The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 19
Chapter XIX · Vol. I, pp. 326–329
1 The people come to Sinai. 3 God's message by Moses unto the people out of the mount. 7 The people's answer returned again. 10 The people are ordered to be prepared against the third day. 12 The mountain must not be touched. 16 The fearful presence of God upon the mount.
1 IN the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.2
2 Mount Sinai, which the Arabians call Tor, or the mountain (a word of most extensive diffusion), and Gebel Mousa, or the mount or rock of Moses, is situate between the two northern arms of the Red Sea, which thus formed a natural defence to the Israelites on the east, the south, and the west, while the mountains of El Tyh defended them to the north. Sinai and Horeb are often used promiscuously by the sacred writers: Horeb being probably the general name of the region, Sinai of a particular mountain.—C.
2 For they were a departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.3
a ch. 17.1, 8. Nu. 33.15. Ac. 7.30,38. Ga. 4.25.
3 The site of the camp was unquestionably the plain now called Râhah, 'rest.' Râhah is 2 miles long by half a mile wide, with branches shooting out from it on every side among the wild mountains. At one end of it rises precipitously the rugged peak now called Jebel Sufsafeh, 'the mountain of the willow,' but anciently Sinai, or the mount of the Lord. Its summit is visible from every part of the plain; and its rugged base is so distinctly marked that the people could touch it. The whole topography of the spot corresponds in every respect to the Scripture narrative.—P.
3 And b Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, c Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4 Yed have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles'2 wings, and brought you e unto myself.
5 Now f therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a g peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for h all the earth is mine.
f De. 5.2; 25.9; 28.1-15. Le. 26.1-14. Is. 1.19.
g De. 4.20; 7.6; 10.14, 15; 14.2; 26.18; 32.9. Je. 10.16. Ps. 135.4. Mal. 3.17. 1 Ki. 8.53. Is. 41.8,9; 44.1.
h ch. 9.29. Da. 4.34, 35. Ro. 9.15,16. Ps. 24.1.
6 And ye shall be unto me a i kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7 And Moses came, and called for the eldersk of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
k ch. 3.16; 17.5.
8 And l all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.3 And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
l ch. 24.3,7; 20.18,19. De. 5.27; 26.17. Mat. 19.16. Jn. 6.28. Ac. 2.37; 17.30.
3 This promise of unreserved obedience was no more than God had a right to require; but the unhesitating readiness with which it was given betrays great self-ignorance. They do not promise, the Lord being their helper, but in a confident calculation upon their own strength and disposition.—Note, 'Let him who thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.'—C.
9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in m a thick cloud,4 that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever.5 And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
m ver. 16. 1 Ki. 8.12. 2 Ch. 6.1. Mat. 17.5. 2 Co. 3.7-11.
4 Why did God choose a thick cloud as his emblematic residence? For some of the reasons we need look no further than to the sensible properties of a cloud. You may pass through, but cannot see through it. You may draw nigh to God, dwell in him, and he in you; but you see him not. God is never yet clearly revealed in nature, providence, or even redemption. In all 'we see as through a glass darkly.' But there cometh a time when we shall see 'face to face,' and 'know as we are known.'—C.
5 They and their posterity while they live.
10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and n sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11 And be ready against the third day: for the o third day the LORD will p come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
o Ge. 22.4. Le. 7.17. Nu. 19.12,19. Ho. 6.2. Mat. 16.21. 1 Co. 15.4.
p ch. 34.5. De. 33.2. ver. 9,16,18.
12 And thou shalt q set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
q ver. 21. Jos. 3.4. He. 12.13,20,22.
13 There shall not an r hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the s trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
15 And he said unto the people, t Be ready against the third day: u come not at your wives.
t ver. 10,11. Am. 4.12. Mat. 24.42.
16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there x were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
x Ps. 50.3; 97.2. 2 Co. 3.13,18; 4.6. He. 12.18, 19,21. ver. 18,19; ch. 20.18,19; 24.15-17.
17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp y to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
y ch. 3.4,6; 20.21; 24.18; 19.3; 34.29,34. De. 5.5. Ga. 3.19, with 1 Pe. 3.18.
18 And mount Sinai was altogether z on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount a quaked greatly.
19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, b Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge6 the people, lest they c break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
6 Heb. contest.
c Ec. 5.1. He. 12.28, 29. 2 Co. 5.7. Ro. 12.3. 1 Sa. 6.16. De. 29.29. Ps. 89.7.
22 And let the d priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
d ch. 24.5. Le. 10.3.
23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, e Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
e ver. 12,21.
24 And the LORD said unto him, Away,7 get thee down and thou shalt come up; thou, and Aaron with thee: but f let not the priests and the people break through, to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.
7 When God had already said to Moses, 'Away, get thee down, charge the people, lest they break through,' why did Moses hesitate, and why does the Lord require to reiterate the order? Simply because Moses, relying upon the ready promise of obedience in ver. 8, does not think it possible the people could ever violate their pledge. God, who knew what was in man, reorders Moses to go down to prevent their sin.—Note, Preventing grace, though little, or perhaps not at all, observable by ignorant and self-confident man, is yet the most common and the most important of the mercies of God. This preventing grace of God is frequently put forth in the faithful admonitions and warnings of religious friends, God putting it into their hearts to speak in warning, as Moses did, or in reproof of sin committed, or encouragement to neglected duty.—C.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
f Ga. 3.10, 11, 19, 21, 24, with Mat. 11.12. Lu. 16.16. He. 12.18-24. See ver. 21.
Notes
Ver. 3. Moses went up to the presence of God, where the cloud rested on Sinai, nine or ten different times, ver. 7, 8, 10, 14, 20, 21, 25; ch. xx. xxi.; 24.3, 12, 13, 15, 18; 32.7, 15, 30; 33.6, 7, 21; 34.2, 29, 34.
Ver. 4. This speech was to prepare them to receive God's covenant now to be proposed unto them. A like one is used at the renovation of the covenant, De. 29.2. To be borne on eagles' wings, is to be borne above all difficulties, and in spite of all opposition.
Ver. 5. [Now. This is God's second national promise since the exodus. The first, ch. 15.26, included merely exemption from the diseases of Egypt; the second appropriates the nation as a precious treasure, and exalts them to a royal priesthood and holiness. An apt illustration of the progress of grace in the heart. The guilty sinner, galled by the yoke of bondage, is drawn first to God by the promise of pardon and deliverance; and anon, as the glories of the covenant of grace open upon his view, he finds himself 'made accepted in the Beloved,'—'a king and a priest to God, even the Father,' while Jesus is made to him of God, 'wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.' C.]
Ver. 6. They were priests, separated to God's worship and service, and warranted to come near unto his presence. They were an holy nation by profession, covenant, and separation to God's service.
Ver. 8. This they promised too rashly, not considering the extent, spirituality, and strictness of the holy law, or their own weakness; and hence, when the law was published, they fled away for terror.
Ver. 8, 9. Moses, being a typical mediator between God and the people, reported the words of the one to the other.
Ver. 10-12. They were to prepare themselves by inwardly laying aside carnal affections and worldly cares, and by keeping their hearts in a holy frame; and outwardly by washing their clothes. The design of this was to render them sensible of their vileness and weakness, and their need of a mediator, Ga. 3.19.
Ver. 13. By the ministration of angels a trumpet, in the manner of thunder, was sounded in the air; and whenever it gave a long continued sound the Hebrews were to approach as near to the mount as they durst, in order to hear the law proclaimed.—[Examining closely the words of the original, and taking them in connection with the statement in ver. 17, the meaning seems to be, 'they shall come up (out of their tents) towards the mount.' They were not to ascend it, or even to touch it; but to stand before it. P.]
Ver. 15. All carnal cares and affections were to be laid aside, that their minds might be wholly intent on hearing the law.
Ver. 16. The thunders, lightnings, fire, and smoke were intended to awaken their attention in hearing the law, to promote their careful observance of it, and to manifest how dangerous it was to be under it as a covenant. The thick cloud signified the invisible, awful, and incomprehensible nature of God, and the obscurity of the legal dispensation of the covenant of grace.
Ver. 18. God's descent meant his manifesting the signs of his glorious presence.
Ver. 19. God answered Moses by a voice distinct, plain, and audible, which all the people might hear.
Ver. 21, 23. Vain curiosity is forbidden, that we may learn to live by faith and not by sight, and to be humble. Their dulness and hardness of heart made repeated warnings necessary; and they were commanded to hold the very mountain sacred because of God's presence. This might also signify that the law rather excludes men from God, on account of their sins, than justifies or gives them life.'
Ver. 22. Some think these priests were the first-born, but there is no evidence that birthright invested with any such office; they were persons, probably the most excellent, chosen by Moses for offering sacrifices, till God should assign that work to Aaron and his sons.
fully exhibited in the various evangelical theological systems, with the various expositions thereof, it is kind his care of his people, and great the honour he bestows upon them. His condescension is most astonishing in admitting them into covenant with himself; his requirements most reasonable; and surely his distinguishing kindness ought to promote our cheerful obedience. But how apt are men to be hasty in promising obedience, and backward in performing it! Serious preparation for solemn intercourse with God is necessary and becoming; and a careful respect to every disposition and deportment of body, soul, and spirit. Never, O my soul, presumptuously intrude into those secrets over which God hath cast a vail! Never hazard thy life by pushing over the bounds which he hath set for thy good. Let me have nothing to do with his fiery law, but as it is fulfilled by Christ as a covenant, and issued forth by him as a rule. Let me always approach unto his presence with reverence and godly fear; and never let vain curiosity, but humble faith and holy love, attend me in all my concerns with him.