The Ten Commandments: Part I

(Exodus 19-31)

What would you do if you knew a king was coming to your house? You would probably be very busy getting ready for him. You would make the house as clean as possible and would wear the very best clothes that you have. How excitedly you would wait for his coming!

The children of Israel were also waiting for someone to come. But they were not waiting for a mere man, no, they were waiting for a visit from God! God, the great God who had made everything and everyone, God, who could destroy them with one word, was going to talk to them.

So the children of Israel were very busy getting ready for this visit! God had said that they were to wash their clothes, and make everything ready. And then the day came.

God was going to be on the top of the mountain, and all the people had to come together at the foot of it. No one was to touch the mountain. That is what God had told Moses. God had said, “No one must go up the mountain, or touch any part of it; if they do, they will be killed.”

That day the children of Israel were all standing at the foot of the mountain. And then…they heard some loud noises! It was just like a terrible thunderstorn. Have you ever been in a bad thunderstorm? Weren’t you scared by the loud thundering and the flashing lightning? We all are scared in storms, I think, even if we try to hide it, because we know that the storm shows us how powerful God is.

All over the mountain there were terrible thunderings and lightnings! A trumpet sounded, and a thick dark cloud covered the mountain.

The people were very much afraid. They knew that these loud noises meant that God was on the mountain. They knew that if they touched the mountain, they would be killed. And so they shook and trembled.

Then God called Moses up into the mountain. The people all stayed below. They waited while God’s voice was heard, giving them rules by which to live.

Do you have some rules at your house? I’m sure you do. Maybe you have to be in bed at a certain time. Maybe you have to pick up all your toys before going to bed. Or, you are not to fight with your brothers and sisters, and, if you do, you are punished.

Everyone has rules. You have rules. Your mother has them. Your father at his work also has rules. Every person needs rules to live together with other people.

Do your parents give you rules because they want to be mean? No, they give you rules because they love you. If they didn’t give you rules, your house would be a wild place.

And that is why God gave the children of Israel rules. It was because He loved them and wanted them to obey Him. We call these rules the Ten Commandments.

I see some of you smiling. You’ve heard of the Ten Commandments before. You hear them read every Sunday in church, don’t you? God gave the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel, but He also gave them to us.

Can you remember what some of them are? Some day I hope you will memorize them. You probably remember that God tells us not to steal, to kill, or to work on Sunday. But God also tells us to worship Him alone, use His Name only in a good way, honor and love our mother and father, not to lie or tell stories about others, and to be happy with what we are given, without wanting other people’s things.

Are we able to obey perfectly the Ten Commandments? No, we are not. Some people think so, but they are wrong. Therefore we must ask God to forgive our sins against Him.

The people of Israel were so scared when they heard all the thunder and saw the lightning and smoke on the mountain that they told Moses, “Please have God talk to you! Tell us what He says, and we will listen to you, but we are too scared to stay here anymore.”

“Don’t be afraid,” said Moses. But then he again went up into the mountain and the people stayed below.

God talked and talked with Moses. He gave Moses many, many other laws, but they were not laws we need to obey today. Some of them were ceremonial laws, which mean that they told the people how to serve Him. Others were civil laws, which were somewhat like our city laws. These were only for the people of Israel.

Once Moses came down and told the people what God had said. All the people answered him, “We will do what the Lord has said! All that He has said, we will do.” Moses wrote down what God had said, and then he went back up the mountain with some other men.

Later these men returned, while Moses stayed up for many, many days, alone with God. God told Moses that He wanted His people to make a church, a church that could be moved along with the people. It was called a tabernacle. In it was to be the ark of the covenant. He told Moses exactly how He wanted it made.

Then God gave Moses two tables, or flat rocks, with the Ten Commandments written on them. Did Moses write those commandments on them? No, God did. These commandments were written by the finger of God.

When God had finished giving Moses all the rules for the people, Moses went back down the mountain. Then he saw a horrible sight!

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