The system of laws, as we know it today, has its roots approximately 5,000 years ago in what is commonly referred to as "Mosaic Law." The law(s) of Moses begin with the most well-known, but least understood, "Ten Commandments." Rather than giving you the condensed, homogenized version found in most writings, I choose to give you the genuine article, so that you can see what God really had to say and maybe, just maybe, learn why...
First, did you know that the Commandments from God had to be written by our Lord twice? The first set of tables, cut from stone by Moses, were written by God's hand. From beginning to completion this project took Moses 40 days and 40 nights. You see a lot happened on Mt. Sinai, most of which we know from the book of Exodus, but also we get little tidbits from other authors throughout the Bible. Moses did not eat or drink for the entire time he was up on Mt. Sinai. The Bible clearly states, "he did not eat, nor drink anything for 40 days and 40 nights." Is it possible for someone to stay on a mountain top for 5 weeks without any nourishment or water to drink? The fact that he, as one of us, survived during this time, is miraculous all by itself. He may not have starved to death, but he certainly would have perished without water.
Next, God himself descended in the same, "cloudy pillar," as he often did previously and many times subsequently. If He would have taken off the shroud around him, anyone, including Moses would have perished immediately. Now here is where it gets really interesting...Moses has the "chutzpah" to ask God to let him see Him without the "cloudy pillar." I guess God had just helped him escape the clutches of the Egyptian army, so maybe he thought he deserved a peak behind the curtain...What does God do? He picks Moses up and puts him on top of a rock, in a crevice to keep him safe from harm while God walks by him. God even covers him in that crevice with His Hand until, His Face and all His Glory passed by." Then He removed His hand, and let Moses see the back parts of his God, because no mortal can view God's brilliance from the front and survive.
Imagine meeting our Lord on a mountain top and being able to communicate with him, just like we communicate with each other. Direct, one on one conversation with the Almighty. No booming voice, no thunder or lightning, and no earthquake to make Moses afraid or uncomfortable in any way. My personal take on this is quite simple. Here to for, God revealed himself in dreams to Moses. Moses obeyed not out of fear, but out of loyalty and faith in the one true "Yahweh." He had seen the miracles in Egypt, he participated in the parting of the Red Sea, but now he got a glimpse! God let him see as much as Moses was physically, emotionally and spiritually capable of at that time. Did he see an outline of God, a body of sorts, or just a piece of His shadow, like the dark side of the moon? One day I plan to ask him...
So what did they do up their for 40 days? Aside from the above, Moses had to make tablets of stone, so that God could inscribe the inimitable and famous Ten (10) Commandments. Moses had to cut these tablets out of solid rock. It certainly would take me 5 weeks or more to carve them out, but only with the help and instructions given to me by God. Remember, Moses did not stop to eat or drink to get this project finished. I figure that if he didn't stop for refreshment, then he probably did not sleep either. Another amazing miracle happened, and we have not even gotten to the commandments.
Is it me or is there something very special about the number 40? Moses was on Mt.Sinai for 40 days and forty nights, Noah was on the Ark for 40 days and 40 nights, and finally the Hebrew nation after leaving Egypt, wandered for 40 years. Some coincidence at the very least, but I think there is something here that I will research at a later date.
After the 40 days and nights conversing with God, cutting out the tablets and watching the finger of God burn each letter, of each word, in each commandment into the tablets, Moses prepares to go down the mountain and back to his people. God already knows that Aaron, Moses's brother, was coerced into making a "golden calf" to replace worshipping the Lord. The people grew impatient and unruly, so Aaron leads them to break the 1st Commandment, before they even saw them for the first time. Moses begs the Lord not to exterminate them all and hurries down the mountain to see for himself. Sickened by what he saw, he smashed the tablets into pieces out of anger and disgust. The Bible says that Moses ground up the calf of gold and made everyone eat some of it to never forget their irreverent behavior and sin. He then had 3,000 people killed, and performed special sacrifices to God on the alter in the Ark of the Covenant. Then God commuted the sentence of death to all, in favor of his faithful servant, Moses.
When Moses comes down the second time with 2 new Tablets and some new instructions, the people got to view the Commandments for the first time. Then begins the next leg of their journey to Canaan. Here are the Ten Commandments, each in a color for clarity, as set forth in the Book of Exodus from the 1611 KJV:
Is it me or is there something very special about the number 40? Moses was on Mt.Sinai for 40 days and forty nights, Noah was on the Ark for 40 days and 40 nights, and finally the Hebrew nation after leaving Egypt, wandered for 40 years. Some coincidence at the very least, but I think there is something here that I will research at a later date.
After the 40 days and nights conversing with God, cutting out the tablets and watching the finger of God burn each letter, of each word, in each commandment into the tablets, Moses prepares to go down the mountain and back to his people. God already knows that Aaron, Moses's brother, was coerced into making a "golden calf" to replace worshipping the Lord. The people grew impatient and unruly, so Aaron leads them to break the 1st Commandment, before they even saw them for the first time. Moses begs the Lord not to exterminate them all and hurries down the mountain to see for himself. Sickened by what he saw, he smashed the tablets into pieces out of anger and disgust. The Bible says that Moses ground up the calf of gold and made everyone eat some of it to never forget their irreverent behavior and sin. He then had 3,000 people killed, and performed special sacrifices to God on the alter in the Ark of the Covenant. Then God commuted the sentence of death to all, in favor of his faithful servant, Moses.
When Moses comes down the second time with 2 new Tablets and some new instructions, the people got to view the Commandments for the first time. Then begins the next leg of their journey to Canaan. Here are the Ten Commandments, each in a color for clarity, as set forth in the Book of Exodus from the 1611 KJV:
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
God spoke these words with thunder and lightening to the people of Israel, while they cowered in fear. Mosaic law has been written down for all to follow. These are what I prefer to call primary laws for all of us to read, understand and obey in our daily lives. God provided additional laws for daily life amongst his people that apply directly that their time and place, but these 10 Commandments transcend all time and are applicable to every one of us created in His image, including you, as you read this. It would be nice if these tablets were like a menu in a restaurant, so that you could pick and choose the ones you like and dislike. The immutable fact is that with God it's all of them or none of them. Take a close look at what God said, and how he was quoted by Moses. Some are terse short sentences that leave nothing to chance and some, like number two and four span multiple verses. My assumption is that God "spake" these commandment in a particular order with the first one being of supreme importance, especially since the Israelites, just like you and me, tend to stray quickly and easily with the slightest of temptation. We tend to worship what we can see, feel or touch, so with a push in any direction from the evil one, we are off to the races, leaving our Lord in the proverbial dust. Fortunately when we turn and run from our Lord, he is patient and faithful to those who believe. Just like Moses interceded for his people to stave off extermination atop Mt.Sinai, Jesus interceded for all mankind no matter where or when you were born. Worshiping other "gods" even though it is the first commandment is a forgivable sin, like any other sin. My friend, no matter where you are, what you are, what you currently believe or sin you have committed, there is only one true God with the divine ability make your soul white again. He goes by many names, but my favorites are Jehovah, Yahweh, and El Shaddai. These powerful names each describe the almighty in ways that simple English cannot demonstrate.
His Law and the Ten Commandments were not put in place to corral mankind and make our collective lives miserable, but to provide us through each millennium with a divine foundation of simple rules. Taking Him at his word and following these rules is the secret to long life, health and happiness. Listen to your Creator by studying all of His laws after you internalize the top ten! In these resides the formula for wisdom beyond our comprehension and a key to spiritual fulfillment.
Thanks for reading once again...
The Digital Disciple
His Law and the Ten Commandments were not put in place to corral mankind and make our collective lives miserable, but to provide us through each millennium with a divine foundation of simple rules. Taking Him at his word and following these rules is the secret to long life, health and happiness. Listen to your Creator by studying all of His laws after you internalize the top ten! In these resides the formula for wisdom beyond our comprehension and a key to spiritual fulfillment.
Thanks for reading once again...
The Digital Disciple
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Hearing from you is certainly not a requirement. Consideration of what is researched and written is all I ask of anyone who stumbles upon my writings. I believe that my God will take it from there. With His help I try to separate fact from fiction, sense from nonsense, and ultimately clarity from chaos.