Chapter 19
Jethro has just left the encampment after establishing some administrative procedures for handling disputes within the camp.
They come into the Sinai wilderness. They come to the mountain of God. So if this is the same mountain where Moses saw the burning bush, this place is not too awfully far from Midian. But most maps I find put Midian over across east of the Gulf of Aqaba, and not on the Sinai peninsula at all. So that would be an argument that this is not the same mountain. However, there are not just a whole lot of maps. It is also interesting that Jethro went home to Midian, and then the people traveled after he left to get to this mountain. Likely then, they were not all headed in the same direction. Another argument that the burning bush was on a different mountain.
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." [Exo 19:5-6 ESV]
On the third full moon since Egypt they come to Mt. Sinai. (2021 - No...they come to the wilderness of Sinai. I think the implication is that they went some distance further than the boundary before encamping at the mountain. It doesn't even say it was Mt. Sinai. They encamped before "the mountain".) Moses is called up and God tells him to relay the above conditional agreement to Israel. He reminds them that He has already brought them out of Egypt. They already owe him. This conditional does not, in my opinion, negate the promises about the land made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is a promise to a nation, that they will be a nation, if they keep the covenant. The descendants of Abraham still would possess the land, still would be uncountable, and all nations would be blessed through them. But being a treasured possession as a single nation rather than just the residents of many nations scattered across the world is an important distinction between the Abrahamic and Sinai covenants.
Moses presents the covenant to the elders of the people and they say "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." They agree to their part of the commitment. So God tells Moses he will come in a thick cloud and speak to the people. As he would to a priest or a prophet I think is the indication. Perhaps this is part of being a kingdom of priests.
This verse:
8 All the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. [Exo 19:8 ESV]
I believe they were sincere and committed when they agreed to this covenant. They jumped in with both feet, enthusiastic and willing. But when things start to go south later in their journey, they lose their memory of their promises. This is what testing faith is about. No one, when first committing themselves to God, has an inkling of the trials they will face in the future. No one is already practiced at laying their fears, their burdens, their ambitions before God and trusting Him with those things. Faith is learned, and strengthened and broadened over time. It grows stronger yet more resilient as life in a sin-corrupted world goes forward, and in the face of the enemy. Israel started strong, as we all do. But they drifted later as a people. It is important to remember that this covenant is not really with individuals, but with the nation of Israel. Much of God's dealings through the rest of the Old Testament are "nation-centric", and individuals play their part in that kind of plan.
I expect the part about a kingdom of priests means something specific also. But MSB says nothing about it.
10 the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments [Exo 19:10 ESV]
They needed to be ceremonially clean to approach God, to enter into a covenant with him. If they were unwilling to do this washing, they were still Israel, but they were not fit for direct dealings with God. Is this a sort of ante-type for the baptism that would come later? We will see this washing many times in the next several books.
2021 - God warns the people through Moses that He is coming down on Mount Sinai (the mountain is named in my ESV), and that he will speak to Moses - not to the people - in the hearing of the people. This will convince them to believe what Moses tells them, and forever. They shouldn't doubt him ever again after they hear God speaking to him.
2025 - Here is the verse in both ESV and NASB95:
9 And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever." When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, [Exo 19:9 ESV]
9 The LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever." Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD. [Exo 19:9 NASB95]
Pretty clear that God would be speaking to Moses.
Note also that much of what we learn in vss 12 to about 21 is covered in Hebrews 12:18-24. This is the time those verses in Hebrews are talking about.
The people were to be a nation of priests, and God is about to appear before them, they will hear his voice directly, they will be privy to his communication with Moses. This is surely a "higher office" than the rest of the world at that time. Set apart as priests.
Never noticed this before:
13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain." [Exo 19:13 ESV]
This was the punishment for coming too near the mountain of God over the next three days. Execution was to be without the touch of human hand. This is a clear distinction God makes between war, murder, and those sorts of things, and the punishment for a crime. Probably not a huge deal, but it is interesting.
2022 - Perhaps the idea is also that corporate execution disconnects the executioners from the sentence. If a hundred people throw rocks, and the prisoner dies, then no one knows exactly which blow caused death. Therefore the executioners have an "escape" from personal guilt in the process. Firing squad works. Stoning works. Electrocution? Is there only one lever, or several? Hanging seems to be one. Decapitation seems to be just one. Hmm...
15 And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman." [Exo 19:15 ESV]
Interesting verse. I checked other translations. All pretty much the same. MSB says this is required in order to be ceremonially clean.
The third full moon. The third day.
On this day, in the morning, God comes down on Mt. Sinai. There is a visible and auditory demonstration of His presence there. It inspires awe and fear in the people of Israel. Lightning, thunder, and a trumpet blast. The mountain was shaking, so tremor or earthquake also. This verse:
19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. [Exo 19:19 ESV]
At this point, I believe Moses is still within the camp, but out front at the head of the people. Moses speaks, and God Himself answers. This would certainly have been a fearful thing to the people, humbling them, making very clear the power of the Lord their God.
In vs 20, God calls Moses up to the top of the mountain. Then there is this verse:
24 And the LORD said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them." [Exo 19:24 ESV]
So Moses goes back down, gets Aaron and only Aaron, and comes back up the mountain.