Exodus 19

      As noted previously, the children of Israel arrive in the wilderness of Sinai three months after leaving Egypt. (v.1) They set up camp at the base of Mount Sinai where they will remain for almost a year. (v.2) (Numbers 10:11-12) All the events described in the remainder of the book of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and Numbers 1-10:10 take place here in the wilderness of Sinai.
       The term “wilderness” in the Bible is commonly used to describe a desolate place, a desert, or an uninhabited land. Strong’s Concordance also lists “pasture” or “open field” as one of the uses of this word in the original Hebrew. Wilderness conveys the image of an isolated place away from civilization, a vast area where there is nothing but grasslands or desert vegetation. A simple search for this word in my Bible app turned up 293 verses in the KJV, with nearly every book in the Bible having at least one verse containing this word. While it’s used as both a place of refuge for some (Genesis 21:20, Exodus 3:1, Revelation 12:6) and a form of righteous judgment for others (Job 12:24, Psalm 107:40, Isaiah 33:9, Zephaniah 2:13), it’s most often seen as the latter. There are far more references with God using the term “wilderness” as an example of His condemnation against the rebellious, the unholy, the proud and the wicked than there is of the desert as a desirable or good place.
            Here in Exodus, God chooses the wilderness of Sinai to give His holy law to His chosen people. The note in my study Bible for this passage says that “…this chapter, in addition to chapter 20, follows the pattern of ancient suzerainty treaties, thus suggesting that Yahweh is King and Israel is His kingdom. His subject people are to render complete submission, allegiance, and obedience to Him.” The term “suzerain” refers to the specific form of treaties that were common in the Ancient Near East (ANE), which typically consisted of the preamble (v.3), historical prologue (v.4) and then a list of specific obligations of the vassals, as well as the consequences of keeping or breaking the treaty, i.e. the blessings from God for obedience or punishment for disobedience (v.5-6). The commentary goes on to say that “…The pattern follows closely that of the Hittites, who were destroyed around 1200 B.C., thus demonstrating the antiquity of the Law, and the fact that it is a complete unit not to be dissected.”

            Verse 4: God had miraculously delivered the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, shown to them signs and wonders to demonstrate His power and authority over not only the physical world around them (the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea), but also over all the people of the earth (Pharaoh and the Egyptians), guided the Israelites through the desert – also miraculously providing for their basic needs – and now brings them to a place of rest and isolation at the foot of Mount Sinai. God has given His chosen people more than enough proof of His right and authority to rule over them.
 
           Verse 5: Then God says to Moses, “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine:” That phrase “peculiar treasure” conveys the idea of “personal possession” or “property”; something that is set aside or separated for a unique purpose. (Deuteronomy 4:20, 7:6, 14:2, 26:18, 1 Kings 8:53, Psalm 135:4, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9) God had chosen Abraham, called him out from among his people to a new land for a new purpose, and is now initiating a new, personal relationship with Abraham’s seed. God had stated as much to Moses in Exodus 6:4. Though the whole earth and all that is in it belongs to God (Exodus 9:29, Deuteronomy 10:14, Job 41:11, Psalm 50:12, I Corinthians 10:26), the children of Israel are His special, peculiar treasure. But that same status also applies today to all true believers in the New Testament church age!
           
           Verse 6: God then concludes by stating His ultimate desire for His chosen people: “…a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” (Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:21, 26:19, Isaiah 62:12, I Corinthians 3:17, 1 Peter 1:15-16) The whole purpose of the law which God is about to give to Moses is twofold: 1) It reveals the holiness of God and His perfect nature, and 2) it reveals, by contrast, the unholy, sinful, fallen nature of mankind. God is about to institute a system of rules and processes by which His chosen people will live their daily lives. This treaty, by which God will be their Lord and king and they His subjects, will state in clear and direct terms God’s expectations for the Israelites and the process by which they will atone for their sins when they fail to obey His law. That is what meant by the phrase “a kingdom of priests”.
           When God first revealed Himself to Abram/Abraham, He commanded him to “…Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee…” (Genesis 12:1) God called Abraham to separate himself from his family, and from his father’s house, and leave his homeland to begin a new life and a new journey to a promised land. God is now commanding the same thing from Abraham’s seed, the children of Israel. By giving them the law, God is making clear to His chosen people that they are to come out from the world, to live separate from the heathen nations around them, and they will accomplish this daily by doing and obeying the statutes, ordinances and precepts given forth in this law.
 
         Verse 7-9: Moses relays to the elders of the people the message God has just given him. The elders, in turn, pass this on to all the people, and the children of Israel respond by saying, “…All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” (Exodus 4:31, 24:3, 7, Deuteronomy 5:27, 26:17) When Moses meets with God to give Him the people’s answer God then tells Moses He will appear before them as a thick cloud, and the Israelites will hear God’s voice when He speaks. (Exodus 24:15, Deuteronomy 4:11, Psalm 99:7, Matthew 17:5)
          The children of Israel were quick to pledge their obedience to God and His law, but they had no true understanding of their own sinfulness and depravity. D.L. Moody had this to say about verse 8: “Bold and self-confident language. The golden calf, the broken tablets, the neglected ordinances, the stoned messengers, the rejected and crucified Christ, are overwhelming evidences of man’s dishonored vows.”
 
        Verses 10-15: God then gives specific instructions to Moses about the manner in which the children of Israel are to prepare to receive the revelation of His law. For this day and tomorrow, they are to sanctify themselves by washing their clothes. (v.10) Though not stated directly, there is also an implied command here that the people are to wash and cleanse themselves. (Leviticus 11:44-45, Hebrews 10:22) Husbands and wives are also to abstain from sexual relations. (v.15) (I Corinthians 7:5)
         God makes clear to Moses the boundaries of the mountain and where the Israelites are to gather on the morning of the third day. God had declared Mount Sinai to be holy ground, and the people are to respect God’s holiness by not even coming near that ground which God makes clear is forbidden. (Exodus 3:5, 34:3, Hebrews 12:20-21) If anyone – man or beast – defies this command, they are to be immediately killed by stoning or shot with an arrow. In other words, no one can even go up on the mountain to execute that person or beast, lest they, too, violate the first directive. The obedience of the second directive had to be done from a safe distance.
            God concludes His instruction to Moses by saying that, at the sound of the trumpet on the third morning, the children of Israel are to come up to the designated assembly area on the mountain. Moses relays these instructions to the elders and all the people, and the Israelites obey. (v.14)
 
         Verses 16-25: On the morning of the third day, God descends upon Mount Sinai in a thick cloud, accompanied by lightning and thunder and the fanfare of the trumpet blast. (v.16) Moses calls the people forth to the designated area of the mountain where God instructed them to assemble. (v.17) (Deuteronomy 4:10) The whole mountain quakes, wreathed in fire and thick smoke. This, along with the constant thunder and lightning and the sustained trumpet blast, naturally causes great fear and awe among the children of Israel! (v.18) (Exodus 3:2, 24:17, Deuteronomy 4:11, 5:4, Judges 5:5, 1 Kings 19:12, 2 Chronicles 7:1, Psalm 68:8, 104:32, 144:5, Jeremiah 4:24, Hebrews 12:18, 26) So much so, in fact, that the people are too terrified to ascend the mountain to the designated meeting place. (v.17) So Moses ascends the rest of the way alone to meet with God by himself. (v.20)
          The reason for this grand and majestic manifestation of God’s presence is because of the oath the Israelites had just sworn to God three days earlier. (v.8) God needs to impress upon His chosen people the seriousness of His holiness and the gravity of the commitment they had just made to follow his law and obey Him. But because the people are too afraid to follow God’s first command to meet Him on the mountain, God gives a new instruction to Moses. (v.21-25) Instead of a nation of priests, the children of Israel will now be a nation with priests. God commands Moses to tell the people to return to camp, “…lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.” (v.21) Only Moses, Aaron, and the priests may come further up the mountain to meet with the Lord, but God also repeats His command regarding sanctification of the priests before they return with Moses. (Leviticus 10:3, 21:6)
          NOTE: the term “priests” here most likely refers to the elders, or the heads of the families, or the firstborn males of each house. [Exodus 13:2, Job 1:5] The Levitical priesthood has not yet been officially established.

     Moses returns to the people to give them God’s latest instructions.