Word of Life Study Series

The Pentateuch: The Red Sea and the Law

January 08, 2022 Brice C. Craig Season 6 Episode 11
Word of Life Study Series
The Pentateuch: The Red Sea and the Law
Show Notes Chapter Markers

Welcome to the Word of Life Study Series- The Red Sea and the Law! With the death of Egyptian firstborns, the people of Israel began their exodus from Rameses to Succoth that memorable night in the month of Abib, or April, about 1450 B.C. There were about 600,000 men on foot besides women and children- so around 2 million, Exodus 12:37. The length of time the Israelites had been in Egypt according to Exodus 12:40 was 430 years to the day.

  

1. Pharaoh takes the Bait

What is incredible at this point is that God is not done with Pharaoh yet. The king of Egypt gets lured into a trap by God Himself!  Pharaoh’s army according to Josephus was 50,000 horsemen and 200,000 footmen. Now the Lord was going to finish them off once and for all- Exodus 14:1-4.

 

2. Mount Sinai

Next Moses led the Israelites through the towering mountains into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped on an extensive plain at the base of the “mount of God.” This was the birthplace of the Hebrew nation. The peninsula is shaped like a triangle, and is an area of great contrasts. It appears to hang from the southeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea with its base serving as the land bridge between Egypt and Israel. The peninsula is bounded on the west by the Gulf of Suez and on the east by the Gulf of Aqaba.

 

3. The 10 Commandments

The Decalogue (from the Greek, “10 words” or “10 sayings”) given to Moses at Mt. Sinai was a moral code of 10 commandments written on two tables of stone. In Hebrew the name is “Ten Commandments” (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4). It is also called “the moral law,” “the two tablets of the testimony” (Exodus 34:29), “the tablets of the covenant” (Deuteronomy 9:9), and “His covenant” (Deuteronomy 4:13). In the New Covenant it is called “the commandments”, (Matthew 19:17; Romans 13:9) and “the Law” (1 Timothy 1:7-10).

 

4. The Mosaic Law

The Ten Commandments are a statement of the terms of the covenant God made with His chosen people; and in this respect they are to be distinguished from the elaborate system of law known as the Mosaic. The vast legal system of Israel’s civil, criminal, judicial, and ecclesiastical systems were framed after the covenant law- not with a view of expanding it, but to enforce it.

 

5. The Purpose of the Law

The purpose of the Law was to frustrate us, God’s perfect standard was unattainable in our own strength, devices or pursuits. We simply cannot live the perfect life in motive, thought and action that God requires. The Law reveals our awful dilemma, doomed to destruction as the devil and his crowd is, but in the midst of this despair, God revealed His answer, a Savior- Galatians 4:21-29; Acts 28:23-24.

 

6. The Covenant Confirmed

When Moses had conferred upon the people all the Lord’s words and laws they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.” Moses wrote down everything the Lord had said and build an altar at the foot of the mountain- Exodus 24:1-4. Something extremely important was now to take place- sealing God’s covenant with the People of Israel through blood. According to Hebrews 9:18, the first covenant was put into effect through blood. 

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Introduction
Pharaoh takes the Bait
Mount Sinai
The 10 Commandments
The Mosaic Law
The Purpose of the Law
The Covenant Confirmed