The Israelites Covenant with God

“The time to fulfill God’s promise has come, and God approaches the Israelites to covenant with them as his special people.  It soon becomes clear that they have not anticipated the full impact of their part of the covenant.  In agreeing to covenant, the people will be pledging their faith and allegiance to an invisible king, their very Creator and promising to obey the many stringent laws which are part of the covenant.”

Read Exodus 19 and 20

“The Exodus record lists the first of many laws which God will set forth for his people to follow.  The nation of Israel is to be a theocracy, under the direct rule of God himself; the Israelites will be governed by divine laws which they must observe in keeping with the very covenant which they are now making with God. 

The ten commandments form the constitutional framework for all other laws which follow; laws relating to crimes against persons and property to other offenses, punishable by death, such as sorcery, bestiality, and idolatry.

So as to avoid the repetition found in the records of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, all the laws will be presented later in a single collection organized by subject.  Now, however, attention turns back to God’s final instructions and the promises which he makes as his part of the covenant with the people of Israel.”

Read Exodus 23:20-33 and Exodus 24

All quotations taken from The Daily Bible.