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your enemies shall eat it. And
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will set my face against
you, and ye shall be slain before your encmies: they that
hate you shall reign over you ... " (verses 14-17). Thcy
would be invaded, conquered, become once again slaves–
as they had been in Egypt before God frecd them.
Now What Did Happen?
These lsraelites griped, grum–
bled, complained, doubted
God almost from the very
night they left Egypt. God mi–
raculously delivered them
from the pursuing Egyptian
army at the Red Sea. God
sent manna and quails from
heaven to feed them. God
caused drinking water lo gush
from the greal rock. Bul al–
ways they complained,
showed a rebellious attitudc.
The children of Israel, un–
der Moses, carne to the desert
at the foot of Mount Sinai.
There Moses was called up
the mountain where God
spoke to him. God here of–
The
Bellm~nn
Archive lnc.
fered Israel the opportunity to become HIS NATION- under
His rule,and, upon obedienceand loyaltyto Hisgovernment,
to receive the fabulous national birthright of world domi–
nance.
T he ETERNAL saic;l: "Now therefore,
Jf
ye wi ll obey my
voice indeed, and keep my covENANT, then ye shall be a
peculiar treasure unto me
above al/ people:
for all the
earth is mine" (Ex. 19:5}. Notice, God did not force them
to become His nation- a "peculiar" nation, different
from the apostate Genlile kingdoms. The choice was
theirs!
The Beglnnlng of a Nation
Moses returned lo camp. He laid God's proposed agrec–
ment (covenant) befare that vast congregation of perhaps
two or three million people.
"And all the people answered together, and said, All
lhat the Eterna! hath spoken we will do" (verse 8).
For two days the people were specially prepared for a
tremendous event. They were to hear the very voice of
God from the mountain. On the third day, amid a fantas–
tically tremendous supernatural display of thunder and
lightning and thick clouds swirling over the mountain,
God's tremendous voice-exceedingly loud- lhundered in
their ears the
basic law
of His governmenl- the great
SPIRITUAL law defining, in principie, Goo's WAY of life–
the way to
avoid
the evils besetting the world-the way
that would cause peace, happiness, prosperity.
That vast assemblage actually heard the voice of THE
ETERNAL Goo, delivering to them thc Ten Command-
The
PLAIN TRUTH April 1979
ments! The people were frightened! They trembled!
lt
was
an awesome experience which had never happened be–
fore-and has never occurred since!
Then, through Moses, God outlined in more detail His
proposition for setting them up as God's NATION. Again,
the people answered with a unanimous voice, "All the
words which the Eterna! hath said will we do" (Ex.
Anglo·Americsn Corp. ot So. Alt/cs
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
brought the birthright tribes
to national prominence. Ear/y foundry in Britain used charcos/
in smelting of iron (left); present·day gold smelter in the Re–
public of South Africa (right).
24:3). Moses wrote all the terms of this COVENANT- this
AGREEMENT making these ex-slaves God's nation- this
agreement which also was a marriage covenant, with the
Eterna! as husband, binding the wife (Israel) to obey her
husband.
Moses read the terms and conditions- the "book of the
covenant"- before all the people. Again carne the unani–
mous decision on their part: "All that the Eterna! hath
said will we do, and be obedient" (Ex. 24:7).
Old Covenant a Marriage
The covenant agreement between God and this peoplc–
called "the old covenant"- was then ratified and put into
effect with BLOOD (Ex. 24:5-8).
This "old covenant" was mediated by Moses. It married
a mortal, human people to the Eterna!. They became H1s
NATION. They had promised Joya! obedience as citizens.
This "old covenant" was based on the birthright prom–
ise God had made to Abraham. But human mortals, filled
with the vanity, envy, lust and greed of human nature,
seldom remain faithful. So the Living Christ is now coming
soon to be the Mediator of the new covenant, based on
better promises {Heb. 8:6-1 Oand 9: 15). But the NEW cov–
enant will not be made with human mortals who do not
keep their promises. God has been preparing-and still
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