As we read this week's portion, we must remember the scene that is going on around us.

We, the children of Israel, have come out of Egypt and its culture after 400+ years; we have crossed the Sea in a magnificent way; we have wandered for months, complaining often; we have prepared ourselves to meet with the Lord at the Mountain; we have heard him speak the Ten Words, and now we have distanced ourselves from the scene.

Moses on the other hand, has approached the thick cloud where God was (20:21-22), and is listening to God speaking from Heaven, hearing the ordinances he (Moses) is to relate to the children of Israel, who have stood afar off. The people had heard and experienced the first words that God spoke at Sinai, and were frightened, more by the experience and power of God than the words themselves.

As we stood and read these words together recently in our congregation, I loved the thunderous sound of all the voices blending together. There is pomp and majesty, just with the same words ringing out from everyone's mouths. And even with our mere voices, you could perceive the sound of God's voice. Yet I choose to bask in his presence, rather than run from it. Why is that? The only reason that makes sense to me is, it is familiar to me. I grew up with these words, as the premise for life and existence. These are not new words to me. I have seen those who went before me living lives according to these words. I have seen the power of living through these words, as a life principle.

But now, as we move into our portion, the words that follow and expand on the first ten are not always as familiar. I don't relate well to slaves, or to being sold as a daughter, or being gored by an ox. This week in the news was a story of a chimpanzee that went wild and ripped the face off of the owner's friend. This chimp had to be put to death. That does fit with a goring ox, nu? What we have to focus on is the mercy of God, as he breaks down the Ten Words into tangible understandings, of where these people have come from and where they will be going. These situations were real to those coming out of Egypt. Just as God defied all the gods of Egypt with the plagues, so now he must defy all the customs they had become familiar with while sojourning in the land of Egypt. He was making a new way of life for them, a brand new pattern, that would show who HE was to the world. If the Israelites lived according to His ways they would become a living example to all who saw.

Now, who saw them? The entire world of the time! Yes, I know they are stuck in a desert, meeting long-lost relatives, baking manna cakes, looking for water . . . But, the scriptures tell us, from the crossing of the sea, until the entering of the Land under Joshua, as Rahab would testify, the outside world was watching what God was doing through these people. Their everyday lives had to be lived differently. The way they honored their God was to be different. The way they treated each other was to be different, the way they cared for their animals, the way they treated their crops and its soil, was to be different.

As you read through these verses of text, some verses will jump out at you, and will be relevant to your life. Others won't. But, between the lines, we see a lot of 'if...thens." If this situation happens, then do this. Verse 23:22 states that "If you truly obey His voice and do all that I say, THEN, I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries". In all the "if...thens" and "You Shall's" God is trying to get us to pay attention to who He is. It would be an interesting survey to match up each of these verses with one of the Ten Words.

All of these various laws are given through Moses before God calls him up to the mountain top. In 24:3, Moses recounts all of these to the children of Israel, and they answer with one voice "All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do!" This was a pretty hefty sum of instructions to say yes to. But they did. And then Moses made a covenant sacrifice upon all the altars of the sons of Israel. And then he once again obeyed God, and he took Aaron, Nadav, and Abihu and 70 of the Elders of Israel and they "saw the God of Israel, and they ate and drank with him."

Now, this is only a small portion of the people, but what happened to the fear factor? Could it be that when all the people heard the words Moses translated to them from God, and they agreed to them, and said they would obey them, the fear was gone? If we listen to the Lord and obey Him, does He not make a straight path for us? Filled with goodness and mercy?

This past week, we as a Messianic Community mourned with the tragedy of the deaths of a family in one of our sister congregations. Some may ask where the goodness and mercy were in that. I do not pretend to have the answers, but those who are gone had called upon the name of the Lord, and their eternity will be spent with Him. May his mercy be with us who are left behind. May we learn from this portion, that we will say, "We will listen and obey," no matter what the cost? It is easy to obey when things are going smoothly, but it is hard to even listen when we are going through a difficult time.

God prepared the children of Israel, through their journey to the mountain, to learn to trust in Him. They too were slow learners, and we see how they complained at times. Then, at this mountain, God revealed himself to them all. Since He has found it right to reveal Himself to us, can we not, must we not, completely and truly trust Him?

At the end of the portion, Moses goes up the mountain (Ex. 24:15-18). And the glory of the Lord rested on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. After six days, God called to Moses to come up, but the mountain was like a consuming fire. May we chose to be like Moses, and not be afraid of cloud or fire, but enter into the presence of the Lord.

Shabbat Shalom,

Susan Feldman