Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

God tells the Israelites in Exodus 19 that they must follow His instructions because He has shown them great miracles in Egypt and since they left there.  To emphasize that Moses is Jehovah’s spokesman an assembly is arranged.  God will descend from the mountain and speak to His Servant in view of all the Jews.  They washed themselves and their garments and abstained from sex in preparation.  Warnings about getting to close to the mountain were also made.

The mountain was covered in smoke and it shook.  Moses went to the top and spoke directly to Him.  Aaron went up with Moses to show that he also could be a voice for Yahweh.

“I am” is used again as God’s name in Exodus 20.  The Ten Commandments are given here for the first time.  Many other people have similar laws, but God starts with four rules about our relationship with Him.  The balance tells us how to treat each other.

A controversial statement is made about punishing children to the third and fourth generation for the sins of the parents.  The blessing from this is that he will show favor to a thousand generations for those who follow Him.  If you suffer for previous generations’ transgressions, you also reap the benefits of their obedience.  Do not forget this.

Exodus 21 begins with the law that the Hebrews are to follow.  Slavery, murder, divorce, kidnapping and other topics are covered here.  This is one of the chapters that states “an eye for an eye.”

Many have a problem with the provision for slave ownership that God makes in this and other scriptures.  Slavery was a part of the economy of the ancient world.  Some slavery talked about in the Bible, but not all, is like our employee/employer agreements today.  Work is exchanged for pay.  The masters were property owners and the servants or slaves were not.  If your family did not have work for you, they would hire you out to someone who did.

Today contracts for sports players and others are bought and sold much as servants were in previous centuries and in other countries.  These laws still make sense for ethical treatment of employees and servants.