​After Moses returned from Mount Sinai and the people of Israel recovered from his radiant appearance, Moses assembled the people and re-gave them God’s Ten Commandments and then shared with them God’s instructions for building the Tabernacle. Remember, these were instructions God gave Moses back in Exodus 29-31.  However, the Israelites never got to hear these instructions because of their idol worship and rebellion.
 
Now, after a couple months and the death of thousands of their number, the Israelites finally get to hear the message God gave Moses for them.  A message of hope and comfort, since God renewed His covenant with the people and promised to be with them through their journey.  But God did ask one thing of the Israelites.  He asked them to build Him a dwelling place and to contribute to it as their heart led them. Moses was not going to take a mandatory collection, but the people were to give freely and as they felt led. The result was an amazing outpouring of generosity from a previously rebellious people.

​Do you feel like you’re in uncharted territory?  Does the future seem uncertain and hazy?  While this is a somewhat new era for our country and our world, it’s not new to the history of the world.  Many nations faced turmoil and uncertainty.  In fact, in our study of Exodus, the Israelites are at the beginning of an unknown future.  They had left behind all that they had previously known and were walking forward into uncharted territory.  But God gave them a promise.  And as we look back through the lens of history, we know that God kept His promise.  Therefore, we can walk forward into an unknown future because we have a known God.  And we can have confidence because the same God who went before the Israelites goes before us. 
 
But what was God’s promise to the Israelites?

​The Ten Commandments.  The building blocks of Judaism and, thus, Christianity.  Many of us were raised with them, and were taught them from a young age.  They are posted in Sunday school class rooms and displayed in prominent places.  You could probably rattle them off from memory.  However, we must be careful that familiarity doesn’t breed nonchalance.  The Ten Commandments are not something we should take lightly.  They are the standards our holy God set for us to be a people worthy of His name.  

The children of Israel had finally left Egypt and are beginning a new chapter in their lives.  No longer are they slaves to a fearful tyrant.  However, before they can get too far in their newfound freedom, the Lord gives Moses this new command.  

​Egypt was afflicted with ten plagues, and while you may think that Israel got away scot-free, they didn’t.  They had a few plagues to deal with too.  It wasn’t until the fourth plague—flies—that God began to spare His people the suffering to come.  Therefore, the Israelites had to deal with the water turning to blood, frogs, and gnats.