Commentary - Exodus 19:18-25

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we are confronted with one of the most potent displays of God's raw holiness in all of Scripture. This is not God as a gentle feeling or a benevolent concept. This is Yahweh, the covenant Lord, descending upon a physical mountain in a way that causes that mountain to smoke like a furnace and tremble violently. This is a theophany, a manifestation of God, and its purpose is to instill a deep and abiding fear of the Lord in the hearts of His people. This is the necessary prelude to the giving of the Ten Commandments. Before Israel can hear God's law, they must understand who it is that gives the law. He is not one to be trifled with. The central action revolves around the absolute necessity of a mediator. God is here, but He is terrifyingly unapproachable. Only Moses is called up, and his first task is to be sent back down to warn everyone else away, lest God's holiness "break out" against them. This is holy terror, and it is a foundational lesson for God's people in every generation.

Outline

Commentary

Exodus 19:18

Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because Yahweh descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.

The scene is one of cosmic upheaval. The elements of creation are reacting to the immediate presence of their Creator. God's presence is described with two primary elements: fire and smoke. The apostle tells us that our God is a consuming fire, and this is not first a metaphor but a straightforward description of His manifest presence. His holiness either purifies or it destroys. The smoke is not campfire smoke; it is the smoke of a furnace, an industrial image of immense power and heat. This is the God who forges nations and melts mountains. And the mountain itself, a symbol of stability and permanence, trembled violently. The Hebrew word indicates a profound shaking, a quaking. When God touches the world, the world cannot remain inert. This is the foundation for all true worship: a recognition that the God we serve is terrifying in His majesty.

Exodus 19:19

And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder; then Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder.

Amidst the visual chaos, there is an auditory assault. A supernatural trumpet, a shofar, is sounding, and it is not fading away but growing in intensity. This is the herald of the great King. It is a sound meant to overwhelm all other sounds and to command absolute attention. And in the midst of this crescendo of unearthly noise, a man speaks. Moses, the mediator, speaks to God. This is the central miracle of the covenant. That a sinful man can speak to a holy God and not be consumed. And God answers him. The voice of God is not a gentle whisper here; it is thunder. The power that shakes the mountain is the same power that forms the words of reply. Communication is established, but it is communication between two radically different beings: the creature and the Creator.

Exodus 19:20

And Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

The text is emphatic. God came down to a specific, physical location. The transcendent Lord became immanent. From that place of fire and glory, He issues a personal call. He called Moses. Grace is always particular. God does not issue a general invitation to the mob; He calls His chosen representative by name. And in an act of staggering faith, Moses obeyed. He went up into the fire, into the smoke, into the thunder. He could only do this because he was called. Without the call, to ascend would have been suicide. With the call, it was obedience. Moses here is a profound type of Christ, the one who ascends the holy hill of the Lord to intercede for his people.

Exodus 19:21

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to see, and many of them perish.”

The very first command Moses receives at the summit is not a word of esoteric revelation, but a practical, urgent, and merciful warning. He is immediately sent back down. The people are in mortal danger, not from an external enemy, but from God Himself. Their danger lies in their sinful curiosity. They want to break through to Yahweh to see. They desire to turn the holy God into a spectacle, a tourist attraction. But God will not be trifled with. To gaze upon His unmediated glory would be to perish. God's holiness is a lethal boundary for sinful man. God's mercy is demonstrated in the fact that He warns them before they have a chance to transgress.

Exodus 19:22

Also let the priests who come near to Yahweh set themselves apart as holy, lest Yahweh break out against them.

The warning is not just for the common people. It extends even to the priests, those who were set apart for religious service. Their office provides no special immunity. Proximity to God requires purity, not just a title. They must set themselves apart as holy, or be consecrated. If they approach with uncleanness, Yahweh will break out against them. The language is that of a flood breaking through a dam. God's holiness is a contained power of infinite force, and if it is not approached according to the strict protocols He lays down, it will burst forth in judgment.

Exodus 19:23

And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain, and set it apart as holy.’ ”

Here we see the limitation of the first mediator. Moses's response is logical, but it misses the point. He essentially tells God, "Don't worry, I've taken care of the security arrangements. The fences are up." He appeals to God's own previous command, thinking that the physical boundary is sufficient. But God is not concerned with the location of their feet so much as the lust of their eyes and the pride of their hearts. Moses sees a logistical problem; God sees a spiritual one. The ropes around the mountain cannot restrain the sin within the human heart.

Exodus 19:24

Then Yahweh said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest He break out against them.”

God dismisses Moses's assessment. The command is repeated with force: Go down. The warning is not rescinded; it is intensified. The boundary is absolute. Notice the slight modification: Aaron is now to accompany Moses. The foundation of the Aaronic priesthood is being laid. But this is an expansion of the principle of mediation, not a relaxation of the boundary. The priests and the people are still strictly forbidden from approaching. The threat is repeated a final time, driving the point home: lest He break out against them. God will not be mocked.

Exodus 19:25

So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The faithful mediator obeys. He does not argue further. He has received the word of the Lord, and he delivers that word to the people. His job is to be the conduit. He goes up to God to hear, and he comes down to the people to speak. This is the fundamental pattern of all true ministry. It begins with listening to God and ends with faithfully telling the people what He said.

Application

The modern Christian often reads a passage like this and thanks God that we are not under such a terrifying arrangement. And we should be thankful. The book of Hebrews tells us that we have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that burned with fire, but we have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (Heb. 12:18-22). We have a better mediator, Jesus Christ, whose blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

However, the lesson of Sinai is not obsolete. The God who descended in fire upon Sinai is the same God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has not become less holy, less powerful, or less dangerous. What has changed is not God, but rather our basis of approach. We do not approach based on our own consecration, but clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. We have boldness to enter the holy of holies, but it is a boldness purchased by His blood, not a casual flippancy bred by our therapeutic culture. The terror of Sinai ought to produce in us a profound gratitude for the grace of Calvary. It should strip us of all self-righteousness and cause us to worship God with reverence and awe, for our God is still, and ever will be, a consuming fire.