THE COMMANDMENTS AND THE LAWS OF GOD

Proclamation

“And The Lord said unto Moses, ‘Come up to Me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee three tablets of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.”  Exodus 24:12 (KJV)

 

Explanation

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After the Israelites had crossed the wilderness and come to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, they camped near it. (Exodus 18:5 and 19:1)  Moses went up into the mountain of God and came back down with messages for the people several times (Exodus 19:3-7, 19:8, 19:14, and 19:20-22) before coming down with the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-18)  The Lord God also gave to Moses instructions and laws for the Israelites The Ten Commandments and God’s Law were written on three tablets of stone. (Exodus 24:12)  The last time that Moses went up into the mountain of God, he stayed for forty days. (Exodus 24:15-18)

 

Application

The Holy Bible provides us with a set of instructions regarding how we ought to treat one another and how we ought to behave.  In addition to the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20:1-17)  God gave Moses a number of laws which were to govern the behavior of the people.  These laws addressed everything from worship to acceptable and unacceptable behavior towards one another. (Exodus 20:22 to 23:13)  Jesus, The Christ, later summarized these into two commandments, love The Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind; and love thy neighbor as thyself. (Matthew 22:37-40)  Our problem today is not that we do not know the law of God, our problem is that we are not willing to deny ourselves and put God first.  Jesus said, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23)  We are too busy trying to satisfy our personal wants, needs, and desires that we put ourselves before God.  Jesus said that we are to “… seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)