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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'all');">Exd 19</a> - The Nation of Israel Comes to Mount Sinai</h2>
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<p>A. Coming to the Mountain.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'1-2');">1-2</a>) Israel camps at Mount Sinai.</p>
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<p class="c2">In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came <i>to </i>the Wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come <i>to </i>the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">They came to the Wilderness of Sinai</span></b>: It took them three months of trusting God to get to this place, but they finally arrived. They saw God's deliverance from Egypt, received His guidance on the way to go, they saw His glorious victory at the Red Sea, they saw God provide food and water miraculously, and they saw a prayerful victory won over the Amalekites.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Israel will stay in <b><span class="c3">the Wilderness of Sinai</span></b> until <a onclick="return mV('Num',10,'all');">Num 10</a>. More than 57 chapters of Scripture are devoted to what happened to Israel in the year they camped at Mount Sinai.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">So Israel camped there before the mountain</span></b>: In one sense, all that went before was meant to bring them to this place. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of what God said in <a onclick="return mV('Exd',3,12);">Exd 3:12</a>: <i>this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain</i>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Sinai was the place where Moses had his "burning bush" experience with God. The whole nation of Israel would soon experience some of what Moses had before. If the people would meet God at this mountain, it could only happen because Moses had already been there. The people could not go farther than their leader.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. If the traditional site of Mount Sinai looks like anything, it looks like a huge pulpit - a sudden, steep outcropping of mountain out in the wilderness. Here, God would preach the most dramatic sermon ever heard.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'3-6');">3-6</a>) God declares His great plan for the nation of Israel.</p>
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<p class="c2">And Moses went up to God, and the <span class="c6">Lord</span> called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and <i>how </i>I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth <i>is </i>Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These <i>are </i>the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Moses went up to God, and the <span class="c6">Lord</span> called to him from the mountain</span></b>: Moses, led by God, went up on the mountain to meet with God as he had before - and the <span class="c6">Lord</span> spoke to Moses again.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob</span></b>: With this title God associated the nation with the weakest and most carnal of the patriarchs. At this point they acted more like <b><span class="c3">Jacob</span></b> than Abraham or Isaac.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">You have seen what I did to the Egyptians</span></b>: God gave a message to Israel through Moses, a message regarding His purpose and destiny for Israel. This destiny was based on what God already did for them in the great deliverance from Egypt.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. God's love and care was shown for Israel already, as He <b><span class="c3">bore you on eagle's wings</span></b>. It is said that an eagle does not carry her young in her claws like other birds; the young eagles attach themselves to the back of the mother eagle and are protected as they are carried. Any arrow from a hunter must pass through the mother eagle before it could touch the young eagle on her back.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. The deliverance (<b><span class="c3">I bore you on eagles' wings</span></b>) was for fellowship (<b><span class="c3">brought you to Myself</span></b>). God didn't deliver Israel so they could "do their own thing," but so they could be God's people.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">Then you shall be a special treasure to Me</span></b>: God intended for Israel to be <b><span class="c3">a special treasure</span></b> unto Him. He wanted them to be a people with a unique place in God's great plan, a people of great value and concern to God.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Paul longed for Christians to know how great a treasure they were to God; he prayed they would know <i>what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,18);">Eph 1:18</a>).</p>
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<p class="c4">e. <b><span class="c3">You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests</span></b>: God intended for Israel to be <b><span class="c3">a kingdom of priests</span></b>, where every believer could come before God themselves, and everyone could represent God to the nations.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Peter reminds us we are a <i>royal priesthood</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Pe',2,9);">1Pe 2:9</a>), those who serve God as both kings and priests (<i>and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father</i>, <a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,6);">Rev 1:6</a>).</p>
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<p class="c4">f. <b><span class="c3">And a holy nation</span></b>: God intended for Israel to be <b><span class="c3">a holy nation</span></b>, a nation and people set apart from the rest of the world, the particular possession of God, fit for His purposes.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Peter reminds us we are a <i>holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Pe',2,9);">1Pe 2:9</a>). As God's people, we must be set apart, thinking and doing differently than others in this world.</p>
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<p class="c4">g. <b><span class="c3">If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, <span>then</span></span></b>: All this could only be fulfilled if Israel would stay in God's word. The word <b><span class="c3">then</span></b> is an important word here. Apart from knowing and doing God's word, God's destiny for the nation would never be fulfilled.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">Keep My covenant</span></b>: the covenant was greater than the law itself. The covenant God would make with Israel involved law, sacrifice, and the choice to obey and be blessed or to disobey and be cursed.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'7-9');">7-9</a>) The people agree to obey the covenant.</p>
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<p class="c2">So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the <span class="c6">Lord</span> commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has spoken we will do." So Moses brought back the words of the people to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to Moses, "Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever." So Moses told the words of the people to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Laid before them all these words which the <span class="c6">Lord</span> commanded him</span></b>: The people will later be challenged to receive the covenant again, after they heard its terms, and they received it again (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',24,'1-8');">Exd 24:1-8</a>).</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Moses brought back the words of the people to the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>: Moses here is acting as a true priest, as an intermediary between God and the people; yet, God spoke audibly to the Moses (<b><span class="c3">that the people may hear when I speak with you</span></b>) so everyone would know that it was really God speaking to Moses.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'10-13');">10-13</a>) God commands that His holy presence on Sinai be respected.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the <span class="c6">Lord</span> will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed to yourselves <i>that </i>you do <i>not </i>go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot <i>with an arrow; </i>whether man or beast, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow</span></b>: God was going to appear to Israel in spectacular fashion; and before this could happen, the people had to prepare themselves.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">You shall set bounds for the people all around</span></b>: The coming of God to Mount Sinai did not mean the people were free to go to the mountain and fellowship with God. They had to keep their distance behind a barrier, and the penalty for failing to keep their distance was death.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Any person or animal killed for getting too close would be regarded as so unholy they could not even be touched, they had to be executed with a stones or arrows.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">You shall set bounds for the people</span></b>: If there is anything basic to human nature, it is that we need boundaries. In setting these boundaries and providing the death penalty for breaching them, God showed Israel that obedience is more important than their feelings. We don't doubt that some bold Israelites <i>felt</i> like going beyond the boundaries, but they were to submit their feelings to obedience.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">When the trumpet sounds long</span></b>: The people could only come near at God's invitation, and the <b><span class="c3">trumpet</span></b> signaled that the invitation was open.</p>
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<p class="c1">5. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'14-15');">14-15</a>) Commands for ceremonial purity and cleanliness.</p>
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<p class="c2">So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not come near <i>your </i>wives."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Do not come near your wives</span></b>: The rest of the Scriptures do not teach that there is any inherent uncleaness in sexual relations. In this situation, God wanted the people to demonstrate their desire for purity by putting on clean clothes and restraining the flesh.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Be ready for the third day</span></b>: The meeting with God could only come at the third day. Anyone who tried to meet with God before the third day tried to come before God opened the way.</p>
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<p>B. God's presence on the mountain.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'16-19');">16-19</a>) God's terrifying presence on Mount Sinai.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who <i>were </i>in the camp tremble. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai <i>was </i>completely in smoke, because the <span class="c6">Lord</span> descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud</span></b>: These signs of power and glory signaled the presence of God. The whole environment must have seemed terrifying to the people.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The sound of the trumpet was very loud</span></b>: Beyond all one could see, hear, and feel, then came a long, loud blast of a trumpet, a trumpet coming not from the camp but from heaven itself - no wonder<b><span class="c3"> all the people who were in the camp trembled</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God</span></b>: Then, Moses led the people right up to the barrier at the very foot of Mount Sinai, where they could see, smell, hear, and virtually taste the fire which engulfed the mountain - as well as feel the earth shake under their feet when <b><span class="c3">the whole mountain quaked greatly</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">When the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder</span></b>: In the midst of all this, the sound of the trumpet blast became longer and louder and longer and louder, until Moses spoke to God - perhaps asking Him to stop.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,20);">20</a>) Moses goes up on Mount Sinai to the immediate presence of God.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then the <span class="c6">Lord</span> came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Then the <span class="c6">Lord</span> came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain</span></b>: God came in a special presence to Mount Sinai, ready to meet with Moses as a representative of the whole nation of Israel.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">And Moses went up</span></b>: God <b><span class="c3">came down</span></b>, and <b><span class="c3">Moses went up</span></b>. As the people trembled in terror at the foot of the mountain, Moses needed courage to go to the top and meet with God. It took courage for Moses to go up in the midst of all the thunder, lightning, earthquakes, fire, and smoke. But Moses knew God not only in terms of this awesome power, but also in terms of His gracious kindness. </p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'21-25');">21-25</a>) God tells Moses to go back down and warn the people again about respecting the holiness of His presence on Sinai.</p>
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<p class="c2">And the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near the <span class="c6">Lord</span> consecrate themselves, lest the <span class="c6">Lord</span> break out against them." But Moses said to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, 'Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.'" Then the <span class="c6">Lord</span> said to him, "Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, lest He break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Go down and warn the people</span></b>: Those who through rebellion, curiosity, or raw daring presumed to go up on the mountain would <b><span class="c3">perish</span></b>. The glory and greatness of God wasn't to be a matter subjected to scientific inquiry or a way to prove one's own manhood.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai</span></b>: Just because God called Moses and Aaron up did not mean there was an open invitation for the whole nation to meet with God on Mount Sinai.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>: The whole idea at Sinai was <i>exclusion</i>. <a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,'all');">Exd 19</a> gives a powerful picture of the awesome fear each Israelite must have felt at Mount Sinai. It is easy to think that this would inspire them to a holy lifestyle.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Many today feel we need to get more of the thunder and fire and trembling of Mount Sinai into people as a way of keeping them from sin. Yet, not forty days from this, the whole nation will be practicing an orgy around a golden calf, praising it as the god that brought them out of Egypt.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. As Chadwick says, "Awe is one thing: the submission of the will is another." Israel had plenty of awe, but little submission of their will.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,'18-24');">Hbr 12:18-24</a> tells us loud and clear that under the New Covenant we come to a different mountain, that our salvation and relationship with God is centered at Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai.</p><ul class="c6"><li>Sinai speaks of fear and terror, but Zion speaks of love and forgiveness.</li><li>Sinai is in a dry desert, but Zion is the city of the Living God.</li><li>Sinai, with all its fear and power is earthly; but the Mount Zion we come to is heavenly and spiritual.</li><li>At Sinai, only Moses could come and meet God; at Zion, there is an innumerable company, a general assembly.</li><li>Sinai had guilty men in fear, but Zion has just men made perfect.</li><li>At Sinai, Moses is the mediator, but at Zion, Jesus the mediator.</li><li>Sinai put forth an Old covenant, ratified by the blood of animals; Zion has a New Covenant, ratified by the blood of God's precious Son.</li><li>Sinai was all about barriers and exclusion; Zion is all about invitation.</li><li>Sinai is all about Law, Zion is all about grace.</li></ul>
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<p class="c5">iv. Therefore, we shouldn't come to Zion as if we were coming to Sinai. We must put away our hesitation and get bold in coming to God. Nevertheless there is much for us to learn at Mount Sinai. We learn of God's holy requirements and what we have to do before we can come to Him. In a similar manner to those at Mount Sinai, there are things we must to do meet with God.</p><ul class="c6"><li>We must be receive God's word.</li><li>We must be set apart.</li><li>We must be cleansed.</li><li>We can only come after the third day.</li><li>We must respect God's boundary.</li><li>We must restrain the flesh</li><li>We must know we come to a holy God.</li></ul>
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<p class="c5">v. "Reader, art thou still under the influence and condemning power of that fiery law which proceeded from his right hand? Art though yet <i>afar off?</i> Remember, thou canst only <i>come nigh</i> by the blood of sprinkling; and till justified by his blood, thou are under the <i>curse</i>. Consider the terrible majesty of God. If thou have his <i>favour</i> thou hast <i>life;</i> if his <i>frown, death</i>. Be instantly reconciled to God, for though thou hast deeply <i>sinned</i>, and he is <i>just</i>, yet he is the justifier of him that believeth in Christ Jesus. Believe on him, receive his salvation OBEY <i>his voice indeed</i>, and KEEP his <i>covenant</i>, and THEN <i>shalt thou be a king and a priest unto God and the Lamb,</i> and be finally saved with all the power of an endless life. <i>Amen</i>." (Clarke)</p>
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