Chapters 19-24 describe the giving of the Law to
the nation of Israel. It is important that we keep in
mind that the Mosaic Law was given only to Israel (
Psalm 147:19,20), and that it was set aside at the cross
(Colossians 2:14-17; Hebrews 10:1).

According to Numbers 1:1 the nation of Israel
spent about a year at Sinai. On the third day of the
third month after their deliverance from Egypt, they
experienced the terror and wonder of the giving of the
Law. Moses was the mediator–he met God on the Mount and
delivered God’s Word to the people.

Chapters 20-23 give the declaration of the Law.
The Ten Commandments are given in chapter 20. The first
four commandments give our responsibilities toward God,
while the last six give our responsibilities toward man.
Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New
Testament for believers today. “Remember the sabbath
day, to keep it holy,” does not appear in the New
Testament, since the Sabbath was God’s special day under
the Old Covenant for the Jews, and the Lord’s Day is
God’s special day for the Church under grace.

The entire Law given in Exodus through
Deuteronomy is but an amplification and application of
these basic commandments. Note that the first nine
commandments deal with outward actions, while the tenth,
“Thou shalt not covet,” deals with inward attitudes.

Covetousness and lust are the cause of much of
the corruption in the world today (II Peter 1:4). If
only each of us, as Christians, would be willing to say
with Paul, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how
to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to
suffer need.” Paul had learned to be content in whatever
state God saw fit that he should encounter.