What Does It Mean To Love God? (Exodus 19:16-20:20) Series

Today, we are going to work through "kind of" a big section in Exodus. It's maybe a mistake, to do it this way. We are going to fly high over some of God's most basic, well-known commands, and they deserve to be explained better than I'm going to. But the passage as a whole will make more sense, if we do it this way. And it will hit you harder, the way it should, if we do it this way. So I think (from a pastoral perspective) this is the best way to do it.

Let's start by reading Exodus 19:16-25. The people have been consecrating themselves for three days, to prepare for this moment-- when God descends upon Mount Sinai, and meets his people.

With these verses, the most important thing you can do, is feel them (much easier if you're reading out loud, with feeling). Try to picture God in his glory. Picture yourself responding with fear, and reverence, and trembling. When God comes, it's scary:

(16) and then, on the third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn,

and all the people trembled who were in the camp,

(17) and Moses brought out the people to meet the God/Elohim from the camp,

and they stood at the base of the mountain.

(18) Now, Mount Sinai was completely wrapped in smoke because Yahweh descended upon it in the fire,

and its smoke went up like the smoke of the forge,

and the whole mountain trembled greatly,

(19) and the sound of the horn was moving, and extremely loud/strong. [I picture a tornado siren]

Moses would speak,

while the God/Elohim would answer him in the thunder,

(20) and Yahweh descended upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain,

and Yahweh called to Moses, to the top of the mountain,

and Moses went up,

(21) and Yahweh said to Moses,

"Descend. Warn the people, lest they push through to Yahweh to see,

and many will fall from them,

(22) and, what's more, the priests coming near to Yahweh must consecrate/dedicate themselves, lest Yahweh becomes hostile/breaks out against them,

(23) and Moses said to Yahweh,

"The people can't ascend to Mount Sinai,

because you warned us, saying,

"Set limits around the mountain,

and consecrate/dedicate it,"

(24) and Yahweh said to him,

"Go! Descend, with Aaron with you, while the priests and the people shall not push through to ascend to Yahweh, lest He becomes hostile/breaks out against them,"

(25) and Moses descended to the people,

and he spoke to them,

Let's pause here. When God descends upon Mount Sinai, it looks like the apocalypse (and it is, actually, his "revealing"). There's thick smoke, and dark clouds. There's thunder, and lightning. There's a blood curdling horn going off, that no human is blowing. It's loud, and it sets your hair on edge like a tornado siren. The mountain itself trembles. And so do you. When God comes, in all his glory, it's overwhelming.

And it's also dangerous. A few people might be tempted to get a better look. Maybe, you want to call them brave. Probably, you want to call them stupid. These people might be tempted to move from the base of the mountain, up it. They want to see God. God knows that the people are still struggling to obey. God knows that the temptation is real. And so He tells Moses, for a second time, to make sure the people don't get any closer. Even if you are a kingdom of priests, and a consecrated nation, and God's prized possession, God will still kill you, if you break through the cloud (h/t Duane Garrett).

Everything about this is dangerous, and overwhelming. If I'm an Israelite, seeing this, I'd be thinking, "Three days wasn't nearly enough time, to prepare myself to meet God." But here we are.

If you've captured the feel of these verses, you're ready to push ahead to chapter 20:

(20:1) and God spoke all these words, saying,

(2) "I-- Yahweh-- am your God/Elohim,

who is bringing you (masculine singular, here and throughout) from the land of Egypt-- from a house of

service.

Let's pause here. Yahweh starts by reminding Israel who He is for them. He is the one bringing them from Egypt. He is the one who freed them from slavery. So everything you're about to hear, you should hear from a place of gratitude, and thanksgiving.

The other thing we should notice, is who Yahweh is addressing. The "you" here is masculine singular. Yahweh is not directly addressing the nation as a whole. He is addressing the male heads of each house. Each male head has the responsibility of hearing these words, and making sure they are obeyed within the context of the larger family. [This is widely accepted within OT studies.] So if you're a woman, or a kid, these words are still supposed to be obeyed. But you hear them indirectly. And why this matters, will make more sense as we go.