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What does God want His children to do when they need something, or have a problem？Does He want His children to complain, worry, or blame others？No! You remember our lesson from last time very well, don’t you？We are to ASK GOD FOR WHAT WE NEED. Well, I’m so glad YOU have learned that lesson, for the people of Israel haven’t!
Do you know what I hear？I hear complaining down there in Rephidim! Let’s go down to where the families of Israel are setting up their tents in Rephidim. True, they are all tired and thirsty from traveling, and setting up and taking down tents so often gets to be tiresome. But what good will come from complaining？Exodus 17：2 tells us that the people complained to Moses and blamed him because there was no water. Can you quickly tell me what the people should have done instead of complaining？Yes, they could’ve prayed to their wonderful God Who had provided water and food and protection and all they needed! Instead, the Bible says they complained to Moses and blamed him, saying, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst？” They were so ugly and angry they were about to kill Moses by throwing huge rocks at him.
It’s certainly a good thing that Moses knew where to get help! Exodus 17：4 says, And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, What shall I do to this people？They are almost ready to kill me with stones! God told Moses to gather the leaders of the people and go to the rock called Horeb. Moses was instructed by God to strike the rock with his rod and water would come from the rock for the people to drink. Moses obeyed God, and as the sullen people watched, Moses hit the huge rock with his rod. Suddenly a fountain of fresh cool water gushed out from that hard dry rock! And it kept coming and coming! Men, women, boys, and girls, about 2 million of them drank and drank, and probably filled all their containers. Do you suppose they thought to apologize for their complaining, and offer a prayer of thanks to their loving creator God for this miracle？Oh, look up in the sky! That pillar of cloud is moving! The children of Israel are busy packing their tents again, and off they go. At last they came to an area of wide level ground at the base of Mount Sinai. Moses must have stared very thoughtfully at Mount Sinai, as he remembered how God spoke to him there out of a burning bush, telling him to lead the Israelite people out of Egypt. Now at age 81 Moses was standing in that same area again, and he had, with God’s help, led the people out of Egypt. Moses climbed up Mt. Sinai and there God called to him：“Tell the people of Israel, You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I have brought you out of Egypt. If you will obey Me, you will be a special treasure to Me above all people. You will be to Me a holy nation.”
The true and living God was calling His people to be different, to be separated from the sinful things of the world.
Moses went back down to the camp and called for the elders, the rulers, of the people. When he told them all the words of the Lord, the people were ready with their answer!
“All that the LORD has spoken we will do, ” they promised. When Moses returned to the mountain with this answer, God told him to go back to the people and sanctify them. It means to set apart for the Lord. Moses was to prepare the people for God Himself would come down on the third day in a thick cloud on Mt. Sinai, so that when all the people saw, they would believe obey Moses. The people were to wash their clothes and be clean for that special day. The people were to be clean on the outside as a reminder of what God wanted them to be on the inside. He wanted them to be holy.
The third day came, and that morning was like no other! No one needed an alarm clock THAT morning! Exodus 19：16 says ...there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God...And Mt. Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire：and the smoke ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Moses spoke to God and the people heard God answer Moses. That day God gave Moses ten special laws which we call the Ten Commandments.
1. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before Me. God is the One Who made us and all things. He will not share His rightful place as the only God.
2. Do not make idols. It’s wrong to make statues for the purpose of worship or prayer.
3. Do not take my name in vain. Jesus and God’s names are above all other names. Never use their name in a foolish way. Honor and respect God’s name always.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy unto God. Sabbath means to stop or rest from work. Sunday, or the Lord’s Day, is the day Christians set aside for worship and rest.
5. Honor your father and your mother. Honor, respect and cheerfully obey your parents!
6. You shall not kill. Human life is precious to God. Only He has the right to take it.
7. Be faithful in marriage. You are to be pure in your actions before marriage, and after marriage you are to stay true to the one you marry.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not lie.
10. You shall not covet. That means wanting what belongs to someone else.
While Moses was receiving the 10 commandments from the Lord, the people were down below at the foot of the mountain, still trembling and afraid. They had only seen the thunderings, the lightnings, the noise of the trumpet and all that smoke. When they saw Moses coming, they said, “You speak with us, Moses, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak to us or we will die!” They were so afraid! They knew they could never be holy like this awesome God was holy! Could they keep all those commandments every single day？No! And neither can we. But wait a minute. Breaking one of those commandments is serious sin! Serious sin because sin brings separation between us and this perfectly holy God Who made us, and separation from His wonderful Heaven.
Oh, how thankful we should be that this Holy God, Who came down in such power on that mountain years ago, is also a God of great love and compassion! In His great love He knew we could never keep those commandments all the time, so He sent Someone Who COULD keep them! Yes, It was Jesus, His perfect Son. All through His earthly life, Jesus never broke one of the commandments. Yet He was willing to die for those who broke them daily, the innocent dying for the guilty. In His great love for us, He took our punishment for sin by dying on the cross and giving His precious blood. II Corinthians 5：21 explains it：For he (God) has made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, he who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him(Jesus). Now Jesus is alive, for He rose from the grave the 3rd day, and when we believe on Him, it’s like we change clothes with Him! God put our sin clothes on Jesus, and when we believe in Him, God sees us with Jesus’ pure, perfect robes on! Otherwise, we could never be holy in the sight of such an awesome and holy God!
God also told Moses the right way to build an altar for sacrifice and worship. Obeying God in all His instructions was important. It is part of living a holy life. If you know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, GOD WANTS YOU TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE. This week will you separate yourself from sinful thoughts, words, actions, from sinful music or tv？Will you ask God for His power to help you begin to clean up your life on the inside？