Saturday, February 24, 2007

Exodus 20

COVENANT--THE CONSTITUTION OF A PEOPLE TO BE A NATION


   What is the purpose of the ten commandments? To show God's holy standards. This is the constitution of this new people, ruled, not be a king, but by Yahweh.


  The modern nation of Israel has no written constitution in one single document. Many religious Jews at the time opposed the idea of their nation having a document which the government would regard as nominally "higher" in authority than religious texts. For the anti-religious left, any mention of Divine providence was anathema. For religious Jews, the proclamation of the reestablishment of the Jewish state could not appear without such a reference. The compromise worked out was built around the inclusion of Tzur Israel (Rock of Israel), a phrase traditionally used as a euphemism for God, yet vague enough to allow for various interpretations. Many religious Jews hold that the only real constitution for a Jewish state is the Torah and the Jewish law (halakhah) that flows from it.


   These commandments are repeated almost verbatim in Deuteronomy 5:6-21 toward the close of the forty-year desert period. Remember that by this time only Moses, Joshua and Caleb are still alive of those who were present at the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai. There are three versions of the Ten Commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). They are at Exodus 20:2-17, Exodus 34:12-26, and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Exodus 20 is the most commonly used set.

   These ten commands (words) form the preamble; they will be followed by the decisions (judgments). And then in chapter 24, the covenant will be inaugurated. So when Israel entered into covenant with God, they entered into a theocracy by expressing their willingness to submit to His authority. The Law was the binding constitution for the nation of Israel under Yahweh their God. The Law legislated how Israel was to live in order to be blessed by God and used by him as a kingdom of priests. In the process of legislating their conduct and their ritual for worship, the Law revealed God. It revealed the holiness of Yahweh as the standard for all worship and service, and in revealing that it revealed or uncovered sin. But what the Law condemned, the Law (Leviticus) also made provision for in the laws of the sacrifice and the feasts intended for atonement. The New Testament teaches that the Law was good, and perfect, and holy. But it also teaches that Christ was the end (goal) of the Law, that it ultimately led to him. It was a pedagogue, Paul said, to bring people to Christ. And when the fulfillment of the promise came in him, believers were not to go back under the Law. What this means for Christians is that what the Law of Israel revealed about God and His will is timeless and still authoritative over faith and conduct, but what the Law regulated for Israel in their existence as the people of God has been done away with in Christ. The Ten Commandments reveal the essence of the Law; the ten for the most part are reiterated in the New Testament because they reflect the holy and righteous nature of God. The New Testament often raises them to a higher standard, to guard the spirit of the Law as well as the letter. -- BibleGateway - Exodus 20: www.bible.org/netbible/exo20.htm


(1)Then God* gave the people all these instructions**:


*God: Elohim


**instructions: Hebrew all these words.


   Who is the speaker? The voice is that of JESUS. The Spirit clears this fact. He tells us, that the Angel, the messenger of the eternal Covenant, communed with Moses on the Mount.


(2) “I am the Lord* your God**, who rescued you from the land of Egypt***, the place of your slavery.


*Lord: Yahweh


**God: Elohim


***from the land of Egypt: So, the ten commandments are directed to Israel.


(3) (I) “You must not have any other god but me.


   Since all other nations and people, especially Egypt, were polytheistic, this set the people of Israel apart. Israel continually slipped into the worship of other gods and idols once settled in the promised land, sometimes even worshipping other gods in the temple! Atheism is not condemned here, because there was no such thing then. But today's "wise" are now "fools" for saying "There is no God".


Leviticus 26:1: Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. I am the Lord your God.


Deuteronomy 5:7-9: “You must not have any other god but me.“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.



Joshua 23:6-7: “So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left. Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them.


1 Kings 11:4-7;10-13: In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command. So now the Lord said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”


Nehemiah 13:23-26: About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all. So I confronted them and called down curses on them. I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear in the name of God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land “Wasn’t this exactly what led King Solomon of Israel into sin?” I demanded. “There was no king from any nation who could compare to him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel. But even he was led into sin by his foreign wives.



Matthew 4:10: “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.


Revelation 13:14-15: And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.


(4) (II) “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image* of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.


*image: Hebrew pesel (Teraphim, plural). These were family gods worshipped by Abram's kindred. Joshua 24:14 - So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone.


   The second commandment doesn’t forbid making an image of something for artistic purposes; God Himself commanded Israel make images of cherubim (Exodus 25:18, 26:31). It forbids the making of images as an “aid” to worship.


   Moses, of course, has already struggled with Israel’s allegiance to the gods of Egypt around them prior to Exodus chapter 20, and that will continue to be a struggle that will be manifested in Exodus 31 and 32 and the incident with the golden calf. At the end of the age of Israel’s nation state, the prophets are still talking with Israel about idolatry. Isaiah and Jeremiah and the later prophets all address Israel about this.


   What do you love the most? What do you desire the most? What do you want the most? What do you strive for the most? What do you aim for the most? What do you think about the most? The answer to those questions will tell you who your god is. What are your "gods"? Job, respect, perfection, family, spouse, children, money, success, health .... ? That which we love and serve and desire and long after and aim for and strive for and think of the most is our god. In the days of ancient Israel, there was great temptation to worship the gods of materialism (Baal, the god of weather and financial success) and sex (Ashtoreth, the goddess of sex, romance, and reproduction), or any number of other local deities. We are tempted to worship the same gods, but without the old-fashioned names and images.


   This is not a command that you can not do artwork. It is a command that God is not to be pictured. He is not to be visually represented. It’s clear, of course, from the context and it’s clear from other passages: Deuteronomy 4:15 says, “But be very careful! You did not see the Lord’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai.


(5) You must not bow down* to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous** God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject** me.


*bow down: Under the auspices of Moses himself, figures of cherubim, brazen serpents, oxen, and many other things in the earth beneath, were made and never condemned. The mere making was no sin--it was the making with the intent to give idolatrous worship. It is the use of art or sculpture in worship that God condemns. Solomon had God's blessing to build a Temple, where he erected golden forms of two cherubim inside the Holy of Holies. On the walls of the sanctuary were carved figures of angels, trees, and flowers, none of which Israel worshipped.


*jealous: The word “jealous” is the same word often translated “zeal” or “zealous.”


**reject: The word rendered “reject” is often translated “hate” and carries with it the idea of defiantly rejecting and opposing God and his word. Such people are doomed to carry on the sins of their ancestors and bear guilt with them.


   You don’t believe He’s serious about that? Read what He did to Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1-3, when they came and offered a sacrifice that He had not asked for. He killed them on the spot. Read 1 Samuel 6:1-10, when the children of Israel had put the ark of the covenant on a cart and they were carrying it back to Jerusalem. Surely God was pleased with this. The oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to steady the ark, to keep it from falling, and he was struck down dead. Read 1 Samuel 6 and 7 sometime. You know what you’ll find out? Oh yes, I remember the ark was not supposed to be carried on a cart. It was suppose to be carried on poles.


(6) But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those* who love me and obey my commands.


*for a thousand generations on those: Hebrew for thousands of those.


(7) (III) “You must not misuse the name* of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.


* name: And, what is this "name"? It is Yahweh. To avoid breaking this commandment, Jews use the term Hashem, "the name" or "g_d". The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose. This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God. We should avoid careless speech using words like "Gee" (substitute for Jesus) or "Gosh" (substitute for God).


   On Palm Sunday, 2000 years ago, a group of people took up the name of Jesus Christ, and they called Him "The King," and they sang, "Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." And they sang His praises, and they adored Him, and they waved palm branches at Him. And five days later, they shouted "Crucify Him." They took His name in vain.


(8) (IV)“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.


(9) You have six days each week for your ordinary work,


(10) but the seventh day is a Sabbath* day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you.


*Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, meaning "to cease, stop, desist; to come to an end, rest." Shabbat begins from twilight on Friday and continues until Saturday at sundown.


   Ancient Rabbis taught that on the Sabbath, a man could not carry something in his right hand or in his left hand, across his chest or on his shoulder. But he could carry something with the back of his hand, his foot, his elbow, or in his ear, his hair, or in the hem of his shirt, or in his shoe or sandal. Or, on the Sabbath, Israelites were forbidden to tie a knot - except, a woman could tie a knot in her girdle. So, if a bucket of water had to be raised from a well, an Israelite could not tie a rope to the bucket, but a woman could tie her girdle to the bucket and pull it up from the well. In observant Jewish homes today, one cannot turn on a light, a stove, or a switch on the Sabbath. It is forbidden to drive a certain distance or to make a telephone call - all carefully regulated by traditions seeking to spell out the law exactly. This is where the law leads to - absurdity!


   Where in the New Testament does it say that Christians should keep the Sabbath? Also, for those who want to keep the Sabbath, where does it say how to keep it? The only place in which the Bible contains instruction on how to observe the Sabbath is in the Law of the Old Covenant that was given to the Israelites only.


Genesis 2:3: And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.


Exodus 16:29: They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.”


Exodus 35:2-3: You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on that day must be put to death. You must not even light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath.”


Numbers 15:32-36: One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. The people who found him doing this took him before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community. They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp.” So the whole community took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.


According to Deuteronomy 5:12-15, the purpose of the Sabbath was to remind God's people that they had been slaves in Egypt and that He had delivered them and brought them into the promised land, their "resting place". Even the servants and slaves were to rest! This is an ordinance strictly for Israel! Deuteronomy 5:12-15: “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.


Leviticus 23:3: “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.


Isaiah 58:13-14: “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!”


Jeremiah 17:24,25,27: “‘But if you obey me, says the Lord, and do not carry on your trade at the gates or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy, then kings and their officials will go in and out of these gates forever. There will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will always ride in and out among the people of Judah in chariots and on horses, and this city will remain forever.
“‘But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out the roaring flames.’”


Nehemiah 13:15-22: In those days I saw men of Judah treading out their winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also bringing in grain, loading it on donkeys, and bringing their wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce to Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath. So I rebuked them for selling their produce on that day. Some men from Tyre, who lived in Jerusalem, were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise. They were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah—and in Jerusalem at that! So I confronted the nobles of Judah. “Why are you profaning the Sabbath in this evil way?” I asked. “Wasn’t it just this sort of thing that your ancestors did that caused our God to bring all this trouble upon us and our city? Now you are bringing even more wrath upon Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way! ”Then I commanded that the gates of Jerusalem should be shut as darkness fell every Friday evening, not to be opened until the Sabbath ended. I sent some of my own servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day. The merchants and tradesmen with a variety of wares camped outside Jerusalem once or twice. But I spoke sharply to them and said, “What are you doing out here, camping around the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you!” And that was the last time they came on the Sabbath.2 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the gates in order to preserve the holiness of the Sabbath.


Matthew 12:1-14: At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath. ”Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.


Mark 2:27-28: Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”


Mark 3:4: Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.


Luke 6:2: But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”


Luke 6:9: Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”


Luke 14:3: Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?”


John 5:10: so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”


John 7:22-23: But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.) For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath?


John 9:16: Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.


Acts 16:13: On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.


Romans 14:5-6: In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.


Hebrews 4:8-10: Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest (sabbath) still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.


Colossians 2:16-17: So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.


   Leviticus 25 lists several kinds of sabbaths, including the seven sabbaths of years to the Year of Jubilee.




(11) For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.


(12) (V)“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.


Ephesians 6:2-3: “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”


   The first commandment with a promise. How do we honor our parents? The father and mother stood in the place of God.


   In Romans 1 and in 2 Timothy 3, Paul indicates disobedience to parents as the example of sin run amuck and society fallen apart. In Romans 1:28-32 in the midst of this list of horrendous sins, what's stuck right in the middle of debauchery that you don't even want to talk about in polite public, he sticks "disobedient to parents." And in 2 Timothy 3, when he is wanting to tell Timothy, "Timothy, you are going to minister in a day and age where everything falls apart." And he talks about people being lovers of money and lovers of selves and alienated in their affections to one another, he sticks "disobedient to parents." Why? Because for Paul, a person who can violate this command of authority, of respect for the authority of parents, is a person who is capable of the most drastic spiritual error and who is in grave spiritual danger.


(13) (VI) “You must not murder.


   The word for “kill” or "murder" in Exodus 20:13 is the Hebrew rasah. It is used 43 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. It always means violent, personal killing - that is actually murder or is accused as murder. It is never used of killing in war or (with one possible exception, Numbers 35:27) of killing in judicial execution. Rather, a clear distinction is preserved between legal “putting to death” and illegal “murder.” For example, Numbers 35:19 says, The victim’s nearest relative is responsible for putting the murderer to death. When they meet, the avenger must put the murderer to death. The word “murderer” here comes from rasah, which is forbidden in the Ten Commandments. The word “put to death” is a general word that can describe legal executions.


John 7:19: Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.”


(14) (VII) “You must not commit adultery.


Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.


Romans 7:3: So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.


John 8:5: The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”


(15) (VIII) “You must not steal.


Ephesians 4:28: If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.


(16) (IX) “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.


   The prohibition is against perjury. The New Testament puts it simply. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
(Colossians 3:9).


(17) (X) “You must not covet* your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”


*covet: Literally, the word for “covet” here means “to pant after.”


Luke 12:15: Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”


Romans 7:7: I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet."


Hebrews 13:5: Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.


Ephesians 5:5: You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.


(18) When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning* and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.


*lightning: plural of Hebrew lappid. Only here and Genesis 15:17 in the Torah: After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. lappid represents God's physical presence.


   It would appear that the people heard the thunder but did not understand what God had been saying. We can compare with this John 12:28-29 where again the voice was heard but the people did not understand. But they were very much aware of the external signs. They heard the thunder and the trumpet sound, they saw the lightning and the smoke. And they were afraid. Those who had been growing bolder now cowered back trembling, and drew away. They no longer wanted to climb the mount.


   They're in the presence of God and yet their reaction is fear and trembling, and furthermore they stampede. They fear, they tremble and they flee. You remember when this story started, the children of Israel were crowding in around Mount Sinai. They wanted to look. So much so, that God said to Moses, "Don't let them step on the mountain because I will bring immediate judgment and destruction on anyone who sets foot on My mountain. Don't let them crowd in." Now at the end of the Ten commandments, we find out they are at a distance. Now they had gotten from next to the mountain to a distance from the mountain by fleeing. God came and met with them and they ran.


(19) And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”


Deuteronomy 18:15-18: Moses continued, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you yourselves requested of the Lord your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.’ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘What they have said is right. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him.


Deuteronomy 5.24-27: They said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! But now, why should we risk death again? If the Lord our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire. Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? Go yourself and listen to what the Lord our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’


(20) “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”


(21) As the people stood in the distance*, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.


*in the distance: As opposed to Ephesians 2:13: But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ
and Hebrews 4:16: So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.


(22) And the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven.


(23) Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me.


(24) “Build for me an altar* made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever** I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you.


*altar: Hebrew: mizbeah (pronounced: miz-bay'-akh) is derived from the verbal root zbh, meaning "to slaughter". God's people often built altars on the site of a theophany or divine appearance (e.g., Genesis 12:7; 35:1,7). Theologically, altars provided a meeting place between God and humanity, an intersection between heaven and Earth. They defined the spaces in which God caused His name to dwell and at which human beings might thereby call upon that name (Genesis 13:3-4; 26:25; Deut 12:11; 1 Kings 8:22-54).


   The first altar specifically mentioned in the Bible is the one erected by Noah (Genesis 8:20), although we assume that Adam and the pre-Flood patriarchs also used altars for their sacrifices. The first blood sacrifices are mentioned in connection with Adam and Eve (God's shedding of animal blood to make coverings for them) and their son Able's offerings (Genesis 3-4). Altars were erected by Abraham (Genesis 12:7; 13:4; 22:9), by Isaac (Genesis 26:25), by Jacob (33:20; 35:1,3), and by Moses (Exodus 17:15). In the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, two altars were erected.


   The “burnt offering” is the offering prescribed in Leviticus 1. Everything of this animal went up in smoke as a sweet aroma to God. It signified complete surrender by the worshiper who brought the animal, and complete acceptance by God, thereby making atonement. The “peace offering” is legislated in Leviticus 3 and 7. This was a communal meal offering to celebrate being at peace with God. It was made usually for thanksgiving, for payment of vows, or as a freewill offering.


**wherever:



  1. Shiloh was the first place - Jeremiah 7:12: “‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites.

  2. then Bethel: 1 Samuel 10:3: “When you get to the oak of Tabor, you will see three men coming toward you who are on their way to worship God at Bethel. One will be bringing three young goats, another will have three loaves of bread, and the third will be carrying a wineskin full of wine.

  3. then Zion: Psalm 78:68: He chose instead the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion, which he loved.


Genesis 13:3-4: From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before. This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again.


Deuteronomy 12:11: you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.


1 Kings 8:22,54: Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven ... When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven.


(25) If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones*. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.


*natural, uncut stones: No tools - no human effort. Represents grace: Ephesians 2:8-10: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.



   Yet, the tabernacles's altar would contain an altar of bronze and another of gold. The bronze altar would be built of acacia wood, overlaid with bronze. It would stand in the courtyard, would be used specifically for burnt offerings. The altar of gold was to be built of acacia wood and overlaid with gold (Exodus 30:1-3) and was used for offering incense within the sanctuary. A golden incense altar and a bronze altar were also to be prominent fixtures in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6:22).


   Of course, with God’s ultimate altar, a few wooden beams were sufficient. What God does want from us in worship is seen by Jesus’ statement in John 4:24: For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” God wants worship that is characterized by Spirit (as opposed to flesh) and truth (as opposed to deception or mere feeling).


(26) And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.


   Their altars were to be entirely different. This was changed in Exodus 28:42-42; Leviticus 6:10; 16:3-4; Ezekiel 44:17-18 where they were instructed to wear linen undergarments.



Matthew 22:34-40: But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”


Romans 13:9: For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.



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Monday, February 12, 2007

Exodus 19 - Where is the real Mount Sinai?

   Mount Sinai is mentioned 15 times in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers as the place where Yahweh met with Israel and revealed his law. In Deuteronomy 33:2 and Judges 5:5, it is more generally the place where Yahweh “dwells” or from which he comes. In Numbers 10:33, Sinai is called “the mountain of Yahweh” (elsewhere this name refers to Mount Zion in Jerusalem). In Deuteronomy 1–28 and some passages in Exodus (3:1; 17:6; 33:6) and elsewhere (1 Kings 8:9; 19:8; 2 Chronicles 5:10; Psalm 106:9; Malachi 3:22), the name Horeb is used, apparently for the same place.


   In the past, the location of the mountain was apparently well-known, as suggested by this description: “taking his station at the mountain called Sinai, he drove his flocks thither to feed them. Now this is the highest of all the mountains thereabout, and the best for pasturage, the herbage being there good; and it had not been before fed upon, because of the opinion men had that God dwelt there, the shepherds not daring to ascend up to it” - Josephus Flavius, Antiquities of the Jews, II:12.
The location was also known in the days of King Ahab of Israel, as recounted in the story of Elijah's journey: "And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God." I Kings 19:8.
The location of the mountain was evidently forgotten in later times.


   The most common candidates for Mount Sinai are:



  1. Jebel Musa: (Arabic: "Mountain of Moses" - the "traditional" site in Sinai). This claim goes back to the time of Helena of Constantinople. Two monks claimed to have found the Burning Bush of Moses circa CE 300. This plant can be found today on the grounds of Saint Catherine's Monastery at the base of Musa. However, there is a considerable weight of historical counter-evidence to support the view that Jabal Musa and the Biblical Mount Sinai are not the same.

  2. Hashem el-Tarif: The James Cameron-produced History Channel special, The Exodus Decoded, suggests that this location, now in a military zone, is the best candidate for the Biblical Mount Sinai. Not only does it correspond to Biblical geographical clues, but it possesses three important traits described in Exodus:
    (a) a cleft that overlooks a natural amphitheater (b)
    evidence of an ancient spring (c)
    a plateau below large enough to hold several hundred thousand people and containing enough foliage to sustain large flocks.

  3. Jebel Sin Bishar: Located in west-central Sinai, this mountain was proposed to be the biblical Mount Sinai by Menashe Har-El, a biblical geographer at Tel Aviv University, in his book The Sinai Journeys: The Route of the Exodus.

  4. Helal: A mountain in northern Sinai.

  5. Jebel Serbal: A mountain in southern Sinai.

  6. Giza in Egypt:
    Ralph Ellis, in his books Tempest and Exodus and Solomon, Falcon of Sheba, asserts that the Great Pyramid of Giza is the actual Mount Sinai, and that the Ancient Israelites, in their avoidance of anything Egyptian, re-identified it.

  7. Har Karkom in Israel: Also called Jabal Ideid, this mountain is located in the south-west Negev desert in Israel, north of the Sinai peninsula.

  8. Jebel al-Lawz in Saudia Arabia: In his book The Gold of Exodus, Howard Blum opts for Jabal al-Lawz. Ron Wyatt has also postulated al-Lawz as Mount Sinai

  9. al-Manifa in Saudi Arabia:
    Located 20 kilometers north of Ajnuna near Wadi al-Hrob. As proposed, independently of each other, by Alois Musil and H. Philby

  10. Serabit el-Khadim in the central Sinai

  11. Hala'l Bedr in Saudi Arabia:
    Prof. Colin Humphreys has argued in favor of the volcano Hala-'l Badr in his book The Miracles of Exodus, claiming that an erupting volcano would explain many of the phenomena described in Exodus. Jean Koenig also espoused the theory in 1971.

  12. Baggir in Saudi Arabia: Proposed by Charles Beke in his 1878 book Sinai in Arabia and of Median, Jebel Baggir is located north-east of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Negev desert. Beke also states that nearby Jebel Ertowa is Mount Horeb. Both are located near Wady Yutm.

  13. Mt. Seir, in Saudi Arabia

  14. al-Madhbah in Jordan: Suggested by Ditlef Nielsen. In 1927, he visited Petra, the old Nabatean kingdom capital, in present-day Jordan. He considered Jebel-al-Madhbah (the high place) a strong candidate. This mountain, near Petra, is over a thousand meters high, presents millennia-old rock-excavated ceremonial structures such as a square altar and a round one, an open court able to receive multitudes, a ceremonial pool, and an uphill rock staircase, among other details. Furthermore, it fits well in Apostle Paul's location of Mount Sinai in Arabia.



Traditional site: St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai.



--http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe115.jpg



   The traditional location in the Sinai Peninsula didn't "come into being" until almost 2,000 years after the Exodus: "The origin of the present Monastery of Saint Catherine on the NW slope of Jebel Musa is traced back to A.D. 527, when Emperor Justinian established it on the site where Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, had erected a small church two centuries earlier." (The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 1962, p. 376).


   "There is no Jewish tradition of the geographical location of Mt. Sinai; it seems that its location was obscure already in the time of the monarchy…" (The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 14, p. 1599).


   In 1761-1767, Von Haven, the member of a Danish expedition to the traditional site wrote, as reported in "Arabia Felix: The Danish Expedition of 1761-1767, by Thorkild Hansen: "I have observed earlier that we could not possibly be at Mount Sinai. The monastery [of St. Catherine] was situated in a narrow valley, which was not even large enough for a medium-sized army to be able to camp in, let alone the 600,000 men that Moses had with him, who, together with their wives and children, must have come to over 3,000,000."


   The fact is clear that the Sinai Peninsula was always considered to be Egyptian territory. There is an abundance of evidence that the Egyptians controlled the Sinai Peninsula during the time of the Exodus because of their mining operations there. This archaeological evidence is still present and evident today. The peninsula today doesn't even have any population to speak of except those who live around the few oases, many of which today contain the gasoline stations for travelers—travelers who are going to either the coast of the Gulf of Ababa to go scuba diving or those visitors who go to the traditional Mt. Sinai.


-- Mt. Sinai/Horeb- Where was It?: www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/html/chapter13.htm




   Identifying Mt. Sinai requires that the following considerations be taken into account:



  1. The mountain must have enough similarities to the Mt. Sinai and Mt. Horeb described in the Bible to have attracted the attention of Jews in the early post-biblical period.

  2. The mountain must be in northwestern Arabia (Septuagint, Demetrius, Josephus, probably Philo; possibly Jubilees and Paul; among later sources, Origen, Eusebius, Jerome, et al.)

  3. The mountain must be near Al-Bad' (ancient Madyan; Septuagint, Demetrius, Josephus, probably Philo; among later sources, Origen, Eusebius, Jerome, et al.).

  4. The mountain must be the highest mountain in the surrounding region (Philo) or, more precisely, the highest mountain near the city of Al-Bad' (ancient Madyan; Josephus)


   The only possible option in this case is Jebel al-Lawz. At 8,465 feet, Jebel al-Lawz is uncontested as the highest mountain in the region of ancient Madyan. Jebel al-Lawz also fulfills every other criterion stated above. Jebel al-Lawz is probably the most convincing option for identifying the mountain with which Jews identified Mt. Sinai in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. But the present state of research on Jebel al-Lawz requires that this remain only a rather tentative hypothesis. It is nevertheless by far the most attractive hypothesis available.


   Like many other mountains scattered throughout the Near East, Jebel al-Lawz is reportedly identified with Mt. Sinai in the legends of the local Arabs. But the potential antiquity of the traditions associated with Jebel al-Lawz is without parallel in the traditions associated with other sites. Traditions relating Mt. Sinai to the site of ancient Madyan at modern Al-Bad' extend at least to the time of the oldest portions of the Septuagint in about 250 BC. In contrast, the earliest solid date for the appearance of traditions locating Mt. Sinai in the southern Sinai Peninsula is about 350 AD. Perhaps it is time for research on the location of the Mt. Sinai to shift its focus to Jebel al-Lawz, which is associated with local traditions 600 years older than the traditions locating Mt. Sinai in the southern Sinai Peninsula.


-- THE SEARCH FOR THE REAL MT. SINAI : Experts and Scholars Reviews: www.explorationfilms.com/sinai-experts-scholars-review.html



   If we go the Bible, the location of Mt. Sinai is not that difficult to ascertain. When God first spoke to Moses regarding the great work of leading the people out of their Egyptian bondage, He told Moses: Exodus 3:12 - God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” To find out exactly where Moses was when this conversation took place, we need to go to the beginning of chapter 3, Exodus 3:1-2 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. This conversation took place at the foot of the "mountain of God". Moses was even told to remove his shoes, as he was standing was "holy ground" (verse 5). So, we now know that Moses was in Midian, in the "backside of the desert", which seems to us to imply the area opposite the main portion of the desert or, the other side of the mountain which provided the border of the desert. We make this assumption simply because in order to have a "backside of the desert", there must be something which marks a separation of the "frontside" and the "backside".


   When Ron Wyatt studied the Biblical account, he noted these references- that the mountain to which Moses was to lead the people was in Midian; and that the place where Moses spoke to God in the burning bush was specifically stated to be in the "backside of the desert". With this information, along with the discoveries of the chariot parts in the Gulf of Aqaba, he looked for a mountain on the eastern side of the gulf which fit this description. There was only one candidate in his opinion, and this was Jebel el Lawz. His flight maps showed this mountain to be in an almost semi-circular range, with a vast desert area around it as well as more than enough room for the encampment of perhaps a couple of million people along with their flocks and herds. Not only that, but there was a single, large oasis located fairly nearby- an area that could have been the home of his father-in-law, Jethro- and this was the town of Al-Bad. He saw that there was desert area around Jebel el Lawz, between Al-Bad and the highest peak in this mountain range- and that there were valleys in the mountain range which Moses could have led his flocks through, taking him to the "backside of the desert". Ron was convinced that this mountain had to be the one.


Mt. Sinai - www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/html/chapter13.htm



God's Word, Renegade Explorers and The Search for the Real Mt. Sinai by Thomas Beard


   Since about 350 AD, Christians and Jews from all over the world have trekked to a craggy mountain in the southern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, just west and across the Gulf of Aqaba from Saudi Arabia. They have been drawn, if not compelled, to this arid, rocky landscape to view and experience one of the holiest sites ever immortalized in the Old Testament. These pilgrims have spent enormous amounts of money to see with their own eyes what they have believed to be the exact location where, according to the biblical account, God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments: Mt. Sinai. There is only one small, seemingly insignificant problem: there is no physical evidence. No cave where Elijah took refuge from a murderous Queen Jezebel in 1 Kings 19. No altar upon which the Israelites raised a golden calf, dancing around it in drunken abandon in Exodus 32. No split rock where miraculous water gushed forth and saved the Israelite nation in Exodus 17, and no remains of a ferocious battle with the Amalekites in that same chapter. Nothing. If this is, indeed, the true location of the holy mountain, up to two million people on a trans-desert venture with families, flocks, and the riches of the ancient Egyptians in tow left absolutely no trace of their stay at the foot of Mt. Sinai.


   At precisely 8:41 a.m. on June 12, 1988, explorer Bob Cornuke stood on the highest peak of a mountain called Jabal al Lawz in a land that the Bible calls Midian, now a part of modern-day Saudi Arabia. The entire summit was blackened, its silica melted by such an intense heat that it appeared to be black plastic. When shattered, however, the solid granite revealed an interior that was ivory in color. Cornuke recalled that the Bible states that God descended on Mt. Sinai in a cloud of smoke and flames like a furnace. Under an already searing sun, Bob wrote in his Bible as he realized that life would never again be the same. "When I stood on those scorched rocks, it was like a floodgate opening in my life. My life was changed at that moment," Cornuke remembers from his office at the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (B.A.S.E.) Institute in Colorado Springs. "I could almost see the fires of the campsites as the children of Israel waited for Moses to return from his time with God on the top of the mountain. I knew in my heart that this was the place."


   He had spent years preparing for this moment, and had spent torturous hours climbing Jabal al Lawz, the highest mountain for hundreds of miles around. Cornuke and Williams had reached the pinnacle of an exhausting journey as they followed the literal directions in their Bible.


   They found caves that the local Bedouins told them were full of ancient writings telling of a multitude, led by Mussa (Moses) that came through the region. They also discovered a large V-shaped, sacrificial altar with ancient ash more than eight feet deep (Muslims don't offer burnt sacrifices). Another altar, man-made and of immense size, towered over them with petroglyphs of an Egyptian bull god engraved into the sides of the massive stones. Since cattle are not indigenous to the area, Cornuke and Williams concluded that this could have been the altar on which Aaron, the brother of Moses, erected the infamous golden calf.


   Standing like a solitary sentinel on the west side of Jabal al Lawz was a rock, 54 feet high with a nineteen-inch split down the middle. The granite hillside at the base of this obelisk was worn smooth by what would seem to be millions of gallons of water rushing over it and down into a granite floored reservoir...all in an area of the world that gets one half-inch of rain every 10 years. Could this be the rock at Horeb that Moses struck as his anger lashed out toward the Israelites?


   In spite of the teeth-grinding of some archaeologists toward these amateur adventurers (they were called "destructive scoundrels" by one religion writer), Ken Durham, professor of Old Testament history at Colorado Christian University, states, "I feel Bob Cornuke's work concerning the locale of Mount Sinai is right on the money. I hold a very high view of the veracity of the biblical text, and Scripture speaks for itself as to the correct Exodus route." Durham goes on to note that Cornuke's theory "fits the physical description throughout the Bible; it fits ancient Bedouin tradition."


-- God's Word, Renegade Explorers and The Search for the Real Mt. Sinai by Thomas Beard: explorationfilms.com/article-renegade-exploreres.html



   Exodus 3:1 plainly identifies Mount Horeb (Sinai) as being in Midian. What does Scripture reveal here? First, the region of “Midian” is undeniably the same as present-day Saudi Arabia. This has been established by numerous sources. Second, the traditional site for Mount Sinai on the Sinai Peninsula has nothing to do geographically with the “back” of a desert. By contrast, certain mountains in Saudi Arabia are on the far side or margin of a vast desert in ancient Midian.


   Exodus 2:15 reveals more. After killing an Egyptian, Moses fled Egypt for safer ground: And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian..


   Egypt and its holdings would not have been safe for Moses under any circumstances. He would not have fled to the Sinai Peninsula, where archaeology shows that Pharaoh had multiple mining interests and military outposts. The Bible is clear that Moses went out of Egypt, to the land of Midian east of the Gulf of Aqaba.


   The Bible makes several references to Moses returning to Egypt from Midian, including Exodus 4:19 where we read, Before Moses left Midian, the Lord said to him, “Return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you have died.” All passages associated with Moses’ stay in Midian point toward present-day Saudi Arabia as the area to which Moses fled, subsequently met God at the burning bush, and then returned with the children of Israel.


   In the New Testament, Paul wrote in Galatians 4:25, And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia... As a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” Paul’s understanding of Arabia would have been one that was consistent with Old Testament passages like 1 Kings 10:15, 2 Chronicles 9:14, Isaiah 21:13, Jeremiah 25:24, and Ezekiel 27:21, in which Arabia is clearly identified with the region east of the Gulf of Aqaba, where “kings” ruled and the “Dedanites” co-dwelt with other nomadic peoples.


-- What is the location of the real Mount Sinai?: www.gotquestions.org/mount-Sinai.html





--http://www.specialtyinterests.net/map_mt_sinai_drawn.jpg




-- http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpeE4.jpg




--http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe116.jpg




--http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe74.jpg




--http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe76.jpg




--http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe1C4.jpg




--http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe72.jpg




--http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe70.jpg




--http://www.arkdiscovery.com/sinaimap3.jpg




--http://www.arkdiscovery.com/sinaivfmntdraw.jpg




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Saturday, February 10, 2007

Exodus 19

Exodus 19 - You will be my own special treasure, my kingdom of priests, my holy nation


   This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from Him, and enter into a covenant with Him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – IF they comply with His Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: verses 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer, promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (verse 9); verses 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (verses 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. -- www.bible.org/netbible/exo19_notes.htm#191


(1) Exactly two months after the Israelites left Egypt*, they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai**.


*Hebrew: In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt, on the very day, i.e., two lunar months to the day after leaving Egypt.

Numbers 33:3: They set out from the city of Rameses in early spring—on the fifteenth day of the first month—on the morning after the first Passover celebration. The people of Israel left defiantly, in full view of all the Egyptians.


   The precise time indication of “in the third month” (or “on the third new moon”), followed by “this very day,” emphatically marks the date of their arrival at Mount Sinai as the beginning of Israel’s seventh week after their “going out” from Egypt, and designates Moses’ ascent up the mountain to receive God’s words as fifty days after Passover. This is why the Jews celebrate the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai with the feast of Pentecost (Shavout - the Feast of Weeks). This unique divine encounter will become the pivotal moment in Exodus and the whole Torah. After arriving at the foot of the mountain, Israel will remain there for eleven months, and it is here that the rest of the accounts of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers 1-10 will take place. -- On Eagles’ Wings - www.pbcc.org/sermons/morgan/1476.html


Calendar below is from wsw.oneyearbibleblog.com/2006/02/index.html


Leviticus 23:15-16, 21: “From the day after the Sabbath—the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering—count off seven full weeks. Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.

Deuteronomy 16:9-10: Count off seven weeks from when you first begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest. Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the Lord your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him.


**Sinai: We'll save the question of where Mt. Sinai is located to the next study.


(2) After breaking camp at Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and set up camp there at the base of Mount Sinai.


Exodus 3:12: God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”


(3) Then Moses climbed the mountain* to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “Give these instructions to the family of Jacob**; announce it to the descendants of Israel:


*Moses climbed the mountain: Exodus 20:21: As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

This is the first of 7 ascents and descents by Moses on Mount Sinai to receive and give God's laws and ordinances (chapters 19, 20, 24, 32 & 34). 3 times in this chapter.


Exodus 24:1-2: Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.” - Notice the 3-part division similar to how the tabernacle and the temple are laid out. The top of the mountain, to which Moses alone has access, corresponds to the Holy of Holies. Aaron, Badab, Abihu and the 70 elders have access to the mountain but not its summit, corresponding to the Holy Place. The rest of the people stay at the foot of the mountain, corresponding to the outer court where the laity gather. The tabernacle and the temple are both earthly reflection of God's heavenly abode. -- "The NIV Life Application Commentary - Exodus" – Peter Enns – Zondervan™


   It is likely that the cloud which had conducted the Israelitish camp had now removed to the top of Sinai; and as this was the symbol of the Divine presence, Moses went up to the place, there to meet the Lord. -- Clarke's Commentary - Exodus 19: www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkeexo19.htm. Who is speaking here? None other than the preincarnate Christ - the Word!


**Jacob: Interesting that God refers to Jacob (the deceiver). A portent of how they will behave themselves for 40 years and already have?


(4) ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings* and brought you to myself.



*eagles’ wings: The mother eagles would have no doubt been above them from time to time off in the mountains and elsewhere and they knew how mother eagles taught their eaglets to fly. Kick them out of the nest, let them fall, and before they hit they the ground swoop down under them, pick them up take them back up again. There is the picture. You have not flown on your own. You’ve been riding on the back, My back, as a chick on the back of a mother eagle. I’ve borne you out of Egypt. You haven’t done it on your own. The message is grace, you see. -- On Eagles’ Wings: www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/exodus/Exodus%20Vol%203%20&%204/20bExo.htm


Revelation 12:14: But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness. There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time.

Isaiah 40:31: But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.


(5) Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant*, you will be my own special treasure** from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.


*if you will obey me and keep my covenant: This covenant with Israel is CONDITIONAL! They failed to keep their part of this covenant.


Deuteronomy 7:7-13: “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.“If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.


Jeremiah 31:32-33: “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”


**special treasure: Hebrew hlgs segullah, which means a special possession. Israel was to be God’s special possession, but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. -- The Lord's treasure chest - www.pbc.org/library/files/html/exo018.html


   The word segullah is a highly significant word. It is used of the treasure of kings (1 Chronicles 29:3, Ecclesiastes 2:8). These treasures were the kings' most valued possessions. So the Lord tells Israel that it will become his most valued possession upon accepting his proposal. Israel will be his treasure chest - his special treasure. Israel will be what he values most. That is what happened - at least for the remnant (Deuteronomy 7:6, 26:18). -- Messages On Exodus - Peninsula Bible Church: www.pbc.org/library/series/10398


(6) And you will be my kingdom of priests*, my holy nation**.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”


*kingdom of priests: God's purpose for bringing Israel out of Egypt - to establish a HOLY KINGDOM OF PRIESTS to minister to the rest of the world! But, Israel failed, so God restricted the priesthood to the descendants of Aaron. But, this will change in the future. Why did God want a kingdom of priests - to bring the knowledge of him to the rest of the world and fulfill His promise to Abraham that his descendants (Genesis 18:18) would be blessed through Abraham's descendants. But, most importantly of all, Messiah would come through this nation.


   All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deuteronomy 33:9,10). -- www.bible.org/netbible/exo19_notes.htm#191


   The most striking privilege of the priests was intimate access to God. They drew near on behalf of the people. Their inheritance was not the land but the Lord. This privilege God promises to the whole nation. This privilege is heightened when God calls them a royal priesthood or priests in the services of the King. There is no greater privilege than to have intimate access to the King of the universe. -- God's Covenant through Moses: www.soundofgrace.com/piper83/121183m.htm



  • 1 Peter 2:5,9: And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

  • Revelation 1:6: He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

  • Revelation 5:10: And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”

  • Revelation 20:6: Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.


**holy nation: They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people. So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. -- www.bible.org/netbible/exo19_notes.htm#191


   This is all by grace and because of God's promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They had been chosen to be separate from the rest of the world, not just so that they can "belong" to Him, but so that they may be used by Him for a special purpose - Isaiah 49:6: He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth


(7) So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the Lord had commanded him.


(8) And all the people responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord.


   They have no concept of their complete and utter inability to fulfill the demands of the Law. Moreover, they haven't even yet heard all of the conditions of the covenant!


(9) Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you. Then they will always trust you.” Moses told the Lord what the people had said.


   The Jews consider this as the fullest evidence their fathers had of the Divine mission of Moses; themselves were permitted to see this awfully glorious sight, and to hear God himself speak out of the thick darkness: for before this, as Rabbi Maymon remarks, they might have thought that Moses wrought his miracles by sorcery or enchantment; but now, hearing the voice of God himself, they could no longer disbelieve nor even doubt. -- Clarke's Commentary - Exodus 19: www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkeexo19.htm


(10) Then the Lord told Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing*.


*wash their clothing: Now the washing of their clothes was actually just a symbolic action. The people were to really cleanse themselves before God. The washing of their clothes being a symbolic action that spoke of just the setting of themselves, or the washing of themselves of their hearts, their minds, their lives. It means to sanctify, means to set apart for, for use. -- Blue Letter Bible - Chuck Smith Commentary on Exodus 19-20: www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/chuck_smith_c2000/Exd/Exd019.html


Psalm 51:7:
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. This is the verse that spoke to me as a child and led me to salvation.


(11) Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch.


(12) Mark off a boundary all around the mountain. Warn the people, ‘Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death.


(13) No hand may touch the person or animal that crosses the boundary; instead, stone them or shoot them with arrows. They must be put to death.’ However, when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, then the people may go up on the mountain*.”


*Or up to the mountain.


(14) So Moses went down to the people. He consecrated them for worship, and they washed their clothes.


(15) He told them, “Get ready for the third day, and until then abstain from having sexual intercourse*.”


*abstain from having sexual intercourse: As the people were to approach him they were not to lose themselves in earthly love. Such separations prepared the people for meeting God. Sinai was like a bride, forbidden to anyone else. Abstinence was the spiritual preparation for coming into the presence of the Holy One.

-- www.bible.org/netbible/exo19_notes.htm#191


(16) On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn*, and all the people trembled.


*ram’s horn: The word here is shofar, the normal word for “horn.” This word is used especially to announce something important in a public event. Probably the sound of the trumpet was something similar to that which shall be blown by the angel when he sweareth, by Him that liveth for ever, There shall be time no longer!


Hebrews 12:21: Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”


   It was absolutely necessary that God should give the people at large some particular evidence of his being and power, that they might be saved from idolatry, to which they were most deplorably prone; and that they might the more readily credit Moses, who was to be the constant mediator between God and them. God, therefore, in his indescribable majesty, descended on the mount; and, by the thick dark cloud, the violent thunders, the vivid lightnings, the long and loud blasts of the trumpet, the smoke encompassing the whole mountain, and the excessive earthquake, proclaimed his power, his glory, and his holiness; so that the people, however unfaithful and disobedient afterwards, never once doubted the Divine interference, or suspected Moses of any cheat or imposture. Indeed, so absolute and unequivocal were the proofs of supernatural agency, that it was impossible these appearances could be attributed to any cause but the unlimited power of the author of Nature.
-- Clarke's Commentary - Exodus 19: www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkeexo19.htm



  • Sinai speaks of fear and terror, but Zion speaks of love and forgiveness.

  • Sinai is in a dry desert, but Zion is the city of the Living God.

  • Sinai, with all its fear and power is earthly; but the Mount Zion we come to is heavenly and spiritual.

  • At Sinai, only Moses could come and meet God; at Zion, there is an innumerable company, a general assembly.

  • Sinai had guilty men in fear, but Zion has just men made perfect.

  • At Sinai, Moses is the mediator, but at Zion, Jesus the mediator.

  • 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.

  • Sinai was all about barriers and exclusion; Zion is all about invitation.

  • Sinai is all about Law, Zion is all about grace.


-- David Guzik's Commentary on Exodus: www.enduringword.com/commentaries/02.html


   All of Israel is now going to experience what Moses experienced in Exodus 3 where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush.


(17) Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.


(18) All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently.


Hebrews 12:18, 22-24: You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.



  • Law demands - grace gives.

  • Law says "do" - grace says "believe."

  • Law exacts - grace bestows.

  • Law threatens, pronouncing a curse - grace entreats, pronouncing a blessing.

  • Law says "Do, and thou shalt live" - grace says, "Live and thou shalt do".

  • Law condemns the best man - grace saves the worst man.

  • The Law reveals the character of God - it also reveals the weakness of man.

    -- "Exodus Chapters 19-40: The Law" - J. Vernon McGee - Thomas Nelson Publishers


(19) As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply.


Deuteronomy 4:12: And the Lord spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice.


(20) The Lord came down* on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain.


*The Lord came down: This was undoubtedly done in a visible manner, that the people might witness the awful appearance. We may suppose that every thing was arranged thus: the glory of the Lord occupied the top of the mountain, and near to this Moses was permitted to approach. Aaron and the seventy elders were permitted to advance some way up the mountain, while the people were only permitted to come up to its base. Moses, as the lawgiver, was to receive the statutes and judgments from God's mouth; Aaron and the elders were to receive them from Moses, and deliver them to the people; and the people were to act according to the direction received. Nothing can be imagined more glorious, terrible, majestic, and impressive, than the whole of this transaction; but it was chiefly calculated to impress deep reverence, religious fear, and sacred awe; and he who attempts to worship God uninfluenced by these, has neither a proper sense of the Divine majesty, nor of the sinfulness of sin. It seems in reference to this that the apostle says, Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with REVERENCE and GODLY FEAR: for our God is a CONSUMING FIRE; Hebrews 12: 28-29. Who then shall dare to approach him in his own name and without a mediator? -- Clarke's Commentary - Exodus 19: www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkeexo19.htm


(21) Then the Lord told Moses, “Go back down and warn the people not to break through the boundaries to see the Lord, or they will die.


(22) Even the priests who regularly come near to the Lord must purify themselves so that the Lord does not break out and destroy them.”


(23) “But Lord,” Moses protested, “the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai. You already warned us. You told me, ‘Mark off a boundary all around the mountain to set it apart as holy.’”


(24) But the Lord said, “Go down and bring Aaron back up with you. In the meantime, do not let the priests or the people break through to approach the Lord, or he will break out and destroy them.”


(25) So Moses went down to the people and told them what the Lord had said.



   This meeting between the Lord and the people of Israel represents a major advance is God's plan to restore humanity to fellowship with him. Here, man speaks, and God answers. Since the fall it was rare for God to meet with man. Here he meets with an entire nation. In that light, this is an amazing encounter.


   As amazing as it is, it is also a limited encounter. The people could only approach the foot of the mountain, the Lord descended just to the top of the mountain and Moses acted as go-between. The law is good; Jesus is better. Jesus blows the doors off the limitations of the law. Let's see how.


   To meet the people, the Lord had to descend to earth, their land. It would be far better if the people could ascend to the Lord, to his land. Can we do such a thing? We already have done it!


   As God descended to Mount Sinai to meet humanity, Jesus Christ descended from heaven to meet humanity (John 1:14, Philippians 2:5-8). God touched down at Mount Sinai, and Moses could only take the people to the foot of the mountain. How far has Jesus taken us? Notice in this passage that there are four references to "the third day" (19:11, 15, 16). The people meet the Lord on the third day. In verse 16, the Lord appears on the "morning" of the third day. When did Jesus rise from the dead? On the morning of the third day. The resurrection marked the beginning of Jesus' ascension, not to the foot of the mountain, not even to the top of the mountain but all the way to heaven (Ephesians 1:20)! Jesus, then, is our man in heaven. But it gets even better than that. He's not only our man in heaven, he took us with him! God "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). Jesus has taken us to God's land. In a way that we cannot fully understand or appreciate, we are in heaven right now, in God's land. But one thing we can understand, and this is the important thing to understand: Right now we are in the presence of the Lord, and Jesus made that possible.


   Just as obedience to the law cannot prepare us for relationship to God, it cannot take us to the presence of God. It shows us who God is. Used rightly, it can show us that knowing and worshiping God is good. It gets us to the foot of the mountain, so to speak, but not to the heights, not the very presence of the Lord. Jesus takes us all the way. He breaks through, taking us with him. In fact, he already has taken us all the way. We already are in the presence of the Lord, whether we know it or not.


   Several years ago I wanted to travel from Stuttgart, Germany, to Heidelberg. When I arrived at the Stuttgart train station, I was overwhelmed by the number of tracks, and I couldn't find my way to the right train. Somewhat flustered, I was able to communicate to a passer-by that I needed help finding the train to Heidelberg. He was able to take me to the right train. But that's all he was able to do. He was not able to get me out of Stuttgart. The engineer took me to Heidelberg. Like my friend in the train station, the law is able to take us to a certain place but no further. Like the engineer, Jesus takes us to the presence of the Lord.


   So Jesus Christ has taken us into the very presence of the Lord. What do we do there? We embrace him.


-- Embracing the Lord - www.pbc.org/library/files/html/exo019.html



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