During the wanderings of the Israelites in the Sinaitic Peninsula, the greatest recorded events were Moses' reception of the moral law from God Himself and its promulgation in the form of what the Bible terms "words," although they are more generally known as the Ten Commandments.
Even the preliminaries leading up to the giving of the commandments through Moses suggest the deep significance of this event. Shortly after the arrival of the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai, which seems to have been the highest in a range of rugged hills generally described as Horeb, Moses ascended the mountain and talked with God. He learned that he must remind the people of the divine guidance and protection they had already received and tell them that if they were prepared to do God's will, they would be His chosen people. For three days they prepared themselves for the reception of God's pronouncement, washing their clothes in token of purification (see Ex. 19:3–14).
When the third day dawned, the heights were wreathed in smoke; thunder and lightning accompanied the ever-increasing blast of a trumpet, all adding to the awesome majesty of the occasion. The mountain quaked; the people trembled in response. The Israelites as a whole were not even to approach the mountain; but Moses was called to its summit by a voice from God, and he fearlessly obeyed the call.
