Sivan 6 – I am the LORD your God…

Sivan 6, 5785; from sunset June 1, 2025, to sunset June 2, 2025

(The sixth day of the third month)

This is the name “Mosheh” (מֺשֶׁה – Moses) as seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls, written over two thousand years ago.

Today in the Bible is the traditional date for “Matan Torah” — the giving of the Torah. Greater Judaism recognizes this day as the day that God came down in a cloud on Mount Sinai and spoke the “Ten Words” — the Ten Commandments. We’ll read the story as related in the Bible and learn about oral traditions passed down regarding this big day and how they play into what the Apostles experienced over a millennia later.

Those who count the Omer starting on the day after the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is a Sabbath day, have now finished counting their “week’s worth of weeks” and celebrate the Feast of Weeks (aka Shavu’ot in Hebrew, Pentecost in Greek) today. Those who start counting the Omer on the first day after the weekly Sabbath will celebrate on this coming Sunday. Greater Judaism recognizes Shavu’ot today.

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.

As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”

Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

The LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them. And God spoke all these words:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” – Exodus 19:16-20:19 (NIV)

“and the people saw the voices and the torches”

This verse is fascinating to me. How do you see voices? And the torches, flames? Well, tradition holds that when God spoke the Torah it was in all the languages of the world at the same time. His words are said to have taken on the form of sparks or flames which landed on the heads of each individual standing at the foot of the mountain. Does this sound familiar to you? If you are a Christian, it may cause the story of Pentecost to come to mind. The day when the Apostles and other followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit. Flames descended upon the heads of those standing there. They began speaking in all of the languages of the world. That day is today. Coincidence? I think not.

Thank you for joining us in remembrance of the Matan Torah. We hope you’ll do so again in a few hours when we recall the events of that first Pentecost after the resurrection of the Master.

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