Sunday: The Law At Sinai
Read Exodus 19:18, 19; 20:18; Deuteronomy 5:22; and Hebrews 12:21, descriptions of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. Why would it be something so terrifying? 1
“The people of Israel were overwhelmed with terror. The awful power of God’s utterances seemed more than their trembling hearts could bear. For as God’s great rule of right was presented before them, they realized as never before the offensive character of sin, and their own guilt in the sight of a holy God. They shrank away from the mountain in fear and awe.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 309, 310.
There’s something so powerful in the Ellen White quote above. As the law is presented to them, the people realize “as never before” just how bad sin is and their own guilt in the eyes of God.
So, right from the beginning of Israel’s covenantal relationship with God, we can see a revelation of the gospel in the law. The law was never meant to be a means of salvation, even at Sinai; rather, it was to show the people their need of salvation. It was right after the giving of the law that they were given instructions to build the sanctuary, which revealed to them the plan of salvation. The law was to point people to the Cross, to their need of atonement and Redemption. No wonder, then, that they trembled before the law, because the law showed them just how sinful and fallen they were.
Read Romans 7:8–13. How do these verses reveal this crucial truth? What is Paul saying that the law does? See also Ps. 119:6.
In a sense, Paul is saying here what Ellen White said happened at Sinai. The problem is not with God’s law; the problem is with sinners who have violated the law, as we all have done. Paul is showing how the law is inseparably tied to the gospel, that the law is what shows us just how sinful and fallen we are.
Read Exodus 20:1–17. Do you find yourself trembling before the law? Do you find yourself convicted by it? What are your emotions as you read the law and compare yourself with it?
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Like rightly stated this lesson is related to the previous lesson "the law and the promise"...the law was never intended to save mankind but given to us for our own good. The law reveals right from wrong..for before the law sin was dead.
I remember when I was a kid, when you did something wrong during the time your parents where out for work, just by seeing their sight made me fear. It was like they already knew what I had done so much that they could even notice the strange behavior. It was the same at mount Sinai.
The law however is holy because it reveals our sin and points to our need of a Savior.
Sunday – The Law at Sinai
1 . God's transcendentally high and holy standard of morality, His law, was given to man in written form at Sinai by God himself.
2 . God's law reveals, now as it did then, the holiness of God, the offensive character of sin, the horrifying sinfulness and guilt of mankind, and our position of doom and need for deliverance.
3 . What happened at Sinai confirmed the caring nature of God's love.
Why were people trembled when God gave the Laws at Sinai?