Exodus 19
When I was in Bible College at London Baptist I used to be asked to preach at different kinds of youth events and one time I remember arriving at a church for some kind of an evening service and I asked the guy in charge, “How long should I speak?” And he said, “You can preach all night if you want to, but we’ve got a church hockey game after the service; so we’re all leaving at 8 o’clock.”
I heard about a pastor who had been called to a church and the very first Sunday he got up and he preached for about a half an hour and everyone thought he was just great. And then on the next Sunday he got up to preach but he was finished in fifteen minutes and everybody thought that was kind of strange but they were gracious and nobody said anything. But, on the next Sunday, he started and kept preaching and preaching and preaching and he went on for two solid hours. Well, the deacons called him into the office after the service for a little meeting; and one of them began by asking, “What’s going on?” He was very apologetic and he said, “I can explain. you see, “the first Sunday everything was normal but on the morning of the second week I broke one of the back teeth in my dentures and it kept cutting my gum when I preached, so, I decided I had better cut my message rather than hurt myself.” And then he said, “The third Sunday, I got up a little bit late and I took my wife’s dentures by mistake and once I started preaching, I couldn’t get them to stop.”
Before we even look at this passage we have to understand that these people had only left Egypt about three months earlier and they had been slaves in Egypt for about four hundred and thirty years. All these people had been raised in slavery and now they were on the road looking for a new home but they didn’t have a clue as to where they were going. And get this; there was about 2 million people and they moving at a rate of around four miles a day.
And from the time they decided to follow God’s direction under Moses leadership, there were a lot of problems and also a lot of miracles that took place. For instance, there were the ten miracles God had used to let Pharaoh know He was serious about his letting His people go; and all these miracles that afflicted the Egyptians were punishments that were related to things they worshipped. And then the tenth miracle was the death of all the firstborn of Egypt and when that happened, all the Egyptians decided these Israelites were too much trouble and they told them to get out.
And as they left; chapter 13:21 says, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them by the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day or night.” But; as soon as they left Egypt, the Egyptians had second thoughts and they decided to bring them all back and when they started coming down the road, all these Jews figured; ‘we’re dead men walking’ and out of total frustration they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?” In other words, why didn’t you just leave us alone? After all, we were better off working for these guys then coming out here to die in the wilderness. But then, Moses prayed and God stepped in; He opened the Red Sea and led them all across and then He drowned all the Egyptians who were coming behind them. And if you took the time to read chapter 15 you’d see a big worship service that took place and everybody was happy.
Then they left the Red Sea and they arrived at a place called Marah, where it says they couldn’t drink the water because it was bitter, and they all got mad at Moses again and they said, “What are we supposed to drink?” Well, Moses prayed and God told him to take a certain tree or a bush and throw it into the water and when he did, it became extremely good water and everybody was happy again.
Then in chapter 16 they were on the road again and they all started to murmur or complain and they were talking about all the great things they had back in Egypt; you know, all the good food and there was so much bread. They made it sound like there was a huge buffet waiting for them every time they came home from work. And that’s kind of weird; because they were all slaves in Egypt. But, as they say, history has a way of erasing the pain of the past.
You see, most of us have a tendency to remember the good times of our past and conveniently forget the bad. And those of us who grew up poor might think of our childhood and we might remember a certain toy we got one year for Christmas, or a positive event like a birthday party or a wedding that happened in our family, or belonging to a winning sports team and we think, “Hey, I really had it pretty good back then.” And what we tend to do is forget all the negative things that went on; and you see that’s what these Jews were doing. They were talking about all the great stuff they enjoyed while forgetting they were slaves.
So, Moses prayed again and God provided them with quails that flew in and covered the camp and then when the morning came the whole camp was surrounded with manna and the word manna means, ‘what is it?’ and from everything I’ve read this manna probably looked like corn flakes and they ate this stuff for the next forty years. (And as someone said, they probably sang, “Manna in the morning, manna in the evening, manna at suppertime, I really love this manna, I eat it all the time.”) I don’t know if you could tell, but I made that up. Anyway, for a while, they were all happy again.
And then in chapter 17 they got to a place where there was no water and they said to Moses, “Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” And in response to his prayer God told him to strike the rock and water came gushing out and everybody was happy again. Then in the last part of chapter 17 we’re told the Amalekites attacked them and Moses stood on the top of a hill with his rod lifted up and God gave them the victory over their enemies and I’m sure, they were all happy again.
Now, I want you to understand that all these things happened in the space of just three months. They’d have a problem and they’d complain that God didn’t care and then He’d perform a miracle and meet all their needs and then they’d all come back and worship Him and they did this repeatedly. And after all this happened, chapter 19:1 says, they came to the desert of Sinai and there they camped before the Mount.
And what I want you to see here; is that God was using the timing of all these previous events to lead them to this very place, at this very time, because here He was going to meet and provide them with what they really needed and that was a relationship with Him which would give them direction in their personal spiritual lives.
And listen, I’m confident that we won’t appreciate the significance of the Ten Commandments that are found in the next chapter until we understand what happens here. You see, they would only obey the commandments if they had a proper relationship with God and the purpose of this chapter was to prepare them to understand and to obey the laws of God that followed.
The first three verses set the stage for their receiving these laws and there are many who believe, it may have been the third month “to the very day” that Israel had arrived here, because it says in verse 1, “The same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.” In other words, they were right on schedule because if you took the time to study their calendar, you’d find it was fifty days since they left the Red Sea and then fifty days until their first Passover. So, this gives us the timing of this event.
And then verse 2 focuses on, where they were because it says, they just left the wilderness of Rephidim and came to Sinai and they actually stayed there for eleven months and it’s interesting to see that in these eleven months God gave them the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers right through chapter 10. And when we hear this, we wonder, why are the long periods of Israel’s history in the wilderness skipped over and yet all these writings were done during this time? I think; it’s because their receiving the Ten Commandments was the most important thing that ever happened to Israel.
And in verse three it says, “And Moses went up unto God.” And this is the first time it’s mentioned but; do you realize that Mount Sinai is 7500 feet and Moses climbed it three times in this chapter and then twice later on. And to really appreciate this, you have to realize that he was eighty years old at the time.
I So; in verses 4-6 we see where God gives them an overview of the preparation He had made in bringing them to this place.
And He said here, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 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: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” And what God was saying was; everything that’s happened to you has happened for a reason. And at this point, they should have looked at where they were and what happened to the Egyptians and realized that they were delivered but He destroyed the Egyptians. O.K. so, everything happened for a reason and the same is true for you and I. We may not understand the reason but we know God has a plan and someday He’ll tell us all about it.
And then, we also see that God uses a beautiful image of how the eagle cares for its young to describe how He took care of them. You see, when a mother eagle has her eggs, she sits on them to keep them warm and waits for them to hatch; and then she goes back and forth and finds food for them, but; there comes a time when she decides these little guys have to learn to fly and so, she stirs up the nest and forces them to get out and use their wings; but at the same time she doesn’t leave them to make it on their own but she flies underneath them so they won’t fall and get hurt.
So, when Israel left Egypt everything she went through was within the will and plan of God because He was constantly watching to make sure she didn’t fall.
Did you ever stop to think how He does the same with us? We constantly complain and tell God over and over again what a crummy job He’s doing and yet He’s always there and He always loves us and He always forgives our bad attitude – then again, maybe this is just me?
And then we see in verse 5 where He makes specific promises to these people and He says, all they have to do is obey His voice and keep His covenant and then He says, “Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”
They were to be ‘a peculiar treasure above all people’ and listen, He’s describing these people like they’re something very valuable and special and this term ‘peculiar’ expresses the idea that they’d be separate or distinct from all the other people groups in the world. And when we have something valuable we have a tendency to put it where we can protect it and we keep it where we can watch it. In other words, these people are something God values and never forgets.
And then He says, “ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” And what He was saying was, these people would have access to His presence in the sense that no other people group in the world would have; but; the reason they had this was for them to come before God and pray for the rest of the world and that was the function of the priesthood. You see, the priest wasn’t called to rule the temple or major in fund raising but he was to pray and speak on behalf of God; but in order to do this, they had to be holy. In other words, they weren’t to be like everyone around them but they had to be set apart from the world; in order to have fellowship with and to be used of God.
It’s an exceptional thing for God to say, that “everything in the world is Mine; but you are the people I have chosen to call My own.” And that’s why John Calvin would say, “We are not our own, we belong to God, therefore let us live for Him and die for Him.” And listen, these weren’t just words for Israel because in I Peter 2:9, Peter said to the believers, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.” So, you and I are called to be the same as these people were. And when Moses gave them this message everybody said in response, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.”
And then God revealed to Moses that He would appear to Him in a thick cloud and the purpose for this wasn’t what we would have expected because He said, “Behold, I shall come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever.” You see, God was going to speak with Moses as the nation watched and listened, so that his leadership would be evident to everyone who was there. In light of later events, when Moses’ authority would be challenged, God was clearly establishing Moses’ position and authority and that was why He appeared to Moses.
And then we see where, God gave them some specific instructions on how they were to get ready for this awesome appearance where He’d give them the Ten Commandments.
In verse 10, He said, everybody wash your clothes. And keep in mind that these people probably only had one or two sets of clothes. So, whenever something special came up like a wedding or some kind of special gathering they’d all get ready by washing their clothes and taking a bath. And they all had to look good because verse 11 says they were told God was going to come down and they’d be able to experience His presence.
Now, I know that all this sounds strange to us but there are people in this world, probably two fifths of the worlds population that only have one set of clothes. And so, that probably described most of the people who were listening. After all, they couldn’t just run down to the mall whenever they needed something.
And then in verses 12 and 13 they were told they were to set bounds around the people and this would probably be the same as setting up a fence or something like that in order to hold everybody back and they were warned, “No one or even any animals were to go near the mountain or even touch the border because if they did they’d be put to death.” As a matter of fact, God said in verse 13 that even if a hand touches the mountain, that person is either going to be stoned to death or shot through with either an arrow or spear. And this wasn’t punishment wasn’t going to come from the hand of God, but from the hand of the Israel leadership.
Now, let me ask you a simple question; why would anybody even want to touch the mountain or to get near God; if they knew they were going to end up dead? I was thinking about that and it occurred to me; there were over two million people there and I’m sure that with two million people, there would probably be a lot of people who had personal problems that made them a little less reasonable than those around them. God was warning Moses that he had to keep control of these people because He knew what people were capable of.
On the other hand, there was also the sin of irreverence where someone might have felt they’d want to get close enough to see God in a way that He might not want to be seen. So, these barriers were constructed in such a way that made it impossible for anyone to either intentionally or inadvertently wander into the wrong place.
In verses 14 and 15 it says, Moses went down to the people, they all washed their clothes and it also says they were to abstain from any sexual relationships with their wives because this was to be a time of spiritual preparation. There was nothing evil or defiling about normal marital sexual relations, but, as the Law would later spell out, there was what was known as ceremonial uncleanness and so, until God’s visitation was over; sexual abstinence was required.
And then the final section of this chapter begins with verse 16 and says, “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.” And here is the grand finale; it’s where these people saw the manifestation of God in all of His majesty, purity, and power. The sights and sounds are simply beyond our imagination but when the clouds descended it was probably a little dark and then lightening began to flash and a horn began to play louder and louder and louder and all this was to announce that God was coming down.
And I’m sure that as this piercing blast of a trumpet filled the air, these people would begin to shake with a combination of excitement and fear. And then somehow they could hear both Moses and God carrying on a conversation but in verse 20 Moses was told to go back down and warn everyone not to get too close to gaze at this spectacular scene.
And when he went down he was to also tell the priests that they too, were to consecrate themselves, lest they be smitten of God. In other words, they had to realize that their office didn’t put them above the people in terms of their personal cleanliness.
And when God sent Moses down he was also told to come back with Aaron and there their leadership was confirmed. And then verse 25 says, “Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.” Now, we know from later in the book that when he got down he found the people were involved in worshipping the golden calf and out of anger he broke the first set of Ten Commandments and he had to go back up and get God to write them all over again but here we have the abbreviated version where we’re told, “Moses went down unto the people and spoke unto them.” So, that was how they got the Ten Commandments.
Now, just before we leave this section I want to deal with one more thing; and that’s which member of the trinity appeared here and spoke to Moses? As I told you before I believe that every physical appearance of God in the Bible was Jesus because He told us that no one has ever seen the Father and we know the Holy Spirit is invisible and so Jesus was and is the only member of the Godhead we could possibly see.
So, it was Him that appeared in the garden to Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Sarah where He announced the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the birth of Isaac, to Jacob as He wrestled with him all night long, then here where He gave the Ten Commandments, to Samson’s parents where He announced the birth of their son, in Numbers 22 where He stood in the way of Balaam’s donkey and gave him instructions at to where to go and what to say, and then to Daniel in chapter 10. In other words, Jesus appeared all through the Old Testament.
So, when we talk about the first and second coming of Jesus these aren’t scriptural terms but they relate to His physical birth at Bethlehem and then His return to set up the kingdom following the tribulation.
Conclusion
Spurgeon said, “Everything is wonderful until you get used to it.” I remember the first time I ever saw an automatic transmission in a car; I thought it was amazing but unless we ordered it now, we’d never even see a standard on the lot. I remember the first time, I saw a microwave and a man took a piece of stale bread, put a few drops of water on it and it was just like it was fresh made in thirty seconds and now, very few homes are without one. I remember when the Beatles were on the six o’clock news and it wasn’t because of their music but because they had long hair but today those four would be considered neat and clean. And then I remember when the first remote control for the television came out and it had a really long wire and now it’s completely wireless. One night I couldn’t find the remote and I thought I might as well go to bed because I couldn’t remember how to turn the TV on.
The problem is; there are some things we just get used to like owning a Bible but we never take the time to study it. When I was called to be a youth pastor we would do all kinds of things to try to get these kids involved in some kind of ministry and one day we found out one of their parents had a hand held movie camera; so, we took the whole youth group downtown to interview people on the street. And what we did was ask shoppers a very simple question, and the question was, “Do you believe the Ten Commandments?” And everyone said, “Yes.” And then we would ask, “Would you name them?” And everybody we interviewed would laugh when we said that; because the most anyone could think of was three.
You see, we can own a copy of every version of the Bible in the world but if we don’t read and practice what it says, then why bother having one?
