The Mountain Of Freedom Series

OPEN: In about 4 weeks our nation is going to have a special celebration.

Does anybody know what that special holiday is? (“Independence Day”)

We are a free people, and we celebrate that freedom on July 4th.

One of our nation’s founding documents is called the Declaration of (Independence).

And in that Declaration of Independence are these words:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights –that among these are Life, LIBERTY and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We are a nation of Free people.

And what’s interesting is that our Nation’s Founders realized the importance of basing that freedom upon the upon the same set of Laws that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

It’s true.

Look just about any place you like in Washington D.C. and you will find Scripture written on about every famous building in sight… including the Capitol Building where the Supreme Court meets.

As you walk up the steps to the Capitol Building you can see near the top of the building a row of statues that represent the world's great law givers. And each of those statues is facing one statue in the middle that ONE statue is facing forward with a full frontal view.

Any idea who that middle statue is?

That’s right - it’s Moses…holding the Ten Commandments!

As you enter the Supreme Court itself, there are 2 huge oak doors, and engraved on the lower portion of each door, guess what you’ll see?

The tablets of Stone representing the 10 Commandments.

And if you were to sit inside that courtroom, you could see on the wall right above where the Supreme Court judges sit… again - a display of the Ten Commandments!

Now, why would they design the Supreme Court in this way?

Because as a nation of Free People our leaders intended to build our freedom upon God’s Laws given Moses at Mt. Sinai.

In our story this morning we find the people of Israel have come to the Mountain of God.

This is where they’re to received the 10 Commandments and all the rest of God’s commandments. And the very first words of those Commandments are these:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Deuteronomy 5:6

They’ve been brought out of the HOUSE of SLAVERY.

Once they were slaves – now they were a Free People.

God made them Free.

Now they were on their way to the Promised Land. A land that would be for them a Land of Freedom.

But on their way to that land of freedom God had them stopping here at this mountain.

They were here to receive God’slaw.

And this Law is going to be the foundation of their blessings and freedom as a people of God.

In Deuteronomy God tells them that – if they obey His Laws:

“You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

Your descendants will be blessed, and your soil’s produce, and the offspring of your livestock, including the young of your herds and the newborn of your flocks.

Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

“The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you from one direction but flee from you in seven directions.

The LORD will grant you a blessing on your storehouses and on everything you do; He will bless you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

The LORD will establish you as His holy people, as He swore to you, if you obey the commands of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.”

Deuteronomy 28:2-9 (HCSB version)

God was promising Israel that His Law would be THE FOUNDATION of their Freedom and their Blessings as a people of God.

In my library I have a book called “None Of These Diseases” and the author focuses on God’s promise to Israel - that if they obeyed Him they wouldn’t experience the diseases that had plagued Egypt. The author goes to great lengths to point out the diseases Israel would be spared if they obeyed the Law God gave them.

• For example, in our present culture, the idea of sexual purity is laughed. And yet sexual purity was something the law focused heavily on for Israel. What has been the result of our nation ignoring and mocking God’s laws on this? Since the 60’s the number sexually transmitted diseases have skyrocketed and have become a leading health concern for our nation.

• Then there were God’s laws concerning cleanliness and sanitation would spare Israel plagues and mass infections. We take much of what the Bible for granted because our culture has understood the importance of such things. But that has not always been the case.