Covenant

Five hundred years after God appeared to Abraham, his descendants numbered around two million people. They were oppressed in Egypt, and their outlook seemed bleak.

But God had not forgotten His people or His promise to give them their own land. After four hundred years of silence, the God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob intercepted the life of a man called Moses.

God’s hand had been on Moses from his earliest days. Moses’ mother hid him in a basket on the banks of the River Nile to save him from the slaughter of Hebrew babies; Pharaoh’s daughter found him and raised him as a prince in the palace, but later Moses fled from Egypt to begin an anonymous life in the desert.

The Self-Sustaining Fire

That was where God stepped in. Moses saw a fire resting on a bush, but it did not burn the bush on which it rested. The fire was self-sustaining. All other fires go out when they have exhausted the available fuel. A candle only burns until the wax is gone, and then the flame goes out. But this flame was unlike any other. It sustained its own life. God is self-sustaining. He does not depend on anyone or anything.

As Moses drew closer, God spoke to him out of the fire: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). Then God revealed the name by which He wanted to be known: “I AM WHO I AM” (3:14).

Then God commissioned Moses to bring His people out of Egypt (3:10). Moses confronted Pharaoh with God’s command: “Let my people go” (5:1). But Pharaoh refused. But after a series of plagues had devastated his kingdom, Pharaoh finally agreed to God’s demand.

Reflecting the Character of God

Two months later, God’s people set up camp at Mount Sinai. They remained there for ten months, and God used that time to turn a confused crowd into a disciplined nation.

The first priority for the people was to understand their unique calling. They were God’s people, the heirs of God’s promises to Abraham. God confirmed His commitment to them in a covenant: “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people” (Leviticus 26:12).

Then God gave His people the Ten Commandments. This is not an arbitrary list of rules or a culturally conditioned set of values. These commandments are a direct reflection of the character of God. When God says, “You shall have no other gods before me,” it is because He is the only God. When God says, “You shall not commit adultery,” it is because He is faithful. And when He says, “You shall not covet,” it is because God is at peace in Himself, and He calls His people to be like Him (Exodus 20:3, 14, 17).

Keeping the law does not make us God’s people, but being God’s people means that we are called to reflect His character by living according to His law.

Plunged into Crisis

A few weeks later, God’s people were plunged into crisis. While Moses was away from the people, they made an idol and indulged in all kinds of depravity (Exodus 32:5–6). Their behavior was a contradiction rather than a reflection of God’s character.

God told His people that He would give them the land of Canaan, but because of their sin, they would not enjoy the gift of His presence (Exodus 33:3). When the people heard this, they were brokenhearted. They understood that the gifts of freedom and prosperity would mean little without the presence and blessing of God, and they longed for their relationship with God to be restored.

A Place to Meet with God

God gave Moses detailed instructions for a mobile worship center called the tabernacle. At the center of this tent-like structure was the Most Holy Place. The ark of the covenant was placed there. It was a wooden chest covered by a lid with statues of cherubim, the angelic figures that had guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden.

This was where God would meet with a representative of His people called the high priest (Exodus 25:22). When the high priest went into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the blood of a sacrificed animal between the cherubim, a cloud representing God’s immediate presence filled the tabernacle.

God was showing how His presence would return to His people. The cherubim were a visual reminder that sin always brings death. But the blood of the sacrificed animal spoke of God’s readiness to accept a substitute.

Moving Forward with God

God’s people moved forward from Sinai and headed for Canaan. God’s presence was with them, and He was ready to give them the land He had promised to Abraham. But the land was already occupied, and God’s people lacked the courage to fight. Without faith they could not enjoy the fulfillment of God’s promise, so they wandered in the desert for forty years until a new generation was ready to step forward in obedience.

God’s people entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses’ successor, Joshua. In this one event, God accomplished two purposes: fulfilling His covenant promise and bringing judgment.

God had told Abraham that there would be a long delay before his descendants would inherit the Promised Land, because “the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure” (Genesis 15:16). Five hundred years later it had. God had seen their persistent atrocities, and so He brought about their downfall.

A View from the Third Mountain

When the land was settled, Joshua called the people to renew their covenant with God. In less than fifty years, God had brought His people from slavery in Egypt to prosperity in Canaan. “We too will serve the LORD,” they said (Joshua 24:18).

It was a great moment. But it would not be long before God’s people found their way into another dark valley.