While Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments, God had surrounded Mt. Sinai with a thick cloud, from which emanated great thunder and lightning. Knowing that this display would frighten the Hebrews, Moses descended the mountain to bring them assurances by revealing Jehovah’s purpose:
“Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him [that is a profound reverence for Him] will remain with you, so that you do not sin.” Ex. 20:20 AMP
That display on the mountain was God showing that He has boundaries. He is accessible when righteously approached, but it must be remembered that He is God and we are not. Jehovah exists on a far higher plane – outside of time and space and He is unfettered by any physical limitations. We must remember to remain in awe of this Creator of the universe, honoring and glorifying Him above all else.
Our Life-Giver calls Moses back up the mountain to give him instructions on the practical applications of the Ten Commandments. In those instructions, all intentional violence against other people is prohibited. There are other prohibitions as well; yet, God, in all His mercy, says that any punishment meted out to a transgressor, must not be excessive of the crime. The penalties, God laid out, are meant to dissuade one from committing the crime in the first place.
Moses was also instructed in how a perpetrator of a crime must make reparations, so as to build a framework for living a civil and peaceful life.
Then Jehovah institutes annual celebratory feasts, to keep His love and mighty deeds in His children’s remembrance, to remind them to keep Him in preeminence and be grateful for His largesse.
Moses returns to the Hebrews, records all God’s instructions, and reads them. They all promise to obey.
God calls Moses back up Mt. Sinai again – this time for forty days. During that period, Moses receives extremely detailed instructions for how to construct a ‘tabernacle’ (mobile temple), for Jehovah to visit His children in:
“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I might dwell in their midst.” Ex. 25:8 ESV
Our Father also formulated the charter of the priesthood associated with the tabernacle, which continues in its essence, in the church of Christ today – as liaisons who God uses to feed His children His love, through His word.
God then writes the Tablets of the Testimony, which contains the Ten Commandments. However, just as He gives them to Moses to bring down mountain, our all-seeing Jehovah tells him that the people have turned their collective backs on Him.
What are they doing? BREAKING THE LAW!!
Moses’ protracted absence up the mountain threw doubts into the obviously short-term-memory challenged Hebrews. They began to believe that Moses was not coming back and had begun to suspect that they weren’t worshiping the ‘right god.’ The people turned to Moses’ brother Aaron and told him to mold a golden calf to worship.
Within only 40 days, the Hebrews have trashed both the first and second of the Ten Commandments. Jehovah revealed all of this to Moses on the mountain, threatening to wipe them off the face of the earth and create a new line of humans from Moses. In response, Moses pleads with God to remember His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Our merciful God relented.
As Moses descends, his anger boils. He sees the people cavorting around the golden calf, and in his rage, he shatters the Tablets of the Testimony. He accosts Aaron, who tries to defend himself by putting all of the blame on the people:
“You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” Ex. 32:22 – 24. ESV
What a whopper! Needless to say, Moses’ anger was not diminished. He melted the calf, ground it into powder, mixed it with water, and made the people drink their god. Moses then admonished the people publicly, declaring their corporate sin, and had the leaders of this ‘rebellion’ put to death…
As we have seen so far in biblical history, since the beginning, humankind has rebelled against their Creator; and we see it even this very day is the senseless, godless riots infesting this country and others.
Satan’s indoctrination is clearly evident all around. The earth festers with defiant sin. The devil’s ultimate goal is the total annihilation of all that is good. He hates all people, because they are the image of that which he detests the most – God Himself.
People innately know right from wrong:
“I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Jer. 31:33 NKJV
Yet, what do we see? Willful defiance for the sheer misbegotten pleasure of committing mayhem and destruction – based upon a distorted ‘noble cause’ which is only the will of the ‘god of this world.’
We have ourselves to blame. Satan can’t make anyone do anything. He only makes suggestions, some of which, we have seen are taken up by faithless seekers of self-glorification. Many of these same perpetrators were coddled by their parents, who were too busy doing their own thing, instead of leading and teaching them how to be good people.
In addition, we’ve not paid attention to how the schools have become bastions of hate, intolerance, and instill an attitude of all things hateful towards the country that has given them so much. The result? Our children have learned misinformation that is worthless in the endeavor of trying to find employment; and they are left with a misplaced feeling of entitlement, a lack of morality, and a horrendous inability to make right decisions.
Independent thinking has sunk into a black hole. Instead, we see people with a fragile hold upon unworkable fantasies, that when challenged with truth, decry debate with violence…
We need to be better parents – a loving, exhorting presence in our children’s lives, as well as a righteous disciplinarian. If our kids mess up, we can deny them something for a season, letting them know that their subsequent anger, frustration or sadness is normal, and that we won’t judge them for having those feelings. We can even help them work through the feelings. Yet, true discipline is keeping our word with regards to previously described consequences. (I am not saying it is always the parents’ fault, but we do wield great influence).
Let them know that parents have been given a godly hierarchy in the family, with regards to the authority that they must exercise, to nurture them in the long run. Give them the freedom to question your motivations. That is how they learn:
Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], even when he is old he will not depart from it. Pr. 22:6 AMP
Peace, love, tolerance and wisdom begins in the home. When properly taught and exhibited, our children won’t need ‘safe spaces.’
Teach them to question the motivations of others. Show them how to pray and listen to God, not to that malevolent voice in their head. Their egos do not have their best interest in mind.
Since the beginning of humankind, God has been telling us that if we live by His rules, love and acceptance would always follow, and that life would be good:
“If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.” Gn. 3:4 AMP
To encapsulate ‘what is acceptable and pleasing’ to God, it would come down to loving God, loving ourselves and loving everybody else. If we just did that, our world would come together. If we want a good world, we must become good people.
We suffer when we reject our God who cherishes us, because He is the very Source of complete love and acceptance. If we would position ourselves to bask in that, there would be no hatred, no violence.
Yes, God cherishes you. You want that? The answer is always the same: come to / or return to Jehovah, confess and repent, and put your past behind you – because He promises that He will.
No one is a lost cause. God’s arms are always open. And we need more God in this world…
“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to heaven: “We have transgressed and rebelled…” Lam. 3:40 – 42. ESV
Goodnight and God bless.
