Exodus 19:16

This is the introduction to the giving of the Ten Commandments. The Bible says in Exodus 19:16-25, “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.”

The question that comes to mind is this: why are the Ten Commandments being introduced in this way? This is definitely a spectacular event: one of the most spectacular in all of the Bible. God is telling us that this is something that we really need to pay attention to and know about. In the verses previous to this passage God had told the people that He was going to give His Words to Moses, and that the people needed to pay careful attention to these words. In Exodus 19:16 it says “that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud.” Exodus 19:18 says, “And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.” Exodus 19:19 says, “And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.” The people were also under the threat of dying if they came too close as it says in Exodus 19:21, “lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.”

One of the spiritual lessons being taught in the circumstances of the giving of the Ten commandments is the difference between God and man. God is holy and man is sinful. God is so holy that no sinfulness can come into His presence. That is why the people were told in Exodus 19:22 to “sanctify themselves.” The word “sanctify” comes from the same word that means “be holy.” The Israelites washed their clothes. They cleaned themselves up. And hopefully they confessed their sins with a contrite heart. This passage of scripture supports the old saying that cleanliness is next to godliness. Cleanliness certainly symbolizes godliness and symbolizes holiness. Believers in Jesus are very fortunate to have Jesus as Savior. Jesus is our righteousness and our holiness. Because of Jesus, believers have a righteous standing before God. We are holy not because we gained holiness by our actions, but because God says we are holy through faith in Christ. Jesus is our holiness.

It is very revealing that the giving of the law (the Ten Commandments) was accompanied by the very near possibility of death. Anyone who touched the mount would die. Anyone would die who attempted to draw near to God where Moses went. The law is perfect. If anyone kept the law perfectly, that person would be holy and perfect. The problem is that no one except for Jesus Himself has kept the law perfectly. Therefore, the law only condemns, and therefore the law only brings death. Paul preached in Acts 13:38-39, “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” There is a great difference between law and grace. Make sure you understand that difference, if you want to understand the gospel of Christ. It says in John 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

We understand that we are justified by grace and not by the works of the law. But that does not mean that we throw away the law. The Bible says in Romans 7:12, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” The law still serves a very important purpose. It says in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” It also says in Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The law has both a practical importance and a spiritual importance. The spiritual importance has to do with the fact that we fail to keep the law no matter how much we wish that we did not fail. If we understand this truth about our own failings and admit this truth, then we can more easily turn to Christ and receive Him as our Savior. Sinners need a Savior.

The practical importance of the law is the fact that people need guidance for their behaviors. The worst people in the world would be those whom we describe as “lawless.” Such a person would be willing to say anything and to do anything at any time and in any place. Such a person that accepts no rules or laws to guide their behavior would do any evil deed at any time to any innocent person. People need rules and laws and commandments to know how to live on this earth. God gave us such laws in the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. The law guides us, and tells us what decisions to make as the different circumstances of life come our way. It says in Psalm 19:7, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Think about the promise from Psalm 119:1 that says, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.”

In summary here are the Ten Commandments from God from Exodus chapter 20. These commandments are for all people on this earth to follow as the guide for their behavior:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10. Thou shalt not covet.

In introducing these Ten Commandments, the Bible says in Exodus 20:1-2, “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Basically there are two reasons given for why we should obey the Ten Commandments. The first reason is because of who God is, and the second reason is because of what God has done for us. God explains who He is by the names that He gives for Himself. He called Himself “the Lord thy God.” The word “Lord” is translated from the Hebrew word for Jehovah, which means “I am that I am.” He is the eternally existent one. He has no beginning and no end. Jesus always was, and always will be. Jesus is quoted in Revelation 1:8 that says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” As we count time, Jesus gave the Ten Commandments over 3,400 years ago; but since He is not limited by time, it is the same as though He just gave these commandments.

The Ten Commandments are just as important today as they were when He first gave them. The commandments will also be important at the judgment. They are the standard by which human beings will be judged for their actions while on this earth. The Bible says in Revelation 20:11-13, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” If you are not saved by grace through faith in Jesus, then you will be judged by your works. God is the Almighty, and therefore He is the judge of the whole earth. The severity of the punishments of those in hell will be directly related to their failures and refusals to obey the Ten Commandments. If you are saved, then you will also be judged according to your works for the purpose of determining what rewards you will receive or lose. Jesus said in Revelation 22:12-13, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

If you are a believer, you should obey the Ten Commandments because Jesus saved you from your sins. That is exactly what is meant in Exodus 20:2 which was the last thing God said before giving the Ten Commandments, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Egypt was symbolic of this world’s system. It is a system that does not know God’s truth. The ungodly portions of this world are ruled by Satan, the fallen angel. Satan has deceived the people of the world. He does everything he can to keep people blinded. Listen to what Jesus said about the devil and some of the people who were deceived by the devil in Jesus’ time on the earth. Jesus said in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

There are various reasons that some people try to obey God’s commandments. One reason is to try and justify oneself, but this is not possible because it says in Galatians 3:10-11, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” The right reason to want to obey God’s commands is because Jesus died for us. He saved us from an eternity in hell. He saved us to take us to an eternity in heaven. As it says in First John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.” And the Bible says in Second Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

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