The Ten Commandments
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| Moses with the Ten Commandments |
Under God’s guidance, Moses led the people on, away from the Red Sea, and across a great stretch of desert called the Wilderness of Shur. The land was hot, dry and barren, full of sand dunes, scrubland and rocks, and with hardly any water. When they had been traveling from three days, the Israelites became very thirsty and were delighted when they found water at a place called Marah. When they drink it, however, they found it very bitter. “What are we going to drink?” they grumbled to Moses.
Moses prayed to God, and God showed him a tree whose bark and leaves are able to sweeten bitter water. Moses threw some of this into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
From Marah, the Israelites moved on to Elim, where they found twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and here they were able to camp and rest for a while. They could not stay long, however, for they had to continue their journey, and soon they were grumbling again.
“We’re hungry,” the people complained. “At least we had food in Egypt, but now you have brought us here we shall all starve to death.”
God told Moses, “I shall send food for you. Each day the people must go out and gather enough for one day. On the sixth day of the week, they are to gather twice as much as usual.”
That evening a large flock of little brown birds called quail flew in the Israelites’ camp; and the people found that their flesh was good to eat.
In the morning, when the dew had gone, the ground was covered with a thin flaky substance, like small white seeds, and as delicate as hoar-frost.
“Manna?” asked the Israelites, which means, “What is it?” and so “manna” became its name.
Moses said, “This is the food which God has provided. You are each to gather as much as you need for the day, but no extra.
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| Manna from Heaven |
The Israelites began gathering, and some gathered more and some less; but it made no difference. Those who had gather more found that they did not have too much; and those who had gathered little found that there was enough for their needs. Any which was left on the ground melted in the heat of the sun by midday. In spite of Moses’ order, some people tried to save some for the next day, but found that it rotted overnight.
Only on the sixth day of the week could they gather twice as much as usual and then it did not go bad; for the seventh day, the Sabbath day, was their day of rest, and they were not to gather food on that day. Though some people did go out looking for the manna on the seventh day, there was none to be found. God said to Moses, “How much longer will the people disobey My commands? Remember that I gave you a day of rest, and that is why I will always provide twice the amount of food on the sixth day. On the seventh day they must stay at home.”
God continued to provide manna for the Israelites for the whole of the next forty years until they reached the land of Canaan.
Food was one thing difficult to find in the dessert, but, as the Israelites had already discovered, water was another. As they moved on, they again grumbled to Moses that they were thirsty.
“Why do you keep complaining like this?” asked Moses.
Once again the people said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to this miserable place? Must we all die of thirst?” and they grew very angry.
“What can I do with them?” Moses asked God.
“Take some of the leaders and go on ahead of the people,” said God. “Carry your rod. I will stand before you on a rock on Mount Sinai. Speak to the rock and water will flow out from it.”
Moses went as the Lord had said, but he was so angry with the people that instead of just speaking to the rock, as he had been told, he struck it with is stuff. A stream of water flowed out, just the same, and the people and animals were able to quench their thirst. But Moses had not obeyed God and so God told him that he would not be the one to lead the people into the promised land.
By now the Israelites had crossed much desert land and had come to the foot of Mount Sinai. From the mountain God called Moses and said, “Tell the people that I have said these words, ‘You saw what happened to the Egyptians and how I have keep My covenant, you will be My chosen people, dedicated to Me alone.”
When the people heard this they replied, ”We will do all that the Lord has said.”
God then told Moses that the people were to make themselves ready for worship and were to put on clean clothes, for He Himself would come down on Mount Sinai. Moses was to put boundary round the mountain, and the people were not to cross it, or even go near it until they heard a trumpet sounding a long blast.
The people made themselves ready as instructed. On the third day, there was thunder and lightning and thick cloud on the mountain, which indicated God’s power and presence, and a loud blast was heard on a trumpet. All people trembled with fear. Moses led them to the foot of the mountain, which was wrapped in fire and smoke and shook as if there was an earthquake.
Then God called to Moses alone to go to the top of the mountain; and Moses went up and was lost in view in the cloud. He remained up there for forty days.
While Moses was on the mountain, God gave him the laws by which the Israelites were to live. Among these laws were those which are known as the Ten Commandments, which were written on two tablets of stones by God Himself.
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| Mount Puting Bato |
These are the Ten Commandments:
1.You shall have no other gods before me.
2.You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to it or serve it.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a day dedicated to the Lord your God; on it no one shall do any work. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore He blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness (tell lies) against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet (long posses) your neighbor’s house or wife, or his manservant, of his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Moses as away for such a long time and the people grew tired of waiting. They gathered around his brother Aaron and said, “We don’t know what has become of Moses, and we can’t wait any longer. Let us make a god of our own.”
Aaron, on this occasion, was not firm, and he said to the people. “Take off the gold earrings which you are wearing and give them to me.”
They did so, and Aaron took the huge pile of earrings, melted them down, and shaped the gold in a golden calf. Forgetting all about the one true God, the people looked at the golden calf and said, “This is the god who led us out of Egypt.”
Aaron built an altar before it, and declared that the next day was to be a festival to the Lord. Perhaps he, too, thought it represented the true God, though he should have known better.
Early on the next day, the people brought animals for offerings and they had a great feast.
High up on the mountain God said to Moses, “You must go down to the people, for they have already forgotten the way I commanded them, and they have made a calf of melted gold and are worshipping that. I am very angry with them.”
So Moses set off back down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments. As he was getting near the foot of the mountain, he could hear shouting and noise coming from the people. When he came close enough he saw that they were dancing round the golden calf, and he was so furious that he threw down the tablets and thy broke.
He seized the golden calf, melted it and ground what remained to powder. Then he scattered the powder upon the water and made the Israelites drink it as a symbol of their shame and regret.
The next day he went back to God and asked His forgiveness for the sin which the people had committed in worshipping the golden calf. At God’s command, he also cut two more tablets of stones, and God gave him the laws again. As a token that they were forgiven, God renewed His promise, or covenant, to the people.
