Reflections on Exodus 19

Exodus 19 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The Israelites left Rephidim. Then two months after leaving Egypt, they arrived at the desert near Mount Sinai, where they set up camp at the foot of the mountain.
   
2. (SEE 19:1)
   
3. Moses went up the mountain to meet with the LORD God, who told him to say to the people:
   
4. You saw what I did in Egypt, and you know how I brought you here to me, just as a mighty eagle carries its young.
   
5. Now if you will faithfully obey me, you will be my very own people. The whole world is mine,
   
6. but you will be my holy nation and serve me as priests. Moses, that is what you must tell the Israelites.
   
7. After Moses went back, he reported to the leaders what the LORD had said,
   
8. and they promised, "We will do everything the LORD has commanded." So Moses told the LORD about this.
   
9. The LORD said to Moses, "I will come to you in a thick cloud and let the people hear me speak to you. Then they will always trust you." Again Moses reported to the people what the LORD had told him.
   
10. Once more the LORD spoke to Moses: Go back and tell the people that today and tomorrow they must get themselves ready to meet me. They must wash their clothes
    
11. and be ready by the day after tomorrow, when I will come down to Mount Sinai, where all of them can see me.
    
12. Warn the people that they are forbidden to touch any part of the mountain. Anyone who does will be put to death,
    
13. either with stones or arrows, and no one must touch the body of a person killed in this way. Even an animal that touches this mountain must be put to death. You may go up the mountain only after a signal is given on the trumpet.
    
14. After Moses went down the mountain, he gave orders for the people to wash their clothes and make themselves acceptable to worship God.
    
15. He told them to be ready in three days and not to have sex in the meantime.
    
16. On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud covered the mountain, a loud trumpet blast was heard, and everyone in camp trembled with fear.
    
17. Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
    
18. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the LORD had come down in a flaming fire. Smoke poured out of the mountain just like a furnace, and the whole mountain shook.
    
19. The trumpet blew louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.
    
20. The LORD came down to the top of Mount Sinai and told Moses to meet him there.
    
21. Then he said, "Moses, go and warn the people not to cross the boundary that you set at the foot of the mountain. They must not cross it to come and look at me, because if they do, many of them will die.
    
22. Only the priests may come near me, and they must obey strict rules before I let them. If they don't, they will be punished."
    
23. Moses replied, "The people cannot come up the mountain. You warned us to stay away because it is holy."
    
24. Then the LORD told Moses, "Go down and bring Aaron back here with you. But the priests and people must not try to push their way through, or I will rush at them like a flood!"
    
25. After Moses had gone back down, he told the people what the LORD had said.
    
26. 
    

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    Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai after two months of travel, or "In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt." (19:1) They were to spend nearly a year camped at the foot of the mountain. During this time, the Lord would give the Israelites His covenant with them which was to serve as the constitution for a newly formed nation operating as a theocracy.
    
    In the accounts of chapter 19 Moses made three trips up the mountain. First he went up to receive his initial instructions upon arriving at Mt. Sinai.  On this first trip up, God told Moses He wanted Israel to be "My own possession out of all the peoples . . . and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation." (19:5) Moses was to deliver this message to the people. He went back down the mountain, summoned the elders of the people and "put before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him." (19:7) In unison the people responded saying, "We will do all that the LORD has spoken." (19:8)
    
    Making his second trip up the mountain, Moses brought "the people's words back to the LORD." (19:8) Having agreed to become God's "own possession," God planned to demonstrate to the people His direct revelation to Moses. God wanted them to know without a doubt that the words Moses reported to them as coming from the Lord did, indeed, come from the Lord. In preparation for this demonstration the people were to purify themselves over a two day period. This involved washing their clothes, staying away from the mountain, and abstaining from sexual intercourse. Obedience is the mark of being God's own possession and Israel must learn from the beginning the seriousness of obedience. Thus, failure to stay away from the mountain was punishable by death. There were two levels of obedience attached to such instructions. First there was obedience to the restriction to stay away from the mountain. And, second, there was obedience by the community to carry out the punishment. God didn't strike down the disobedient person. That was the responsibility of the community.
    
    Moses went back down the mountain and delivered the Lord's instructions regarding their purification for God's visit and the people began their two-day purification. When the people awoke on the morning of the third day the mountain was enshrouded in a thick cloud and there was thunder and lightning. Then the ram's horn sounded signaling for the people to approach the mountain. The smoke that enveloped the mountain represented the Lord's presence along with the long, loud blast of the trumpet which grew in intensity. As the trumpet grew louder, Moses spoke to the Lord, and the Lord answered him in the thunder. Then the Lord summoned Moses for his third assent of the mountain. Once at the top, the Lord instructed Moses to go back down and warn the people not "to break through to see the LORD; otherwise many of them will die." (19:21) Once Moses had warned the people, he was to ascend the mountain a fourth time, bringing Aaron back up with him.