God and Israel at Mt Sinai
19
📚In the third month after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, the same day, they came into the desert of Sinai. 2 📚When they set out from Rephidim they came to the desert of Sinai and camped in the desert. There Israel camped in front of the mountain.19:1-2 The location of this mountain called Sinai or Horeb (Ex 3:1, 12) is not known for certain, but the one usually regarded by scholars as the Sinai of the Bible is a series of peaks two miles long and a mile wide. The highest point is over 7,000 feet (about 2,160 meters). In front of it there is an extensive plain where as many as 20,00,000 people could camp.⚜
3 📚And Moses went up to God. And the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob, and tell to the children of Israel:
19:3 The God of love who has redeemed Israel from bondage now gives them a further revelation of truth.⚜
4 📚You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself.
The covenant of law
5 📚Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be my special treasure out of all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. 6 📚And you will be for me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel”.
19:5-6 God now makes another covenant with Israel. See Ex 24:8. This covenant is called the Mosaic Covenant because it was given through Moses. It is also called by some the covenant of works because its promised blessings were based on the obedience of the people. In other words, it was a conditional covenant, not like the one God gave in Noah’s day (Gen 9:12-16). God now says to Israel that they would enjoy certain privileges if you obey me’. The first part of the Bible is named after this covenant. The rest of the Old Testament from here to Malachi deals with Israel under this covenant. This covenant has three parts, relating to the ethical, social, and religious life of Israel. This covenant did not change God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 15:18-21; 17:9-14). It was added to that covenant and was to be in force only until Christ came (Gal 3:17-19; Heb 8:7-13). When this old covenant had fully served the purpose God had for it, He laid it aside and brought in the new covenant which is far superior to it (Heb 8:6). Under the old covenant God promised Israel three things upon their obedience.
First, they would be His own special possession (Deut 4:20; 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4. Concerning believers in Christ now see Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9).
Second, they would be a kingdom of priests. This was never completely fulfilled in Israel under the old covenant because they were not obedient. (Note on priests at Ex 28:1).
7 📚And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 📚And all the people answered together, and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do”. And Moses took the words of the people back to the LORD.
19:8 Ex 24:3, 7; 26:17. Their intention to keep God’s laws was good (Deut 5:27), but they were self-deceived and all too ignorant of their weak and sinful hearts (Jer 17:9). Their later history revealed this – Ex 32:7-9; Num 14:11; Deut 5:29; 9:24; Ps 95:10-11; 106:13-14. Because of the depravity of human nature, self-effort will never enable anyone to completely keep the law of God. To do that men must be spiritually changed, receive God’s Holy Spirit and live in the power of the Spirit (Rom 8:3-4). So the law could not bring salvation to the people. The basis of salvation is grace and mercy, not the deeds of the law (John 1:17; Acts 13:39; Rom 3:22-26; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:1-5; Titus 3:3-7). When God changes us, He implants within us new desires including the desire to obey Him, as we should, and gives us the strength to do so. (John 15:10; 1 John 2:3-6).⚜
9 📚And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever”. And Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
10 📚And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify 📖 them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes, 11 📚and be ready by the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 📚And you are to set limits to the people all around, saying, Watch out for yourselves, so that you do not go up to the mountain, or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 📚No hand is to touch him, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot with arrows; neither animal or man is to live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they are to come up to the mountain”.
19:10-13 The holy God is ready to reveal His holy law to the people. They must be clean and ready to stand before Him. Even the mountain where God appeared was holy and must not be touched.⚜
14 📚And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people. And they washed their clothes. 15 📚And he said to the people, “Be ready by the third day; do not go near your wives”.
16 📚And it came about on the morning of the third day that there were flashes of lightning and thunder, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a trumpet exceedingly loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 📚And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. 18 📚And the whole of Mount Sinai was in smoke, because the LORD came down on it in fire 📖, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 📚And when the sound of the trumpet made a long blast, and got louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice.
20 📚And the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. 21 📚And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people so they will not break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. 22 📚And have the priests also, who come near the LORD, sanctify themselves, so that the LORD does not break out against them”.
23 📚And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and sanctify it.’ ”
24 📚And the LORD said to him, “Away, go down. Then you are to come up, you, and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, so that he does not break out against them”.
25 So Moses went down to the people, and spoke to them.
19:21-25 The picture in this chapter is one of gloom and fire and quaking and fear and distance between God and man. All these indicate God’s hatred of all sin and man’s unworthiness in himself to approach God. They show also that the revelation of God’s commandments was a fearful thing, that the way of a peaceful, joyous entrance into God’s presence was not then being revealed. God in His love gave the law to teach the people many important things. The law brought the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:19-20); when broken it brought God’s wrath (Rom 4:15); to the disobedient it brought a curse (Deut 27:26; Gal 3:10), and death and condemnation (2 Cor 3:7, 9).
The law itself was holy, just, and good (Rom 7:12), but mankind is unholy, unjust, and bad, and far too weak and sinful to fully keep the law (Rom 7:14, 18; 8:3). The law was a just and righteous code to govern society, but it was not a way for personal salvation. The principal work of the law is to teach us certain truth we need to know about God and ourselves and so point us to Christ (Gal 3:24-25). Learning God’s high and holy standards, our own sinful, weak natures, our need of Christ and His grace is a very great good. Happy those who so learn!⚜