Circumstances Surrounding the Giving of the Law

In this part of the sermon: The sermon details the terrifying physical phenomena accompanying the giving of the law on Mount Sinai: thunders, lightnings, a thick cloud, an exceeding loud trumpet, a trembling…

Martin recounts his childhood fear of thunder and how his mother's analogy of 'God moving furniture up in heaven' alleviated his fears. This illustrates the frightening nature of the phenomena at Sinai and how people, especially children, react to such displays of power.

I can remember being almost paralyzed with fear until my mother said, Son, just think of the thunder as God moving furniture up in heaven. And then that took away my fears. And then as I got older, and especially as I became a Christian, I used to love to watch the lightning as a display of God's power, but thunder and lightning are frightening physical phenomena. When there is the kind of thunder that claps overhead and shakes the building, and the lightning is as though a hundred flash bulbs were going off in your face, just two feet from your eyeballs, it's a frightening thing.

13:19 - 14:00 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon emphasizes that God Himself inscribed the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone, a unique act in Scripture. Even after Moses broke the first tables in righteous…

Martin notes that, to his knowledge, the inscription of the Ten Commandments by God's finger is unique in Scripture until Jesus wrote in the ground. This highlights the extraordinary and personal nature of God's involvement in giving the law.

And to my knowledge, until God incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ wrote something with His finger in the ground, I don't know another place in all of Scripture where it is said God wrote something with His own finger. It says a hand came out and caused Darius' knees to tremble, but it doesn't say it was the hand of God. It could have been an angel. Now there may be another instance, but as I've racked my brain, as far as I can remember, this is the first.

24:51 - 25:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon emphasizes that God Himself inscribed the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone, a unique act in Scripture. Even after Moses broke the first tables in righteous…

Martin contrasts Moses' righteous anger when breaking the tables of the law with his later unrighteous anger at the rock. This illustrates the intensity of the situation and the gravity of the people's sin, which provoked such a response from Moses and God.

God Himself says this that I'm revealing is of such significance that I Myself will inscribe the characters into the tables of stone. In chapter 32 of Exodus, you remember that there is this horrible incident of Aaron and the people making the golden calf. And Moses comes down from the mount and in righteous anger here, later on in his life, he's guilty of unrighteous anger and says, shall I bring forth water out of the rock for you bunch of rebels? And he strikes the rock instead of speaking to it.

25:24 - 26:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon emphasizes that God Himself inscribed the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone, a unique act in Scripture. Even after Moses broke the first tables in righteous…

Martin humorously asks if listeners get upset when he repeats himself, then states that God repeats important things to 'get it through your head.' This justifies the sermon's repeated emphasis on the unique aspects of the Ten Commandments' giving.

You get upset when I repeat myself? Well, get upset with God. When God has important things to say, He said, I'm going to get it through your head and He repeats it. Isn't it enough to say where the work of God and the writing of God graven upon the tables, graven upon the tables?

26:57 - 27:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that the Ten Commandments were uniquely preserved inside the Ark of the Covenant, beneath the mercy seat, which was the localized place of God's visible presence…

Martin describes the ark as being 'about the size of a good sized toy box that you kids might have.' This helps the audience visualize the ark and the preciousness of its contents, the Ten Commandments.

And you shall put the mercy seat above upon the ark. The ark was about the size of a good sized toy box that you kids might have. And on top of that ark, that box about the size of a good sized toy box covered with gold, God said there was to be a mercy seat covered with gold and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. Now look at verse 22.

32:14 - 32:43 Read in full sermon