A Little Project: Jesse Tree Week 2 Day 3

Ornament: Tablets of Moses

Now the Hebrews were free, but they had a long journey before they would be in their homeland as the land on the other side of the sea was a desert. They had stopped and made camp nearby to a great mountain, Mt. Sinai. Even though they had been God's chosen people, they had been enslaved for such a long time that they lived and acted as their old captors did - which was not the way that God the Father created them to live and act.

So the Lord called Moses once again, this time to give his people a guide to live rightly and justly - to be the happiest they can be on earth, the healthiest, and most able to determine their own fate.

The Lord told Moses to climb up the mountain, but not to let anyone else follow or even come close because Moses had a special job. The Lord told Moses that he would cover the mountain in smoke and fire to show the Hebrews below how special this event was, and how amazing it was that the Lord was speaking to him.

As Moses went up Mt. Sinai, it began to smoke and fire and shake just as the Lord said it would! Moses saw that the mountain was a volcano! A crack in the earth beneath the mountain was letting lava - burning rock - break through to spew into the air and down the mountains side. The Lord, who created the world, instructed the mountain to erupt just for this special moment.

Moses showed why the Lord had chosen him, because without complaining or hesitating or being afraid, he climbed Mt. Sinai as it was throwing fire and boiling water into the air!

When Moses reached the top, the Lord began to speak: He told Moses that he was about to give his people a set of basic rules to live by - called commandments. If the Hebrews obeyed all of the commandments completely, the Lord would make them His treasured possession - over everyone else, he would care for and love the Hebrews specially. Even though He is Lord of all Creation - he made everything and holds it in existence - he would treat these few people specially, and give them his attention.

He told Moses that this would make the Hebrews a "Kingdom of Priests" -meaning that they would be royalty and share in God's Lordship over the earth and creation. They would also be priests, people who are given special access to the Lord's power and love and are able to share it with others who do not yet know him - and that their prayers and petitions would be heard over all others.

Finally, the Lord said that he would make Israel a holy nation! This is both a blessing and a challenge - to be holy means to be set apart, to be different than everyone around you. But it also means that you have been given a special purpose for your life, that your life will be more than just eating and existing and not helping anyone but yourself.

All of this, if only the Hebrews would promise to follow these commandments, which will only help you in your journey to being a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation. So the Lord wrote them on two tablets of stone, with his own hands:

What are the ten commandments? Can you name them?

1. I am the LORD your God:
you shall not have
strange Gods before me.
2. You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not stea
8. You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor
9. You shall not covet
your neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods

The Lord said: 

Now, if you obey me completely and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, though all the earth is mine.
You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation

When Moses told the people what the Lord had said, they responded:

Everything the LORD has said, we will do.

Reflection & Connection: God the Father chose a mountain as a special place to make a new covenant, a new promise to his people. This time the promise was not with just one person, but with a whole nation of people - with Moses as their representative. So the Lord not only chose a place to make the promise that would draw a lot of attention - a volcano! - but also gave Moses something he had not given any other person he promised - guidelines for how to live their lives - to be healthy & happiest on earth. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for showing us how much you love us by having given us the 10 Commandments.  Help us to live them out in our daily lives, and when we fail to live them out, we ask that you give us the strength to come to you again and ask forgiveness.