Chapter 12
Exodus 18-19
Evening came around again, and the little family group were together once more.
“Tonight,” said Mother, “I want you to think of another little family gathered together out there in the desert. Do you remember that Moses and his wife Zipporah had a little son called Gershom, born to them while he was a stranger in the land of Midian? Well, the Lord gave them another son, whom they called Eliezer. But Moses sent the little boys and their mother back to her father, Jethro, in Midian, while things were happening in the land of Egypt.
“Now Jethro had heard of all that God had done for Moses, and how He had brought His people out of Egypt, so he thought he would like to go and see Moses, and to take his wife and children back to him. So they came to where Moses was at Mount Horeb. It was where Moses saw the burning bush and was called the mount of God.
“It must have made Moses very happy to see them all again. It says, he went to meet Jethro and kissed him and he took him into his tent and told him all that the Lord had done; and then Jethro praised God and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices. Aaron and the elders came and they ate with Jethro before God.
“Jethro was not an Israelite, but he was a priest of Midian. Moses had lived in Midian forty years just before God called him to lead the people out of Egypt. Jethro must have heard from Moses about the God of Abraham and so now he comes to see Moses and his people. And when Jethro heard of the wonderful works of God concerning the Israelites, he rejoiced greatly and worshiped God with His people. The day after Jethro came Moses sat to judge the people and all day they were coming to him to tell him all their troubles, and if any had quarrels with each other Moses judged between them and told them God’s will and taught them about God. But Jethro, seeing how great a task this was, advised Moses to choose out wise and good men to help him. This Moses did and they judged all the small matters and Moses judged the greater things. Then Jethro went back to his land.
“Then the children of Israel went on with their journey. In the third month they reached Mount Sinai and encamped at its base. Both the wilderness and the mountain were called Sinai. Now God was about to do something very different for His people from what He had ever done for any other people.
“Moses went up unto God and the Lord called to him out of the mountain and said, ‘Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore if ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine and ye shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
“Then Moses called the people together and told them all these words. The people answered and said: ‘All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.’
“If they had only remembered how often since they had left Egypt that they had disobeyed, and murmured, and had wanted to turn back to Egypt, I do not think that they would have answered so quickly and promised to obey all that the Lord had said, but would have asked for His mercies instead.
“In another book, which we will read later on, the Lord said, when He heard their answer: ‘Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever.’
“And the Lord told Moses He would come in a thick cloud on the third day and by that day the people should all be dressed in clean clothing and that they should come to the mount but no nearer than the railing which was to be put around it. If they as much as touched the mountain they would die.
“This was holy ground like the place where Moses saw the burning bush, and when the trumpet sounded they stood at the foot of the mount as the Lord commanded. And Moses led them out of the camp to meet with God. And Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord came down upon the mountain in fire. The mountain trembled and all the people trembled. And God called Moses up to Him to the top of the mountain.”
“Why could Moses go up and not the people, Mamma?” asked Sophy.
“Because God in His grace was going to use him to go between Himself and His people. That is what it means to be a mediator. Moses was to be a mediator between God and the children of Israel; for God spoke to Moses and then Moses spoke to the people.
“Now God told Moses to go down again and tell the people to be very sure to not come near to the mountain lest they be consumed. But the Lord commanded Moses to return and bring Aaron with him.
“In spite of all the blessings He bestowed upon them He saw that the hearts of His people were wicked so He would now ask them to do as the law commanded them, that they might discover how disobedient and unbelieving they were. This would make them see that they could not make themselves perfect before God; and we shall see how they failed.
“Perhaps some might ask, Did not God give Adam a law? No, God warned Adam as to what would happen to him if he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but God did not ask Adam to make himself better. And God did not ask Abraham, Isaac or Jacob to do anything to make themselves better. God gave them promises they received by faith and God counted their faith to them for righteousness, that is: He accepted them because they believed in Him. God showed great mercies to their children, who were these very Israelites about whom we are learning, when He led them through the Red Sea and, in our story, in leading them day by day through the wilderness.
“You remember that God was using His servant Moses to lead and instruct His people and so He used Moses in this special duty of giving the law also.
“This was a different covenant from the one God had made with Abraham. The covenant with Abraham was that he and his children should be separate from all the other nations of the earth, and that they should have God’s mark on them as a sign that they believed in Him and to show that they obeyed God, and that He would give them an everlasting possession and be their God. But the covenant to Israel was not one of promise but a law and commandment; for God had told them that if they did this they should live, but if they broke the law they would die.
“But I do not think they realized what God had told them for they said they would do all that the law commanded before it was ever given to them.”