On the third new moon after the parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai.
(There is actually no mountain by that name. 'Sinai', which means both 'high cliff' and 'deep ravine', is a Biblical Symbol for the psychological readiness to come into contact with Divinity. It represents a Threshold between Heaven and Earth. In other words, the Israelites in the story have 'arrived' at this high state of Being.)
The Lord called to Moses and had him tell the Children of Israel:
"Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples."
Moses conveyed this message, and all the people answered, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do!"
The Israelites are now 'Chosen People'. That is, an inner voice has chosen -- as anyone may -- to do the Will of God.
After hearing their response, the Lord told Moses to tell the Israelites to purify themselves for two days and make themselves fit, for on the third day, "the Lord will come down, in the sight of the people, on Mount Sinai." Furthermore, he had Moses warn the people that they must not touch the mountain until they heard the ram's horn sound a long blast. This is a serious decision. The Threshold is a dangerous place.
"On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain."
The Lord then addressed the people directly, giving them the gift of the Ten Commandments -- necessary moral and spiritual preparation which must be achieved before one can safely cross the Threshold.
The first three commandments relate to Divinity itself:
1) I Am the Lord your God and you shall have no other gods before Me.
2) You shall make no idols. (Worshipping idols symbolizes the worship of material 'things'. Contemporary idols include money, power, cars, fame, celebrity, etc. There is nothing wrong with these things per se: we just mustn't turn them into objects of worship).
3) You shall not devalue Me by using My Name when speaking of anything else.
The final seven commandments relate to Humanity:
4) You will keep the Sabbath: a time for contemplation, meditation, and prayer.
5) You will honor your Father and Mother (meaning our flesh-and-blood parents as well as our divine "parents" -- God and the Earth).
6) You will not commit murder: either physically, or in spirit (by being full of hatred toward others, and by constantly wallowing in anger and thinking about vengeance).
7) You will not commit adultery: either by dishonoring your spouse, or by mixing your soul with lower, inappropriate, vulgar influences (which is the deeper meaning of 'adultery' and a huge modern problem).
8) You will not steal: whether literally, or in taking credit for others' accomplishments, or in taking personal credit for what only God's Grace could do.
9) You will not bear false witness: which means that you will not lie about others, but also that you will not lie about -- or to -- yourself.
10) You will not covet: either what belongs to others, or what belongs to God -- which, of course, is Everything. In other words, our time here is 'borrowed', and we must struggle not to be hypnotized by life.
(There is actually no mountain by that name. 'Sinai', which means both 'high cliff' and 'deep ravine', is a Biblical Symbol for the psychological readiness to come into contact with Divinity. It represents a Threshold between Heaven and Earth. In other words, the Israelites in the story have 'arrived' at this high state of Being.)
The Lord called to Moses and had him tell the Children of Israel:
"Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples."
Moses conveyed this message, and all the people answered, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do!"
The Israelites are now 'Chosen People'. That is, an inner voice has chosen -- as anyone may -- to do the Will of God.
After hearing their response, the Lord told Moses to tell the Israelites to purify themselves for two days and make themselves fit, for on the third day, "the Lord will come down, in the sight of the people, on Mount Sinai." Furthermore, he had Moses warn the people that they must not touch the mountain until they heard the ram's horn sound a long blast. This is a serious decision. The Threshold is a dangerous place.
"On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain."
The Lord then addressed the people directly, giving them the gift of the Ten Commandments -- necessary moral and spiritual preparation which must be achieved before one can safely cross the Threshold.
The first three commandments relate to Divinity itself:
1) I Am the Lord your God and you shall have no other gods before Me.
2) You shall make no idols. (Worshipping idols symbolizes the worship of material 'things'. Contemporary idols include money, power, cars, fame, celebrity, etc. There is nothing wrong with these things per se: we just mustn't turn them into objects of worship).
3) You shall not devalue Me by using My Name when speaking of anything else.
The final seven commandments relate to Humanity:
4) You will keep the Sabbath: a time for contemplation, meditation, and prayer.
5) You will honor your Father and Mother (meaning our flesh-and-blood parents as well as our divine "parents" -- God and the Earth).
6) You will not commit murder: either physically, or in spirit (by being full of hatred toward others, and by constantly wallowing in anger and thinking about vengeance).
7) You will not commit adultery: either by dishonoring your spouse, or by mixing your soul with lower, inappropriate, vulgar influences (which is the deeper meaning of 'adultery' and a huge modern problem).
8) You will not steal: whether literally, or in taking credit for others' accomplishments, or in taking personal credit for what only God's Grace could do.
9) You will not bear false witness: which means that you will not lie about others, but also that you will not lie about -- or to -- yourself.
10) You will not covet: either what belongs to others, or what belongs to God -- which, of course, is Everything. In other words, our time here is 'borrowed', and we must struggle not to be hypnotized by life.
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