Soon after Je'thro's visit the children of Is'ra-el traveled a short distance to the level plain which faced Mount Si'nai. It was on this plain that Mo'ses had received his final call to return to E'gypt to deliver Is'ra-el. It was now three months since the Is'ra-el-ites had left E'gypt. They encamped before the great mountain for a whole year, and some of the greatest messages from God in the history of Is'ra-el were given to Mo'ses during this period. The moral code for the government of the nation was spoken and written by the LORD, rules for the domestic, social, and religious life of the people were revealed to Mo'ses, and full instructions were given for the elaborate system of worship and priestly sacrifices. The Tabernacle was erected, its furnishings provided, a portable altar was built, and many other important customs were founded.
The Mosaic Law was given from the high granite mountain called Si'nai. The mountain consists of three lofty peaks: the one on the northeast being called Ho'reb, the southwestern peak called Mount St. Cath'-er-ine, and the highest of all being known as Mount Si'nai.
When the Is'ra-el-ites encamped before this mountain the LORD spoke secretly to Mo'ses, calling to mind the miraculous deliverance of Is'ra-el from E'gypt, and giving a new promise of love and grace if the people would only obey His voice and live according to His laws. The LORD said, "Is'ra-el shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is mine." The children of Is'ra-el were to be fenced in, preserved in their own manner of living, and kept apart from others until the Mes-si'ah reigned. Truly they might have sung!
"We are a garden walled around,
Chosen and made peculiar ground;
A little spot enclosed by grace
Out of the world's wide wilderness."
Mo'ses called together the elders of Is'ra-el, and they in turn summoned all the people to hear the special message which God proclaimed to them. The people replied, "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do." Then Mo'ses informed the LORD of the hearty response of the people. But the great laws which God was now ready to give the Is'ra-el-ites were so important that He would not reveal them through any human being, not even through the mouth of one so good and loyal as Mo'ses.
The LORD therefore told Mo'ses to have the people gather in a great assembly before Mount Si'nai, saying that He would appear in the midst of the mountain in fire and smoke. It was also promised that the LORD would declare His divine laws so clearly that all the people might hear them with their own ears, and see with their own eyes the majesty and power of their God.
Special preparations were required of the people before this great revelation of God could be given. They were told to wash their bodies and their clothing, to separate their hearts from all sin, to dedicate themselves to God with renewed consecration, and to stand before the mountain in a humble, reverent attitude. They were also warned not to risk death by coming too near the mountain.
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