Exodus

1
Exodus

• The plagues
• Red Sea
• Much complaining
• Mount Sinai

2
Mount Sinai

• The LORD said to Moses, I will come to you in a
  thick cloud, so that the people will hear me
  speaking with you and will believe you from now
  onGo to the people and tell them to spend today
  and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship.
  They must wash their clothes and be ready the day
  after tomorrow. On that day I will come down on
  Mount Sinai, where all the people can see me.
  Mark a boundary around the mountain that the
  people must not cross, and tell them not to go up
  the mountain or even get near it. If any of you
  set foot on it, you are to be put to death you
  must either be stoned or shot with arrows,
  without anyone touching you. This applies to both
  people and animals they must be put to death.
  But when the trumpet is blown, then the people
  are to go up to the mountain. Then Moses came
  down the mountain and told the people to get
  ready for worship. So they washed their clothes,
  and Moses told them, Be ready by the day after
  tomorrow and don't have sexual intercourse in the
  meantime.

3
Mount Sinai

• On the morning of the third day there was
  thunder and lightning, a thick cloud appeared on
  the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was
  heard. All the people in the camp trembled with
  fear. Moses led them out of the camp to meet God,
  and they stood at the foot of the mountain. All
  of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because
  the LORD had come down on it in fire. The smoke
  went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the
  people trembled violently. The sound of the
  trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke,
  and God answered him with thunder. The LORD came
  down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses
  to the top of the mountain.

4
Mount Sinai

• Moses went up and the LORD said to him, Go down
  and warn the people not to cross the boundary to
  come and look at me if they do, many of them
  will die. Even the priests who come near me must
  purify themselves, or I will punish them. Moses
  said to the LORD, The people cannot come up,
  because you commanded us to consider the mountain
  sacred and to mark a boundary around it. The
  LORD replied, Go down and bring Aaron back with
  you. But the priests and the people must not
  cross the boundary to come up to me, or I will
  punish them. Moses then went down to the people
  and told them what the LORD had said. (Exodus
  199-25)

5
Mount Sinai

• Why did God come to the mountain in this way? Why
  not come in love and gentleness?
• The LORD said to Moses, I will come to you in a
  thick cloud, so that the people will hear me
  speaking with you and will believe you from now
  on.
• Look at the behavior of the people
• Did God overdo it?
• What were they doing 40 days later?

6
The peoples response

• When the people heard the thunder and the
  trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the
  smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and
  stood a long way off. They said to Moses, If you
  speak to us, we will listen but we are afraid
  that if God speaks to us, we will die. Moses
  replied, Dont be afraid God has only come to
  test you and make you keep on obeying him, so
  that you will not sin. (Exodus 2018-20)

7
The peoples response

• There on the mountain the Lord spoke to you
  face-to-face from the fire. I stood between you
  and the Lord at that time to tell you what he
  said, because you were afraid of the fire and
  would not go up the mountain (Deuteronomy 54,5)
  
• I stood as an intermediary between you and the
  LORD. (NLT)
• I was the mediator and stood between the Lord
  and you at that time (Douay-Rheims Bible).

8
The peoples response

• When the whole mountain was on fire and you
  heard the voice from the darkness, your leaders
  and the chiefs of your tribes came to me and
  said, The LORD our God showed us his greatness
  and his glory when we heard him speak from the
  fire! Today we have seen that it is possible for
  people to continue to live, even though God has
  spoken to them. But why should we risk death
  again? That terrible fire will destroy us. We are
  sure to die if we hear the LORD our God speak
  again. Has any human being ever lived after
  hearing the living God speak from a fire? Go
  back, Moses, and listen to everything that the
  LORD our God says. Then return and tell us what
  he said to you. We will listen and obey.

9
The peoples response

• When the LORD heard this, he said to me, I have
  heard what these people said, and they are right.
  If only they would always feel this way! If only
  they would always honor me and obey all my
  commands, so that everything would go well with
  them and their descendants forever. Go and tell
  them to return to their tents. But you, Moses,
  stay here with me, and I will give you all my
  laws and commands. Teach them to the people, so
  that they will obey them in the land that I am
  giving them. (Deuteronomy 523-31)

10
Motives for obedience

• 1. I obey God for hope of reward or from fear of
  punishment
• 2. I obey God because I love him
• 3. I obey God because I agree with him and his
  ways. The things that he has asked me to do make
  such good sense and it is, for me, the only
  reasonable way to live

11
What were the people asking for?

• There on the mountain the Lord spoke to you
  face-to-face from the fire. I stood between you
  and the Lord at that time to tell you what he
  said, because you were afraid of the fire and
  would not go up the mountain (Deuteronomy 54,5)
  
• I stood as an intermediary between you and the
  LORD. (NLT)
• I was the mediator and stood between the Lord
  and you at that time (Douay-Rheims Bible).

12
Intercession

• Did someone need to intercede between Moses and
  God?
• He sees me face to face, and everything I say to
  him is perfectly clear. (Numbers 128 CEV)
• The LORD would speak with Moses face-to-face,
  just as someone speaks with a friend. (Exodus
  3311 GN)
• Did someone need to intercede between Jesus and
  sinners?
• Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthews
  house with his close followers, a lot of
  disreputable characters came and joined them.
  When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of
  company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus
  followers. What kind of example is this from
  your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and
  riff-raff? (Matthew 910,11, The Message).
• Does someone need to intercede between us and the
  Father?
• Is the Father different in character than the
  Son? Does he need to be pled with to forgive?

13
Intercession

• Jesus pleads with the Father
• I am writing this to you, my children, so that
  you will not sin but if anyone does sin, we have
  someone who pleads with the Father on our
  behalfJesus Christ, the righteous one (1 John
  21).
• And so he is able, now and always, to save those
  who come to God through him, because he lives
  forever to plead with God for them (Hebrews
  725).
• The Holy Spirit pleads with the Father
• In the same way the Spirit also comes to help
  us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we
  ought to pray the Spirit himself pleads with God
  for us in groans that words cannot express
  (Romans 826).

14
Intercession

• Who condemns us?
• In view of all this, what can we say? If God is
  for us, who can be against us? Certainly not God,
  who did not even keep back his own Son, but
  offered him for us all! He gave us his Sonwill
  he not also freely give us all things? Who will
  accuse Gods chosen people? God himself declares
  them not guilty! Who, then, will condemn them?
  Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was
  raised to life and is at the right side of God,
  pleading with him for us! (Romans 834 - GN)
• For I am certain that nothing can separate us
  from his love neither death nor life, neither
  angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers,
  neither the present nor the future, neither the
  world above nor the world below---there is
  nothing in all creation that will ever be able to
  separate us from the love of God which is ours
  through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 838,39
  GN)

15
Intercession

• If the Father has such great love for us and he
  does not accuse or condemn his children, why does
  he need to be pled with by the other two members
  of the Godhead?
• Does one member of the Godhead have a different
  attitude towards us?
• Forgive then, Father! They dont know what they
  are doing. (Luke 2334 GN)
• If you have seen me, you have seen the Father
  The Father and I are one He reflects the
  brightness of Gods glory and is the exact
  likeness of Gods own being (John 1426 John
  1030 Hebrews 13).

16
Intercession

• Who desires an intercessor?
• People in rebellion standing at the foot of Mount
  Sinai
• I am writing this to you, my children, so that
  you will not sin but if anyone does sin, we have
  someone who pleads with the Father on our
  behalfJesus Christ, the righteous one (1 John
  21).
• God is willing to give us an intercessor if we
  are afraid of him. Are we afraid of gentle
  Jesus?
• There on the mountain the Lord spoke to you
  face-to-face from the fire. I stood between you
  and the Lord at that time to tell you what he
  said, because you were afraid of the fire and
  would not go up the mountain (Deuteronomy 54,5)

17
God meets us where we are

• You have heard that it was said An eye for an
  eye and a tooth for a tooth but now I tell you
  (Matthew 538).
• It was also said, Anyone who divorces his wife
  must give her a written notice of divorce. But
  now I tell you if a man divorces his wife for
  any cause other than her unfaithfulness, then he
  is guilty of making her commit adultery if she
  marries again and the man who marries her
  commits adultery also (Matthew 531,32)
• Doesnt this contradict the OT?
• Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with
  this question Should a man be allowed to
  divorce his wife? What did Moses say about
  divorce? Jesus asked them. Well, he permitted
  it, they replied. He said a man merely has to
  write his wife an official letter of divorce and
  send her away. But Jesus responded, He wrote
  those instructions only as a concession to your
  hard-hearted wickedness (Mark 102-5, NLT).

18
God meets us where we are

• The law was added so that if they were going to
  divorce, they at least do it in a humane way. He
  gave them that provision because they needed it.
  He met them where they were in a far less than
  ideal circumstance. The truth is
• I hate divorce, says the Lord God of Israel. I
  hate it when one of you does such a cruel thing
  to his wife. Make sure that you do not break your
  promise to be faithful to your wife (Malachi
  216).
• Intercession is God meeting us where we are if we
  are afraid of him
• If only there were a verse that made intercession
  and the Fathers attitude towards us, plain and
  clear.

19
Jesus speaks plainly

• I have told you these things in parables (veiled
  language, allegories, dark sayings) the hour is
  now coming when I shall no longer speak to you in
  figures of speech, but I shall tell you about the
  Father in plain words and openly (without
  reserve). (John 1625 - Amplified)
• I have used examples to illustrate these things.
  The time is coming when I wont use examples to
  speak to you. Rather, I will speak to you about
  the Father in plain words. (GODS WORD)
• Ive used figures of speech in telling you these
  things. Soon Ill drop the figures and tell you
  about the Father in plain language. (The
  Message)

20
Intercession

• I have been speaking to you in parables - but
  the time is coming to give up parables and tell
  you plainly about the Father. When that time
  comes, you will make your requests to him in my
  own name, for I need make no promise to plead to
  the Father for you, for the Father himself loves
  you, because you have loved me and have believed
  that I came from God. Yes, I did come from the
  Father and I came into the world. Now I leave the
  world behind and return to the Father. Now you
  are speaking plainly, cried the disciples, and
  are not using parables. Now we know that
  everything is known to you - no more questions
  are needed. This makes us sure that you did come
  from God (John 1625-30, JB Phillips).
• and I do not promise to intercede with the
  Father for you, for the Father loves you
  himself (Goodspeed)

21
How do we come to the Father?

• So let us come boldly to the throne of our
  gracious God. There we will receive his mercy,
  and we will find grace (Hebrews 416, NLT).

22
The 10 Commandments

• Worship no god but me.
• Do not make for yourselves images of anything in
  heaven or on earth or in the water under the
  earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it,
  because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no
  rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me
  and on their descendants down to the third and
  fourth generation. But I show my love to
  thousands of generations of those who love me and
  obey my laws.
• Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the
  LORD your God, will punish anyone who misuses my
  name.
• Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. You have
  six days in which to do your work, but the
  seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On
  that day no one is to work---neither you, your
  children, your slaves, your animals, nor the
  foreigners who live in your country. In six days
  I, the LORD, made the earth, the sky, the seas,
  and everything in them, but on the seventh day I
  rested. That is why I, the LORD, blessed the
  Sabbath and made it holy.

23
The 10 Commandments

• Respect your father and your mother, so that you
  may live a long time in the land that I am giving
  you.
• Do not commit murder.
• Do not commit adultery.
• Do not steal.
• Do not accuse anyone falsely.
• Do not desire another mans house do not desire
  his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or
  anything else that he owns. (Exodus 203-17 -
  GN)

24
Many additional requirements

• Whoever hits his father or his mother is to be
  put to deathwhoever curses his father or his
  mother is to be put to death (Exodus 2115,17
  GN)
• Put to death any woman who practices magic. Put
  to death anyone who has sexual relations with an
  animal. Condemn to death anyone who offers
  sacrifices to any god except me, the LORD
  (Exodus 2218-20 GN)
• Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your
  relatives. Do not disgrace your father by having
  intercourse with your mother. You must not
  disgrace your own motherNo man or woman is to
  have sexual relations with an animal that
  perversion makes you ritually unclean (Leviticus
  187,23 - GN)
• Leviticus 15

25
The law

• Was there a law before sin?
• Why was it necessary to go into so much detail?
• We know that the Law is good if it is used as it
  should be used. It must be remembered, of course,
  that laws are made, not for good people, but for
  lawbreakers and criminals, for the godless and
  sinful, for those who are not religious or
  spiritual, for those who kill their fathers or
  mothers, for murderers, for the immoral, for
  sexual perverts, for kidnappers, for those who
  lie and give false testimony or who do anything
  else contrary to sound doctrine. (1 Timothy
  18-10 - GN)

26
The law

• What, then, was the purpose of the Law? It was
  added in order to show what wrongdoing is
  (Galatians 319 - GN).
• The law was added because we needed it when we
  were such rebels. Until the time when we were
  mature enough to respond freely in faith (trust)
  to the living God, we were carefully surrounded
  and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like
  those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar,
  who escort children to school and protect them
  from danger or distraction, making sure the
  children will really get to the place they set
  out for. But now you have arrived at your
  destination By faith in Christ you are in direct
  relationship with God (Galatians 323-26, The
  Message).
• paedagogue - a boy leader, that is, a servant
  whose office it was to take the children to
  school.
• Once you come to love school and the Teacher, do
  you still need the tutor to take you to school?
• Without the tutor, do you still go to school,
  keep the school rules, and spend time with the
  Teacher?
• Are you still free?

27
The law

• Children teeth-brushing
• Does breaking the law result in a penalty imposed
  by God or does it result in natural consequences?
• Do not make for yourselves images of anything in
  heaven or on earth or in the water under the
  earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it,
  because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no
  rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me
  and on their descendants down to the third and
  fourth generation. But I show my love to
  thousands of generations of those who love me and
  obey my laws.
• Ezekiel individual responsibility. We are not
  punished by God for the sins of our parents.

28
The law God explains why so many details

• I did this, because they had rejected my
  commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath,
  and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had
  served. Then I gave them laws that are not good
  and commands that do not bring life (Ezekiel
  2024,25 GN)
• The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules.
  How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow?
  (Hosea 416 GN)
• Are we offended that God would stoop so low?

29
Strange laws for a strange time

• Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its
  mothers milk (Exodus 2319 GN)
• Weave the tunic of fine linen. Make the turban
  of fine linen. The sash will be the work of an
  embroiderer. Make tunics, sashes, and hats for
  Aarons sons to express glory and beauty. Dress
  your brother Aaron and his sons in them. Anoint,
  ordain, and consecrate them to serve me as
  priests. Make linen underwear to cover their
  nakedness from waist to thigh. (Exodus 2839-42
  The Message)
• If you use stones to make my Altar, dont use
  dressed stones. If you use a chisel on the stones
  youll profane the Altar. Dont use steps to
  climb to my Altar because that will expose your
  nakedness. (Exodus 2025,26 The Message)

30
Strange laws for a strange time

• Each of the flamboyant fertility cult festivals
  (orgies) were countered by a celebration in
  Israel (Exodus 23)
• Passover - Unleavened bread Spring. Remember
  God who delivered them from Israel.
• Harvest festival (firstfruits) June. Gratitude
  to God who gave them prosperity and health
• Day of atonement - Feast of tabernacles (booths)
  Fall. Remember entry into the promised land and
  when they used to live in temporary booths

31
Strange laws for a strange time

• Archaeological evidence
• Even the temple design which God gave to Moses
  shared features of the Caananite temples of that
  time period
• Anyone in that day would recognize it as a temple
• God is meeting the people where they were
• God is offering an attractive alternative to what
  was going on at that time
• There is nothing arbitrary about the things God
  has asked us to do

32
What does the law point to?

• Jesus answered, Love the Lord your God with all
  your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
  mind. This is the greatest and the most
  important commandment. The second most important
  commandment is like it Love your neighbor as
  you love yourself. (Matthew 2237-39 GN)
• How did Jesus discover this?
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
  all your soul, and with all your strength
  (Deuteronomy 65). Do not mistreat foreigners
  who are living in your land. Treat them as you
  would an Israelite, and love them as you love
  yourselves (Leviticus 193,4).
• If you happen to see your enemys cow or donkey
  running loose, take it back to him. If his donkey
  has fallen under its load, help him get the
  donkey to its feet again dont just walk off
  (Exodus 234,5).
• If you lend money to any of my people who are
  poor, do not act like a moneylender and require
  him to pay interest (Exodus 2225 GN)

33
God distinguishes himself from all the other
gods

• If you take any of your neighbor's clothes as
  collateral, give it back to him by sunset. It may
  be the only clothes he has to cover his body.
  What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to
  me, I will listen because I am compassionate
  (Exodus 2226,27 GODS WORD)
• Dont pass on malicious gossip. Dont link up
  with a wicked person and give corrupt testimony.
  Dont go along with the crowd in doing evil and
  dont fudge your testimony in a case just to
  please the crowd. And just because someone is
  poor, dont show favoritism in a dispute.
  (Exodus 231-3 The Message)
• Do not mistreat a foreigner you know how it
  feels to be a foreigner, because you were
  foreigners in Egypt (Exodus 239 GN)

34
What does the law point to?

• Be under obligation to no one---the only
  obligation you have is to love one another.
  Whoever does this has obeyed the Law. The
  commandments, Do not commit adultery do not
  commit murder do not steal do not desire what
  belongs to someone else---all these, and any
  others besides, are summed up in the one command,
  Love your neighbor as you love yourself. If you
  love others, you will never do them wrong to
  love, then, is to obey the whole Law. (Romans
  138-10)

35
What does the law point to?

• And now I give you a new commandment love one
  another. As I have loved you, so you must love
  one another. If you have love for one another,
  then everyone will know that you are my
  disciples. (John 1334,35 GN)

36
What does the law point to?

• Ive loved you the way my Father has loved me.
  Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep
  my commands, youll remain intimately at home in
  my love. Thats what Ive done - kept my Father's
  commands and made myself at home in his love.
  Ive told you these things for a purpose that my
  joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly
  mature. This is my command Love one another the
  way I loved you (John 159-12, The Message).

37
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