Lesson 69 - Junior

Memory Verse

Notes

The first time Moses answered the divine call to Mount Sinai to receive the Law, God wrote the Ten Commandments upon two tables of stone which He had prepared, and told Moses to take them back to the people.

The Way to Happiness

The Law was given to teach men how to live in order to be happy in this world, and to show them what God required to make them ready for Heaven. The first commandment was, "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6). How does a person behave himself who loves the Lord with all his heart, and soul, and might? Would not this be a happy world if everyone in it lived according to the commandments of God? There would be no selfishness, no greed, no hatred; everyone would love everyone else.

God knew that sin in people's hearts caused all their troubles, and He wanted His own particular people to be spared that trouble. He loved them; He called them His "firstborn" which meant the same as the eldest son who would carry on the family name. He wanted to be a Father to them, and that they should be called by His name. Just think of the joys the Children of Israel could have had if they had been willing to love God and obey His commandments. God promised them so much if they would only yield their hearts to Him: "O that there were such an 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 for ever!" But they were a stiff-necked people and refused His love, and therefore they got into much trouble.

Would Not

The Jews in the time that Jesus was on earth were just as indifferent to His love. One lonely night our Saviour sat on a hill overlooking the city of Jerusalem, and He was deeply grieved. The people whom He had come to save lived in warm, comfortable houses down there, but they had no room for Him. He had come to bring peace to their hearts, and a greater joy than they had ever known, but they would not listen to Him. His cry that night was: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37).

That is how much Jesus loves people these days, and even the angels in Heaven rejoice when one soul repents. All the blessings one can think of go with Christian living, yet most people refuse to come to Jesus, refuse to repent of their sins and live to please God.

The Commandments Broken

While Moses was in the mountain receiving those precious commandments of God, the wilful Israelites made a golden calf to worship, in spite of the fact that God had just told them not to make any image to bow down to or worship. When Moses saw what the people had done he was so displeased with their sin that he cast the tables of God to the ground and broke them.

What a tragedy that God's precious tables were broken! But how much more terrible it was that all the people had disobeyed God! Moses had to pray long and hard to get God's forgiveness for the people. "Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you. I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand" (Deuteronomy 9:25, 26).

God answered that prayer and told Moses to make two more tables, like the first ones, and He would write the Law again. Moses went up early into the mount, and God spoke to him from the pillar of cloud.

Saved through Grace

The Lord reminded Moses that it was only His mercy that caused Him to renew His covenant with the people. The Israelites could do nothing that would win His favour. It was only His goodness, His long-suffering, that caused Him to heed the plea of Moses and not destroy this wicked nation.

There is nothing that a sinner can do today to earn his way to Heaven, or to gain God's approval. In His mercy He sent His Son, Jesus, to shed His Blood for our salvation. No amount of good works on our part can earn us an entrance into eternal life. Nor can anyone say that he has never been very bad and so he is sure God will take him into Heaven. The Scripture states: "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). A man remains a sinner until He comes to Jesus in repentance and asks for forgiveness, reminding God that Jesus shed His Blood in order that "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). When our sins are forgiven, the Lord gives us power to sin no more: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin" (I John 3:9).

His Promises

There was another reason why God had been merciful: He had made a promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and again to Jacob that their posterity should inhabit and rule the land of Canaan. At the time of which we are studying, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites lived there; and they were more powerful nations than the Israelites. But God said He would keep the covenant He had made with the early patriarchs, and would go with Israel and help them conquer the land. He said He would perform greater miracles than had ever taken place before " even greater miracles than the plagues of Egypt. When God is on the side of the weaker, no matter how strong the opposing army, those on the Lord's side will win. "The battle is not yours, but God's" (II Chronicles 20:15).

No Fellowship with Sinners

God promised He would give His people victory over their enemies, but they must treat them as enemies. They were to make no bargains with them, because the natives of Canaan worshiped idols, and they might win the Israelites to idol worship. We remember the golden calf, and see why God had to keep warning them away from idolatry. We, too, must be careful not to become entangled with worldly associations. If we prefer the company of sinners to that of the children of God, there is something wrong. "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" (James 4:4). Jesus wants His people to be a separate people. He has called them His "peculiar treasure," and He wants them to keep themselves unspotted from the world.

God's Glory Revealed

When Moses came down from the mount, his face glowed with the rapture of his meeting with God. The Israelites were afraid to look at him until he covered his face with a veil. Think of the glory that attended the giving of the Ten Commandments; and then remember that God has given us a much greater covenant in the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. Then God wrote the Law on tables of stone; now He writes it on the hearts of those who believe. Consider how much greater glory we can attain to when we come to the Lord with the Blood of Jesus over our hearts in salvation and sanctification, and we receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The veil has been taken away and we can each one enjoy that close contact with God.

At a revival in one place in India, the Holy Spirit came suddenly upon a church prayer meeting. The prayer sounded like the roar of a cataract. The natives came running, and when they saw the ecstasy on the faces of those who were receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, they went away saying, "The Christians have seen their God." To have this baptism is the privilege of every Christian who lives to please the Lord and keeps all His commandments.

Questions

1. How were the Ten Commandments given to Moses?

2. What happened to the first tables?

3. Why did God not destroy the Israelites? Two reasons.

4. What is the first Commandment?

5. Why should we be careful about associating too much with worldly friends?

6. How can we "see" God?