Almost everything the Israelites learned about ultimate reality from the Egyptians was incorrect. There are not many gods. There is only one God. The Creator is completely good, and evil comes from rebelling against him. You cannot gain God's blessings through magic or trying to influence God. God's blessings are free to those who lovingly submit to him.
When the Israelites left Egypt, they did not fully understand God as he intended. Through the plagues and crossing the Red Sea, they learned about God's unique power. In the wilderness, they discovered God's caring provision. Yet, they still did not know God's character. The covenant at Sinai was a special agreement between God and the Israelites. The covenant was designed to teach the Israelites about God's nature and character as they followed his Torah, his instructions.
The covenant used a well-known political form, the suzerain-vassal treaty. In this type of treaty, a powerful king (the suzerain) made a treaty with a nation he had conquered (the vassal people). The conquered people promised complete loyalty to the king and agreed to follow his rules. In return, the king promised to care for them and protect them from enemies. In the covenant at Mount Sinai, God asked the people for complete loyalty to him as their only God. He wanted them to live in a way that showed his will and nature as their Creator and King.
God wanted the Israelites to simply obey him. Yet, since the first human sin, there has been a fundamental problem with the human spirit (Genesis 3). Simple obedience was impossible for the Israelites because their wills were not obedient. The covenant was good, but it could not enable the Israelites to follow it (Romans 7:12; 8:3). Without God's Spirit, we cannot do what we must or share the creator's character. But now, Jesus has died as a sacrifice on the cross to remove our sins. So, God empowers by the Spirit those who trust in Christ to fulfill his covenant purpose and share his holy character.
Passages for Further Study
Exodus 9:1; 19:3–6; Leviticus 11:44–45; Jeremiah 31:33–34; 32:40; John 16:5–11; Romans 8:5–14; 10:8–17; Galatians 5