Exodus 19: 1
In the third month (‘Sivan’- month of May) after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.
NOTE: Exodus 12: 18; 13: 4 refer to the Israelites departing Egypt on 15 ‘Abib’/Nisan or March 15th.
Exodus 19: 3a
And (1) Moses went up to God [on the mountain], and the LORD called to him from the mountain.
Exodus 19: 14
So Moses went (1A) down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their robes.
Exodus 19: 20
Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses (2) to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Exodus 19: 21
And the LORD said to Moses, (2A) “Go down [the mountain] and warn the people, lest they break thru to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish.
Exodus 19: 24a, 25
Then the LORD said to him, “Away! (2A) Get down and then (3) come up [the mountain], you and Aaron with you. So Moses went down [the mountain] to the people and spoke to them.
AND GOD SPOKE ALL THESE WORDS:
The Ten Commandments; The Law of the Altar; Laws Concerning Servants; The Law Concerning Violence; Animal Control Laws; Responsibility for Property; Moral and Ceremonial Principles; Justice for All; Three Annual Feasts; The Angel and the Promises (Cp. Exodus 20: 1 thru 23: 32 NKJV).
Exodus 23: 32
You shall make no covenant [treaty] with them [Cp. 23: 23, 28- Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and the Jebusites], nor with their gods.
Exodus 24: 3a, 4a, 7
So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people [(3A) after he had once again come down the mountain]. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.”
NOTE: Moses had already written down [in the Book??] the Ten Commandments, plus sundry other statutes and ordinances up to that point, which God revealed to him previously. And Moses left it with the people before ascending up again on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments that God engraved on stone tablets.
Exodus 24: 12
Then the LORD said to Moses, (4) “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, and the Law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”
Exodus 24: 13b
And Moses went (4) up to the mountain of God.
Exodus 24: 15a
Then Moses went (4) up into the mountain.
Exodus 24: 16
Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day (22‘Sivan’/ May 22nd and “Shabbat??”) He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
Exodus 24: 18b
*And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.*
NOTE: Moses was on Mount Sinai until 25‘Tamuz’ /June 25th). Also, there was no mention about Ten Commandments, two tablets of Testimony, or Covenant; but rather that Moses wrote all the words of the LORD (Cp. 24: 4a).
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Offerings for the Sanctuary; The Ark of Testimony; The Table for the Showbread; The Golden Lampstand; The Tabernacle; The Altar of Burnt Offering; The Care of the Lampstand; Garments for the Priesthood; The Ephod; The Breastplate; Other Priestly Garments; Aaron and his Sons Consecrated; The Daily Offerings; The Altar of Incense; The Ransom Money; The Bronze Laver; The Holy Anointing Oil; The Incense; Artisans for Building the Tabernacle; The Sabbath Law (Cp. Exodus 25: 1 thru 31: 18 NKJV).
Exodus 31: 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.
NOTE: Were all the instructions from Exodus 25: 1 thru 31: 18 written on the two tablets of stone (front and back) or just the Ten Commandments?
The Golden Calf Incident:
*Exodus 32: 1*
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed his coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; as for this man Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Exodus 32: 7
And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, (4A) get down [the mountain]! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
Exodus 32: 15
And Moses turned and (4A) went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The Tablets were written on the one side and on the other side they were written. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.
Exodus 32: 19b
So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hand and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
NOTE: This probably happened on 25 'Tamuz' or June 25th.
Moses Makes New Tablets:
Exodus 34: 1-2
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. “So be ready in the morning and (5) come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me on the top of the mountain.
Exodus 34: 10a
And He [the LORD] said: “Behold, I make a covenant.”
NOTE: The first time this contractual term [“covenant”] is used between God and the children of Israel.
Exodus 34: 26b
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk (??).”
Exodus 34: 28a
*So he was there with the LORD [(5) in the mountain] 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.
Exodus 34: 29
Now it was so, when Moses (5A) came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.
NOTE: This seems like a second 40 day stay on Mount Sinai to receive the Law on the former stone tablets which Moses broke. This would mean that Moses came back down on 6 'Elul' or August 6th.
These are the words which the LORD commanded, saying:
Sabbath Regulations; Offerings of the Tabernacle; Articles of the Tabernacle; The Tabernacle Offerings Presented; The Artisans Called by God; The People Give More than Enough; Building the Tabernacle; Making the Ark of the Testimony; Making the Table for the Showbread; Making the Golden Lampstand; Making the Altar of incense; Making the Altar of Burnt Offering; Making the Bronze Laver; Making the Court of the Tabernacle; Materials of the Tabernacle; Making the Garments of the Priesthood; Making the Ephod; Making the Breastplate; Making the Other Priestly Garments; The Work Completed; The Tabernacle Erected and Arranged (Cp. Exodus 35: 1 thru 40: 33 NKJV).
NOTE: The Octogenarian Moses went up and down Mount Sinai ten times (total); quite a feat for someone of his age.
The Book of LEVITICUS:
The Burnt Offering; The Grain Offering; The Peace Offering; The Sin Offering; The Trespass Offering; Offerings and Restitution; The Law of the Burnt Offering; The Law of the Grain Offering; The Law of the Sin Offering; The Law of the Trespass Offering; The Law of Peace Offerings; Fat and Blood may not be eaten; The Portion of Aaron and his Sons; Aaron and his Sons Consecrated; The Priestly Ministry Begins; The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu; Conduct Prescribed for Priests; Foods Permitted and Forbidden; Unclean Animals; The Ritual After Childbirth; The Law Concerning Leprosy; The Law Concerning Leprous Garments; The Ritual for Cleansing Lepers; The Law Concerning Leprous Houses; The Law Concerning Bodily Discharges; The Day of Atonement; The Sanctity of Blood; Laws of Sexual Morality; Moral and Ceremonial Laws; Penalties for breaking the Law; Regulations for Conducts of Priests; Feasts of the LORD; The Sabbath; The Passover and Unleavened Bread; The Feasts of Firstfruits; The Feasts of Weeks; The Feast of Trumpets; The Day of Atonement; The Feast of Tabernacles; Care of the Tabernacle Lamps; The Bread of the Tabernacle; The Penalty for Blasphemy; The Sabbath of the Seventh year; The Year of Jubilee; Provisions for the Seventh Year; Redemption of Property; Lending to the Poor; The Law Concerning Slavery; Promise of Blessing and Retribution
(Cp. Leviticus 1: 1 thru 26: 45 NKJV)
Leviticus 26: 46
These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the LORD made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses (Cp. 27: 34).
NOTE: This book does not mention Covenant, the Ten Commandments, the Testimony, the tablets of stone, or that the ‘finger’ of God wrote all of this.
The Book of NUMBERS:
The Sons of Aaron; The Levites Serve in the Tabernacle; Levites Dedicated instead of the Firstborn; Duties of the Sons of Kohath; Duties of the Sons of Merari; Census of the Levites; Ceremonially Unclean persons Isolated; Confession and Restitution; The Law of the Nazarite; The Priestly Blessing; Offerings of the Leaders; Arrangement of the Lamps; Cleansing and Dedication of the Levites; The Second Passover; Two Silver Trumpets (Cp. 3: 1 thru 10: 10 NKJV)
Numbers 10: 11-12a
Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month [20 ‘Iyar’ or April 20th], in the second year that the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. And the children of Israel set out from the Wilderness of Sinai on their journeys.
NOTE: So it would seem that the children of Israel spent a little over 2 years camped at Mount Sinai before moving on to the next settlement.
Numbers 13: 25-26a
And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh.
Laws of Grain and Drink Offering; Laws Concerning Unintentional Sin; Penalty for Violating the Sabbath; Tassels on Garments (Cp. 15: 1-41 NKJV).
The Budding of Aaron’s Rod; Duties of Priests and Levites; Offerings for Support of the Priests; Tithes for Support of the Levites; The Tithe of the Levites; Laws of Purification (Cp. 17: 1 thru 19: 22 NKJV).
Inheritance Laws (Cp. 27: 1-11 NKJV).
Daily Offerings; Sabbath Offerings; Monthly Offerings; Offerings At Passover; Offerings At the Feast of Weeks; Offerings At the Feast of Trumpets; Offerings on the Day of Atonement; Offerings At the Feast of Tabernacles; The Law Concerning Vows (Cp. 28: 1 thru 30: 16 NKJV).
The Book of DEUTERONOMY:
The Ten Commandments Reviewed (Cp. 5: 1-21; esp. verse 22). 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.
NOTE: This event essentially starts in Exodus 19: 9 thru 20: 19; esp. verses 9a, 16, 18-21; Deuteronomy 10: 4. It is interesting to note that according to the Deuteronomic narrative stated above mentions the LORD gave the children of Israel only the commandments which He wrote on the tablets of stone and delivered to Moses. The statement that He added no more is understood to mean that He added no more commandments than these Ten Commandments, or that He added no more additional requirements to observe on that ‘special’ day, or that He did not give the children of Israel any more statutes, ordinances, and commandments, period?
Jeremiah 7: 222-23
“For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, “Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you.” (Cp. Exodus 19: 5-5; Deuteronomy 6: 1-2)
Amos 5: 25
“Did you offer Me sacrifice and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?” (Cp. Deuteronomy 8: 2)
The Greatest Commandments (Cp. 6: 1-9 NKJV).
The Second Pair of Tablets; The Essence of the Law; A Prescribed Place of Worship; Punishment of Apostates; Improper Mourning; Clean and Unclean Meats; Debts Canceled Every Seven years; Generosity to the Poor; The Law Concerning Bondservants; The Law Concerning Firstborn Animals; The Passover Reviewed; The feast of Weeks reviewed; The Feast of Tabernacles reviewed; Justice Must Be Administered; Principles Governing Kings; The Portions of the Priests and Levites; The Cities of Refuge; Property Boundaries; The Law Concerning Witnesses; Principles Governing Warfare; The Law Concerning Unsolved Murder; Firstborn Inheritance Rights; The Rebellious Son; Miscellaneous Laws I; Laws of Sexual Morality; Those Excluded from the Congregation; Cleanliness of the Composite; Miscellaneous Laws II; Laws Concerning Divorce; Miscellaneous Laws III; Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother; Miscellaneous Laws IV; Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes; The Law Inscribed on Stones; Curses Pronounced from Mount Ebal; Blessings of Obedience; Curses on Disobedience (Cp. 10: 1 thru 28: 68 NKJV).
Deuteronomy 29: 1
These are the words of the ‘covenant’ (Cp. Exodus 34: 10a) which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides [in addition to] the covenant which He made with them at Horeb.
Deuteronomy 31: 10-11
So Moses wrote this Law [Torah] and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this Law [Torah] before all Israel in their hearing.”
NOTE: Are the words of the Law [Torah] which are read every 7 years during the Feast of Tabernacles [Booths; Cp. Leviticus 23: 33-36; Numbers 29: 12-38; and Deuteronomy 16: 13-15, on 7 ‘Tishri’/September 7] just all these or only the Ten Commandments (Cp. 5: 1-21; esp. verse 22)? Additionally, of the 40 years of Wandering, the children of Israel only spent 2 of them at the base of Mount Sinai or Horeb, and some time in the cities and villages of the Amorites, including Heshbon before they finally came to the plains of Moab (Cp. Numbers 21: 21-26; 22: 1).
Deuteronomy 31: 24-26
So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD saying, “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you.”
Exodus 25: 16
“And you shall put into the ark the Testimony (Cp. Exodus 32: 15) which I will give you.”
NOTE: Remarkably, there is no more mention about the Book of the Covenant or Law of Moses from the death of Joshua until the reign of King Josiah, where it says in 2 Kings 22: 8 that Hilkiah the priest finds the Book of the Law in the house [Temple] of God. This span of time covers about 1,342 years; give or take 40 years or so (Cp. 2 Kings 23: 22). Also, it says in 2 Chronicles 35: 18 that no Passover was kept since the time of the prophet Samuel, when presumably the Law of Moses was used to regulate the observance, but there is no mention of such an event or even the commandments of God in the writings during that period.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
February 16, 2010
pbks@hotmail.com
