Being his people, receiving his laws  

In the last section of Exodus, the Israelites were grumbling because they didn't have water out in the desert, despite the amazing wonders God had done. Today's section sees more of that, and following that is a cornerstone section, in which God and the Israelites make an official commitment to each other.

Synopsis

The Israelites head out and head to the Desert of Sin (no pun intended), presumably by God's leading. They get there 45 days into their journey. Once again they're grumbling, complaining that Moses ever brought them out of Egypt. Moses defers to God, saying God brought them there, not him. Moses asks God and he miraculously provides, giving them just enough magical bread for each day (2x on the sixth day, because on the last day of the week they must rest, a reference to the original creation). God's specific instructions about the bread are not always followed.

They move on to Rephidim, where the Israelites complain more and God provides them with water. (Man, do they have a lack of trust in what he has done.) The Amalekites attack and there's a battle with Moses' ever helpful "staff of God" being held over the battle, giving victory to the Israelites. At this point they are near Sinai, where Moses first met God, so his father-in-law is nearby. Moses tells him about all God has done and how he is the judge and teacher of the people. Jethro worships God and then gives some good advice about appointing lower judges.

90 days into their journey, they arrive at Sinai and camp in front of the mountain, and the real action starts. Moses goes up onto the mountain to talk to God, who tells him that it's time to make a deal with Israel. That if they decide to obey God and keep his covenant, they'll be his special treasured people among all others, a nation of priests to God. Pretty cool! The elders of Israel say they will follow through on this. God then tells Moses to get the people ready for an experience, as God will make come down onto the mountain in smoke and fire and thunder and trumpets, and no one will be able to touch the mountain, so that they know God is truly speaking to Moses.

God indeed does come down and calls Moses alone to the top of the mountain, and God gives him some commands:

I am God. Worship only me, especially not making idols--I'm really serious about that!--or misusing my name, the LORD. Rest on the last day of the week (like the original creation). Honor your parents, don't kill, commit adultery, steal, lie in court, or lust over what your neighbor has.

The people are terrified. Moses reassures them and God tells him a whole lot more laws, centered around fairness and worshiping only God:

First there are a bunch of laws about how to treat slaves, followed by how to fairly deal with violence. Property laws are next, followed by a bit of a grab bag of laws. Next are laws about how to act in court and then how to help foreigners / the poor. God reemphasizes not to call on the names of other gods, and then explains the three festivals they are to celebrate each year.

God explains some of the benefits of following God and his laws: God will be on their side, leading them through the land triumphantly and defeating their enemies. He will continue to provide them food and water and (slowly, for their good) drive out the people from the land he has promised them (through Abraham). He tells them what the borders of their land will be.

Then Moses reports all this to all the people and they all say, "Everything the LORD has said we will do." Moses writes all of this down. The next morning he reads aloud all he wrote and builds an alter and with the sacrifice sprinkles blood on the Israelites, sealing the covenant God has made with them. Moses and Joshua then go back up the mountain to hear more from God.

Analysis

So first off God continues to provide quite visibly and spectacularly, even in battle, for the Israelites, despite their distrust in him. When they get to the place where Moses first met God, God makes his relationship with them official: He will be their God, they will be his people. They will obey what he says, he will bless them and give them the land he promised their ancestors. But most importantly, they will be his treasured possession among all his creation, a nation of priests.

All this is a big deal. I notice a few things: 1. This is a sweet deal for Israel, who just three months ago was hopelessly enslaved in Egypt. Now they're the all-powerful God's treasured nation. 2. These people are so unfaithful to God; why is he doing this?

Anyhow, God descends on the mountain quite dramatically for all to see, and Moses goes up to receive God's instructions for the Israelites.

Here we get the ten commandments, which basically amount to honoring God and giving each other basic dignity. These are the most important laws but they are simply laws God gives to the Israelites for their contract with him, nothing more. If there was any doubt left, we can see God is concerned with their relationship to him and their moral treatment of each other.

Furthermore, God gives a bunch more laws. It's kind of funny that we don't hear about these as much but I suppose "attacking your parents is worthy of death." Over all, these laws are reletively reasonable. They mostly ask for fair payback for wrongdoing and fairness in deals. Slaves are actually treated much better than they were in American 200 years ago. I'd say the only thing we'd disagree with are a couple of the death-deserving laws: murder, attacking your parents, kidnapping, cursing your parents, and witchcraft. By and large though, our own laws on these topics don't look all that different, 1000s of years alter.

Response

I can't emphasize this enough: The ten commandments are not what we think they are. They are not a list of what God cares about the most; they are just the ten most important laws that God gave for the Israelites. The dozens of laws that follow them directly are no less legitimate. Although some of them reflect God's universal moral character (especially us worshiping only God and not murdering), some of them are completely useless to a gentile like me, such as how to deal with a livestock thief or keeping the Sabbath. We should not put them up in front of government buildings or even our own houses; it's nonsense, and God is not asking us to follow them as a set. (And it's far from a complete list of what he's asking of the Israelites.)

Aside from that, what stands out is God's official new relationship with Israel. He will protect them and love them and provide for them if they agree to obey his commands. They did nothing to deserve this deal; in fact they've been downright verbally abusive to God. I think this reflects God's relentless effort to bring people from a point of faithlessness and immorality to faith and morality: (see Abraham, Jacob, Jacob's sons, Moses). The thing is, God did all those with basically one event; for Israel it's taking a lot more work.

One might argue that all those reconciliation stories AND the Israelite covenant are the small stories in the over all Biblical plan began in Genesis for God to restore the broken world that spiraled downward ever since people chose their own wisdom's over God's in the garden. Stories within stories within stories, all with this theme.