Exodus 19

When God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, He gave him an encouraging promise: “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (3: nkjv). That promise had now been fulfilled. The Jews were at Mount Sinai, “the mount of God” (v. 1; 4:27; 18:5; 24:13), and would remain camped there for the next eleven months. God had redeemed His people (Ex. 1—18), and was now going to claim them as His own and enter into a covenant relationship with them (Ex. 19—24), just as He promised (6:6–7).

At least eight times, Moses had asked Pharaoh’s permission to lead the people into the wilderness where they could worship Jehovah, and each time, Pharaoh had refused. But now Israel would meet their God at the holy mount and worship Him. Many wonderful things occurred at Sinai that day, but the greatest was that God’s people heard God’s voice speaking to them personally. “Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?” (Deut. 4:33; 5:23–27)

When God spoke to His people, by His grace He called them to a very special life.

If freedom doesn’t lead to maturity, then we end up imprisoned in a bondage worse than what we had before, a bondage from within and not from without. It’s bad enough to be enslaved by an Egyptian taskmaster, but it’s even worse to enslave yourself and become your own taskmaster.

Moses went up to meet God on the mountain, and what God told him he came down and shared with the people. The image of maturity that God used was that of the eagle, bearing its young on its wings and teaching them the glorious freedom of flight. Moses used the same image in the song he taught Israel at the close of his life. Read carefully Deuteronomy 32:10–12. What do eagles teach us about the life of maturity?

At a certain stage in the development of their young, the parent eagles break up the comfortable nest and force the eaglets to fly. The young birds may not be anxious to leave the security of the nest, but they must learn to fly if they’re going to fulfill their purposes in life. The adult birds stay near the fledglings and, if they fall, carry them on their strong wings until the young birds learn how to use their wings, ride the air currents, and enjoy the abilities God gave them.

The eaglets illustrate three aspects of freedom: freedom from (they are out of the nest, which to us is redemption), freedom in (they are at home in the air, which to us is maturity), and freedom to (they can fulfill their purpose in life, which to us is ministry). True freedom means that we’re delivered from doing the bad, we’re able to do the good, and we’re accomplishing God’s will on the earth.

From God’s point of view, Egypt was a furnace of affliction for Israel (Deut. 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Jer. 11:4), but the Jews often saw Egypt as a “nest” where they at least had food, shelter, and security (Ex. 16:1–3; Num. 11:1–9). God delivered them from Egypt because He had something better for them to enjoy and to do, but this meant that they had to “try their wings” and experience growing pains as they moved toward maturity.

When we’re maturing in the Lord, life becomes a series of open doors that lead to more and more opportunities for responsible freedom. But if we refuse to let God mature us, life becomes a series of confining iron bars that limit us. A baby is safe and comfortable in the mother’s womb, but at some point the baby must be born and enter a new and demanding world of growth and maturity. From birth to death, the “turning points” of life usher in new freedoms that bring with them new privileges and new responsibilities: walking, instead of being carried; riding a bicycle and then driving a car; working at a job and earning money; learning to use that money wisely; making friends; getting married; raising children; retiring. At each “turning point,” we lose something as we gain something, and this is the way the maturing process works.

Whenever the Jews complained about God’s dealings with them and yearned to go back to Egypt, they were acting like little children, so God had to discipline them. The statement I quoted earlier from George Morrison needs to be quoted again: “It took one night to take Israel out of Egypt, but forty years to take Egypt out of Israel.” How long is it taking the Lord to get us to fly, or are we nestlings who don’t want to be disturbed?

In Egypt, the Jews were nothing but weary bodies, slaves who did their masters’ bidding, but the Lord had better things planned for them. They were to be His special people, and He would use them to be a blessing to the whole world (Gen. 12:3).

God’s treasured possession (v. 5 niv). All the nations of the earth belong to the Lord, because He’s their maker and their sustainer (9:29; Ps. 24:1; 50:12; Acts 14:15–17; 17:24–28), but He’s chosen Israel to be His treasured possession (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps. 135:4; Mal. 3:17). This choice was not because of Israel’s merits, because they had none (Deut. 26:5–11), but because of God’s love and sovereign grace (7:6–8).

That the Jews are God’s chosen people doesn’t mean they’re better than any other nation, only that they’re different, set apart by the Lord for His special work. Romans 9:4–5 reminds us of some of the spiritual treasures God has given Israel that they might be a blessing to the whole world, for “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). Because Israel has these treasures and privileges, they also have a greater responsibility to love and obey God; for “from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12: niv).

A kingdom of priests (v. 6). Aaron and his sons would be consecrated later to serve as priests to the nation (Ex. 28—29), but it was God’s intent that all Israel live as priests, manifesting His truth and sharing His blessings with the world. Israel was to be God’s “showcase” to the Gentiles, proving to them that there is but one true and living God and that serving Him is the way to fullness of blessing (Isa. 42:6; 49:6). Unfortunately, instead of Israel influencing the nations to worship Jehovah, the nations influenced Israel to worship idols! The Jews adopted the religions and lifestyles of the Gentiles and so desecrated themselves, their land, and the temple that God had to chasten them severely and send them into Babylonian captivity. The day will come, however, when Israel will see her Messiah, be cleansed of her iniquities (Zech. 12:10–13:1), and become a nation of holy priests to serve the Lord (Isa. 61:6).

A holy nation (v. 6). “You are to be My holy people” (22:31), that is, a people set apart for God, a people who are different. “Be holy, for I am holy” is found at least six times in Leviticus (11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7, 26; 21:8) and is repeated twice in 1 Peter 1:15–16. In every area of life, Israel’s activities were governed by the fact that they belonged to God, and that included what they ate, what they wore, who they married, how they buried their dead, and especially how they worshipped.

During the plagues in Egypt, God put a difference between them and the Egyptians (Ex. 11:7), because the Jews were not to live like the pagan Gentile nations. The Jewish priests were to set the example and also teach the people to “put a difference between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean” (Lev. 10:10; 11:47). The priests failed to do this (Ezek. 22:26; see 42:20; 44:23; 48:14–15), and their sin helped to lead the nation into defilement and destruction (Lam. 4:13).

When Moses shared this good news with the people, they enthusiastically promised to obey everything God told them to do (Ex. 19:7–8). They may have been sincere, but God knew that their hearts were prone to do evil (Deut. 5:27–29). The fact that they repeated this vow two more times didn’t change their hearts or strengthen their wills (Ex. 24:3, 7), and it wouldn’t be long before Israel would succumb to the idolatry that lurked in their hearts and make a golden calf and worship it (Ex. 32).

God’s people today (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Peter borrowed the imagery of Exodus 19: and called the church today “a holy priesthood … a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:5, 9 nkjv). Like Israel of old, God’s people today must point people to the Lord and reveal by their words and deeds how wonderful He is. We’re to be “living advertisements” of the grace and power of God. Are we?

Moses had returned to the Lord on the mountain and reported the people’s promise to obey His commandments. The fact that God spoke with Moses personally should have given the people confidence in their leader, but subsequent events proved differently. What a privilege it was for Israel to have a leader such as Moses, and what a tragedy that they repeatedly made life difficult for him!

The emphasis in this chapter is on the sanctity of the nation as the holy people of God, and three images stand out: the changing of their clothes, the distance set between the people and God, and the storm on Mount Sinai.

Changing clothes and washing (vv. 10–11, 14–15). We today are accustomed to having soap and water readily available, and extra clothes hanging in our closets, but people in Bible days didn’t enjoy such luxuries. They couldn’t take showers daily, and only the wealthy had stores of extra garments. That’s why bathing and changing clothes often marked a new beginning, such as when God restored Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21) or when Jacob and his family returned to Bethel (35:2). Other examples are Joseph leaving prison (41:14), healed lepers returning to society (Lev. 14:8–9), David turning back to God (2 Sam. 12:20), and King Jehoiachin being shown mercy by his captors (Jer. 52:31–34). Washing and changing clothes is the Old Testament equivalent of 1 John 1: and 2 Corinthians 7:1.

The distance between God and the people (vv. 12–13, 20–25). Staying away from Mount Sinai was a matter of life or death, for the presence of God sanctified the mountain. So Moses put up barriers to keep the people at a distance. He also posted guards with authority to kill from a distance anybody who broke through the barriers, and nobody was to touch the dead body. When the trumpet sounded, then Moses ascended the mountain to meet God, but even then, God sent him back to warn the people not to get too close to Mount Sinai.

In a dramatic way, God was teaching the people the distance between a holy God and sinful men and women, as well as the danger of presumptuously rushing into the presence of the Lord. Later, Nadab and Abihu would forget this principle, and God would kill them (Lev. 10). The structure of Old Testament worship emphasized man’s sinfulness and God’s “otherness”: the fence around the tabernacle; the veil before the Holy of Holies; the fact that only the priests could minister in the tabernacle and only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that but once a year. The emphasis was always “Keep Your Distance!”

But the New Testament emphasizes the nearness of God, for the Son of God became flesh and came to dwell on earth (John 1:14), and His name is “Immanuel—God with us” (Matt. 1:23). By His death and resurrection, Jesus opened a new and living way into the presence of God (Heb. 10:1–25), and the New Testament banner reads: “Let us draw near!” This doesn’t mean that we should get “chummy” with God and act like we’re His equals, but He is our Father and He welcomes our love. See Hebrews 12:18–29.

The storm (vv. 16–19; 20:18–20). In Scripture, a storm is often a symbol of the awesome presence and power of God (Ps. 18:1–15; 29; Hab. 3:1–16). The cloud and darkness, the thunder and lightning, and the earthquake and fire, all manifested the greatness of God (Deut. 5:22–23, 27) and produced a holy fear in the hearts of the people. Even Moses trembled with fear and admitted it (Heb. 12:21; Deut. 9:19)! God was about to teach His people His law, and “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). The Jews had also seen the plagues in Egypt, and this mighty demonstration of God’s power should have also prepared their hearts to obey Him (Ps. 105:26–45).

The combination of washing themselves and changing their clothes, witnessing the storm, and keeping their distance from Sinai, couldn’t help but impress the people with their own sinfulness and God’s majestic holiness. They were called to be a sanctified people, unlike the nations around them. Only as they obeyed God could they truly enjoy the privileges of being a kingdom of priests, God’s special treasure and His holy nation.