Smoke on the MountainThe revelation of God’s Holiness

(Exodus 19:1-19)

Neglect of the Ten Commandments

• Used to be in the chancel of Anglican churches• Used to be taught in Reformation catechisms

Luther’s Larger and Smaller Catechisms (1529), Calvin’s Geneva Catechism (1541), The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Craig’s Scottish Catechism (1581), the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms (1648)

• Used to be expounded by Protestant theologians along with the Apostles’ Creed

Deliverance from Slavery• The Ten Commandments

are the rule of life given to Israel by God, who brought them out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 20:2)

• The story of Israel’s deliverance is told in the preceding chapters of the book of Exodus

• ‘You shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples’ (Exodus 19:4-6)

The Setting of the Ten Commandments

• First redemption from slavery. Then revelation of the Law.

• First God’s action, then our human response • Salvation is by grace, not works• Saved by grace, for good works (Ephesians

2:8-10)• Deliverance, then duty• Salvation, then service

Mount Sinai (Gebel Musa)

Mount Sinai

Gebel Musa (The ‘Mountain of Moses’) has been the traditional location of Mount Sinai since the 4th century

Encounter with God

• A ‘theophany’ is a manifestation of God in visible form

• This theophany involved elaborate preparations

• It was accompanied by awesome phenomena • So awesome was this encounter it

reverberates throughout the subsequent history of God’s people (e.g. Psalm 104:3-4, Hebrews 12:18-29, 1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Roots of Morality

• Morality is rooted in religion – or rather revelation

• It is an expression of God’s character, a fruit of his holiness, the result of an encounter with the living God

• Religious revivals have always raised the moral and economic life of societies and nations

• Moral living is not innate or natural to us – it comes from a living encounter with God