The Mosaic Covenant

In the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan, the holy LORD God made a covenant with Israel and gave them a set of laws which express His hatred for what we know as "sin."

Three months later, the Israelites arrived in the Desert of Sinai and set up camp facing Mount Sinai (Horeb). Moses went up the mountain, and God spoke to him again.

“Tell Israel: You saw with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and how I brought you to Myself as a mighty eagle carries its young. Now, if you will obey My voice and keep My covenant, I will make you My treasured possession. The entire earth and its nations are mine, but you will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation.”

So Moses went back and told the leaders what God had said. The people responded as one: “Everything God says we will do.”

So God told Moses, “Get the people ready. Tell them to wash up and prepare themselves for two days. I will come down to the mountain to make My presence known. Have them stay back. No one is to approach the mountain, or they will die.”

On the third day came deafening thunder, lightning, smoke all around the mountain, and a loud trumpet blast. The people trembled with fear. The mountain was all in smoke and quaked violently because God descended on it as fire. Then, God spoke to Moses, establishing His covenant with Israel. He said, “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of bondage in Egypt.”

As part of the covenant, He gave them an extensive system of laws. The core of this moral and legal system is what is often called the Ten Commandments.

1. “Do not worship any god except Me.”

2. “Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on the earth or in the waters. Do not bow down to or worship idols.”

3. “Do not misuse My name. I am the LORD your God and will punish anyone who does.”

4. “Do not work on the seventh day of the week. That day is mine. Keep it separate; treat it differently.”

5. “Respect your father and mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.”

6. “Do not murder.”

7. “Do not commit adultery; be faithful in marriage.”

8. “Do not steal.”

9. “Do not tell lies about others.”

10. “Do not set your heart on anything—spouse, servants, animals, furnishings—anything that belongs to someone else.”