GOD SPOKE TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE

GOD SPOKE TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE

Hugh Fogelman

The First Two Statements of the Ten Commandments say GOD SPOKE TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE. Therefore if Christians believe the Torah they should also know that God spoke to the Israelites. If not, why would Christians have a copy of the Hebrew Torah in the front of their bible?

The date was the 6th of Sivan 2448 according to Jewish dating or 1312 BCE. Think about it; millions heard God speak to them at Mount Sinai. Over three thousand years have passed since that date, and Judaism is still observed. Judaism, the only widely acknowledged public experience with God in human history which was witnessed by millions. The Ten Commandments are the most definitive statements of spiritual morality to ever be articulated. Judaism is the only religion in the annals of history that makes that claim―that everyone there at the foot of Mt. Sinai heard God speak. No other religion claims the experience of national revelation. Why?

For 3,315 years the Jewish people have believed that over three million Jews stood at Mt. Sinai when the Almighty gave us the Torah. That is a powerful statement! Is it possible to fake an historical event of that magnitude which had so many witnesses? If yes, then how come no other religion has ever made the claim that the Almighty spoke with the whole
people and revealed His directives to them? Christianity cannot make that claim. Islam cannot make that claim. Only Judaism can and does make that claim.

To encounter God with this level of intimacy, the Jews had to open themselves to the point of being able to declare: “we will do and we will listen.” They were willing to take on the actions that God commanded before they sought to grasp them intellectually. They had to submit their will to God’s will, and worship Him, rather than worshiping their minds and hearts. Each of the ten statements opens a door that moves a person beyond ego, desire, and subjectivity.

The first two commandments are the most important words we will ever hear. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: “I am the Lord who took you out of Egypt, the house of bondage.” It seems at first glance to be a statement rather than a directive. “I am the Lord.” The Divine name pronounced as “Lord” is the Tetragrammaton. The Hebrew letters that comprise this name are the ones that also form the Hebrew time tenses. “He is, He was, and He will be.” His unchanging compassion may take infinite forms, but His presence both transcends and permeates everything that we see, hear or touch. Once we know this we can search for Him in every possible experience. “Your God ...” The Hebrew word for God, Elokim, literally means “master of forces.” THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Are there other gods? If there are, why should we not worship them? The answer lies in the wording -- elokim aherim, “other gods.” Yes, before the experience at Sinai, the Gentile nations had many gods. At Mt. Sinai, the Jewish nation was told that only one God must be worshipped, then and forever.

Exodus 20:18-19 (KJV)

¹⁸ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. ¹⁹ And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

The Hebrew Scriptures say that the Israelites, three million strong, SAW the “thunder” and HEARD the “lightening”. That was indeed such an awesome event.

All of Israel heard the first two statements directly from God and heard God’s speech in their own respective tongues. The awesomeness of the first two commandments was heard by all which frightened Israel who then delegated Moses to receive the rest. So the Children of Israel heard the first two directly from God, and the other eight through Moses. Moses said those things because he heard it directly FROM God.

Recap: Throughout history, thousands of religions have been started by individuals, attempting to convince people that God spoke to him or her. All religions that base themselves on some type of revelation share essentially the same beginning: a holy person goes into solitude, comes back to his people, and announces that he has experienced a personal revelation where God appointed him to be His prophet.

Would you believe someone who claims to have received a personal communication from God appointing him or her as God’s new prophet, and asked you to bet your soul on his claim? If God wanted people to listen and follow His new prophet, God would have told the people to listen, as He did with Moses, as told in:

Exodus 19:9 (KJV)
⁹ And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.

Thus, they would all know that God had spoken to Moses, and this would guarantee that all future generations would acknowledge the provenance and indisputability of Moses’ prophecy. Because Moses’ teachings (Oral and Written Torah) are at the very foundation of Judaism, they are not open to dispute. Since future prophets were Moses’ successors, their prophecies throughout the generations would never be questioned, because God told the Israelites to listen to Moses.

Exodus 19:19 (KJV)
¹⁹ And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

Again, God is telling that all the Israelites heard God speak to Moses.

There are estimated to have been 15,000 religions in all of recorded history. Given this inherent weakness, why do all of them base their claim on personal revelation? If someone wanted their religion to be accepted, why wouldn’t they present the strongest, most believable claim possible―i.e. a national revelation! It is far more credible since no one would have to take a leap of faith and blindly trust just one person’s word. It is qualitatively better to claim that God came to everyone, telling the entire group that so-and-so is His prophet.

Furthermore, the author of the Torah predicts that there will never be another claim of national revelation throughout history! “For inquire now about times long past, from the day that God created man on earth, and from one end of heaven to the other: Has there ever been anything like this great thing or has anything like it been heard? Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fires as you have heard and survived?” (Deuteronomy 4:32-33) Only God can and did make that claim.

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