Page 51 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

fights with the troops. As long as Moses hands are up, Israel is winning. Eventually two men,
Aaron and Hur, help Moses keep his hands upward, and the battle is finished. The event is
purposely written down to remind future leaders to destroy Amalek and to teach them “The
LORD is my Banner (17:15).”

With all these weighty decisions on his shoulders, Moses is getting weary. His father-in-law
visits him and is delighted to hear all that God is doing. “Now I know that the LORD is greater
than all other gods (18:11).” When he saw how hard Moses worked to judge the people’s
disputes, he warned, “The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone (18:18).” He
advises Moses to appoint representatives to help him. They would handle the simple cases and
only refer the harder ones to him. The suggestion is implemented and Jethro heads back home.

Finally, Israel arrives at Sinai after three months, their first
destination on the way to Palestine (19:1-2). They have
learned a lot about God through events and through Passover
instructions. Moses may have written Genesis by this time,
perhaps during his years in Midian before returning to Egypt,
but this is speculation. Israel is about to get its first thorough
teaching from God as they camp around Mount Sinai for most
of the year. Moses will be their teacher. God speaks to him.
He speaks to Israel. Moses climbs up and down Mount Sinai
several times (19:3 and 7, 9 and 14, 20 and 25), a round trip of
more than 7,000 feet. Fig. 30: Mount Sinai
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In preparing Israel to receive God’s instructions, three principles, important in themselves, are
given. In later chapters God outlines his requirements of the people through the Ten
Commandments and other specific laws governing everyday life. He also gives fairly detailed
instructions about a tabernacle, the place where he will meet with them on a consistent basis.
Yet the setting of these instructions, including the response of the people, carries much
spiritual weight.

The first principle is the danger of being in a close relationship with God. Israel is told to
prepare by washing their clothes and abstaining from sex (vv. 14, 15). They are warned not to
approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Anyone who comes too close was to be stoned
or shot with arrows (vv. 12, 13). The event itself was a fear-producing experience. There is
thunder and lighting, a thick cloud over the mountain, and a supernatural trumpet blast (v. 16).
Fire and smoke billow up from the mountain, and the ground shakes (v. 18). Once more the
people are warned of the consequences of trying to see YHWH (v. 21). We can imagine the
setting and the fear produced in the hearts of all the Israelites. The New Testament writer of
Hebrews makes reference to this and similar events. “The sight was so terrifying that Moses”
trembled with fear (12:21).

53 Hamilton, Handbook, p. 184.

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