The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel (Continued)

Continuing in the study of the Mosaic Covenant I offer the following:

A Summary of the Law

 The law itself was in three sections - commandments, judgments and ordinances. It provided a code of conduct and rule of law that brought order and structure to allow them to function, not as twelve separate tribes, but as one nation, as well as providing the sacerdotal organization in which their relationship with the Lord might flourish.  Here are some examples:

Commandments (Exod. 20.2-17)

The Decalogue is the foundation of the Law.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

This section is famously summarized by the Messiah. When asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law ...” (Matt. 22:36-40)

Judgements

The second category, coming under the general description ‘judgments’, deal with social requirements. (Exod.21.1-23.3) It begins, “Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them”. Examples include, “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.” (Ex 21:2-4) There are regulations concerning the punishment to be inflicted for the taking of a life deliberately, and the compensation to be paid for the taking of a life accidentally. They not only deal with the loss and impairing of human life, but also animal life. This is given importance since the nation would continue to be an agricultural society. Also promulgated are detailed laws dealing with stealing, cheating and telling untruths; as also encouragements to deal kindly with strangers and the poor. These laws are designed to produce a nation that would reflect the righteousness and mercy of the Lord.

Ordinances

The third category is ‘ordinances’.  These regulate the worship, that is, the activities of the priesthood and the ordering of the calendar to include annual festivals; examples include the construction of the Tabernacle and its furniture. It was designed to have three main areas, each with a different degree of holiness, and each with a specific purpose. In the outer court there would be a laver to hold water for the priests’ ablutions and a metal altar on which sacrifices could be offered. Inside the tent shrine were two rooms, the first was the holy place containing a golden altar, a golden seven branch Menorah which was oil fired, and a golden table designed to hold the bread of the Presence. The ‘ordinances’ section includes regulations to do with the ordering of its services, the consecration of a priesthood and the description of permitted offerings. Offerings were designed either for expiation and propitiation, that is, sin offerings, or as ‘sweet savor’ offerings for acceptance as worship. The timing and activities of the religious festivals were also designated ordinances and had to be observed in a set way since they had the authority of the Law behind them. The main festivals were the feast of Passover (Hag HaPesach); the feast of Unleavened Bread (Hag HaMatzoth); the feast of Firstfruits (Hag HaBikkurim); the feast of Weeks (Hag HaShavu’ot); the feast of Trumpets (Hag HaTruah); the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur); the feast of Tabernacles (Hag HaSukkoth); and the Sabbath (Shabbat).

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The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel (Continued)

The Giving of the Law (Continued)

8.            The establishing of Moses as Israel’s mediator, needed to be repeated for Aaron who was soon to be inducted as the High Priest of the nation.  So Moses again ascended the mountain – this time with Aaron. While Aaron stood afar off, Moses drew near to the Lord, and received a communication. “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.” (Exod. 20:22-26)

 9.                        This new message was to be transmitted to the nation.  It included a re-emphasizing of that element of the Decalogue that forbade idolatry as well as forbidding images that were meant to represent the Lord. Israel were not only banned from making, owning or worshipping images of other gods but also banned from making, owning or worshipping images intended to be some form of representation of the God of Israel. As the Sh’ma begins, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut. 6:4).  This is understood to mean that the Lord is the One absolute God, therefore worshipping other gods is not only forbidden but also foolish. Furthermore, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) Again, seeking to represent in some physical and material form the One who is Spirit, is not only forbidden, but also foolish.

10.                    Along with these fresh instructions was the command to bring the elders, together with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, up the mountain.  When Moses returned to relay this fresh intelligence to the nation, they again responded, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” (Exod. 24:3) This was enough for Moses to proceed to consolidate the agreement between the Lord and the nation.  This Moses did the following morning.

 11.                    With the latest guidance, regarding the building of an altar to the Lord, fresh in his mind, Moses rose early the next morning and set about the work formalizing the covenant that was to be cut between the nation and the Lord.  He built an altar together with twelve pillars to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. In addition, he composed a book in which he wrote both the promises and the precepts that had initially been communicated to him. 

12.                    Then in a formal ceremony in which many young men of Israel acted as priests, burnt offerings and peace offerings were presented to God. Half the blood from the animal sacrifices was used to consecrate the altar. 

       13.                    After reading to the assembled people the detailed covenant which had been offered and verbally accepted, he waited until they again declared, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” (Exod. 24:7) At this point, Moses took the remaining blood, and swinging it around sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.” (Exod. 24:8)

 14.          Now came the time to fulfill the command to bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the elders up the mountain to meet with God. Having been consecrated by the blood of the covenant, the elders and those that would initialize the priesthood then drew near.  The covenant between the Lord and those representing Israel was celebrated with a sacramental meal, during which there was a theophany. The mechanics of the vision are not divulged.  The plain statement of Scripture is, “they saw the God of Israel”. (Exod.24.10) A little more is added, “And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity”. (Exod. 24:10) At the end of the covenantal meal, the representatives of Israel, along with Moses left the mountain.

 15.          But all was not yet complete.  There was much more to communicate regarding this covenant, especially that which related to the priesthood, the offerings and the sanctuary.  It would require the presence of Moses for a much longer time.  “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” (Exod.24:12) It seems Moses had an idea that this stay on the mountain would be an extended period because he appointed Aaron and Hur as judges in his absence, and took Joshua with him to serve him.

16.          Joshua and Moses ascended the mountain whose summit was now covered by a cloud in which the glory of God resided.  This glory tarried in the cloud for seven days and appeared to the Israelites in the camp below like devouring fire (cf. 19:16). On the seventh day the Lord called Moses into the cloud. Whether Joshua followed him we are not told; but it is evident from Ex. 32:17 that he was with him on the mountain, though, judging from v. 2 and Ex. 33:11, he did not go into the immediate presence of God.

 17.              Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights, during which time he neither ate nor drank. There are some powerful associations that spring to mind in connection with the forty days and forty nights, not least of all because it was a period that Moses had to repeat. Elijah took forty days to journey to this very mountain on the strength of one meal only. Goliath’s challenge to Israel was over a period of forty days, as was the challenge of Satan during the fast of Jesus in the wilderness.

      18.                     During this extended period on the mountain Moses received instructions regarding the building of the Tabernacle, the making of its furniture for which the Lord promised the provision of skilled workers, the consecration of a Priesthood and instructions regarding daily offerings. Though the Tabernacle would be necessary for the spiritual welfare of the whole nation, it was not designed for communal use. It is after some instructions regarding the daily offerings that the encounter is first summed up in Exod. 29.43-46: “… there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory. So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests. I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” (Ex 29:43-46) The end of the encounter is given in Exod. 31.18. “And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”

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The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel (Continued)

Mount Sinai

The Giving of the Law (Continued)

We continue detailing the order of events in the giving of the Law to Israel via Moses.

3.            Now that the people had agreed to enter into the special relationship, preparations had to be made that would formalize and itemize the agreement, so the Lord issued instructions that the people should prepare themselves by bathing, laundering and preparing their hearts to hear His Word.  In addition, as God commanded, boundaries were set around the mountain. He had to charge the people to keep their place and ensure the sanctity of those that had been fulfilling a priestly office.

 

4.                        After these preparations, on the morning of the third day (from the issuing of this divine command), the Lord came down upon the top of Mount Sinai, manifesting His glory in fire, in the midst of thunders and lightnings. The mountain burned with fire and trembled like a leaf. These natural phenomena were accompanied by a loud trumpet blast, which “sounded long and became louder and louder”. (Exod.19.19) This ‘Tekiah Gedolah’ as it would be called at the Feast of Trumpets, had two main purposes.  The first to announce the arrival of the Lord, and the second, to summon the nation to assemble before Him and listen to His words.

5.                        At this time the Lord summoned Moses into His presence to further impress on him the solemnity of the occasion, and the need to emphasize to the people that they were to keep their station, on risk of death.

6  .           After Moses had returned to the foot of the mountain, God spoke to the nation the ‘ten words’ of the Decalogue. Forty years later, the aged prophet, recalling the event, said, “The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire”. (Deut. 5:4) The whole of the Mosaic covenant would rest on these ten commands – they would be its foundation.

7.            Experiencing the Lord so close was overpowering for the nation.  The command to draw near was still in effect. “When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.” (Ex 19:13)  They were expecting another long trumpet blast to call them into the near presence of God. The phenomena attending His presence overawed the people.  They cried, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exod. 20:19) In such a manner was Moses finally established as the mediator between God and Israel.

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The Messiah and the Covenants of Israel (Continued)

The Mosaic Covenant (Continued)

The terms of the Mosaic Covenant have been examined and analyzed over centuries, and Jewish legal experts have ordered and codified it in such a way that the nation could understand its requirements and obey its precepts.  R. Simlai, a Palestinian haggadist, summarized their conclusion. "Six hundred and thirteen commandments were revealed to Moses; 365 being prohibitions equal in number to the days of the year, and 248 being mandates corresponding in number to the bones of the human body."  The number 613 is found as early as tannaitic times—e.g., in a saying of Simon ben Eleazar and one of Simon ben Azzai—and is apparently based upon ancient tradition. The need to understand and obey it arose from the fact that there were blessings offered for obedience and curses threatened for disobedience, as vocalized by Moses himself. “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God”. (Deut 11:26-28)

 This momentous event, the giving of the Law, seems to have unfolded in the following order.

 1.            In the third month after their exodus from Egypt they arrived at Mount Sinai. Moses had known from the time of his call that Israel would meet God there. On arrival, they encamped at the foot of the mountain.  The Lord descended from heaven and made Himself available at the peak of the mountain.  Several meteorological signs attended his presence. Then He called Moses into His presence and made an offer of a special relationship, a relationship in which Israel would be

 (a)           His ‘special treasure’, ‘segulah’ in Hebrew, the private property of a king, as distinct from that used for public purposes, as with David in 1 Chron.29.3 “Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver”. Israel was to be God’s ‘special treasure’. This particular and peculiar relationship is referred to again in Deuteronomy. “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth”; (Deut. 7:6) and “you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth”; (Deut. 14:2) and “the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments”. (Deut. 26:18) It is of great importance to the nation, preceding as it does, the giving of the Law.

(b)           “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests”. (Exod.19.6) This implied more than a priestly caste, and indeed later Jewish tradition understood it as such, converting it from a promise to a responsibility (noblesse oblige), and requiring the whole population to live by the same code of holiness that the priests lived by. This formed part of the background to the conflict between the Messiah and the Pharisees.

 (c)           “and a holy nation”. (Ex 19:6) A nation that could discern between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean.

 2.            Moses descended the mountain and made the offer, on behalf of the Lord, to the elders and people of Israel, who accepted it without hesitation. Moses then returned to the presence of the Lord and relayed the response of the nation.

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