And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

The Law and Israel

The great Scotts preacher, Alexander McClaren made a statement about the uniqueness of the Law, He says “An obscure tribe of Egyptian slaves plunges into the desert to hide from pursuit, and emerges, after forty years, with a code gathered into ‘ten words,’ so brief, so complete, so intertwining morality and religion, so free from local or national peculiarities, so close fitting to fundamental duties, that it is to-day, after more than three thousand years, authoritative in the most enlightened peoples. The voice that spoke from Sinai reverberates in all lands. … Whose voice was it? The only answer explaining the supreme purity of the commandments, and their immortal freshness, is found in the first sentence of this paragraph, ‘God spake all these words.”

If those people who took part in the poll had been at Mt. Sinai that day, they would have known without a doubt that the 10 commandments were and always will be essential to us and our world.

In fact, few events in the history of the Bible have the drama and the spectacle of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai that day.

Upward of 2 million people were in the valley below Mt. Sinai the mountain of God and they beheld what must have seemed like the eruption of a volcano. And they stood at the base of the mountain that was exploding just above their heads.

Exodus 19:1-2 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

It has been 3 months since the nation of Israel left Egypt and marched into the wilderness. It has been 2 months since the miracle of the water from the rock and the battle with Amalek we looked at last week. Four months to bring them to this place and time to behold the power and majesty of Jehovah God.

God tells Moses His purpose in bring the people to Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:9 Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.

This is the same mountain where Moses first saw the burning bush but now instead of a single bush burning it is an entire mountain summit erupting in fire, smoke, dark clouds and blinding lightning.

God wanted to reveal himself to His people in a powerful, overwhelming way. He wanted them to see that Moses was the leader He had chosen and that the Law, given to Moses, was also a revelation of Himself. As the burning mountain of God showed His power, the perfect Law of God showed His righteousness.

You can see that the law was important to God and to the Hebrew people, but should it still be important to us today. And if it has not lost its importance then how do we reconcile the unbending justice of the law with the mercy of God’s grace. It is utterly vital to us as God’s New Testament people that we know the purpose of God’s Law then and now.

The Law and the Christian

Let me give you some of the purposes of the Law of God. First, it was given as a guideline for morality. For right and wrong

The law which is summarized in the 10 commandments, was meant to be the rules by which the nation of Israel governed itself, but it goes beyond them and acts as a guideline for all morality, society and civilizations. It does not and cannot save a single soul, but it can save an entire nation.

Second, it was giving to reveal the Holiness of God.

Through the law we see a holy, righteous and just God. The law provides us with a means of understanding the righteous character of our Creator and Judge.

As Warren Wiersbe writes, “The Law reveals God’s righteousness and demands righteousness, but it can’t give righteousness,”

Thirdly, it is a mirror of our sin. The law shows us that we can’t come to God in our righteousness. He is perfect in His holiness, and we are far from perfect in ours.

This is seen dramatically when God warns Moses in Chapter 19 about the people coming too close to Mt. Sinai.

Exodus 19:12-13 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live:

This is what the Law does, it allows us to come close enough to see His holiness but it cannot open a way for us to come near Him.

J Vernon McGee, the great radio Bible teacher, said this, “The Law reveals and shows there must be a shedding of blood for sin. Just as you have in your bathroom a mirror that represents the law with a basin underneath it. You don’t wash in the mirror. The mirror reveals what you wash in the basin. – J. Vernon McGee

Let’s take a quick look at what the New Testament says to us today about the law and its purpose.

Romans 3:19-20 19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Galatians 3:21-25 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Summary: The purpose of the Law

First, it condemns sinners of their sin, before a holy God.

Secondly, it brings us to Christ through the acknowledgement of that sin.

Thirdly, yes, it is still a guideline for ethics and morality in our society.

But finally understand that the Law is not the code you as a Christian, live by after salvation.

You do not live by the law for it was meant to show you your death not your life. You live by the grace of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit. He, dwelling in you, provides you with another code, one from heaven not from Mt. Sinai. That code is now the rule of your life by as a Child of God.

Paul shows us this heavenly code in, Galatians 5:18-26 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  …

You don’t keep the Law because as a child of God you have superseded the law through Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus fulfilled the law for us and then gave us the Holy Spirit to take us above and beyond the requirements of the Law.

Listen to Paul in Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

What the law could not do because it was weak because of my sinful physical body and soul. What the law could not do God sent his son to earth to become a man, but a perfect man, who never sinned and He defeated and judged sin. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, the people who now walk in the power and under the guidance of the Spirit of God. Amen, Hallelujah and Praise His name!