S C R I B N E R ' S M A G A Z I N E Important ... - Rparchives.org

August 13, 19ii^-
A MMiLt f APM.
myself-" Israel was drawn into this un.ion
with the cords of love. God declared his
love for ithem and spake of his former acts
of kindness in order that he might excite
their love and gratitude, and that they might
te encouraged to enter into the proposed
union.
2nd. Its requirements. "Now therefore,
if ye will obey niy voice indeed, and keep
my covenant." God here put Israel to a
real test of their love. He asked of them
obedience. "Yt are my friends, if ye do
whatsoever I command you." John 15:14.
3rd. Its blessings. "Ve shall be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people."
This signified that they should be esteemed
above all other nations. Tbey should be the
special object of his love. The manner in which
they were to be favored above all nations
is not here specified. But this was- revealed
in giving a divine revelation and promises
of eternal life to them, in the instituting of
ordinances among them, in sending his prophets
unto them, and by pouring out spiritual
and temporal b!e=sings upon them.
I "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of
priests., and a holy nation." Israel was to
ibe employed in the immediate service of
God. They were to live in intimate communion
with him. They were t3 be the ministers
of righteousness to all the world.
IV. SIGNIFICANT SIGNS AND WON­
DERS AT SINAI, (v. 16-21.)
The church has never heard a greater sermon
than that which was spoken to Israel
in the wilderness when the Lord spoke to
them out of the mount. It was a sermon in
which some of the most marvelous and terrible
attributes were set forth.
1st The majesty of God. The natural
scenery of the place was suggestive of the
majesty of the Creator, but -this was only
a faint hint to what Israel was now to receive.
The thunderings and lightnings, amid the darkness
and gloom, the trumpet peal "echoing
through the hills—now soft as a flute rolling
through the yielding air, now loud as an organ
striking against some outstanding cliff,"
and the terribleness of the voice of God all
Wendid to give Israel a grand conception of
tlie majesty of the God of Jacob.
2nd. The spirituality of God. In Egypt,
Israel had become used to the idea of the
gods taking on .them the forms of animals,
such as the calf, etc. But here the form of
the divine being, who spake to them out of
'lie mount, could not be discerned. They
Knew that they were being addressed by a
divie being, but there was no form for the
^ye to discern. This was a revelation to
Israel of the spirituality of their God.
3rd. The hcliness of God. This was one
°' the special Jessons impressed upon the
senses of the people by visible signs. Bounds
*'^fei set to keep the beasts from grazing
On the lower slopes of the mount; whoever
touched the-mount was to be put to death;
^» clothes were to be in spotless purity for
the occasion; and there was -to be absolute God," and he is not disappointed. God calls to
purity in heart and life. The whole scene him out of the Mount, and sends a message to the
and arrangements declared that the God of Jews: first, how He has cared for them. "I bare
Israel was of "purer eyes than lo behold you on eagle's wings." Then God makes a large
evil." tIa-B. I :i3.
promise to the Israelites with an "if," just as
Eskridge, Kansas.
your mother sometimes makes to you. "If ye
will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant,
then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me
Lesson IX. August 31, 1913.
above all people." You know how rich people
ISRAEL AT MOUNT SINAI: Exodus 19.
guard their jewels and hate to part with them,
By Mrs. Anna Pritchard George.
the jewels are their treasures. Baby Theo is
your mother's jewel, Helen. She would not part
with him for anything in the world. God tells the
Jews they will be His "peculiar treasure," far
more precious to Him than the jewels to the rich
man, far more precious even than Theo is tb
your mother. But the Jews must obey God and
keep His covenant. And we, too, you boys and
girls and all of us, will be God's peculiar treasure
if we obey Him and keep His covenant.
Would you not like to be God's most precious
While Moses was living in the palace of Pharaoh
in Egypt, God gave him his choice, either
to be God's son, or the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Did Moses choose the riches of Egypt, Bud?
"No, he chose God." In today's lesson the Israelites
choose to become God's own covenant people,
and God chooses them for His "peculiar treasure."
Lay out the Peninsula of iSinai on the table.
Hollow out the sand for the Red Sea with its
two arms. Pile up the sand here in the southern
end of the Peninsula for Mount Sinai. These
sticks are the Jews coming down toward Sinai.
When they reach Rephidim among these hills,
they are hot and thirsty, but there is no water.
They murmur against Moses again, and threaten
to stone him. Moses cries to God who tells him
to strike a rock with his rod, and the water
gushes forth. Back among these hills are the
Amalekites, a flerce and warlike people, who attack
the Jews. In the morning Joshua leads the
chosen men of Israel to flght against Amalek,
while Moses, with Aaron and Hur, go to the top
of this hill to watch the battle. A very strange
thing takes place. So long as Moses holds up his
hands Israel wins, but when his hands fall, the
Amalekites are successful. If you tried to hold
up your hand a long time, would it not tire,
Bobby? "Yes, fiveminutes is about as long as
most of us wish to try." But Moses had to do
it for hours. His hands became heavy. Aaron
and Hur placed a stone on which he rests, then
they hold up his hands till the "going down of
the sun." Who wins then, do you think, May?
Yes, the Israelites. So long as they see Moses'
hand raised they remember all that God has done
for them through Moses, and they are full of
courage, and so they defeat the Amalekites, the
enemies of God. So if we keep our eyes always
on God, we will surely win out against Satan.
We will have courage to do the right.
Now the Israelites travel farther south till they
come before Mt. Sinai. They camp near this
mountain for eleven months—nearly a year. Can
much happen in a year, Alvin? "Lots more than
we wish sometimes." Many of the most important
events in the history of the whOle world take
place in this year around Mt. Sinai. Today's lesson
is about one of them.
Pile up the sand forming the hills and the valleys
of the wild and mountainous country about
Sinai. The Jews scatter their flocks for pasture
in these glens and on the mountain sides. Moses
met with God once before on this mountain. Do
you think he is anxious to do so again? He probably
hurries to the spot where he talked with
God in the burning bush. Moses goes "up unto
possession? You can if you will.
Moses comes down from the Mount and calls the
elders together. Here he is giving them God's
message. The people all answer at once, "All
that the Lord hath spoken we will do." That
means they are now choosing to become God's
own particular people, His covenant people. Moses
goes up again to God. "Go to the people," God
tells him, "Sanctify them. Let them wash their
clothes and be ready against the third day; for
on the third day the Lord will come down in the
sight of all the people upon Mt. Sinai." Moses
is to warn the people not to go up into the moundoes
shall die.
Moses comes down again. He sanctifies the people
and they wash their clothes. He sets bounds
around the Mount, across which no one must
pass. On the morning of the third day, the loud
thunderings roar on iSinai, and the lightning
fiashes through the thick cloud which covers the
Mount, "The voice of the trumpet is exceeding
loud." Are you afraid in a thunder storm, Mittie?
This is far more terrible, and the people tremble
with fear. Moses brings them out of the camp
to meet with God. They stand near the foot of the
Mount, but dare not go close. As the burning
bush was holy with God's presence, so is this
Mt. Sinai—too holy for even the hand of ma.a to
touch. As the people look, the Mount is "altogether
on a smoke." How did God appear to
Moses in this place before, George? "In the
burning bush." He comes again in fire and in
the thick cloud. The Mount is covered with
smoke because God comes upon it in fire. The
smoke goes up like the smoke from the furnace.
You remember the earthquake at San Francisco.
Mt. Sinai quakes just that way. The people are
frightened and at the same time know that God Is
in all this strange and aWful occurrehce.
As the trumpet blows louder and louder, Moses
speaks and God answers him by a voice. God
talks with Moses just as we are doing now. ITe
calls Moses to the top of the Mount. Moses goes
up through the thundering and lightning, right into
the cloud. He does not fear, for it is God's
glory he is entering. The Lord says, "Go down.
charge the people, lest they break through unto
the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish."
From this time on the Israelites are no longer
part of another nation as they have been in Egypt.
They have chosen to be the Lord's, and He is
forming them into a nation by themselves—His
own peculiar people.
Montclair, N. J.