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BIBLE STUDY
                                   
                                   
 

Mt. Sinai

Also known as Jebel Musa (“Moses’ Mountain” in Arabic), this 7,497 foot peak in the
southern Sinai Peninsula may be where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
(Note the peak’s blackened appearance.) Other contenders include nearby Mt.
Catherine, the highest mountain in the region (background) and Jebel al-Lawz, near the
Saudi-Jordanian border. If, as Judaic tradition holds, Mt. Sinai and Mt. Horeb are one
and the same, this is also where God spoke to Moses from the burning bush – and,
hundreds of years later, to the prophet Elijah in “a still, small voice” (see I Kings 19).

The Israelites arrived at Mt. Sinai three months to the day after leaving Egypt.

Nothing they had encountered so far prepared them for what happened next.

Read Exodus 19 and 20.

1. In 19:4, God reminds Moses and Israel what he has rescued them from. In 19:5-6,
God reveals to them what he has rescued them for. How would you describe the
destiny God reveals here for the house of Jacob?

5/6/10: Lesson 11
 a. What would it mean to be the “treasured possession” of the God of the
universe?

b. What does a priest do? What would a “kingdom of priests” do? For the
answer, see I Peter 2:4-10.

c. What promises, recent (Exodus 3:12) ancient (Genesis 12:1-3), did God
fulfill at Sinai?

2. Given their cultural roots in Egypt, why might the command to “have no other
Gods before” Yahweh have been such a challenge to the Israelites? Given our
cultural roots, why is it such a challenge for us?

3. When asked to name the greatest of the Ten Commandments, what did Jesus
say and why? See Matthew 22:36-40. What do you think he meant by saying “all
the Law and the Prophets hang on these” (NIV)?

4. What was the true purpose of the Law, beginning with the Ten Commandments?
According to the New Testament, it was to provide the true standard of
righteousness (Romans 3:23); to reveal man’s sin and guilt before God (Romans
7:7); and to point to Christ as the only means of righteousness (Romans 3:21-24).

5. In 19:6, what offer did God extend to each Israelite? In what way was that offer
rejected in 20:19, and with what consequences for the nation of Israel -- and
perhaps all humanity (“the whole earth is mine,” 19:5)?

5/6/10: Lesson 11