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But I do want to read the chapter, 
so we'll begin in verse 1 of Exodus chapter 20. And God spoke 
all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought 
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make 
for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that 
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that 
is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them 
nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting 
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and 
fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to 
thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. 
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for 
the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 
your God. In it you shall do no work, you 
nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your 
female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within 
your gates. For in six days the Lord made 
the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, 
and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, 
that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your 
God is giving you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit 
adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness 
against your neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, 
you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor 
his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything 
that is your neighbor's. Now all the people witnessed 
the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, 
and the mountains smoking. And when the people saw it, they 
trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, You 
speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us, 
lest we die. And Moses said to the people, 
Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that His fear 
may be before you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood 
afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God 
was. Then the Lord said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children 
of Israel, You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 
You shall not make anything to be with me. Gods of silver or 
gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. An altar of earth 
you shall make for me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt 
offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In 
every place where I record my name, I will come to you and 
I will bless you. And if you make me an altar of 
stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone. For if you use 
your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps 
to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it. Amen. Remember the three sections in 
the book that we have outlined in a most simple fashion. The 
book deals with deliverance. You see that in chapters one 
to 18, God delivers Israel out of bondage in Egypt. The second 
section is demand. God commands his people how they're 
supposed to function in chapters 19 to 24. And then the last emphasis 
is on dwelling. So chapters 25 to 40 we have 
instruction for and then the actual construction of the tabernacle 
such that God dwells in the midst of his people. Now the time at 
Sinai is very significant. One man named Dempster in a very 
excellent book on the Hebrew canon. He says Israel stays at 
Sinai for 11 months in real time and 57 chapters in narrative 
time. This is important given the fact 
that 68 chapters precede Sinai and 59 chapters follow it. Sinai 
is central to the Torah. So they spend a considerable 
amount of time there, and they are getting commanded, they're 
getting instructed, they're getting the laws that will regulate them 
in their civil polity, life in the land, and the way that they 
are to relate to God Most High. So we've looked at all of the 
Ten Commandments. I want to look at the section 
from verses 18 to 26 tonight, but first I want us to turn over 
to Deuteronomy chapter 5. After the giving of the law there, 
there's one more verse in verse 22 that sort of summarizes some 
aspects concerning the law. So I want to look first at the 
conclusion in Deuteronomy, secondly the reaction by Israel back to 
Exodus 20, verses 18 to 21, and then finally the law of the altar 
in verses 22 to 26. But if you look at chapter 5, In the book of Deuteronomy, again, 
it's the giving of the law. Second law is what Deuteronomy 
means. Doesn't mean second law like 
a new one, but the wilderness generation has died. It's a new 
generation poised on the, are in the plains of Moab, poised 
on entering into the promised land. So this is a rehearsal 
of the law, a rehearsal of the Ten Commandments, and then a 
multitude of other laws following. But notice in chapter 5 at verse 
22, It says, these words the Lord spoke to all your assembly 
in the mountain, from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the 
thick darkness with a loud voice. And he added no more. And he 
wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. So I want to look at the features 
of the Decalogue and then the uniqueness of the Decalogue as 
we see it here in verse 22. Notice in the first place, the 
divine origin of the law. These words the Lord spoke to 
all your assembly. Very often, and even the Bible 
does this, it refers to the law as the law of Moses. The Lord 
Jesus makes that reference. But ultimately, it's Moses as 
mediator, it's Moses as intermediary, the law originates with God Most 
High. He is the one who reveals it, 
it carries His authority, it carries His power. Secondly, 
you see that absolute authority of the law. He spoke it to all 
your assembly. That is an exercise of God's 
authority in that he addresses the entirety of Israel. And then as well, you see the 
comprehensive character of the law. these words the Lord spoke 
to all your assembly in the mountain from the midst of the fire the 
cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice and then notice 
and he added no more now that's speaking specifically of the 
moral law it's not speaking of the entirety of the canon because 
obviously there's a lot more to come after deuteronomy 5 verse 
22 but in terms of the moral law Remember, you have a three-fold 
division of the law. You have the ceremonial law, 
you have the judicial law, and then you have the moral law. 
The moral law is trans-covenantal. It's binding on all men everywhere. It doesn't matter your race, 
doesn't matter your nationality, doesn't matter whether you're 
religious or not. All men everywhere are under the authority of God's 
holy law. And then as well, this statement, 
he added no more, not only underscores the sufficiency and completeness 
of the moral law of God, but it also demonstrates its finality. He doesn't have to continue to 
add to it because it's a wonderful and excellent representation 
or revelation of what God is about. God does not want us to 
engage in idolatry, or blasphemy, or Sabbath-breaking, or insubordination, 
or murder, adultery, theft, lies, or covetousness. It is a comprehensive 
code that carries divine authority. Now, in terms of the uniqueness 
of the law, you see that throughout the Old Testament as well. Typically, 
when we see that picture of Moses holding the two tablets of the 
law, I think we have it in our minds that the first sort of 
four commandments are on one of the tablets, and the last 
six are on the other tablet. Well, I don't think that's the 
way we're supposed to understand the two tablets of the law. It's different than the two tables 
of the law. There are two tables, our duty 
toward God and our duty toward man. But in terms of the physical 
tablets themselves, probably each tablet contained all ten 
words. And it was probably the case 
that one tablet belonged to, represented the people of Israel, 
and the other belonged to, represented Yahweh. It was a covenantal agreement. These were the covenantal documents. 
They were deposited in the Ark of the Covenant. And so with 
reference to those two tablets of the law, they were deposited 
in the Ark of the Covenant. Now with reference to the moral 
law of God, you see in the Pentateuch, or in the law, you see this constant 
statement that God wrote with his own finger the moral law 
of God. You can turn to Exodus chapter 
24. Exodus chapter 24. This underscores the uniqueness 
of the moral law. Not that the ceremonial and judicial 
are not unique, they are in their own way. But of the threefold 
division, the one that binds us today is the moral law of 
God. The judicial law passed with 
the Commonwealth of Israel. However, the general equity of 
those laws are binding upon us today. In terms of the ceremonial 
law, that was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus, 
it's abrogated in terms of our commitment to keeping the ceremonial 
law. There is no commitment on our 
part now to keep the ceremonial law of Moses. The Lord Christ 
fulfilled that, so you can eat lobster. That's not the only 
reason why he fulfilled that, but you certainly can. Notice 
in Exodus 24, 12, then the Lord said to Moses, come up to me 
on the mountain and be there and I will give you tablets of 
stone and the law and commandments which I have written that you 
may teach them. Same emphasis in chapter 31. 
31 verse 18. And when he had made an end of 
speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses two tablets of 
the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God." 
So again, those copies represented the parties involved in the covenant, 
covenant documents deposited into the Ark of the Covenant 
for safekeeping. And then over in 34, 1, again, 
same sort of an emphasis on the uniqueness of the law. And the 
Lord said to Moses, cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, 
and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first 
tablets, which you broke. 31, 28. So he was there with 
the Lord forty days and forty nights, he neither ate bread 
nor drank water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the 
covenant, the Ten Commandments. So you see again, it is unique 
in terms of the law code. Turn over to Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 
chapter 4 at verse 13, so he declared to you his covenant 
which he commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments, and he 
wrote them on two tablets of stone. Deuteronomy chapter 9, 
Deuteronomy chapter 9 specifically at verse 10, then the Lord delivered 
to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God. and then 
in chapter 10 at verse 4. And he wrote on the tablets, 
according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the 
Lord had spoken. So again, several passages underscoring 
the uniqueness of the moral law. Not that the ceremonial and judicial 
was not unique, not that it was not special, but the unique feature 
about the moral law, as I said, it's trans-covenantal. Whether 
you're in the Old Covenant or the New Covenant, it's the same 
law of God that applies to the people of God, the same moral 
law. You see that in Jeremiah 31, the promise of the New Covenant. 
God says He will write His law upon their hearts. Now, there 
was no need for Jeremiah to parse that statement out, because everybody 
would know what law he was talking about in terms of being written 
on the heart. You get to the Sermon on the 
Mount, and what does Jesus say concerning moral law? Do not 
think that I came to destroy the law. I did not come to destroy 
it, but to fulfill it. Now, specifically, He is dealing 
with the moral law. And with reference to the uniqueness, 
we then conclude that the law is permanent. The fulfillment 
of the ceremonial law by Jesus Christ is admitted by all. The 
expiration of the judicial law by the end of the theocratic 
nation of Israel is recognized in the Reformed confessions. 
Again, general equity binding upon the people of God today. but the perpetuity of the moral 
law of God is seen throughout Scripture. You see, for instance, 
when Paul wants to define love in Romans chapter 13, he doesn't 
just say, you know, go home and sit in your room and think about 
what it is to love one another. He points to the second table 
of the Decalogue as a concrete expression of what it means to 
fulfill the law, to love your neighbor as yourself. It means 
don't murder him, it means don't commit adultery with his wife, 
it means don't steal from him, don't lie about him, and don't 
covet his stuff. It's a pretty simple, concrete 
way to express what it means to love one another. Our Confession 
of Faith in chapter 19 makes this statement in paragraph 5 
concerning the moral law. The moral law doth forever bind 
all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof, 
and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but 
also in respect of the authority of God the Creator who gave it. 
Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen 
this obligation. That is a good, reformed understanding 
of the abiding validity of the moral law of God. And it's most 
crucial that we get that. That differentiates us from the 
dispensationalists. The dispensationalists does not 
affirm chapter 19, paragraph 5. He does not affirm the moral 
law as given on Sinai as binding and perpetual for us today. He 
says that that law was for the Jew as Jew. It may make an appearance 
in a future millennial kingdom, but it's not what governs or 
regulates the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in this new covenant 
era. So he is wrong. The Reformed 
confessions are correct at this particular point. So I just wanted 
to look at that in Deuteronomy 5. I've always thought verse 
22 is a great sort of summary statement concerning the law 
with reference to its divine origin, its absolute authority, 
its comprehensive character, and the finality of it. Now going 
back to the passage in Exodus, we come to the reaction by Israel 
in verses 18 to 21. So it's been a pretty splendid 
sight that they've seen. God's majesty displayed. Going 
back to chapter 19, you see already the sorts of things that they 
were witnessing, that they were viewing. Go back to chapter 19, 
specifically at verse 16. It says, Then it came to pass 
on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and 
lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound 
of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were 
in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people 
out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot 
of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely 
in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended 
like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked 
greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and 
became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by 
voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top 
of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to 
the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said 
to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through 
to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. Also let the 
priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the 
Lord break out against them. But Moses said to the Lord, The 
people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you warned us, saying, 
Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it." So going 
back to chapter 20, notice in the first place the response 
of the Israelites. Verse 18 rehearses what they 
saw. And it repeats in summary fashion. 
Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning, 
the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet. And then it goes 
on to indicate what they experienced. When they saw this, there was 
fear in their hearts. And that's what the end of verse 
18 and all of verse 19 indicates. It says, when the people saw 
it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, 
you speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with 
us lest we die. So the people tremble and stand 
far off. There's no need for a boundary 
at this point. There's no need for a fence. 
There's no need for a wall because they're sufficiently terrified 
and they're not going to approach Yahweh of Israel. The reason 
for that is because they understand now something of his absolute 
holiness. They should have had some of 
that inkling already, but now they see it all too clearly. 
As well, standing in the holiness of God will typically result 
in one's appreciation for their own unholiness. Remember that 
instance in Isaiah chapter 6 when he rehearses his call to the 
prophetic ministry in the year that King Uzziah died. He saw 
the Lord lofty and exalted, the train of his robe filled the 
entirety of the temple. The angels cried, Holy, holy, 
holy is Yahweh of hosts. The whole earth is filled with 
his glory. What does Isaiah say when he sees that? He says, Woe 
is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and 
I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips. Why? Mine eyes have seen 
the glory of the Lord God of hosts. So when we come into the 
presence of a holy God, that manifests or demonstrates to 
us our own unholiness. At the end of Ezekiel in chapter 
1, after he gets the vision of God's war chariot as it's a mobile 
sort of an expression of God's ability to be with His people 
even though they're no longer in the land of Israel, what does 
Ezekiel do? He falls down like a dead man 
having seen this vision. John on the island of Patmos 
receives or has the same sort of reaction when he sees the 
glorified Christ, according to Revelation 1.17, he falls down 
like a dead man. So when you either hear these 
charismatics say, oh yeah, you know, I was shaving and Jesus 
appeared to me and nothing happened, you didn't fall down. I think 
it was Jack Hayford, he was shaving and he said that Jesus appeared 
to him while he was shaving and MacArthur asked him, so what 
did you do? Well, I guess he kept on shaving. Well, you wouldn't 
keep on shaving. You'd fall down like a dead man, 
the way that Ezekiel did, the way that Isaiah bemoans in terms 
of his own sinfulness, the way that John the seer does, and 
the way that Israel responds here. And when the people saw 
it, they trembled and stood afar off. Notice, then they said to 
Moses, you speak with us and we will hear, but let not God 
speak with us, lest we die. What does God's holiness and 
their own unholiness teach them? It teaches them the need for 
a mediator. We cannot bear to look upon God 
in His blazing glory. We need somebody to mediate that 
glory to us because we are a sinful people. We need somebody to stand 
between us, and Moses functions somewhat in that capacity. Notice 
when you get down to verse 22. Then the Lord said to Moses, 
Thus you shall say to the children of Israel. Moses does function 
in a mediatorial capacity, because the children of Israel are unholy. 
God is holy, they recognize this, and they cry out for a mediator. 
John Gill says, but let not God speak with us lest we die. Pray 
to Him that He would not speak immediately, but by a mediator, 
which they now saw the need of, that there was no drawing nigh 
to God, nor hearing, nor receiving anything from Him without one. 
that his law as it came from him to them sinful creatures 
was a killing letter, and the ministration of condemnation 
and death, and injected such terror into their minds that 
if it was continued, they must die under it." You get a glimpse 
of this in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12, when the 
apostle makes that contrast between Sinai and Zion. In Hebrews 12 
at verse 18, for you have not come to the mountain that may 
be touched and that burned with fire and to blackness and darkness 
and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words 
so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken 
to them anymore. For they could not endure what 
was commanded. And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, 
it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. And so terrifying was 
the sight that Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and trembling. 
But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the City of the Living 
God, and the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of 
angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, 
who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the 
spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the 
New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better 
things than that of Abel. It's one of the main emphases 
throughout the book of Hebrews. The main emphases, or one of 
the main emphases, is the superiority of the New Covenant over the 
Old Covenant. Why? Because Jews were being 
tempted to go back to Old Covenant religion and ways. And the Apostle 
is saying, don't do that. The New Covenant is a better 
Governing founded on better promises that affords a better hope and 
in this particular contrast you've not come to sign I but you've 
rather come to Zion you've come to the church of the firstborn 
You've come to that blessed fount wherein is is grace and mercy 
now going back to Exodus chapter 20 We see their response the 
people are fearful now in light of that response Moses gives 
them in current instruction in verses 20 and 21 In the first place, he tells 
them, do not fear. Now, if you look carefully at 
verse 20, he says, don't fear because God's fear has come before 
you. He's using the word fear with 
two different senses. So Moses said to the people, 
do not fear. So there's a fear in the presence 
of God that is condemned. But then there is a fear in the 
presence of God that is condoned or commended. Now the type of 
fear that he prohibits them from is do not fear in the sense of 
a slavish fear, the kind of fear that sends someone running from 
God. Remember in the garden when Adam 
and Eve sinned, they run from God. The biblical fear of God, 
the right and proper fear of God, is that fear which provokes 
us to run to God to seek refuge in Him. And so Moses cautions 
them with this standoffish attitude not to engage it. In other words, 
there may be some fearful things and it may be a terrifying sight, 
but don't fear. So, don't fear. He's not brought 
you to this place simply to cut your throat and throw you in 
a ditch. Don't fear Him in that particular manner. So, it's a 
good prohibition, a good caution, and one that was absolutely necessary 
for the people at this particular time. Now, the reason that He 
gives this is specified in the remaining part of the verse. 
So Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come 
to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you 
may not sin. So if the first kind of fear 
is what we would call a slavish fear, the second kind of fear 
is called a filial fear. It's the sort of fear that sees 
God as God, that reveres God as God, that respects Him as 
God. So the type of fear here is that 
spoken of in the prophet Jeremiah. You can turn there. Jeremiah 
chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32. I'm pretty 
much convinced this is probably the passage, or at least a passage, 
that John Newton had in his mind when he wrote, Amazing Grace, 
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Because in 
the second stanza, he writes, "'Twas grace that taught my heart 
to fear." That's not a slavish fear. Rather, it is a filial 
fear. Now, notice in Jeremiah 32. It's 
the promise of the New Covenant, beginning in verse 36. Now, therefore, 
thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city 
of which you say it, shall be delivered into the hand of the 
king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have 
driven them in my anger, in my fury, and in great wrath. I will 
bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell 
safely. They shall be my people, and I will be their God. Then 
I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me 
forever for the good of them and their children after them. 
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them. that I will 
not turn away from doing them good, but I will put my fear 
in their hearts so that they will not depart from me. Yes, 
I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly 
plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my 
soul. He says, I will put my fear in 
their hearts so that they will not depart from me. So that fear 
is a good fear. It keeps one, it restrains one 
from departing from the Lord. So going back to Exodus 20, verse 
20, the two types of fear here. Don't fear in that slavish sense 
wherein you run from God and fear that he's only out to get 
you, but rather fear him in a manner that is consistent with his majesty, 
with his holiness, and with his glory. John Gill says, not a 
slavish fear of death, of wrath, and damnation before dehorted 
from, that's actually a word. Dehorted means a previous sort 
of a warning or caution. He goes on to say, but a reverence 
of the divine majesty and awe of his greatness and glory, a 
serious regard to his commands delivered in so grand a manner 
and a carefulness to offend him by disobeying that. That's the 
kind of fear that's in view in verse 20. So don't fear with 
the slavish type wherein you run away from God, but rather 
God has come to test you and that his fear may be before you. 
Now notice how it continues, so that you may not sin. So it's 
absolutely crucial that we have this filial fear of God as a 
means by which that sinfulness in us is checked and hopefully 
restrained. Matthew Poole comments, he says, 
God's fear is properly in man's heart. But here the sense seems 
to be this, that this fear, i.e. his dreadful manifestation of 
his majesty and justice, may be now and ever before your eyes 
and in your memories as an effectual preservative from sin. So it 
shouldn't surprise us at the end of Romans chapter 3 in verse 
18, after putting together all of those statements from the 
Old Testament concerning the sinfulness of man, he caps it 
off with 3.18 saying, there is no fear of God before their eyes. That's sort of the apex of man's 
rebellion against the living and the true God. John Flavel 
says, this fear of God is a gracious habit or principle planted by 
God in the soul, whereby the soul is kept under and holy awe 
of the eye of God. And from thence it is inclined 
to perform and do what pleases him, and to shun and avoid whatsoever 
he forbids and hates. It is planted in the soul as 
a permanent and fixed habit. To fear man is natural, but to 
fear God is wholly supernatural. And if we understand this connection 
properly, it may not be the case that we need five strategies 
on how to deal with our sin. Now, it probably wouldn't hurt 
us to have five strategies on how to deal with our sin, but 
it might also be a wonderful strategy to have a proper understanding 
of who God is. When we understand that He's 
infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, 
holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, perhaps some of that 
will percolate in our minds and hearts so that we will not sin 
against Him. So the understanding of who God 
is isn't only beneficial for the comfort of the heart, but 
it's also beneficial for the restraint of the sinful heart. 
And hopefully when we have a view of God, the way that the Israelites 
saw him at Sinai, it'll go a long way to helping us with reference 
to our walk before God. And then notice their response 
to Moses after this instruction. Verse 21, So the people stood 
afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God 
was. So Moses is going to go back. Moses wants more of the presence 
of God. The people here, rather, stand 
far off. I'm not sure that's a negative 
commentary at this point. It's simply a factual report 
concerning where they're at. They've seen God, they've seen 
the glory, they've seen the pomp, they've seen the show, they've 
seen the majesty as well. And one more observation from 
the Deuteronomy 5 passage. You can turn there. Deuteronomy 
chapter 5 verse 22 again. Notice what the passage says. 
These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain 
from the midst of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness 
with a loud voice and he added no more. And he wrote them on 
two tablets of stone and gave them to me. Now going back to 
Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20, look at what 
it says specifically in verse 22 by way of repetition. Then 
the Lord said to Moses, so everything from chapter 5 in Deuteronomy 
in terms of the divine origin of the law, absolute authority 
of the law, comprehensive character of the law, but notice in terms 
of the origin, verse 22. Then the Lord said to Moses, 
thus you shall say to the children of Israel, you have seen that 
I have talked with you from heaven. Now, Sinai was the gathering 
place. Sinai was a sanctuary. Sinai was a temple. But God is 
not at Sinai. He manifests His glory. He manifests 
His presence there. But where is God? God is in heaven. See, later on in redemptive history, 
the children of Israel are going to come to battle with pagans 
and various persons who have gods in the valleys, and they 
have gods in the hills, and they have gods for, you know, fertility. They have gods for a whole host 
of things. The God of heaven and earth is unique. The God 
of heaven and earth is not a localized deity. He doesn't live on the 
top of Mount Sinai. He's not the God that dwells 
at Sinai. He speaks from heaven to the 
people of Israel on earth, though Sinai is the place where, at 
least physically, he represents himself in their midst through 
cloud and fire. So when we come back to this 
particular section, it is intriguing that we now move to the law of 
the altar. It seems a bit out of place. 
So you've got the end of the Decalogue, and then in chapter 
21, beginning in verse 1, we're going to get into the judicial 
law. How does the Ten Commandments, those general principles, how 
do we apply those general principles in the land which the Lord our 
God is giving us? Well, that's what chapters 21 
to 23 is going to take up in exhaustive detail. We're going 
to deal with a lot of interesting things as we move through this 
particular section of Scripture. But before we get to that judicial 
law, notice the emphasis on the altar. So there is this reminder 
in verse 22. We've got the mediatorial office 
of Moses functional now. Then the Lord said to Moses, 
Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, You have seen that 
I have talked with you from heaven. Now, as well, we have a prohibition 
in verses 23 to 26. The first is general in nature, 
but it does reflect the concern of this brief section. Notice 
in verse 23, You shall not make anything to be with me. Gods 
of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. 
Go back to the first part of the chapter. Notice in verse 
3, you shall have no other gods before me. Now, typically we 
can understand that as before God. So it's not that you have 
yourself, your lusts, your desires, your gold, your whatever, and 
then God as sort of a capstone to your already happy life. But 
we can also understand this as, you shall have no other gods 
besides me. It's a call for, you know, solidarity 
to the living and true God. There's no sort of competitors 
there. And then if you look specifically 
at verse 23, you shall not make anything to be with me. So no 
before, no besides, and no with. Now, brethren, as we move forward, 
not only in the Pentateuch, but in subsequent history, we will 
find that more often than not, Israel's sin was not, we're going 
to completely reject Yahweh, and we're going to give ourselves 
wholly to Baal. That's usually not what it was. 
It was usually syncretism. Syncretism is when we mingle 
a bit of this and a bit of that, and we have sort of this conglomerate. 
So they probably didn't ever just outright, I'm sure there 
were times, repudiate Yahweh. But they would add to their pantheon. They would have Yahweh for certain 
things. They would have Baal for certain things. They'd have 
Asherah for certain things. And so God says, don't do that. 
None before me, none besides me, and certainly none with me." 
It's not the case that God needs a helper God. He doesn't need 
an assistant. He doesn't need anybody to do 
His bidding for Him. And so He reiterates the first 
and second commandment. He combines them here, essentially, 
in verse 23. You shall not make anything to 
be with me, gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make 
for yourselves. And then in verses 24 to 26, 
we have protocols for the altar. Protocols for the altar. And 
again, it seems like odd placement, unless we understand the breakdown 
of the book. We've got deliverance, we've 
got demand, and we've got dwelling. This is foreshadowing something 
that is going to fare large in the rest of the book. Worship 
is central in Israel's life. Not just their religious life, 
but in their political life as well. They were a theocratic 
nation. They were governed directly by 
God. They had responsibilities to their lord, to their king, 
to their master, and part of that responsibility was worship, 
and it was sacrifice. So when we look at this brief 
sort of interlude, the people respond to the giving of the 
law at Sinai, just before we get to the detailed legislation 
that's going to govern life in the land, let's just get this 
on the table in terms of worship. Now, some have seen here a bit 
of a contradiction with, say, Deuteronomy chapter 12. If you 
look specifically at verse 24, about the end of the verse, "...in 
every place where I record my name, I will come to you, and 
I will bless you." Some commentators say, well, that conflicts with 
the emphasis in Deuteronomy 12 with reference to a central sanctuary. 
Deuteronomy 12 is not for a while. They're going to worship God, 
and they're going to need an altar. They're going to need 
a place where they can bring their service unto the Lord Most 
High. So in terms of this emphasis, 
the emphasis is upon worship. Now there have been altars in 
Genesis. We see godly men, the patriarchs 
build altars there. Turn back to Exodus chapter 17. You see an altar before this 
law concerning protocols for the altar. But if you notice 
in Exodus 17 at verse 15, There's going to be an altar built at 
the end of this section. Turn to chapter 24. So 21 to 23 is detailed legislation 
governing life in the land. It is the application or rather 
the opening up of the general principles of the Ten Commandments 
and applying them to various situations that they will face 
in their lives in the land. And so chapter 24 is the ratification 
of the Old Covenant. You know, Jesus does this in 
Matthew chapter 26. He inaugurates the New Covenant 
in His blood. There is a consistent link here. They ratified the Old Covenant 
in blood as well. So you can't kind of miss that. The writer to the Hebrews makes 
much of this. The First Covenant was not ratified 
without blood, neither is the Second Covenant or the New Covenant. It's ratified by blood, just 
like this Old Covenant was. So in chapter 24, Israel affirms, 
they confirm, they swear fealty to the sovereign, saying, all 
that he has commanded we will do. Now we know that does not 
work out. We know that they fail miserably. 
We know by the time they get to chapter 32, they're dancing 
around a golden calf and predicating of it the ability to have brought 
them out of the land of Egypt. But at the response, or at the 
end of this giving of the law, they then ratify the covenant. 
And if you look at 24, 3, Moses came and told the people all 
the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people 
answered with one voice and said, all the words which the Lord 
has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words 
of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning and built an altar 
at the foot of the mountain and twelve pillars according to the 
twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the 
children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed 
peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the 
blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on 
the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in 
the hearing of the people. And they said, All that the Lord 
has said we will do, and be obedient." This is why I say that this was 
a covenant of words. God gave them laws, they swore 
their fidelity, and they ratified the covenant. Notice in verse 
8, Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, this 
is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with 
you according to all these words. And then in chapter 27, there's 
instruction given in terms of the altar for the tabernacle. 
So the altar is a significant piece of equipment in Israel's 
religious life. The altar is central because 
the altar shows that without the shedding of blood there is 
no remission. The altar shows that we don't 
just wander into the presence of a holy God. The altar demands 
substitution. The altar demands atonement. The altar highlights the absolute 
sovereignty and holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. So 
going back to this law of the altar in chapter 20, we notice 
in verse 24, an altar of earth you shall make for me. You shall 
sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your 
sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record 
my name, I will come to you and I will bless you. And if you 
make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone. 
For if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall 
you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be 
exposed on it." So there is, in the first place, a need for 
simplicity. You're not supposed to, you know, construct this 
elaborate sort of thing. You're supposed to build something 
that is functional and gets the job done. As well, I think in 
this built-in is the further prohibition against idolatry. If they make something splendid, 
if they make something glorious, guess what they're going to do? 
They're going to be enamored with how splendid and glorious 
they've made something. And then, of course, the need 
for modesty. That's that last emphasis there. 
If you make me an altar of stone, I'm sorry, nor shall you go up 
by steps to my altar that your nakedness may not be exposed 
on it. Now, later, in terms of the priestly 
garments, they would wear britches so that such things would not 
be the case. But you can see this. There is 
this this emphasis on holiness. Now holiness is not always moral 
purity, it certainly contains that thought, but there's a separateness 
or a set-apartness. And so this altar is set apart 
as that means by which Israel comes to a holy God. Unholy man 
comes to holy God through the shedding of blood, and that by 
a substitute. So that's why I think this is 
in this particular section. It not only foreshadows what's 
going to be a huge emphasis in the latter part of the book, 
But these people are going to worship. These people are going 
to glorify. These people are going to adore. 
So God gives them instructions for the altar. Remember, after 
the Babylonian captivity, they go back to the land of Judah. 
What's the first thing they build? They build an altar. They know 
that. They've been taught that. God's 
holy. We're not. The way that we approach that, 
God is through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. Now, in 
conclusion, we ought to appreciate in the passage the majesty of 
the lawgiver. The fact that God reveals himself 
to his people in this particular manner underscores that majesty, 
but it also underscores the fact that he is with us. He is God 
for us, and he is a God that does give us his word. And I 
love what one commentator, Christopher Wright, makes the observation. 
I hope I wrote it down. Oh, he says, the point of Sinai 
was that God could not be seen, but could be heard. He was invisible, 
but not inaudible. And I think that's a great emphasis. The glory of God is seen, not 
because they saw Him. Obviously, the lightning and 
the thunder and all that sort of thing demonstrates that majesty, 
but it's that voice of the Lord that thunders. As well, with 
reference to the law, we need to remember that threefold division. 
It is the Ten Commandments, it is the moral law of God that 
is perpetual, that is trans-covenantal, that binds all men everywhere 
at all times. And then the proper fear of God. 
I'm gonna quote Jerry Bridges here. He's got a book called 
The Joy of Fearing God, and I think that he sort of captures it well. 
He says, reverence in recognition of his infinite worth and dignity, 
admiration of His glorious attributes, and amazement at His infinite 
love. I think that's a good way to 
describe the fear of God, that second fear that you see in verse 
20. Do not fear in that slavish way, 
for God has come to test you, and that His fear, that filial 
fear, may be before you, so that you may not sin. reverence and 
recognition of his infinite worth and dignity, admiration of his 
glorious attributes, and amazement at his infinite love. I think 
that's a good way to sort of capture the fear of God in a 
practical way. Well, I'll close in prayer, and 
then if there's any questions, we can take those. Father, we 
thank you. for this revelation of the law 
of God at Sinai. Thank you, Father, for the fact 
that our blessed Savior has kept this law perfectly. All that 
Israel swears to do in chapter 24, they do not do. But Jesus, 
the true Israel, does it. He does it successfully, he does 
it completely, and he does it such that we have that righteousness 
imputed to us and received by faith alone. Thank you as well 
for the shedding of his blood, for the remission of sins, the 
forgiveness that we have in and through Him. And God, help us 
to walk in a manner that is consistent with Your law and Your gospel. 
And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.