God does not abandon His people, and He had heard their cries. So, Moses was sent to redeem to save them from the oppression of the Pharaoh. With the hesitancy of Moses, God worked before him wonders using his staff. And for this, he was accompanied by his brother, who met him, while he was about to leave Midian.
Before all Egyptians, Moses proclaimed the wonders of Yahweh and showed them His power. The nine plagues were succeeded by the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians and because of this, Ramses, the Pharaoh of that time, granted them liberty. Is it not the same that Jesus was to die to liberate us? Is the death of the firstborn son of the Pharaoh a reminder of what was to happen in the Messianic times?
The exodus of the ten tribes was a logistical problem for Moses that he earnestly cried out to God for help. But God does not abandon His plan; He opened the sea for them to pass. For three months, they came to the wilderness of Sinai from Raphidim; and, eventually was brought before Horeb, the holy mountain of God. On this mountain, God will give them the covenant, and not just an ordinary covenant - a pact between the God and His people. Isn't this the same when Jesus had to climb up the mountain of Tabor to give the new covenant? When Jesus was illuminating with glory and with His conversations with Elijah and Moses, so Moses' face was glowing with his conversation with Yahweh upon receiving the Law. Jesus is the Law-made-Man, while Moses carried the Law for the people.
Sinai has been called the mountain of God. "The name is now given to the triangular peninsula lying between the desert of Southern Palestine, the Red Sea, and the gulfs of Akabah and Suez, with an area of about 10,000 square miles, which was the scene of the forty years' wandering of the Israelites after the Exodus from Egypt." From the land of Egypt, Moses led the nation of Israel into the heart of Sinai; to enter Canaan directly from the south, it was risky, since they would cross the land of the Philistines (who are warlike), while at the southeast, "the less formidable Amalacites are the only inimical tribes and are easily overcome thanks to the intercession of Moses." The wandering lasted forty years. In their journey, the prophet of Yahweh brought them at the foot of the mountain (Jabel Musa or Jabel ), where God would meet them and make a covenant with them. They had prepared themselves for three days and washed their clothes in preparation of the visit.
The Decalogue, in which the prefix deca- means ten and logos a word, has been traditionally divided into 10 precepts. "
The Supreme Law-Giver begins by proclaiming His Name and His Titles to the obedience of the creature man: "I am the Lord, thy God. . ." The laws which follow have regard to God and His representatives on earth (first four) and to our fellow-man (last six).
- Being the one true God, He alone is to be adored, and all rendering to creatures of the worship which belongs to Him falls under the ban of His displeasure; the making of "graven things" is condemned: not all pictures, images, and works of art, but such as are intended to be adored and served (First).
- Associated with God in the minds of men and representing Him, is His Holy Name, which by the Second Commandment is declared worthy of all veneration and respect and its profanation reprobated.
- And He claims one day out of the seven as a memorial to Himself, and this must be kept holy (Third).
- Finally, parents being the natural providence of their offspring, invested with authority for their guidance and correction, and holding the place of God before them, the child is bidden to honour and respect them as His lawful representatives (Fourth)."
The precepts which follow are meant to protect man in his natural rights against the injustice of his fellows.
- His life is the object of the Fifth;
- the honour of his body as well as the source of life, of the Sixth;
- his lawful possessions, of the Seventh;
- his good name, of the Eighth;
- And in order to make him still more secure in the enjoyment of his rights, it is declared an offense against God to desire to wrong him, in his family rights by the Ninth;
- and in his property rights by the Tenth."
We are invited brothers and sisters to penetrate into the readings; we need to appreciate how an ordinary Israelite could have thought the gravity of the words of the Law. In so doing, we can appreciate how much an ordinary Jew during the time of Jesus could not help but wonder on how Jesus could ascribe to Himself the Law. We can at least appreciate the weight of the feelings of the Sadducees and Pharisees upon hearing Jesus.