This past Sunday our pastor was recovering from the flu. When I asked him how he was doing, he said he was about 70% recovered. He then shared this with the church. As he began to preach there appeared to be a sincere heartfelt message flowing from deep within. A middle-aged man always makes a point to sit in front of us. He is an African American who lived in New Orleans, in our home state, Louisiana. He always gives me a hug. He worships! At the end of the message a surmountable number of people were at the altar praying; others sat in the pews with their heads bowing as they were praying. When we were dismissed, Greg turned to my wife and me, shivered, and said, “That gave me the chills.” I noticed the pastor standing upfront with a unique look on his face. Humorlessly, I later told him he had lied to us. I said, “You told us you were 70% toward normal. You were 110%.”
One of the greatest awestruck experiences I had was while serving as a minister of youth. This was exceedingly early in my ministry. The pastor had asked me to bring a devotion for the youth—about 8—as the church prepared for a revival. Man lived in a mobile home park and a group of youth would start out playing different games; however, they would quickly move into a time negative language and fighting. He was a new Christian. Yet he told the youth that if they did not go to church with him, they could not assemble in the park. I recall seeing his van almost dragging the ground one Wednesday evening. Youth started coming from areas around the church. Almost every week we were baptizing youth and adults.
The brother of the man brought the youth and who had been active in Ku Klux Klan. His group had killed an African American man, and he moved to Louisiana from Mississippi to avoid getting strongly associated with the killing. He was active in our church and was influencing people Christ. One Saturday morning at a meeting he told us about attempting to contact his son. (Castor Baptist Church, Leesville, Louisiana)
The overarching question for the text for this morning, is why did God give the ten Commandments? Why did God have Moses to carve them on stone?
I. CONTEXT: THE CONCERNS LEADING UP TO THE ASCENT TO MT SINIA
A refresher. Why were the Israelites in Egypt? The Israelites went to Egypt due to a devastating famine in Canaan. Jacob, a Hebrew patriarch, traveled there with his extended family to find a better life and to be close to his son, Joseph—whose brother had sold him as a slave to Egypt. They eventually became slaves. Jacob’s and his descendants lived there for 430 years.
40-42 The Israelites had lived in Egypt 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, God’s entire army left Egypt. God kept watch all night, watching over the Israelites as he brought them out of Egypt. Because God kept watch, all Israel for all generations will honor God by keeping watch this night—a watchnight. Exodus 12:40-41
During the time, the Israelites were in Egypt, there were 4 generations (Genesis 15:16), Levi, Kothath, Amram, and Moses. When the Israelites left Egypt, they brought sociological/cultural “stuff” with them. They had been influenced by the Egyptian culture.
Characteristics of Egyptian Culture:
• They believed in the gods and goddesses of Egyptian mythology-- were a polytheistic society
• They believed they were co-laborers with the gods
• They believed out of the chaotic a small hill rose, ben-ben
• They believed the god Atum spoke creation into existence
• They believed the god Heka, the god of magic, was the source this creative, sustaining, eternal power
• The believed families were especially important, and children were considered a blessing from the gods—imagine how the death of their children affected them
Characteristics of Israelites while in Egyptian:
• They had little freedom to make life decisions
• They had become bitter, harboring deep anger (Exodus 1:14)
• They had weariness in soul, they had lost hope
Characteristics of Israelites when leaving Egypt:
• The Egyptian culture had shaped their lives; Through an inceptual process Egyptian cultural/ customs creeped into their psyche and shaped their thoughts, decisions, worldview, and practices
• Over the years, things like bitterness had been transmitted to their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren.
• Their negative attitude, grumbling/complaining, so forth shaped their children’s way of life. (Multigenerational trauma, epigenetics)
• When going through tough times on their journey, when things were tuff, they would resort to old ways of thinking and practices. This happens with those who use drugs to numb the pain, go to treatment, and have a reoccurrence when faced with a problem. We don’t understand why they don’t quit. We don’t understand why people continue to live as homeless. We don’t understand repetitive criminal behavior, especially sex offenders. As I learned by working with those who struggle with these issues, it takes a tremendous mindset-shift. This is not easy for them and for us.
We often have the perception that while in Egypt the Israelites had stayed true to God. No! Moses lived in the inner circle of the Egyptian culture. When God came to him at the burning bush, he was faced with internal struggles. Yet, he overcame his feeling of inadequacy, fear of rejection, anxiety about putting voice to what God was saying.
As they crossed the Red Sea, they had all of this “stuff” in their suitcase in case they needed it. Worse yet, they would come to a place where they wanted to get a leader who would take them back to Egypt. Some believed it would have been better to have died in Egypt. They grumbled and did not have a positive outlook about the promise of going to the Promised Land. (Numbers 14:1-4, Exodus 16:3, Numbers 20:3-5, Numbers 11:4-6, Exodus 17:3)
This backdrop explains why the Israelites had built the Golden Calf—an image of a cult practice—when Moses didn’t immediately return. They were distressed and resorted to old ways.
Read Exodus 32: 1-5
II. PURPOSE: THE REASON MOSES WENT TO MT SINIA
God spoke to him about how to bring civility to the Israelites and singular reliance upon God. The Bible illustrates the attitudes of the Israelites when in the desert.
An interesting observation is because of their “stuff” the years in the desert was a purification period, allowing the generation that had rebelled against God to die off, those that did not have a sole/pure faith in God. In the waiting God wanted civility among the people. He gave them a standard by which he wanted them to live. Yet the worldview of the Egyptian culture was pervasive and had been transmitted to younger Israelites.
God recognized the problem and the difficulty this presented for Moses and other leaders.
In this context, Moses was beckoned to Mt Sinai. (Exodus 20:2-17) Moses heard the Lord. Point by point, God addressed the people, trusting they would respond and stay true to him. Would they? Many of us are remarkably familiar with the Ten Commandments; however, I want to draw our attention to a powerful statement God gave Moses It was a declaration.
In 1776 President Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, reviewed and edited by Benjamin Frankling and John Adams. In the preamble the reason for establishing independence from England. It stated,
“Resolved, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
There is a declaration to the Commandments. It is the preamble to the Ten Commandments
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (Exodus: 20:2, NIV)
In the context of the second tablet, God told Moses:
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Can you imagine Moses carving these Commandments in stone? They became imbedded in his mind, down to his heart, and he longed for the people to put them into practice. That is what God wants for us. The Psalmist had this in mind when he said,
I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart
so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Psalm 119 (MSG) (Read this when you go home)
Why did God give the people the Ten Commandments? They would be a guide for personal ways of maintaining wellbeing. He gave them a way to maintain civility. Sadly, our society has gravitated toward moral relativism. Moral relativism is a view that was inevitably stamped on our society. It started with counterculture of the sixties and terms have morphed into moral relativism. It was described as a “a powerful anti-establishment phenomenon, challenging the norms and pushing for a reevaluation of societal values.”
• Moral judgments are true or false as they are related to one’s particular view
• There are no universal or absolute moral principles—culture norms determine “morality”
Cecial DeMille said, “We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them—or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fullness of freedom under God. God means us to be free. With divine daring, He gave us the power of choice.”
Look at what is happening in our society. I authored an article, Evilness: Ethical Discussion and Prevention. Critique end of continuum where society wants to simply characterize evilness as mental health issues. While avoiding the knee jerk counter, “The devil made him do it!” I wrote about it from a moral issue. At a conference where I was a speaker, a registered nurse who worked in a psychiatric facility shared her struggle with bi-polar 1—characterized by extreme swings between hyper and depressive moods. I asked her, “When considering the number of people get into bad behavior who struggle with bi-polar disorders, how do you explain how you have been able to perform at your level?” She replied with one word, “Choice!”
John Steinrucken, a secularist/atheist said,
“Can anyone seriously argue that crime and debauchery are not held in check by religion? Is it not comforting to live in a community where the rules of law and fairness are respected? Would such be likely if Christianity were not there to provide a moral compass to the vast majority?... An orderly society is dependent on a generally accepted morality. There can be no such morality without religion. Has there ever been a more perfect and concise moral code than the one Moses brought down from the mountain?” (Steinrucken 2003)
For years Exodus 34:7 was very disturbing.
So, Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
I asked, “God, do you mean I will have to pay for my dad’s sins. However, while doing research related to multifamily generation trauma I understood it. If parents change and follow God’s standard for living, their way of determining how to live will continue through the generations; however, those traits can be stopped.
III. Application: How we “get it” and begin to see transformation
In Stone v. Graham (1980) Supreme Court ruled that a Kentucky law that required the posting of the Ten Commandments on the wall of every public school classroom in the state violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment because the purpose of the display was essentially religious.
I had planned to write a post related to the ten Commandments, a prelude to writing daily devotions exploring each commandment. It morphed into this message. During sermon preparation the things God was giving were so powerful, I would “take a break” from my computer. Yet, all through the day God kept bringing things to my mind—enough it could become a sermon series. Many times, I wanted to turn my mind away as God took my hand to write—not to carve in stone. One side of this ruling has been pitted against each side related to or not having them in schools and other public places.
I do not believe simply posting the ten Commandments will bring systemic change, beginning with our children. What must happen to bring about systemic change must be more profound. I find Moses’ experience incredibly unique.
When Moses went to Mt. Sinai to speak to God, he was overwhelmed by the Shekinah Glory of God, a visible manifestation of God on earth, whose presence is portrayed through a natural occurrence. Moses’ face became “super charged” as he stood in the presence of God. After speaking to God, he made his way down Mt Sinai carrying the two tablets with the 10 Commandment scribed on them.
Exodus 20:29-30 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he did not know that the skin of his face glowed because he had been speaking with God. Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, saw his radiant face, and held back, afraid to get close to him.
31-32 Moses called out to them. Aaron and the leaders in the community came back and Moses talked with them. Later all the Israelites came up to him and he passed on the commands, everything that God had told him on Mount Sinai.
33-35 When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the presence of God to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they would see Moses’ face, its skin glowing, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back in to speak with God.
Do you ever see someone cover their head with a veil after preaching? I have seen those who position themselves to receive a wave of applause and waiting for accolades. Covering one’s head represents respect, humility, and faithful devotion.
God was there in the fullness of His glory. God was present in his absolute holiness and transcendence. Moses heard God.
Conversations With God: Neale Donald Walsh
After breaking his neck in tragic automobile crash, losing his job, and having to leave his family Neale Donald Walsh took a tent and went to a park where those living as homeless camped out. Walsch described the inception of the books as follows: at a low period in his life, Walsch wrote an angry letter to God asking questions about why his life was not working. After writing down his questions, he heard a voice over his right shoulder say: "Do you really want an answer to all these questions or are you just venting?" When Walsch turned around, he saw no one there, yet Walsch felt answers to his questions filling his mind and decided to write them down.
The ensuing automatic writing became the Conversations with God books. When asked in a recent interview how he opens to God, Neale stated, "I am reaching out to touch others with this information. When I reach out and touch others with this information, I reconnect immediately with the divine presence."
Native Americans have often taken a spiritual journey, a Vision Quest. It involves going into an isolated place, while fasting, and praying. sacred knowledge and strength from the spirit world. We need to those times where we still away and experience the glorious presence, Shekinah glory of God.
Closure
After I have brought a message for a congregation, I often ask my wife, “What was your takeaway?” Here are some takeaways I hope we get and act upon.
1. For Christians: Your own Shekinah glory moments with God are needed. The time and place where you are aware of the Divine presence of God—God’s with-ness. Those times where you hear the still voice of God
1. For churches:
• Sacred spaces hold a significant place within the biblical narrative and the life of believers, serving as physical locations where the divine and human intersect. These spaces are often set apart for worship, prayer, and communion with God, reflecting His holiness and the reverence due to Him.” A setting that creates an “awe” when we walk into the Sanctuary. Care must be exercised so that we don’t make worship mundane.
Eufaula and youth sitting there in silence…liturgical experiences—opening the doors to the sanctuary…
• Special “sacraments”—a term avoided by most evangelical Christians because of association with liturgical churches—we us the term ordinances. These, such as baptism and the Lord’s supper. These give us a sense of being intricately connected with God. For a local mission project, our church purchased new furnishings for the pulpit area of a struggling Black church. To bless this gift, I was asked to preach. They wanted us to share communion with them and asked me to assist. We were handed white gloves to handle the trays and watched as the elements were prepared. That was a special service as we expressed adoration to God and felt unified.
• Call to worship (Sunset Hill) Psalm 95
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
"34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40
2. For ministers-Ministers need to seek those Shekinah glory times with God, for their personal spirituality, as they prepare their messages, provide pastoral care, and boldly lead. These moments can be times of seeking guidance for leadership decisions but not confusing with preparation for preparing sermons. Jacob “wrestled with God” and it shaped his identity—something hard for him to take ownership.
a. They need to have those Mt Sania experiences, those solemn, reverential, Shekinah Glory times. Go to the Mountain top…
b. Ministers need the support of Christians. When reading the Amalekites attacking the Israelites this need is accentuated. Moses went to the top of a hill, holding the staff of God. During the battle, the Israelites were winning as long as Moses’ arms were lifted. As many pastors can/do experience, Moses’ arms became tired.
I recall an invitation to preach at a community wide event; it was in a Black church. After preaching with passion affirming the need to serve as one body, a man came forward, took his folded handkerchief from his coat pocket, and unwrapped it, and then put his coat around my shoulders.
Exodus 1711 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
3. For communities: I can only pray, against insurmountable issues, that pastors would get together…go on a retreat and not come out until…Pastors’ Conference…going through the motions and hearing sermons—from Sunday to Sunday. There are 4 or 5 ministerial alliances in Muskogee, plus denominational groups such as the Muskogee Baptist Association.
We complain about the lack of civility in our communities. However, we must ask ourselves how we are collaborating to make a change. I have often said I would like to get primary leadership from agencies of Oklahoma on a retreat. That would not come out until they had a holistic plan for working together to serve people in Oklahoma.
I would like to do the same with ministers and then community leaders and explore ways we could work together to make systemic change in our county. Sustainable character traits need to be lived out as much as taught.
In 1992, Tom Hill created a program known as Character First that educates and trains businesses, schools, and families on implementing character in daily life. Hundreds of companies, jails/prisons, schools (465 Character Traits List & Examples (Free Download) - TeacherVision) communities around the world have implemented the program.
22 The Lord said to Moses,
23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:22-27 (NIV)
