Israel had left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first
month. A month later, God began
supplying manna. A few days later they
crossed a ridge of hills at Rephidim, where God brought water from the
rock. After crossing the foothills they
descended back into the desert and continued eastward to the eastern slope of
Mount Sinai, arriving about two months after leaving Egypt, in the third month
of the year, according to Exodus 19:1-2.
“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. For
they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had
pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.”
On the east side of Jebel el Laws, the biblical mount Sinai
is a large flat area where there is definite evidence of a large group having
camped for an extended period. Numerous
artifacts indicate this was in fact where Israel camped for the next nine
months, while receiving the Law and building the Tabernacle.
When they arrived, Moses went up on the mountain to talk
with the Lord and God began to describe his plans for Israel, in Exodus
19:3-6. “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the
mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the
children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare
you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice
indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me
above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom
of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto
the children of Israel.”
God told Moses to remind the people of what they had seen
him do in the previous three months, including the various plagues, crossing the Red Sea, the destruction of the
Egyptian army, the daily supply of manna, and the water from the rock at
Rephidim. He offered that if they would
obey his commands, he would treat them as his special people. While all the earth and everyone on it
belongs to God, Israel would have a special place as priests to represent God
to the world. The people readily agreed
with God’s conditions, in Exodus 19:7-8.
“And Moses came and called for the
elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the
LORD commanded him. And all the people
answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And
Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”
People find it very easy to make promises without taking
them seriously. God wanted them to take
the agreement seriously, so he gave special instructions to Moses as to what
they were to do in an attempt to drive the importance home, in Exodus 19:9-15. “And
the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the
people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses
told the words of the people unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the
people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their
clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will
come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. And thou shalt 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: There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall
surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not
live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. And Moses went down from the mount unto the
people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said unto the people, Be ready against
the third day: come not at your wives.” To
drive home how important this agreement was, anyone who ignored the
instructions was to be put to death.
Three days later, God met with the people speaking to them from Mount Sinai and
reminding them of the importance in Exodus 19:16-22. “And it
came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there 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. And Moses brought forth the people out of the
camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether 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 quaked greatly.
And when the voice of
the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God
answered him by a voice. 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. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge
the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them
perish. And let the priests also, which
come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon
them.”
The main reason for pomp and ceremony is to emphasize the
importance of and event. Even at the
most serious events, some people get caught up in their own things and become
quite disrespectful. God warned Moses about
not allowing that to happen. Moses told
him they knew what they were to do but God told him to remind them again, in
Exodus 19:23-25. And Moses said unto the LORD, The people
cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about
the mount, and sanctify it. And the LORD
said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron
with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto
the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake
unto them.”
No comments:
Post a Comment