Commentary - Exodus 19:1-17

Bird's-eye view

Exodus 19 marks a pivotal moment in the history of redemption. Having been delivered from Egypt by God's mighty hand, the people of Israel are now brought to the very foot of Mount Sinai to meet with their Deliverer. This is not a casual meeting; it is a formal, constitutional assembly. Yahweh, the King, is about to propose a covenant with His redeemed people, establishing them as a nation. This chapter is the prelude to the giving of the Law. It details God's gracious proposal, the people's willing acceptance, and the terrifying preparations for a direct encounter with the Holy One. The central theme is the awesome holiness of God, a holiness that is both alluring and lethally dangerous to sinful man. God invites His people near, but He also sets a boundary of death around the mountain, teaching them that He can only be approached on His own terms. This entire event serves as the formal wedding ceremony between Yahweh and Israel, where He is the groom and they are the bride.

The passage establishes Moses as the covenant mediator, the one who goes between the people and the terrifying presence of God. It also lays out the foundational purpose for Israel's existence: to be God's treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. The thunder, lightning, and thick cloud are not just special effects; they are a manifestation of God's unapproachable glory, designed to instill a profound and necessary fear in the people. This fear is the beginning of wisdom, and it is the necessary backdrop for understanding the grace that will be revealed in the covenant stipulations that follow.

Outline

Context In Exodus

The book of Exodus is structured in two major parts. The first part, chapters 1-18, details Israel's redemption from bondage in Egypt. It is the story of salvation. The second part, chapters 19-40, details Israel's consecration to Yahweh as a covenant nation. It is the story of sanctification and worship. Chapter 19 is the hinge upon which the entire book turns. The God who saved them at the Red Sea now summons them to Sinai to give them their national constitution, the Law. This is not law as a means of salvation, but law as a way of life for a people who have already been saved by grace. The events at Sinai provide the foundation for everything that follows, including the giving of the Ten Commandments in chapter 20 and the detailed instructions for the Tabernacle, the place where this holy God would condescend to dwell among His people.

Key Issues

The Wedding at the Mountain of Fire

When God saves His people, He doesn't just save them from something, in this case, slavery in Egypt. He saves them for something, which is to say, He saves them for Himself. The entire exodus was for the purpose of bringing Israel to this mountain, to this moment. What we are witnessing here is a divine courtship culminating in a marriage proposal. God, the great King, is proposing to take Israel, the redeemed slave girl, as His own bride. He begins by reminding her of His great love and mighty acts of salvation. He then lays out the terms of the covenant, the wedding vows. And He prepares to reveal Himself to her in a way that will leave no doubt as to His power, glory, and terrifying holiness. This is not a modern, sentimental wedding. This is an encounter with a consuming fire, and the people's response of trembling is entirely appropriate. The foundation of a right relationship with God is a right understanding of who He is, and Sinai was Israel's first great lesson in the fear of the Lord.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-2 In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. Then they set out from Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain.

The inspired author is careful to give us the date and the location. This is not mythology; it is history, grounded in time and space. Three months have passed since the Passover. The initial euphoria of the escape is over, and the daily grind of life in the wilderness has set in. They have been tested with hunger and thirst, and have seen God provide. Now they arrive at the destination God had appointed. They are not wandering aimlessly; they are following a divine itinerary. They set up camp "in front of the mountain," a posture of waiting and expectation before their King.

3-4 Now Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

Notice the pattern: God speaks to Moses, and Moses speaks to the people. God establishes a mediator from the very beginning. Moses goes up the mountain into the presence of God, a clear type of the Lord Jesus, our great high priest who has ascended into the heavens. God's first words are not a command, but a reminder of grace. He says, "You yourselves have seen." Their faith is to be grounded in historical fact, in what God has demonstrably done. The image of being lifted up on "eagles' wings" is beautiful; it speaks of strength, speed, and tender care. And what was the goal of this mighty rescue? "I brought you to Myself." The ultimate purpose of salvation is not just deliverance from hell, but fellowship with God Himself.

5 So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

Here is the proposal. It is conditional: "if you will indeed listen... and keep." This is the nature of a covenant relationship. It has obligations. This is not a proposal of salvation by works. Salvation has already happened (v. 4). This is a proposal of relational fidelity. Obedience is the fruit of salvation, not the root. If they walk in this obedience, they will be His segullah, His treasured possession. This is a word for a king's private, personal treasure. Out of all the nations on earth, God chooses Israel to be His special delight. And He has the right to do this because "all the earth is Mine." God's universal sovereignty is the ground of His particular election. Because He owns everyone, He is free to set His covenant love on whomever He pleases.

6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

This verse defines their national vocation. What does it mean to be God's treasured possession? It means they are to function as "a kingdom of priests." A priest is a mediator, one who stands between God and man. Israel as a nation was to be a mediator to all the other nations of the world, showing them who the true God is through their national life. They were also to be a "holy nation." Holy means "set apart." They were to be different from all the other nations in their laws, their worship, and their way of life, because their God was different from all the other gods.

7-8 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which Yahweh had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh.

Moses, the faithful mediator, delivers the covenant proposal. The response of the people is immediate, unanimous, and enthusiastic. "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do!" This is their "I do" at the wedding ceremony. It is a good and right response. And yet, the subsequent history of Israel shows that they had no idea what they were promising. They were like a young groom, full of bravado, who has no concept of the difficulties and sacrifices that marriage will require. Their failure to keep this vow is the story of the rest of the Old Testament, and it is why a New Covenant, based on better promises and a better Mediator, would be necessary.

9 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh.

God accepts the people's vow, and now He announces how He will ratify the covenant. He is going to descend in a visible, audible theophany. The purpose is explicit: so the people will overhear God speaking with Moses, which will permanently validate Moses' authority as God's spokesman. God is establishing the authority of His mediated word. The people are not supposed to all become their own private mystics; they are to listen to the one whom God has appointed.

10-13 Yahweh also said to Moses, “Go to the people and set them apart as holy today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day Yahweh will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or surely shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

The preparation for this encounter involves consecration and separation. Washing their clothes was an outward symbol of the inner purity required to approach a holy God. The three-day waiting period builds solemnity and anticipation. But the most striking command is the boundary. God says, "Set a perimeter around the mountain, and if anything, man or beast, crosses it, you are to kill it from a distance." This is a terrifying lesson in divine holiness. God is a consuming fire. His raw, unveiled presence is lethal to sinful creatures. You do not approach God casually or on your own terms. The boundary is a line of death, a stark reminder of the gulf that sin has fixed between God and man.

14-15 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and set the people apart as holy, and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

Moses obeys, conveying the instructions. The people are consecrated, and they wash their clothes. The command to abstain from marital relations is added. This is not because sex is sinful, but because in the Old Testament economy, certain normal, creaturely activities were temporarily set aside as a sign of total consecration for a sacred task or a divine encounter. The focus of the entire nation was to be on one thing: meeting their God.

16-17 So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

On the third day, God descends. The description is of a terrifying storm. The Hebrew word for "thunder" is literally "voices." There are flashes of lightning, and a thick, dark cloud covers the mountain. And then, a sound like a trumpet, a shofar, grows louder and louder. This is a sensory assault, designed to provoke fear. And it works: "all the people who were in the camp trembled." This is not an optional feeling; it is the only sane reaction to the presence of the living God. Moses then leads them out of the camp to the boundary line, to "meet God." This is not a cozy get-together. This is a summons for the creature to appear before the Creator, for the sinner to stand before the Holy One.

Application

This passage is a bucket of ice water for our casual, buddy-buddy, consumeristic approach to God. We worship the same God who descended on Sinai in fire and thunder. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that in Christ, we have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that burned with fire, but rather to Mount Zion, the city of the living God (Heb. 12:18-24). The good news of the gospel is that the terrifying boundary line has been removed. How? Because our Mediator, the Lord Jesus, did not just go up the mountain for us; He went to the cross for us. He absorbed the consuming fire of God's wrath against our sin so that we could be brought near.

But this grace should not breed contemptuous familiarity. It should breed grateful awe. Because we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we can approach God with confidence, but it is a trembling confidence. We still serve a God who is a consuming fire, and so we must offer Him worship with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28-29). We, the church, have inherited Israel's calling. Through Christ, we are God's treasured possession, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9). We are called to be set apart, to show the world what our God is like. We do this not by our own strength or by vowing "we will do," but by clinging to the one who said, "It is finished." The terror of Sinai makes the grace of Calvary shine all the brighter.