You may have already read the story, but I encourage you to carefully and prayerfully read again Exodus 19-24, and Patriarchs and Prophets ch. 27 “The Law Given to Israel.” This is the story of the covenant made with Israel at Sinai.
The following interaction occurred after the Israelites had heard the ten commandments. They were afraid and didn’t want God to speak to them, so the Lord told Moses the rest of the laws for them. These laws Moses wrote in a book.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. (Exodus 24:4-8). Here the people received the conditions of the covenant. They made a solemn covenant with God, typifying the covenant made between God and every believer in Jesus Christ. The conditions were plainly laid before the people. They were not left to misunderstand them. When they were requested to decide whether they would agree to all the conditions given, they unanimously consented to obey every obligation. They had already consented to obey God’s commandments. The principles of the law were now particularized, that they might know how much was involved in covenanting to obey the law; and they accepted the specifically defined particulars of the law.
If the Israelites had obeyed God’s requirements, they would have been practical Christians. They would have been happy; for they would have been keeping God’s ways, and not following the inclinations of their own natural hearts. Moses did not leave them to misconstrue the words of the Lord or to misapply His requirements. He wrote all the words of the Lord in a book, that they might be referred to afterward. In the mount he had written them as Christ Himself dictated them. {1MR 114}
Bravely did the Israelites speak the words promising obedience to the Lord, after hearing His covenant read in the audience of the people. They said, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient” (Exodus 24:7). Then the people were set apart and sealed to God… Thus the Israelites entered into a solemn covenant with God. Ms 126, 1901, pp. 15-17 (“The Giving of the Law,” December 10, 1901) {1MR 115}
Notice that the people were sealed to God after agreeing to obey not just the ten commandments, but also the judgments, the principles of the law particularized. After agreeing to obey these statutes or judgments they entered into a covenant with God.
It was Jesus Christ Himself who gave special directions to Israel. Do these specifications testify of a Christless dispensation? Is this code of statutes of a lower order than are the statutes which are given in this age? The Lord guards the interests of His people. He gives special directions concerning the poor. How impartial are His ways! How exalted are all His requirements.
The Lord gave many other statutes or judgments, which were to be strictly obeyed. These are recorded in the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third chapters of Exodus. {2SAT 187}
Just to be sure we understand this correctly, let’s look at the story again in Patriarchs and Prophets. This is in the chapter “The Law Given to Israel.” This part is right after the law was given. It corresponds to Exodus 21-23.
The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God’s ten precepts. That the obligations of the Decalogue might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments. These laws were called judgments, both because they were framed in infinite wisdom and equity and because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them. Unlike the Ten Commandments, they were delivered privately to Moses, who was to communicate them to the people.
The first of these laws related to servants…Manstealing, deliberate murder, and rebellion against parental authority were to be punished with death…
The rights of widows and orphans were especially guarded, and a tender regard for their helpless condition was enjoined….Aliens who united themselves with Israel were to be protected from wrong or oppression… {PP 310}
The taking of usury from the poor was forbidden. A poor man’s raiment or blanket taken as a pledge, must be restored to him at nightfall. He who was guilty of theft was required to restore double. Respect for magistrates and rulers was enjoined, and judges were warned against perverting judgment, aiding a false cause, or receiving bribes. Calumny and slander were prohibited, and acts of kindness enjoined, even toward personal enemies. {PP 311}
Again the people were reminded of the sacred obligation of the Sabbath. Yearly feasts were appointed, at which all the men of the nation were to assemble before the Lord, bringing to Him their offerings of gratitude and the first fruits of His bounties. The object of all these regulations was stated: they proceeded from no exercise of mere arbitrary sovereignty; all were given for the good of Israel. The Lord said, “Ye shall be holy men unto Me”–worthy to be acknowledged by a holy God.
These laws were to be recorded by Moses, and carefully treasured as the foundation of the national law, and, with the ten precepts which they were given to illustrate, the condition of the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. . . .
Upon descending from the mountain, “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” This pledge, together with the words of the Lord which it bound them to obey, was written by Moses in a book. {PP 311}
Then followed the ratification of the covenant….
Having sprinkled the altar with the blood of the offerings, Moses “took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people.” Thus the conditions of the covenant were solemnly repeated, and all were at liberty to choose whether or not they would comply with them. They had at the first promised to obey the voice of God; but they had since heard His law proclaimed; and its principles had been particularized, that they might know how much this covenant involved. Again the people answered with one accord, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” “When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood, . . . and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.” Hebrews 9:19, 20. {PP 312}
Again, we saw that the ten commandments, and the extra laws given after the ten commandments (the judgments), were all together the conditions of the covenant.
The covenant God made at Sinai is for the Israel of God for all time. Herein is revealed God’s purpose for us, if we will only cooperate with Him. The Lord Jesus today will gather His people as a hen gathers her chickens beneath her wings, if they will only come to Him.
If we comply with the conditions God laid down for Israel, if we come before God in the beauty of holiness, and worship Him in Spirit and in truth, we shall receive the blessings that God promised to them. God sends His Word to assure us that if we will be obedient to Him, He will acknowledge us as members of His royal family. He will honor His peculiar people above all nations. “This honour have all His saints” (Psalm 149:9). {1MR 108}
The covenant that God made with His people at Sinai is to be our refuge and defense. The Lord said to Moses:–
“Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, than ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”
“And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words.”
“And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.”
This covenant is of just as much force today as it was when the Lord made it with ancient Israel (SW March 1, 1904). {1BC 1103}
Under the new covenant, the conditions by which eternal life may be gained are the same as under the old. The conditions are, and ever have been, based on perfect obedience. Under the old covenant, there were many offenses of a daring, presumptuous character, for which there was no atonement specified by law. In the new and better covenant, Christ has fulfilled the law for the transgressors of law, if they receive Him by faith as a personal Saviour. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). Mercy and forgiveness are the reward of all who come to Christ trusting in His merits to take away their sins. We are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ Jesus our Saviour. Letter 216, 1906, p. 2. (To “My Dear Brother in Christ Jesus,” July 2, 1906.) {1MR 117}
God tells us that the conditions are the same under the new covenant. The conditions under the old covenant were keeping the ten commandments and the extra laws given to Moses (the statutes and judgments). It’s the same for us! There are several more quotes that we found very surprising.
The instructions given to Moses for ancient Israel, with their sharp, rigid outlines, are to be studied and obeyed by the people of God today (Letter 259, 1903). {1BC 1103}
The light given me is that we are to study more than we do the instruction given to Moses by God after He had proclaimed the law from Sinai. The ten commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were then written on tables of stone, to be preserved till the judgment should take place. After the giving of the law, God gave Moses specifications regarding the law. These specifications are plain and explicit. No one need make a mistake.
In the day of judgment we shall be asked whether we have lived in harmony with these specifications. It is because we do not carry out these specifications in all our dealings, in our institutions, our families, and in our individual lives, at all times, and in all places, that we do not make greater advancement. It is by the directions that God has given that we shall be judged at the last day.
Have we studied these specifications? I heard them one night some weeks ago. It seemed as if they were being given to Israel, and there was the same solemnity that there was when they were given. I thought, This is given to me that I may tell our people that we must study these specifications. When the directions that God has given are followed, our institutions will be pure and clean, free from all selfishness and covetousness. The tenderness of Christ will come in. His love will fill our hearts. A sense of God’s goodness will make us weep, and sing, and praise God. Then we shall be living channels of light, prepared to do His will. {AUCR, March 25, 1907 par. 5}
Wow! I had no idea that it was so important for us to study and obey the laws given to Israel! Our loving heavenly Father has been so patient with us. He’s reminding us of the importance of these laws so we can be prepared for Jesus’ second coming. Look at what the Lord tells us to remember before the second coming.
The closing words of Malachi are a prophecy regarding the work that should be done preparatory to the first and the second advent of Christ. This prophecy is introduced with the admonition, “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. {SW, March 21, 1905 par. 1}
So what should we do? Study these statutes and judgments, remember the law of Moses, and make a covenant to keep the commandments, statutes, and judgments of Yahweh so we can be sealed as His covenant keeping people.
It would be a scene well-pleasing to God and angels, would His professed followers in this generation unite, as did Israel of old [referring especially to the revival in the days of Nehemiah], in a solemn covenant to “observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes” (SW June 7, 1904).