Where's God? Finding Him in the Small Stuff

In this episode we look at the last five Commandments, which feature a lot of "Thou Shall Nots," like "Thou Shall Not Murder" and "Thou Shall Not Steal." On the surface, it seems like these Commandments would be somewhat easy to obey. However, Jesus says that if we even think about doing something that would violate them, we have already disobeyed. It is not the letter of the law that is the problem, but the heart of the law that gets us in trouble most often. When do I cross the line from obedience to disobedience in my heart?

Sometimes we discount the importance of the Commandment which says, "Honor your father and mother." After all, what does "honor" really mean anyway? And compared to such big Commandments as "Thou shalt not murder" or "You shall have no other gods before Me," it seems a little puny. However, it is cited twice in the New Testament as critical for us to follow, once by Jesus and once by Paul. So we need to know how to obey this Commandment from two standpoints: as a child, and as a parent. Besides, it is the only Commandment that promises a special blessing if we follow it!

The Ten Commandments not only call us to live a certain way, but also show us when we have failed to do so. God says in the third Commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," and we might wonder what the word "vain" means in this context. The idea is that we should not make the name of God "worthless." In the fourth Commandment, God says, "Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy." The Hebrew word for "Sabbath" means to "stop work" or "cease labor." How well are we doing today in obeying these "Words of God?"

Probably the best-known facts in the story of Moses are the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the Ten Commandments. This new episode delves into the Commandments, or the "Ten Words" as they are known in Hebrew. We will look at each Commandment during this and the next three episodes. We'll even ask questions like, "Does the first Commandment begin with, "You shall have no other gods before Me," or does it begin with, "I AM the LORD your God?" And are the Ten Commandments still important to Christians in light of our salvation through Grace?"

Moses and the Israelites have been waiting at the base of Mt. Sinai as the morning of the third day dawns there. They are waiting for Moses to tell them what to do next. Before they know it, God arrives at the pinnacle of Mt. Sinai! His arrival is accompanied by thunder, lightning, and a thick cloud. But perhaps the most frightening thing is the blast of the ram's horn from heaven which not only gets louder and louder, but seems to be moving closer and closer. They are all trembling at this point, even Moses himself!

When Moses and the Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai from Egypt, God gave them a conditional promise (or covenant). IF they obeyed Him, THEN they would receive wonderful blessings and become the Lord's treasured possession. He promised to carry them on eagle's wings. But could they actually do the IF part? They said they could! Time would tell.

Moses and the Israelites were camped at Rephidim and the people were thirsty again. They quarrelled with Moses, which means they verbally attacked him because it was HIS fault! This passage says that the people "tested" God here and so God named it "Test and Struggle" (in Hebrew, of course). Eventually, God told Moses to strike a rock and water poured out, enough for as many as two-million people! That rock was a symbol of Christ, who would be "struck" for us, and who would give us Living Water which saves us!

This episode is all about manna. How did it get its name? What did it look like? What did it taste like? How did everyone end up with an omer of manna even if they originally gathered more or less initially? God gave the Israelites their first two commands which they were to obey when it came to manna. What were those commands? Did they obey? And when did the manna stop?

As the Israelites continued their trek from Egypt to Mt. Sinai, they found themselves in another predicament: They were hungry! Maybe today we would call it "hangry" because they were hungry AND angry! They blamed Moses (again) for all their troubles and claimed (for the third time since leaving Egypt) that they were going to die and thought about how much better life was as slaves (true?). God heard them and once again showed them that He was much greater than Pharaoh by providing them with manna and with quail. God told them that the manna was a "test" for them. What kind of test?

When the Israelites arrived at a place called Marah they were thirsty, but the water there was "bitter" so they could not drink it. What did they do? Complained. God heard them and when Moses threw a piece of wood into the water, it became sweet and they could drink it. Isn't that weird? What was that all about? Eventually the people came to Elim where they found twelve springs of fresh water, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. It is quite a story!