LESSON 3
ISRAEL BEGAN TO BE A NATION WHEN IT CROSSED THE RED SEA
- They needed a law to govern the people. (What happens to a people without a law? 2 Chr 15:3; Rom 2:12; 1 Cor 9:21)
- Two weeks later (Ex 20:1-17), God gave them the Law (only ten of the commandments at that time) on MT. Sinai.
THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW IS MORE THAN JUST THE 10 COMMANDMENTS.
NOTICE WHY GOD DID NOT CONTINUE GIVING HIS LAWS AT THIS TIME (Exo. 20:1-19).
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
QUESTIONS:
There are not so many questions this time but lack of references at the end of each one make your work a bit harder. I pray you will be able to use the key words in each question to look up the answers you need in a concordance. Questions like these can be a challenge, but they may be answered correctly with just a little extra effort. You have to be on your toes to find the answers and give the scripture where you prove them.
One other thing I would like to mention is that this is a particularly good lesson to use in studying with people of different beliefs. Some denominations base their whole doctrine on the Ten Commandments and ignore almost all other OT commands (laws) for the Israelites. Ceremonial cleansing, preparation of food, clean and unclean animals are all part of the confusion.
- How many laws did God speak to the children of Israel on Mount Sinai?
- Why did God stop speaking his law on Mount Sinai?
- Did God give Moses any more laws for the children of Israel after he spoke the 10 Commandments?
- What was the greatest commandment in the law (Mat 22:36-40)?
- What was the second greatest commandment in the law?
- Was the greatest command or the second greatest command found in any of the Ten Commandments?
- If the two greatest commandments of the law were not part of the Ten Commandments, did God give more than 10 Commandments to Israel?
- Were the laws regarding the Passover a part of the Law of Moses?
- Was the Passover a part of the Ten Commandments?
- How many other laws did God give to Israel in Exodus 20?
- Was circumcision a part of the Ten Commandments?
- What were the laws for clean and unclean birds?
- Were the laws of animal sacrifice given in the Ten Commandments?
- Was the command to give 10 percent a part of the Ten Commandments?
- Were the weightier laws of judgment, mercy and faith part of the Ten Commandments (Mt 23:23)?
REMEMBER: Someone has counted the laws found in the OT including the laws concerning land ownership, leprosy, diseases, etc. and found 613 laws – 345 “thou shalt not” and 268 “thou shalt.” The Dickson edition of the KJV Bible has a chart on page 1459-61, which lists most of the laws found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. I have made a smaller list of the laws punishable by death in a similar chart and will share my document with anyone who wants it.
–Beth Johnson