I know I wasn't due back this soon, but sometimes things just happen.


Something from 1961!!! Something I forgot and a reminder that Americans naturally distrust any government, but a reminder, too, that the  Fallen Flesh government can be fascist so long as it can suppress the truth or stop people from reading the truth.  in fact that the fascist mind always moves to stop the truth.  A reminder, too, of what America actually used to be.


https://vimeo.com/15365268  

                                         SO QUIT THE COMPLAINING ALREADY


Of course, I was not entirely right last time when I said nothing changed with the Law.   People's attitudes didn't.  They had been under the Pharaoh and now seemed to think it was the same under God.   Only they seem to think they can openly defy Moses and God where they wouldn't do so to Pharaoh.   So they think they can complain about everything and get their way.  Why not?  It has worked before.  They seem to think it is a democracy and they should never be satisfied because they will always get some more if they plead and whine about it.  That attitude of thinking they always should have their way hasn't changed nor has the cry to get back that wonderful stuff they got in Egypt.  Forgetting, of course, that  they had to do back breaking labor and were slaves to Pharaoh.  They have no back breaking labor now, everything is provided and they get to rest one day a week and travel with God constantly leading them.  But...

But...they simply don't get God's Law, His ways for them, His design. He has fully presented it in detail, how they are to live, how they are to act in appreciation of what He has given them.

What changes is God's expectation of them now that they have the law and His explanations.

Even today, He keeps telling us His design, the way things are to be, how we are to live and what to expect.  And we so often miss it.

For example, we know we are in the End Times, as Ezekiel calls them "the Latter Days."  We knew that our President Elect  is friends with Putin and his powerful rich now capitalist power structure but there was something we were ignoring that he made evident almost immediately on winning the Electoral College vote.

China.  They are enemies of Russia to the very end.  Trump has already alienated them with his Taiwan antics.  In an article on Peru, (Time Dec. 12, 2016) President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski explained how Trump withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal would not kill the pact.  This is a major trading initiative with the Americas and the East,  The Peruvian President suggested: "We would prefer to move forward with the U,S,, of course, but if that is not possible, we will work with what we have."  Peru has a growing economy and could be a valuable ally for the U.S. if a relationship could be cultivated.  But the current situation is: "China is actually our main trading partner and Peruvian-Chinese relations have never been this good."

Interesting fact: China has laid claim to being able to field a 200 million man army.


Re 9:13 And at the sounding of the sixth angel a voice came to my ears from the horns of the gold altar which is before God,
 14 Saying to the sixth angel who had the horn, Make free the four angels who are chained at the great river Euphrates.
 15 And the four angels were made free, who were ready for the hour and day and month and year, that they might put to death a third part of men.
 16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: the number of them came to my ears.
 17 And so I saw the horses in the vision, and those who were seated on them, having breastplates of fire and glass and of burning stone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and a smell of burning.
 18 By these evils a third part of men was put to death, by the fire, and the smoke, and the burning smell which came out of their mouths.
 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails: because their tails are like snakes, and have heads, and with them they give wounds.
 20 And the rest of the people, who were not put to death by these evils, were not turned from the works of their hands, but went on giving worship to evil spirits, and images of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood which have no power of seeing or hearing or walking:
 21 And they had no regret for putting men to death, or for their use of secret arts, or for the evil desires of the flesh, or for taking the property of others.
 (BBE)

 Revelation tells us more than just one army will eventually come against Israel:

Re 16:1 And a great voice out of the house of God came to my ears, saying to the seven angels, Go, and let that which is in the seven vessels of the wrath of God come down on the earth.
 2 And the first went, and let what was in his vessel come down on the earth; and it became an evil poisoning wound on the men who had the mark of the beast, and who gave worship to his image.
 3 And the second let what was in his vessel come out into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea came to an end.
 4 And the third let what was in his vessel come out into the rivers and the fountains of water; and they became blood.
 5 And the voice of the angel of the waters came to my ears, saying, True and upright is your judging, O Holy One, who is and was from all time:
 6 For they made the blood of saints and prophets come out like a stream, and blood have you given them for drink; which is their right reward.
 7 And a voice came from the altar, saying, Even so, O Lord God, Ruler of all, true and full of righteousness is your judging.
 8 And the fourth let what was in his vessel come out on the sun; and power was given to it that men might be burned with fire.
 9 And men were burned with great heat: and they said evil things against the name of the God who has authority over these punishments; and they were not turned from their evil ways to give him glory.
 10 And the fifth let what was in his vessel come out on the high seat of the beast; and his kingdom was made dark; and they were biting their tongues for pain.
 11 And they said evil things against the God of heaven because of their pain and their wounds; and they were not turned from their evil works.
 12 And the sixth let what was in his vessel come out on the great river Euphrates; and it became dry, so that the way might be made ready for the kings from the east.
 13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, like frogs.
 14 For they are evil spirits, working signs; who go out even to the kings of all the earth, to get them together to the war of the great day of God, the Ruler of all.
 15 (See, I come as a thief. Happy is he who is watching and keeps his robes, so that he may not go unclothed, and his shame be seen.)
 16 And they got them together into the place which is named in Hebrew Armageddon.
 17 And the seventh let what was in his vessel come out on the air; and there came out a great voice from the house of God, from the high seat, saying, It is done.
 18 And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power.
 19 And the great town was cut into three parts, and the towns of the nations came to destruction: and Babylon the great came into mind before God, to be given the cup of the wine of his wrath.
 20 And every island went in flight, and the mountains were seen no longer.
 21 And great drops of ice, every one about the weight of a talent, came down out of heaven on men: and men said evil things against God because of the punishment of the ice-drops; for it is very great.
 (BBE)


So the arrival of the new American President seems to bode the arrival of the end of the End Times.  I hesitate to make any definite predictions as so many have been crying that we are in the End Times since Israel re-formed.  On the other hand, as a premil believer I can't help but want the signs noted and shown to others for the hope of His return.

And point out that the great sin of complaining is that it doubts God's intention and plan, that it insists what we see with our limited vision is more accurate than what God has revealed to us. The events of the Exodus serve as a cautionary tale for us as followers and even for those who He has chosen to lead, as our next complaint demonstrates.

#8 – Miriam and Aaron complain about Moses’ leadership – The Lord curses Miriam with leprosy – Numbers 12:1-12


Nu 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. {Ethiopian: or, Cushite} {married: Heb. taken}
 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.
 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
 4 And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.
 5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
 6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
 7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
 9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.
 10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
 11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
 12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb.
 13 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
 15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
 16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

 (KJV)


We need to watch our objections to the leadership God provides.  Especially when the leader is a person of God.  Even those in leadership need to see that other leaders sometimes have better vision of events than they do.  





#9    – The people complained about how difficult it looked to enter the land so they refused to enter the Promise Land. Numbers 14:1-10 Because the path the Lord has chosen to develop His people is almost always humanly impossible and difficult it can cause some people to freak out and desire their old life.



Nu 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
 3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
 4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
 6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
 8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
 9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. {defence: Heb. shadow}
 10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.


God gives the mission.  Not us.  God reveals His truth; we seek to understand as he wants it understood.  We need to see the Truth revealed and listen to those who reveal it correctly.  Aware that God reveals different parts of His truth to different people in different ways.   A preterist sees the visions of Revelation as applying to the old times, which they do also, and as lessons for today, not as literal.  The Futurist sees them as literal and as defining event for today, which they do.  We can only do it by obeying the Spirit and letting Him open our eyes.  That requires discernment  on our part.  


#10 – The people complained again and wanted to kill Moses – try to select another leader. The Lord (sends) pestilence – Numbers 14:10 Some believers will attempt to “vote out” their spiritual leaders; hoping to select leaders who will lead them into a more prosperous path.  When it doesn’t look like they can replace their leader they actually tried to kill them.



 11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
 12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
 13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
 14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
 15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
 16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
 17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
 18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
 19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. {until...: or, hitherto}

(Again, I reiterate what my Spiritual "father" Clarence Long. an elder at Lockwood Church for as long as I knew him until his death,  once said that it was a good thing for Israel that BOTH God and Moses were there because they took turns talking each other out of destroying Israel,)

20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
 21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
 22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
 23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: {Surely...: Heb. If they see the land}
 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
 25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
 26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
 27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
 28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
 29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
 30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. {sware: Heb. lifted up my hand}
 31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
 32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.
 33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. {wander: or, feed}
 34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. {breach...: or, altering of my purpose}
 35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
 36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
 37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
 38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
 39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
 40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
 41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
 42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
 44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
 45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
 (KJV)


Please recall, that despite His mercies here that spared many the death at the hands of the enemies,  the people got their "wish" :

 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!


They wandered in the wilderness until all of them that objected to the first entry to Israel were dead.  They got the "reward" they complained about.  Sometime our fears dictate or words and sometimes God let's us taste those fears to see that he had something better if we had only listened.  

More, the Lord emphasized they had to proceed under HIS guidance or they would perish immediately.  They lesson that bad things would come with disobedience now took on an immediate impact.

And God followed this action with an immediate statement about sin and atonement.


Nu 15:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,
 3 And will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock: {performing: Heb. separating}
 4 Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the LORD bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil.
 5 And the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb.
 6 Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil.
 7 And for a drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
 8 And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice in performing a vow, or peace offerings unto the LORD:
 9 Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering of three tenth deals of flour mingled with half an hin of oil.
 10 And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
 11 Thus shall it be done for one bullock, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or a kid.
 12 According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number.
 13 All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
 14 And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; as ye do, so he shall do.
 15 One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD.
 16 One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
 17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
 18 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you,
 19 Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the LORD.
 20 Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it.
 21 Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD an heave offering in your generations.
 22 And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses,
 23 Even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD commanded Moses, and henceforward among your generations;
 24 Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. {without...: Heb. from the eyes} {manner: or, ordinance}
 25 And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance:
 26 And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.
 27 And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering.
 28 And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.
 29 Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. {sinneth: Heb. doth}
 30 But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. {presumptuously: Heb. with an high hand}
 31 Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
 32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
 33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
 34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
 35 And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.
 36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.
 37 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
 38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
 40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
 41 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.

 (KJV)


We must realize God appoints leaders and be aware they are there for us to follow when THEY follow the Lord.  So we must be in the Word and in the Spirit.  In the United States, we can follow anyone.  That is apparent from our televisions.  But God wants us to follow HIM and His word and teaching.  When we have so many choices, we need to be aware of the "tickling or itching ear" notion.  

2Ti 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. {make...; or, fulfil}

 (KJV)




Matthew Henry Commentary
4:1-5 People will turn away from the truth, they will grow weary of the plain gospel of Christ, they will be greedy of fables, and take pleasure in them. People do so when they will not endure that preaching which is searching, plain, and to the purpose. Those who love souls must be ever watchful, must venture and bear all the painful effects of their faithfulness, and take all opportunities of making known the pure gospel.

Moses was a true man of God, humble and obedient.  We KNOW that and need to use that standard in seeing the works of our own leaders.  And ourselves.  

Have a full Christmas in the Lord, thinking of His birth and His life and death.  We will return after the first of the year.  Please keep us in your prayers that we may be full of the Spirit when we write here and keep our eyes on the prize.  We near the end of the race.   Let us all finish strong.  Go forward in Christ.  

                                 COMPLAINING THE TWIXT AND 'TWEEN                                                                       
                                                                          V.

#5 – The people complained about being thirsty – Exodus 17:1-4 This is when your spiritual growth produces greater thirst.

Ex 17:1 And the children of Israel went on from the waste land of Sin, by stages as the Lord gave them orders, and put up their tents in Rephidim: and there was no drinking-water for the people.
 2 So the people were angry with Moses, and said, Give us water for drinking. And Moses said, Why are you angry with me? and why do you put God to the test?
 3 And the people were in great need of water; and they made an outcry against Moses, and said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to send death on us and our children and our cattle through need of water?
 4 And Moses, crying out to the Lord, said, What am I to do to this people? they are almost ready to put me to death by stoning.
 5 And the Lord said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take some of the chiefs of Israel with you, and take in your hand the rod which was stretched out over the Nile, and go.
 6 See, I will take my place before you on the rock in Horeb; and when you give the rock a blow, water will come out of it, and the people will have drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the chiefs of Israel.
 7 And he gave that place the name Massah and Meribah, because the children of Israel were angry, and because they put the Lord to the test, saying, Is the Lord with us or not?
 8 Then Amalek came and made war on Israel in Rephidim.

 (BBE)

We discussed this earlier and mentioned that God took them to war immediately afterward.  Here's the follow up:

Ex 17:9 And Moses said to Joshua, Get together a band of men for us and go out, make war on Amalek: tomorrow I will take my place on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and went to war with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
 11 Now while Moses' hand was lifted up, Israel was the stronger: but when he let his hand go down, Amalek became the stronger.
 12 But Moses' hands became tired; so they put a stone under him and he took his seat on it, Aaron and Hur supporting his hands, one on one side and one on the other; so his hands were kept up without falling till the sun went down.

John Wesley:

Exodus 17:9 Ex 17:9


  V. 9.  I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my land-See how God qualifies his people for, and calls them to various services for the good of his church; Joshua fights, Moses prays, and both minister to Israel.  This rod Moses held up, not so much to Israel as to animate them; as to God by way of appeal to him; Is not the battle the Lord's?  Is not he able to help, and engaged to help?  Witness this rod!  Moses was not only a standard-bearer, but an intercessor, pleading with God for success and victory.


 13 And Joshua overcame Amalek and his people with the sword.
 14 And the Lord said to Moses, Make a record of this in a book, so that it may be kept in memory, and say it again in the ears of Joshua: that all memory of Amalek is to be completely uprooted from the earth.
 15 Then Moses put up an altar and gave it the name of Yahweh-nissi:
 16 For he said, The Lord has taken his oath that there will be war with Amalek from generation to generation.
 (BBE)

Note that later the scouts will return from the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14) and say there are giants there that the people can't defeat.  But the people have been fighting other tribes in the wastelands,  They will kill giants in the wasteland.  NOT taking the Promised Land did not spare them battles, merely gave the ones who refused to go a few extra days or years of life, of disobedient life.  Joshua and Caleb battled to take the land THEN.  Later, they would take the land.  God meant them to do that.

Then comes the giving of the Law:


Ex 24:1 And he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the chiefs of Israel; and give me worship from a distance.
 2 And Moses only may come near to the Lord; but the others are not to come near, and the people may not come up with them.
 3 Then Moses came and put before the people all the words of the Lord and his laws: and all the people, answering with one voice, said, Whatever the Lord has said we will do.
 4 Then Moses put down in writing all the words of the Lord, and he got up early in the morning and made an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
 5 And he sent some of the young men of the children of Israel to make burned offerings and peace-offerings of oxen to the Lord.
 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; draining out half of the blood over the altar.
 7 And he took the book of the agreement, reading it in the hearing of the people: and they said, Everything which the Lord has said we will do, and we will keep his laws.
 8 Then Moses took the blood and let it come on the people, and said, This blood is the sign of the agreement which the Lord has made with you in these words.
 9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the chiefs of Israel went up:
 10 And they saw the God of Israel; and under his feet there was, as it seemed, a jewelled floor, clear as the heavens.
 11 And he put not his hand on the chiefs of the children of Israel: they saw God, and took food and drink.
 12 And the Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain, and take your place there: and I will give you the stones on which I have put in writing the law and the orders, so that you may give the people knowledge of them.
 13 Then Moses and Joshua his servant got up; and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
 14 And he said to the chiefs, Keep your places here till we come back to you: Aaron and Hur are with you; if anyone has any cause let him go to them.
 15 And Moses went up into the mountain, and it was covered by the cloud.
 16 And the glory of the Lord was resting on Mount Sinai, and the cloud was over it for six days; and on the seventh day he said Moses' name out of the cloud.
 17 And the glory of the Lord was like a flame on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the children of Israel.
 18 And Moses went up the mountain, into the cloud, and was there for forty days and forty nights.



The full details run through six more chapters with then Law and the duties of the people and their leaders detailed then:




 31:1 And the Lord said to Moses,
 2 I have made selection of Bezalel, the son of Uri, by name, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
 3 And I have given him the spirit of God and made him wise and full of knowledge and expert in every sort of handwork,
 4 To do all sorts of delicate work in gold and silver and brass;
 5 In cutting stones for framing, and to do every form of woodwork.
 6 And I have made selection of Oholiab with him, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are wise I have put the knowledge to make whatever I have given you orders to have made;
 7 The Tent of meeting, and the ark of the law, and the cover which is on it, and all the things for the tent,
 8 And the table with its vessels, and the holy light-support with all its vessels, and the altar for the burning of spices,
 9 And the altar of burned offerings with all its vessels, and the washing-vessel with its base,
 10 And the robes of needlework, the holy robes for Aaron and for his sons, for their use when acting as priests,
 11 And the holy oil, and the perfume of sweet spices for the holy place; they will do whatever I have given you orders to have done.
 12 And the Lord said to Moses,
 13 Say to the children of Israel that they are to keep my Sabbaths; for the Sabbath day is a sign between me and you through all your generations; so that you may see that I am the Lord who makes you holy.
 14 So you are to keep the Sabbath as a holy day; and anyone not honouring it will certainly be put to death: whoever does any work on that day will be cut off from his people.
 15 Six days may work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.
 16 And the children of Israel are to keep the Sabbath holy, from generation to generation, by an eternal agreement.
 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he took his rest and had pleasure in it.
 18 And when his talk with Moses on Mount Sinai was ended, he gave him the two stones of the law, two stones on which was the writing made by the finger of God.
 (BBE)

Please take note        above.  The Sabbath is God's bond with Israel exactly as circumcision is a part of God's pact with Israel. recall that when anyone suggests that Christians must worship on the Seventh Day or that they must follow any of the ritualistic laws. For what we are to keep:  http://www.yourtruelifenow.com/  Please note that these are "laws" in the way to keep close to God.  To nurture the Spirit in your life. 

And, while Moses was busy on the mountain, in the glowing presence of God. the People were still complaining.  Only Aaron faced it alone.  God wasn't hanging over his shoulder, that he knew of anyway.


#6 – The people forsake the Lord. The Lord orders the Levites to kill 3000 people by the sword, because they worshipped the golden calf. – Exodus 32:28  This is when you recognize just how impatient our flesh is when it comes to the things of God and how inclined we are to worship anything but the One True God. Instead of waiting for 40 days for Moses who was on the mountain, they created their own idol/God. 



Ex 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses was a long time coming down from the mountain, they all came to Aaron and said to him, Come, make us a god to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us up out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has become of him.
 2 Then Aaron said to them, Take off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives and your sons and your daughters, and give them to me.
 3 And all the people took the gold rings from their ears and gave them to Aaron.
 4 And he took the gold from them and, hammering it with an instrument, he made it into the metal image of a young ox: and they said, This is your god, O Israel, who took you out of the land of Egypt.

Please realize the real sin has nothing to do with building a gold calf or melting down things to do it.  What is wrong is giving credit for the accomplishments of God to the idol.  This is always

the great sin: denying God the worship and recognition that is His due.  New Age author Matthew Fox (a priest not an actor) wrote that Moses was mad because they were worshiping a bull which was the sign of Taurus and they were in the age of Aquarius so the people picked were worshiping the wrong Astrological sign.  If you take note, this is like saying the were worshipping the Boston  Red Sox instead of the Ne York Yankees  so Moses wanted them destroyed (Having been raise with a Tigers fan, let me tell you he would have wanted BOTH those sets of worshipers destroyed.  Moses meanwhile would have been too busy trying to figure out the infield fly rule.).  The argument is ridiculous no matter what false gods you put in the place.  Astrology is as idolatrous as building a gold calf.  Both reason from human perspective and not God's perspective.

 5 And when Aaron saw this, he made an altar before it, and made a public statement, saying, 
Tomorrow there will be a feast to the Lord.
 6 So early on the day after they got up and made burned offerings and peace-offerings; and took their seats at the feast, and then gave themselves to pleasure.
 7 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down quickly; for your people, whom you took out of the land of Egypt, are turned to evil ways;
 8 Even now they are turned away from the rule I gave them, and have made themselves a metal ox and given worship to it and offerings, saying, This is your god, O Israel, who took you up out of the land of Egypt.
 9 And the Lord said to Moses, I have been watching this people, and I see that they are a stiff-necked people.

http://biblehub.com/topical/s/stiff-necked.htm

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(a.) Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, stiff-necked pride; a stiff-necked people.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

STIFF-NECKED

stif'-nekt (qesheh `oreph, literally, "hard of neck"): As it is figuratively used, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the word means "stubborn," "untractable," "not to be led." The derivation of the idea was entirely familiar to the Jews, with whom the ox was the most useful and common of domestic animals. It was especially used for such agricultural purposes as harrowing and plowing (Judges 14:18 1 Corinthians 9:9).

The plow was usually drawn by two oxen. As the plowman required but one hand to guide the plow, he carried in the other an "ox-goad." This was a light pole, shod with an iron spike. With this he would prick the oxen upon the hind legs to increase their speed, and upon the neck to turn, or to keep a straight course when deviating. If an ox was hard to control or stubborn, it was "hard of neck," or stiff-necked. Hence, the figure was used in the Scriptures to express the stubborn, untractable spirit of a people not responsive to the guiding of their God (Exodus 32:9; Exodus 33:3 Deuteronomy 9:6 2 Chronicles 36:13 Jeremiah 17:23, etc.). See also the New Testament where sklerotrachelos, is so translated (Acts 7:51), "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit.". Compare Baruch 2:30, 33.

Arthur Walwyn Evans

 10 Now do not get in my way, for my wrath is burning against them; I will send destruction on them, but of you I will make a great nation.
 (BBE)

This is where Moses tries to calm God and God calms Moses.  The People are going after both of them. God by false worship and Moses by saying he was gone and must be dead,  and the two seem determined to wipe out the whole mess and begin again, but each in turn talks the other out of it.  It's like two parents ready to beat the tar out of the kids but knowing it isn't the way to go.  It may be that God leads moses on to keep his heart in the right place, it seems very likely, imagine this relationship with God.  Talking with the giver of power.  Not just in worship but as a friend, a person.

You know, the people who were going to do God's will,

Ex 32:11 And Moses besought Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
 14 And Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people.
 15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
 16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
 (ASV)

But wait  look at the next complaining passage:


#7 – The “mixed multitude” of the people complained about food – Numbers 11 – The Lord burns the outskirts of the camp – Moses wants to die – The Lord sends a very great plague v.33  Here you become so dissatisfied with the spiritual diet God has (FOR) you, that you may wonder why you even became a Christian (v.20). This is where the confusion of being in a crowd of people with varying degrees of commitment to the Lord exasperates the problem. The ongoing process of further weaning the people from the world’s food comes to a head.

Nu 10:34 And by day the cloud of the Lord went over them, when they went forward from the place where they had put up their tents.
 35 And when the ark went forward Moses said, Come up, O Lord, and let the armies of those who are against you be broken, and let your haters go in flight before you.
 36 And when it came to rest, he said, Take rest, O Lord, and give a blessing to the families of Israel.
 11:1 Now the people were saying evil against the Lord; and the Lord, hearing it, was angry and sent fire on them, burning the outer parts of the tent-circle.
 (BBE)

They have won a mighty victory.  The enemy is routed.  Things are great.

So they praise the Lord and...NO, they speak evil almost the moment after Moses asks God to bless them.

Nu 11:1 Now the people were saying evil against the Lord; and the Lord, hearing it, was angry and sent fire on them, burning the outer parts of the tent-circle.
 2 And the people made an outcry to Moses, and Moses made prayer to the Lord, and the fire was stopped.
 3 So that place was named Taberah, because of the fire of the Lord which had been burning among them.
 (BBE)

And God throws the fear of God into them.

Nu 11:4 And the mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:
 6 but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all save this manna to look upon.
 7 And the manna was like coriander seed, and the appearance thereof as the appearance of bdellium.
 8 The people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
 9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

God has kept them alive in the wilderness, led them, given them the Law to live by and direction after direction, given them fresh water from bitter, fresh water from rocks no less, preserved them against enemies.  but they miss the taste of Egyptian fish??!

 10 And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased.
 11 And Moses said unto Jehovah, Wherefore hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
 12 Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
 13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
 14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
 15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.

Everybody seems so intent on God killing them.   We play those games even today.  I heard an old woman asking her daughter why God let her live so long.  Her daughter was explaining that God was in control and that was what was really bothering her mother.  One suspects that was what bothered even Moses.  God had a plan and had a place for everyone in it.  And it inevitably bothers every one of us at one time or another, that our autonomy is an illusion.

 16 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with thee.
 17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

See that?  See that God put the Spirit, His Holy Spirit on Moses and would now share it with the elders so Moses would not bear the burden alone.  And His Son would share the Spirit with his disciples and that was to share the burden  of reaching the world, the Spirit is given the share the work, to spread the work among everyone.


 18 And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore Jehovah will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.
 19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days,
 20 but a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because that ye have rejected Jehovah who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
 21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
 22 Shall flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
 23 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Is Jehovah's hand waxed short? now shalt thou see whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
 24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of Jehovah: and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the Tent.
 25 And Jehovah came down in the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.
 26 But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.
 27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
 29 And Moses said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all Jehovah's people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them! 

Not all prophets, but all in the Spirit.

30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
 31 And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.
 32 And the people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
 33 While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague.
 34 And the name of that place was called Kibrothhattaavah, because there they buried the people that lusted.
 35 From Kibrothhattaavah the people journeyed unto Hazeroth; and they abode at Hazeroth.
 (ASV)


Now see this part clearly.  The law made NO DIFFERENCE.  They continued to complain even as before.  It didn't change their heart while it was being given nor directly after, nor in the centuries to follow.  Only the Spirit God gave empowered.  Only to those willing to serve.

So we get the first taste of Paul's expansion in Galatians.


 Ga 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified?
 2 This only would I learn from you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Even as God gave the Spirit after the Law was given, gave it to those who loved Him AND His Law.


 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh?
 4 Did ye suffer so many things in vain? if it be indeed in vain.
 5 He therefore that supplieth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.
 7 Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham.
 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed.
 9 So then they that are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.
 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.
 11 Now that no man is justified by the law before God, is evident: for, The righteous shall live by faith;
 12 and the law is not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them.
 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
 14 that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
 15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it void, or addeth thereto.
 16 Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
 17 Now this I say: A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, doth not disannul, so as to make the promise of none effect.
 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise: but God hath granted it to Abraham by promise.
 19 What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise hath been made; and it was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.
 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one; but God is one.
 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could make alive, verily righteousness would have been of the law.
 22 But the scriptures shut up all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
 23 But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
 24 So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
 25 But now faith that is come, we are no longer under a tutor.
 26 For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.
 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.
 28 There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.
 29 And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise.
 (ASV)

And one long detailed final analysis:

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Gal/Understanding-Law

Understanding the Law

Paul suddenly stops the flow of his argument and asks a question: What, then, was the purpose of the law?(v. 19). This question reflects Paul's awareness that his argument so far would lead his readers to wonder whether he has denied any purpose to the law. If the inheritance of the promised blessing does not depend on the law, as Paul has just declared (v. 18), then why was the law given by God? Paul's answer is important for us as we wrestle with similar questions regarding the application of the Mosaic law. How should Christians relate to the Mosaic law today?

In this section Paul first asks his major, initial question regarding the purpose of the law and replies briefly (vv. 19-20), then asks a supplementary question regarding the relation of the law to the promise of God and supplies an explanation (vv. 21-22), and finally presents two images to illustrate more fully God's purpose for the law (vv. 23-25).What Was the Purpose of the Law? (3:19-20)

Paul's brief reply to this question points to (1) the negative purpose of the law, (2) the temporal framework for the law and (3) the mediated origin of the law.

1. According to Paul, the law has a negative purpose: It was added because of transgressions (v. 19). Paul has already demonstrated what the law does not do: it does not make anyone righteous before God (v. 11); it is not based on faith (v. 12); it is not the basis of inheritance (v. 18). So if the law is divorced from righteousness, faith and inheritance of the blessing, to what is law related? Paul says that the law is related to transgressions. A transgression is the violation of a standard. The law provides the objective standard by which the violations are measured. In order for sinners to know how sinful they really are, how far they deviate from God's standards, God gave the law. Before the law was given, there was sin (see Rom 5:13). But after the law was given, sin could be clearly specified and measured (see Rom 3:20; 4:15; 7:7). Each act or attitude could then be labeled as a transgression of this or that commandment of the law.

Imagine a state in which there are many traffic accidents but no traffic laws. Although people are driving in dangerous, harmful ways, it is difficult to designate which acts are harmful until the legislature issues a book of traffic laws. Then it is possible for the police to cite drivers for transgressions of the traffic laws. The laws define harmful ways of driving as violations of standards set by the legislature. The function of traffic laws is to allow bad drivers to be identified and prosecuted.

2. The temporal framework for the law is clearly established by the words added . . . until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come (v. 19). Paul has already emphasized that the Mosaic law was given 430 years after the Abrahamic promise (v. 17). The word added implies that the law was not a central theme in God's redemptive plan; it was supplementary and secondary to the enduring covenant made with Abraham. As the word added marks the beginning point for the Mosaic law, the word until marks its end point. The Mosaic law came into effect at a certain point in history and was in effect only until the promised Seed,Christ, appeared. There is a contrast here between the permanent validity of the promise and the temporary nature of the law. On the one hand, the promise was made long before the law and will be in effect long after the period of the law; on the other hand, the law was in effect for a relatively short period of time limited in both directions by the words added and until.

As we shall see in our study of the next few sections of the letter (see 3:23-25; 4:1-4), Paul's presentation of the temporal framework for the law is a major theme of his argument for the superiority of the promise fulfilled in Christ over the law. This theme differs radically from the common Jewish perspective of his day, which emphasized the eternal, immutable nature of the law. But Paul's Christocentric perspective led him to see that Christ (the promised Seed), not the law, was the eternal one.

3. Paul designates the origin of the law in his statement that the law was put into effect through angels by a mediator (v. 19). By this Paul does not mean that the law was given by angels rather than by God. He is merely pointing to the well-known Jewish tradition that God gave the law through the agency of angels as well as by a mediator, namely Moses. References to the agency of angels in the giving of the law can be found in the Greek version of Deuteronomy 33:2 and Psalm 68:17. We can also see this tradition about angels in Acts 7:53 and Hebrews 2:2.

The presence of angels and the mediation of Moses in the giving of the law were understood by the Jewish people to signify the great glory of the law. But Paul argues that the giving of the law through a series of intermediaries, angels and Moses, actually demonstrates the inferiority of the law. His argument is cryptic and enigmatic: A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one (v. 20). Literally, this sentence reads, "But a mediator is not one, but God is one." A contrast is being made between the plurality of participants in a process of mediation and the oneness of God. In the larger context of Paul's argument here, there is also the implied contrast between the promise given directly by God to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ, the seed of Abraham, and the law given through numerous intermediaries.

By faith the Galatian converts have already entered into the experience of the Spirit (vv. 1-5), which is the fulfillment of the promise (v. 14). Evidently they are now being persuaded that if they observe the rituals of the Jewish people, they will experience new dimensions of spiritual life and blessing--that if they become members of God's people, the Jews, they will be guaranteed intimacy with God. Paul warns them that the circumstances of the giving of the law demonstrate otherwise. The law had a mediated origin. Thus the law does not provide direct access to God. Only the fulfillment of the promise in the bestowal of the Spirit to those in Christ guarantees direct access to God (see 4:4-8).

Paul's affirmation of the common confession of all Jews that God is one (v. 20) implies a contrast between the universality of God and the particularity of the law. The particular focus of the law is specified by its mediation through the angels and Moses to the Jewish people. The preachers of the false gospel in Galatia limited the sphere of God's blessing to the Jewish nation. Their message implied that God is the God of the Jews only. But the unity of God means that he is the God of the Gentiles as well as the God of the Jews (see Rom 3:29-30). The universality of God is clearly expressed in the promise for "all nations" (Gal 3:8). The bestowal of the Spirit on Gentiles who had not become Jews was irrefutable evidence for the universality of God.

Moses, the mediator of the law, brought in a law that divided Jews from Gentiles; therefore he was not the mediator of "the one," the one new community promised to Abraham (v. 8) and found in Christ (v. 28). Christ, not Moses, is the mediator of the unity of all believers in Christ--Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female.

These arguments against the supremacy of the Mosaic law should not be interpreted to mean that Paul is antinomian, totally against the law. He is, after all, showing that the law had an important place in the redemptive plan of God. But the giving of the law was not the final goal of God's plan. The law was an essential step, but only a step, toward the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises in Christ. Christ is the beginning, end and center of God's plan.

In the churches in Galatia the law was supplanting the central place of Christ. The churches were becoming law-centered. It was necessary, therefore, to put the law back into its rightful place. Its purpose is negative: to point out transgressions. Its time is limited: 430 years after the promise, until Christ. Its origin is mediated through angels and Moses: it does not provide direct access to God, and it divides Jews from Gentiles.Is the Law Opposed to the Promises of God? (3:21-22)

This question is an understandable response to Paul's stark contrast between the law and the promise (vv. 15-18) and his confinement of the law to a limited role in God's historical plan (vv. 19-20). People who were preoccupied with the supreme value of the law must have been stunned by such a devaluation of it. How could Paul speak against the law? Was the logical conclusion of his line of reasoning the position that the law stood in opposition to the promise? Absolutely not! says Paul. Since both the law and the promise were given by God, they must be complementary rather than contradictory in the overall plan of God. Paul explains the relation of the law to the promise in a two-part answer to the question. First, he presents a contrary-to-fact hypothesis that ascribes a positive role to the law (v. 21). Second, he turns from hypothesis to the reality of the law's negative role (v. 22).

In order to clarify the relation of the law to the promise, Paul poses a contrary-to-fact hypothesis: If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law (v. 21). The very way that Paul phrases this hypothesis (as a contrary-to-fact conditional statement) indicates that he does not for a moment think the law can impart life. By life Paul means living in right relationship with God (see 2:19: "that I might live for God"). If the law could empower one to live in a right relationship with God, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. This was in fact the position of the rival teachers in the Galatian churches. They were promoting the law as the way to live for God. It was actually their position that set the law in direct opposition to the promise; it contradicted the gospel. For as Paul has already said (2:21), "if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

It is only when the law is given a positive role that it is directly opposed to the promise fulfilled in Christ. You are faced with an absolute contradiction if you are told that only by believing in the cross of Christ will you be able to live in a right relationship with God and then you are told that only by keeping the law will you be able to live in a right relationship with God. And that is precisely what the Galatian believers were being told by the rival teachers. But Paul does not accept the false hypothesis of a positive role for the law. Since believing the gospel has already been proved to be the only way to receive life in the Spirit and righteousness (3:1-18), such a positive role for the law is excluded.

The strong adversative conjunction but at the beginning of verse 22 indicates that Paul is turning from the unreal hypothesis of a positive role for the law to the reality of the negative role of the law: but the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin (v. 22). In reality, the law has the negative function of condemning everyone. Literally, Paul says that "the Scripture imprisoned all under sin." Probably Paul has in mind Deuteronomy 27:26, the specific Scripture he quoted in verse 10: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." This citation from the law summarizes the purpose of the law: to demonstrate that all are sinners and to put all sinners under God's judgment. Paul's emphasis on the universality of human sin (v. 22) and the universality of God's judgment on all sinners (v. 10) reduces Jews to the same status as Gentiles--the whole world is a prisoner of sin. So identification with the Jewish people by circumcision and observance of the Mosaic law does not remove one from the circle of "Gentile sinners" (2:15) and bring one into the sphere of righteousness, blessing and life. Rather, it leaves one imprisoned under sin.

But we are not left as condemned sinners under the curse of God. The law was given to show that all humanity is held under the bondage of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe (v. 22). Now we can see how the law and the promise work in harmony to fulfill the purpose of God. The law puts us down under the curse; the promise lifts us up in Christ. We are left with no exit under the condemnation of the law so that we might find our freedom only by faith in Christ. The law imprisons all--both Jews and Gentiles--under sin to prepare the way for including all believers in Christ--both Jews and Gentiles--in the blessing promised to Abraham.

So the law should not be viewed as contradictory to the gospel. By reducing all to the level of sinners, the law prepares the way for the gospel. But neither should the law be viewed as if it were the same as the gospel. The law has a negative purpose: it makes us aware of our sin. But it does not, indeed it cannot, set us free from bondage to sin. The promise of blessing comes only through faith in Christ.The Law Is a Jailer and a Disciplinarian (3:23-25)

Paul expands and dramatizes his explanation of the negative function of the law by personifying the law as a jailer and a disciplinarian. In his portrayal of the roles given by God to the law, Paul shows that these negative roles are a necessary part, but only a temporary part, of the entire drama of God's plan of salvation.

The law took the part of God's jailer on the stage of history: before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed (v. 23). Notice the important shift of focus from universal to particular: in verse 22 the whole world is declared by Scripture to be a prisoner of sin, but in verse 23 Paul says we were held prisoners by the law. In the first case the law is related to all people without distinction, Jews as well as Gentiles. All are condemned as sinners by the law. In the second case the law is related to Jews. For a certain period of time, Jews in particular were held as prisoners under law. When we read the Mosaic law we can see how every aspect of Jewish life was restricted, restrained and confined by the law. In this sense the law was a jailer over the Jews.

It is essential to distinguish between these two functions of the law: the universal condemnatory function and the particular supervisory function. Every person in the whole world of every time and every race is under the condemnation of the law given in Scripture. The law makes it clear that everyone is a prisoner of sin in order that it may be absolutely clear that the salvation promised by God can be received only by faith in Jesus Christ (v. 22). That is the universal condemnatory function of the law. The condemning sentence of the law against all humanity can never be overturned. It stands as a permanent indictment of the sinful rebellion of the whole world against God.

The Mosaic law was given not only as a permanent standard for all humanity but also as a temporary system to supervise a particular people. As we read through the Mosaic law we are impressed with a complex system of laws that were set in place to guide the conduct of the Jewish people. According to Paul's imagery in verse 23, the law functioned as a jailer to lock up the Jewish people in a vast system of legal codes and regulations. But that lockup was meant to be only temporary. Verse 23 begins and ends with clear references to the time when the imprisonment within the system of Mosaic law would end: before this faith came . . . until faith should be revealed. Of course Abraham had faith in God long before the Mosaic law, as Paul emphasized in 3:6. But the specific nature of this faith that Paul has in mind has just been stated in verse 22: faith in Jesus Christ . . . Before this faith came, we [the Jewish people] were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith [in Jesus Christ] should be revealed. The function of the law as a jailer is not permanent; it is limited to a certain period in history.

The temporary function of the law is also described by the image of a disciplinarian. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ (v. 24). The NIV here is more a loose paraphrase than a word-for-word translation. The NRSV is an excellent, literal translation of this phrase: "Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came." Behind the English word disciplinarian is the Greek word paidagogos, from which we derive pedagogue. The first meaning listed in Webster's Third New International Dictionary for pedagogue is "a teacher of children or youth"; the second meaning given is "one (as a slave) having charge of a boy chiefly on the way to and from school in classical antiquity." In Paul's day the pedagogue was distinguished from the teacher (didaskalos). The pedagogue supervised, controlled and disciplined the child; the teacher instructed and educated him.

A fascinating dialogue between Socrates and a boy named Lysis highlights this distinction. Socrates begins the conversation by asking Lysis, "Do they [Lysis's parents] let you control your own self, or will they not trust you in that either?"

"Of course they do not," he replied.

"But someone controls you?"

"Yes," he said, "my pedagogue here."

"Is he a slave?"

"Why certainly; he belongs to us," he said.

"What a strange thing," I exclaimed: "a free man controlled by a slave! But how does this pedagogue exert his control over you?"

"By taking me to the teacher," he replied.

Josephus tells us of a pedagogue who was found beating the family cook when the child under his supervision overate. The pedagogue himself was corrected with the words: "Man, we did not make you the cook's pedagogue, did we? but the child's. Correct him; help him!"

These examples of the use of the term pedagogue in Greek literature point to the common perception of this figure in the Hellenistic world: he was given the responsibility to supervise and discipline the conduct of children. He did not have the positive task of educating the child; he was only supposed to control the behavior of the child through consistent discipline. The point of Paul's use of this image in depicting the law is that the law was given this supervisory, disciplinary role over the Jewish people. But the supervisory control of the law was only "until Christ" (to Christ in NIV). This phrase has a temporal meaning, as we can see from the parallel phrase in the previous verse: until faith should be revealed. In the outworking of God's plan of salvation in history, the period when the Jewish people were under the supervisory control of the law was followed by the coming of Christ. The supervisory discipline of the law over the people of God came to an end when Christ came.

The purpose of the disciplinary function of the law was to demonstrate that God's people could only be justified by faith: that we [the Jewish people] might be justified by faith (v. 24). Under the constant discipline of the law, the Jewish people should have learned how impossible it was to keep the law. The law constantly beat them down like a stern disciplinarian, pointing out all their shortcomings and failures. The pain of this discipline was designed to teach them that they could only be declared righteous by God through faith.

In verse 25 Paul draws a conclusion that demolishes any argument that Christians ought to live under the supervisory control of the law: Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.The Galatian believers were evidently succumbing to arguments that their life in Christ should be lived under the supervisory discipline of the Mosaic law. But to live under the supervision of the Mosaic law is to live as if Christ had not come. Now that Christ has come, we live, as Paul has already affirmed in 2:20, "by faith in the Son of God." To live by faith in Christ sets us free from the supervision of the law.

Since Paul is still speaking here in the first-person plural (we) his primary reference is to the freedom that Jewish believers now experience from the supervision of the law because they have put their faith in Christ. If Jewish believers are no longer under the supervision of the law, then it is surely foolish for Gentile believers in Christ to put themselves under the law's supervision. No wonder Paul began this chapter with the rebuke "You foolish Galatians!" They have received the Spirit by believing the gospel, but now they are trying to make progress in their spiritual life by observing the law. But their attempt to observe the law as if they were now under the supervision of the law is not progress; it is retrogression to the period in history before Christ came.

We have some friends who immigrated from a country under dictatorship to North America. Their move to the States marked a turning point in their history. They no longer live under the tyrannical government of their former country. Now they are under a new government. It would make no sense for them to start living again as if they were under the supervision of their former government.

Similarly, Paul sees the turning point in his life to be the time when he put his faith in Christ. Before that time he lived under the supervision of the Mosaic law. But after he put his faith in Christ, his life was lived by faith in Christ, under the supervision of Christ. He had immigrated (see Col 1:13) to the kingdom of Christ.

Of course those friends who have now immigrated to America cannot assume that they are now free to do whatever was forbidden in their former country. Although they cannot be prosecuted under the laws of their former country for murder or theft, they are now bound by the laws of their new country not to murder or steal. Our new life in Christ is not under the supervision of the law; it is under the rule of Christ by his Spirit. Freedom in Christ from the supervisory rule of the Mosaic law empowers us to "live for God" (2:19).

The Law was given to separate the Israelites from the rest of the world.  But only their obedience to it and their sharing it with the world.