How did Moses hear God?

[tonychanyt]

ESV, Exodus 20:

17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

Deut. 5:

21 And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

Note the differences in the above two passages.

How did God speak to Moses?

Method 1: Verbatim

Exodus 20:

1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

After God's speech:

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

People no longer wanted to hear directly from God.

Method 2: By Impression

Nearly 40 years later, before Moses died, Deuteronomy 5:

4The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

Moses claimed divine revelation seemingly based on his recollection and understanding:

21 And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. 22 These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more.

Both versions were divine revelations. The one in Exodus was verbatim directly from God. The one in Deut. used the wording of Moses revealed to him by God some 40 years later.

The differences show that these were genuine records. These were real events that happened in real life in real-time. If Moses had believed in a god of his own creation, he would have made sure that these records were identical.