The Ten Commandments Before 1 Of 5: The People Prepare

Dear reviewer, this is to be a preamble to the five sermon series titles Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments

Before 1 of 5: The People Prepare

God’s plan for Israel: Exodus 19:5-6, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” When God brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage, God’s plan was to make Israel into a nation, and not just a nation, a nation “of priest, a holy nation.”

The Ten Commandments were the code of conduct that was to turn millions of ex-slaves into Israel, a functioning society intact and operational, a “treasured” nation. They were Commandments, legal directives, rules that were to serve as both laws and guidelines for the Nation of Israel. Even though norms, customs, and traditions also draw lines, crossing those lines does not necessarily have consequences. However, what God has enumerated, codified, and, most importantly, made enforceable were the Commandments; they were to be the behavioral guide, the foundation on which the Israelites were to build this special Nation.

Societies are capable of taking an uncivilized turn if there are no legal consequences enforced on the bad actions of people. Hence, the crucial function and purpose of these ten laws was to protect all of its citizens from bad actions. Any person choosing to break these laws had to suffer correction in the form of punitive damage. That could mean paying a victim of thief, a victim of violent actions or a victim of perjury compensation plus fines; it could mean exile and, in extreme cases, even death sentences. In the absence of such laws, Israel could have easily become a place of anarchy and chaos, a people where the strong dominate the weak. People were equal in the eyes of the LORD. These laws were to ensure that people belonging to different social groups could co-exist without conflicts. Further, God intended these Commandments to be a manual, a model, for all righteous nations.

How it happened: Genesis 15:13-14, “Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for 400 years, but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.’” * Exodus 4:22-23, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, ‘Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.”’” The context of these verses speaks of the relationship the LORD had with the Nation of Israel. The LORD loved Israel, recued its people from slavery under Pharaoh, made the ex-Hebrew slaves into a Nation, and brought that Nation to the Promised Land. The analogy is that of God as the Father and Israel as the first-born son.

It sometimes seems that God moves slowly when keeping His promises; it most certainly seemed that way to the Hebrew slaves when they were in captivity for they “cried out to God.” However, God always makes happen the outcome He planned. God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. We see the beginning of that promise when Jacob’s son Joseph found favor with Pharaoh and brought his entire family to Goshen, the best land in Egypt. There they grew in number. Exodus 1:5 says, “The total number of Jacob’s descendants was 70.” and Deuteronomy 10:22 says, “Your fathers went down to Egypt, 70 people in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.”**

How numerous were they at the end of 400 years? Numbers 1:17–46, while Israel was at Sinai, God commanded a census. The Israelites of the strength and age to be eligible for military service was over 600,000 men. Adding women and children, 600,000 men implies a total Israelite population between 1.5 million to 3.5 million with a middle number of 2.4 million often quoted, a staggering figure for that era.

In summary, God brought down to Egypt 70 Hebrews who had favor with Pharaoh (Genesis 47:5-6) but a later Pharaoh (Exodus 1:8) did not know the why of the favor and made slaves of the Hebrews. Slavery did not stop their growth for the Hebrews multiplied for 400 years. Then God secured their freedom with ten plagues, millions left Egypt. Further, God caused the Egyptians to give the Hebrews many valuables. All of this just as God had promised Abraham.

These millions of Hebrews were untrained in any form of self-starting or free enterprise. They were slaves who, for several hundred years, the Egyptians had told what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Of the more than 600,000 men who were of the strength and age to be an army, they had no training or weapons. How did God plan to turn this multitude into a nation with an army?