Mount Sinai, also known as Mount Horeb, is twice called “the mountain of God” in Scripture. Unlike most other mountains where significant events in salvation history occurred, we are not given any definite information about the mountain’s precise location, height above the surrounding region, or physical appearance.
From the biblical references, we can say that Mount Sinai lies somewhere between Egypt and Canaan (Palestine), in a dry desert where few people lived. Most of us know Mount Sinai as the place where God is said to have met with Moses, Israel’s leader and emancipator from oppressive slavery.
On its slopes, Moses received the fabled Ten Commandments from God, and at its feet the people of Israel crafted and began to worship a “Golden Calf” while Moses was deep in communion with God. Indeed, Exodus 3:5 describes the location as “holy ground.” A lot happens in the Book of Exodus at Sinai, and then the place fades out of Israel’s national history – although the Ten Commandments do not.
Perhaps surprisingly, then, we also find two notable mentions of Mount Sinai in the New Testament. First, in Galatians 4:21-31, one of Paul’s early letters, Paul allegorises Sinai as the “Old Covenant” in contrast to the “Jerusalem above,” symbolising the New Covenant. Paul contrasts our natural slavery to sin with the spiritual freedom we come to know through faith in Christ and participating in his redemption from sin.
Second, Sinai imagery appears again in Hebrews 12:18-29, a letter not written by Paul, where Sinai again represents the “Old Covenant” in contrast to “Mount Zion,” again symbolising the New Covenant, which takes its place.
There is another place, in the Hebrew Bible, where Sinai is mentioned: Nehemiah 9:13-15 where, under Nehemiah, Israel’s leaders are described confessing their sins and rededicating themselves and their community to God and to the mission of God (chs. 9-10).
Clearly, part of the significance of Mount Sinai is the covenantal aspect of the Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, and their significance for the relationship between God and God’s people.
Many books have been written about the Ten Commandments, and not a few movies made too. Among biblical scholars and moral theologians, there is significant diversity of opinion regarding the meaning and purpose of the Decalogue, its continuing relevance, and how these ancient scriptures ought to function in moral decision-making and in public life today.
Theologian Kevin DeYoung has helpfully outlined “Ten Things You Ought to Know about the Ten Commandments”:
- Exodus 20:1ff is “one of the most important pieces of religious literature in the world, but Moses never called it ‘The Ten Commandments.’ The word ‘decalogue’ means ‘ten words’ and the expression occurs in Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4 as shorthand for The Ten.”
- The Ten show us who God is.
- They set God’s people apart from the world.
- They don’t strip our freedom but provide it (cf Jesus’s reference to “abundant life” and “true freedom” in John 8:32 and 10:10, and the conviction that God’s laws are not burdensome, in 1 Jn 5:3).
- They were not given so that we could earn our salvation.
- They are more trustworthy than human intuition or cultural codes.
- Historically, the church has placed the Decalogue “at the center of its teaching ministry,” e.g., liturgical recitation of the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.
- They are foundational for our understanding of the rest of the Old Testament law (e.g., Deut 5:1-5, where the Decalogue is solemnly placed inside the Ark of the Covenant; cf Heb 9:4).
- They are central to the ethics of the New Testament, e.g., Mark 10:17, where a rich young ruler comes to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replies, “You know the commandments,” and gives a summary of our duties to our neighbour (vv 18-19).
- They remain relevant for Christians today (see John 14:15). DeYoung argues that they have been “transformed but not trashed.”
“As new creations in Christ, the law is not only our duty but also our delight. If we want to love Christ as he deserves and as he desires, we will keep his commandments.”[1]
This, at least in part, is the enduring legacy of Mount Sinai for us today.
Sermon 788 copyright © 2023 Rod Benson. Address presented at Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia, on Monday 24 July 2023. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Christian Standard Bible (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020).
Reference
[1] Kevin DeYoung, “Ten things you ought to know about the Ten Commandments,” The Gospel Coalition, 5 Nov 2018, available at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/10-things-ten-commandments/
Image source: Concordia Publishing House blog
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