Session 10: Exodus 19-20:21

Session 10: Exodus 19-20:21

Summarize

I. God proposes a covenant to the Israelites(19:1-6)

A. God reminds the Israelites of what He has done for them(4)

B. God promises to make the Israelites His People if they stay pure/true to Him(5)

II. The Israelites prepare to enter into covenant with God(19:7-15)

A. The Israelites agree to trust God and be faithful to Him(8)

B. God instructs the Israelites to purify themselves(10-15)

C. God sets boundaries around the mountain(12)

III. Moses intercedes for the Israelites(19:16-25)

A. Only Moses is allowed to be in God’s presence(23-24)

B. God warns the people that they will die if they try to come into His presence(24)

IV. God lays out the terms of His covenant(20:1-11)

A. God instructs the Israelites on how to respect and relate to Him(1-8)

V. God relates how the people should respect and relate to each other(20:12-17)

A. God communicates how treating others is related to how the people trust and respect Him(17)

VI. The people are fearful of God and acknowledge the need for Moses to mediate for them.(20:18-21)

Analyze

1. What does God command Moses to remind the Israelites about?

1. How is the covenant God makes with the Israelites different than the previous covenants He’s made?

Prior to this event, the only party responsible for upholding the covenant was God.  There were no stipulations to the covenant.  This covenant is the first time God makes stipulations on how the people were to keep their end of the deal. In many ways, the proposal God presents through Moses is like a marriage proposal.  It’s a promise of fidelity with the expectation of fidelity.

2. What does God command the Israelites do before establishing His covenant with them?(9-15)

1. What do the strict boundaries and attention to purity teach you about how seriously God takes sin? (12-13)

3. Who was allowed to come to the top of the mountain?  Who does God warn to not “break through to see the Lord”(20-25)

Even after all the purification the people are still unable to approach God, only Moses is able to go up and intercede for the people and bring back the Word of God. In the same way only Jesus is able to intercede for us and it is only through Jesus that we can know God. (Jn 14:6)

1. How does this image enhance your understanding of the impossibility of salvation by works and the gift of salvation by grace through Christ?
2. How does this affect your attitude about knowing that those who trust in Christ can enter into the presence of God? (Jude 1:24)

4. Where/What is the first of the 10 Commandments? How is this command related to relationship?(20:1-3)

1. How does making an idol limit your worship of God? How do we make idols that are meant to help us understand God? How can we guard ourselves from violating the second command?(20:4-5)
2. How does vs 5 communicate the concept of accountability and consequences? When a person sins, is he the only one affected by the consequences?  What is the reward for those who trust in God? What is the reward for those who hate God?
3. Is the 3rd command limited only to what we say? How does taking a person, like the president of the United States lightly, help us understand what it means to take God’s name lightly?

Remember Exodus 20 is part of this “marriage” ceremony between God and Israel. So just as a woman changes her name when she marries and becomes a representative of everyone else bearing that name so the people of Israel now bear God’s name. For the Christ follower, we bear His name and represent Him so every time we act out of character of a child of God we take God’s name in lightly.

4. What is the positive and negative aspects of the 4th command? What shall you do and what shall you not do?  What does this command suggest about how to live a fulfilling life? How does cease clarify your understanding of what it means to rest?

We are made in God’s image and we fulfill our purpose by exerting ourselves in producing and creating.  This is the kind of work we were meant to do but is also the kind of work we should cease from doing.  When God tells us to rest it doesn’t mean to do nothing, but to cease or stop from producing and creating. There’s a balance between the two that helps us live life the way God intended.

5. How does one honor their parents? How does respecting and valuing the experience of your parents help one survive longer on the earth?

1. What is the difference between murder and killing? (Matt 5:21-26)

Contextualize

1. We need an intercessor/mediator to come into the presence of Holy God
2. No amount of good works will qualify us to enter into the presence of the Holy
3. God has made a way for us to have fellowship with Him through the One He has sent.

Actualize

Meditate on 2 Corinthians 3:5 every day this week and ask God to reveal how you can trust Him more in every aspect of your life.