The nation of Israel was enslaved by Egypt for many years, but God called Moses, who was raised in the Pharaoh's palace, to lead his fellow Israelites out of Egypt. God brought 10 plagues on the Egyptians to pave the way for the Israelites'release.Through the miraculous parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites escaped from the Egyptian army. God showed His presence to His people with pillars of cloud and re, but they soon began to grumble and complain against God.Through Moses, God revealed another portion of His plan — the law and the tabernacle. When we think of the law, we tend to think of the Ten Command- ments (Chapter 20), but that was only the beginning.
Did God really expect that Israel would be able to obey His laws? No, He was making a point. God knows that we need to be wholly dependent on Him,but we don't know that. So He gave the law to show us what we would have to do in order to be saved by our own efforts. None of us can keep the law, and that's the point.
And that's why God included the sacri ces and ceremonies in the law.They can't rid people of sin, but they did cover the sins of the Jews until Christ's perfect sacri ce on the cross.When Moses told the people about the law, they promised to keep it. Of course, they didn't. While Mo- ses was on Mount Sinai talking with God, the people gave up on him and began worshiping a gold calf, as the Egyptians did.
