #712.

In the first verb (v. 5a), you are choosing to worship these things and the second verb (v. 5b) means that these idols have got their hooks into you and now you are trapped into serving them. This has a wide application to involvement in an apostate church to accumulation of material things. I have known several people who were involved with apostate churches; however, they got in early, received a lot of approbation, and were so high up in the organization that they ended up being enslaved to that organization (I hesitate to use the word church in many cases).

Idolatry can refer to material things. Even today, there are specific objects made by man which are highly venerated by man. The examples of a carving of Jesus on the cross; or a statue of Mary, or a statue of a saint have been given.

There are other sorts of idols in modern life. When your efforts are directed toward the acquisition of material things, toward making others think highly of you, toward making a lot of money, toward making others jealous, toward sleeping with as many women as you can; toward gaining as much power as possible in your little realm—you can pursue any of these things and rank them high in your value system. When you expend your efforts pursuing such things; then you become enslaved to them. If you are after any of these things, then you are being caused to work for them.

Some women when they ask a man what their goals and hopes and dreams are, although this sounds very noble and meaningful, but it often means what salary range do you see yourself in ten years and what kind of material things do you intend to possess? Allow me to append this remark with, some women consider their future as a family, and would prefer that to take place in a safe home in a safe neighborhood. So, two women could make the same inquiry, one with noble motives and one without.

Maybe you have known someone who has stretched their earnings to a point of social status which has turned around and enslaved that person to a job which they despise, but are enslaved to in order to maintain their level of apparent material wealth. Who hasn't known a male Lothario who began by find women attractive, but with each new conquest finds himself more and more enslaved to the pursuit of the female (and so often, such a man also develops a deep-seated hatred of women). I knew one male that, after a conquest, he confided to me that he could not wait for them to leave his bedroom and house altogether once the sex was over. He wanted to sleep; he did not want to listen to them jabber endlessly.

These examples mirror what we have studied so far in v. 5. The progression is, a person chooses to become an idolater and this momentum takes him to a point where he is then enslaved to that idol.

Exodus 20:5a-b ...you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. (NKJV)

The NKJV combines v. 4 into the first portion of v. 5:

Exodus 20:4–5b "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. (NKJV)

Many other translations start a new verse with v. 5 and carry that into v. 6. Once we complete v. 6, we will look back on some examples of different ways to divide up these verses.

Exodus 20:5c For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,... (NKJV)

Here, in v. 5c, God uses an anthropopathism. God is not actually jealous; God does not have emotions as we understand emotions. The term jealousy is used here to convey the concept that God does not allow for any competition when it comes to worship. We are not to worship other gods; and we are not to worship people.

Jealousy is a sin and God does not sin. This is an anthropopathism so that we have a clearer understanding of God's acts based upon our understanding of human motivation (this is motivation which God does not actually have, but motivation which we can relate to). Just as a husband expects his wife to place no man before him and to sleep with no other man, God expects the same of us on a spiritual level. Spiritual faithfulness involves worshiping the one and true God and living in the Word.

This is not the same as respecting other people in our past (or in our nation’s past); but they are not to take the place of God in any way. You can certain admire George Washington or John Adams without the fear of entering into idolatry.

This does not, in some way, forbid a wife from serving her husband.

What follows is quite interesting.

Exodus 20:5d ...visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,... (NKJV)

Then we have the Qal active participle of pâqad (פָּקַד) [pronounced paw-KAHD] and it means to attend to, to visit, to muster, to appoint. The British concept of this is, to sort out. In this passage and several others, punishment is implied. Strong's #6485 BDB #823.

Vv. 5c–6 give the rationale behind the second commandment. This passage also raises an issue which some theologians have trouble with but which is relatively simple in its concept.

If a generation of Israelites fall into idolatry, God will deal with this iniquity in them and in their sons.

Exodus 20:5e ...to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,... (NKJV)

God will continue to deal with the iniquity of those in the 3^rd and 4^th generations from an idolatrous generation—if they continue with the sins of their parents and grandparents.

Notice that God specifies, those who hate Me. God does not cause bad things to happen just because they are in the line of an idolater. The idolater hates God, because he refuses to obey God’s commandments; and very often, his son and grandsons will feel the same way.

We are studying the commandment which disallows idolatry. V. 4 tells the people not to make any idols and v. 5 says:

Exodus 20:5 ...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,... (NKJV)

The Israelites are told not to make such idols (v. 4) and not to bow down and worship them (v. 5).

But then God talks about visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children down to the 3^rd and 4^th generations. What is that all about?

Despite the power, literary dynamic and longevity of the King James Version, it sounds like a foreign language to most young people. For that reason, I rarely use it.

So far, this is what we have studied (God is speaking aloud directly to the sons of Israel):

Exodus 20:4–5b "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. (NKJV)

Vv. 4–5b is the actual second commandment. However, there is additional information specifically for the Jewish people (but it has wide application to gentile nations; particularly, gentile client nations during the Church Age).

Exodus 20:5c-e 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,... (NKJV)

We have just studied the 3^rd and 4^th generation curse and how to keep it from happening. The gist of it is this: even if the 1^st and 2^nd generations go off track, if the 3^rd and 4^th turn back to God (that is, begin growing in grace and knowledge), then they can turn their country around. This is what is key to the United States today in the year 2024. Any person can see that client nation USA is in a very dangerous position. Our national debt is insanely out of control; we have at least 20 million people living in the United States right now who have no allegiance to this country; we have a government out of control, drunk on power, using its power to go after the previous President; our military is fragmented and scattered throughout the world. Fundamentally, however, our problem is spiritual. If we as a nation turn back to God, all of our other problems will take care of themselves. If we don’t, then these problems and many others could lead us into national chaos.

Exodus 20:6a ...but showing mercy [or, grace, or, lovingkindness] to thousands, to those who love Me. (NKJV)

Regardless of who these people are, if they show positive volition toward the God is Israel, then God will manufacture grace to them.

This is only the second time in the book of Exodus that grace is mentioned. That is because Exodus is a book about the Law; not a book about grace.

The first verb is ʿâsâh (עָשָֹה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWH] which generally means to do, to make in the widest sense. Strong's #6213 BDB #793. This word has a variety of applications, from being involved in creation (Genesis 1:7 3:1), in doing God's commandments and statutes (Deuteronomy 16:12 30:8), and in performing signs and miracles (Joshua 24:17). We could also translate this, performing acts of graciousness or manufacturing grace in this verse.

Cheçed (חֶסֶד) [pronounced KHEH-sed] is a word which is alternately translated mercy and lovingkindness by the KJV. It means grace, gracious, although the Hebrews did not understand the full impact of this word (remember that divine revelation is also progressive revelation; and they had not progressed to the complete vision of God). In the Old Testament we might view grace by the definition unmerited favor, because the Hebrews did not fully comprehend the reason behind or justification for God's graciousness and mercy and kindness toward them.

In fact, many Israelites became exceedingly legalistic, not only in their attempt to follow the Law (which is a good thing). However, those with power tried to improve upon the Law and embellish it, in order to receive more blessing from God (but they were not looking for grace, really; they wanted to be rewarded for their zealousness). These legalists had no concept of God's grace. Those who did, like Moses, were grace-oriented men. They realized that their power and strength both lie with God; that God poured out lovingkindness to them far beyond what they could have ever earned or deserved.

Since the cross, we have a better understanding of grace and the reason behind it. R. B. Thieme jr.'s definition of grace is, all that God is free to do for us on the basis of the cross. God can only be gracious to us if it does not compromise His attributes of righteousness or justice. These acts of mercy and kindness are unmerited; all the merit is Christ's and what He did on our behalf on the cross. God is only able to be gracious to us because His Son paid for our sins.

We are still on Exodus 20:6a. These verses precede it:

Exodus 20:4–5b "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. (NKJV)

Vv. 4–5b is the actual commandment. Putting a period at the end of this was the right thing for the NKJV to do.

The second commandment is not to involve oneself in idolatry.

Exodus 20:5c-e 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,... (NKJV)

In the middle of v. 5, God begins to explain the consequences of disobeying this commandment. These consequences could extend to later generations. As we have studied, the consequences extend to later generations when they commit the same sins.

The contrast will be between those who hate God and those who love Him.

Exodus 20:6a ...but showing mercy to thousands,... (NKJV)

V. 6a is in contrast to what has come before. V. 5c-e is the 3^rd and 4^th generation curse; v. 6a is the mercy of God toward those who love Him.

It may be helpful to see how several other translators dealt with this portion of v. 6:

The key word here is cheçed (חֶסֶד) [pronounced KHEH-sed], which means, grace, benevolence, mercy, kindness; steadfast love. Strong's #2617 BDB #338. The verb is the Qal active participle of ʿâsâh (עָשָֹה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWH], which means, doing, making, manufacturing, constructing, fashioning, forming, preparing; producing. Strong's #6213 BDB #793. Later in this chapter, when God speaks of making the heaven and the earth and the seas, and all that is in them (v. 11), it is the same word that God uses here. So God is not showing grace, but making, producing, manufacturing grace.