20121105 God gave the Ten Commandments 天主頒下十誡
Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. The people, however, were often ungrateful to God. Again and again, the Israelites fell into the sin of murmuring, and they even fell into the sin of idolatry!
The Israelites murmured against Moses for their lack of food and drink. God provided food for them by raining down bread from heaven and He gave them water from a dry rock in the desert.
The bread from heaven was called manna. It is a figure of the Blessed Sacrament. The manna came from heaven, and Christ in the Blessed Sacrament comes down from heaven; the manna served as food for the Israelites in their journey through the desert, and the Holy Eucharist is the food of our soul in our journey through life; the manna was bread, and in the Holy Eucharist Christ is present under the appearances of bread.
The miraculous rock was also a figure of Christ, for from Him comes the streams of grace in the seven Sacraments.
Mount Sinai
God prepare the Israelites for the proclamation of the Ten Commandments by renewing the covenant He had made with Abraham and by commanding the people to purify themselves for three days.
The people purified themselves exteriorly by washing their clothes, and interiorly by prayer and penance.
God gave Moses the Ten Commandments: 1. I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. 4. Honor your father and your mother. 5. You shall not kill. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not bear false witness. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
The first three Commandments refer directly to God, and the remaining seven refer directly to our neighbors.
The stone tablets
God commanded Moses to go up again to Mount Sinai because God wished to instruct Moses concerning the ceremonial of divine worship and to give him the two stone tablets on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments. The tablets were to remind the Israelites of the unchangeableness of the Ten Commandments.
During the absence of Moses, the Israelites committed the sin of idolatry by inducing Aaron to make a golden calf, which they adored. When Moses saw the sin of the people he threw the two stone tablets on the ground and smashes them to bits. The smashing of the tablets was the symbol of the covenant that the Israelites had broken.
Moses inflicted severe punishment on the idolaters, and prayed to God for the people. God showed his pardon by giving Moses a second time the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments.
At the end of the Book of Exodus, Moses built the tabernacle which contained the Ark of the Covenant. Inside the ark were the tablets of the Law, a vase filled with manna, and the rod of Aaron.
The tablets of the Law reminded the Israelites of the covenant; the manna and the rod of Aaron reminded them of God’s providence.
The Book of Leviticus taught the Israelites how to be a holy people. The word “holiness” occurs eighty-seven times in the book.
The Book of Numbers contains a census of all the tribes of Israel. This book also described how the Israelites spent forty years wandering through the wilderness. Again and again the people sinned by grumbling.
The Book of Deuteronomy contains a series of speeches of Moses before his death. Moses gave the people a new constitution for the nation of Israel.
梅瑟帶領以色列民逃出埃及，可是這些人民經常對天主忘恩負義；一次又一次，以色列民陷於埋怨及隅像崇拜的罪過之中！
以色列民因缺糧和口渴而埋怨梅瑟。天主卻從天降下麵餅又從沙漠乾石中流出活水。
天降的麵餅叫做「瑪納」。這是聖體的一個預象。瑪納從天降下，聖體內的主耶穌也是從天降下；瑪納是色列民沙漠旅程中的食糧，聖體是我們生命旅程中靈魂的食糧；瑪納是麵餅，耶穌亦隱藏在麵餅的外形之內。
湧出活水的石也是基督的象徵，因為由祂湧出七件聖事的恩寵活水。
西乃山
天主叫以色列民潔淨三天，準備迎接天主重新與亞巴郎的盟約、頒令十誡。他們外在地以清洗衣物，內在地以祈禱和懺悔潔淨自己。
天主在西乃山給梅瑟頒下十誡：一、欽崇一天主在萬有之上。二、無呼天主聖名以發虛誓。三、守瞻禮主日。四、孝敬父母。五、毋殺人。六、毋行邪淫。七、毋偷盜。八、毋妄証。九、毋願他人妻。十、毋貪他人財物。
首三誡是直接與天主有關的誡命，後七誡是直接跟近人有關的誡命。
結約板
天主命令梅瑟再上西乃山上，要教導他崇拜上主的禮儀，並頒給他刻上十誡的兩塊石板。這兩石板是提醒以色列民天主十誡的不變性。
梅瑟不在的時候，以色列子民犯了崇拜隅象的重罪，他們誘導亞郎塑造了一頭金牛去朝拜。當梅瑟看見他們的罪行便把兩塊石板摔碎地上。石板的破碎是以色列民破壞盟約的象徵。
梅瑟對崇拜隅象的人加以嚴重的處分；他也為人民祈求上主。天主顯示祂的寬恕，讓梅瑟再次領受十誡的石板。
《出谷紀》後段記載，梅瑟做了一個帳棚安放著約櫃。約櫃中放了十誡的石板，一瓶瑪納，和亞郎的木杖。
誡命的石板提醒以色列民守盟約，瑪納和木杖要他們記得天主的照顧。
《肋未紀》教導以色列民怎樣成聖。這個「聖」字在書內的中文譯本出現了超過一百次。
《戶籍紀》包含了以色列民族的人口統計。這書也記載了以色列民怎樣在荒野遊蕩了四十年。一次又一次人民犯了抱怨天主的罪過。
《申命紀》一書記載了梅瑟死前的一系列的教誨。梅瑟給了以色列民族一個新的憲法。