Commentary - Exodus 20:18-21

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but potent section, the covenant at Sinai reaches a crucial juncture. The raw, unmediated glory of God has been put on display, and the people of Israel react with a terror that is entirely appropriate. This is not a casual encounter. The pyrotechnics of God are not for entertainment; they are a revelation of His absolute holiness. The people's reaction drives them to a foundational realization: they cannot deal with God directly. They need a go-between, a mediator. This passage, therefore, is not simply about a historical event; it is a foundational lesson in covenant theology. It establishes the necessity of mediation, points forward to the ultimate Mediator, and distinguishes between two kinds of fear, the craven fear that flees from God and the filial fear that flees from sin.

Moses, acting in his capacity as the type of Christ, steps into this gap. He both calms their immediate terror and reframes their understanding of it. The fear God has instilled is not meant to destroy them but to discipline them. It is a gift, a guardrail against sin. Thus, we see the establishment of a pattern: God reveals His awesome holiness, man recognizes his own inadequacy and terror, a mediator is appointed to bridge the gap, and the purpose of the entire encounter is revealed to be the promotion of righteousness. The people stand at a distance, which is right for them, while the mediator draws near, which is right for him. This is the gospel in miniature, displayed with thunder, lightning, and smoke.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 18 And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and the people perceived it, and they shook and stood at a distance.

The Lord is not subtle. When He descends to formalize His covenant with Israel, He does so in a way that engages every sense. This is not a quiet, internal, mystical experience. This is public, objective, and terrifying. The text emphasizes that "all the people perceived" it. The thunder, the lightning, the supernatural trumpet blast, the smoking mountain, this is the raw power of the Creator. This is the God who spoke the universe into existence, and He is now speaking to them. Their reaction is not one of quiet reverence, but of violent trembling. They "shook." This is not an overreaction. It is the only sane reaction for sinful creatures to have in the presence of unshielded holiness. And so they "stood at a distance." This distance is not just physical; it is spiritual. They instinctively understand that there is a vast gulf between what they are and what He is. This is the beginning of wisdom. Before you can draw near to God on His terms, you must first understand why you cannot draw near on your own.

v. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself, and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.”

Out of their terror comes a theological insight of the first order. They recognize their need for a mediator. They cannot handle direct communication with the Almighty. The glory is too much; the holiness is too pure. "Let not God speak to us, lest we die." They are not wrong. Unmediated holiness is a consuming fire for a sinful people. So they turn to Moses. They understand that he is their representative, their go-between. "Speak to us yourself, and we will listen." In this moment, they are establishing the very principle of mediation that will define the Old Covenant and find its ultimate fulfillment in the New. Moses is their stand-in, the one who can go into the presence of God and come back with the words of God. This is a cry from the heart of every sinner who has had even a glimpse of God's majesty. We need someone to stand in the gap for us.

v. 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be with you, so that you may not sin.”

Moses now steps fully into his mediatorial role, interpreting God to the people. His first words are, "Do not be afraid." This seems like a contradiction, but it is a crucial distinction. He is telling them to put away their craven, slavish fear, the kind of fear that makes you run away and hide from God entirely. But he immediately replaces it with another kind of fear. God has come to test them, to prove them, and the purpose of this terrifying display is so that "the fear of Him may be with you." This is a different fear. This is a wholesome, clean, filial fear. It is the awe and reverence that a son has for a righteous father. It is a fear not of being arbitrarily destroyed, but of displeasing the one you love and honor. And this fear has a profoundly practical purpose: "so that you may not sin." God is not trying to scare them into oblivion; He is scaring the sin out of them. He is revealing His holy character so that they will take sin as seriously as He does. This godly fear is a grace, a gift that is meant to keep them within the bounds of the covenant.

v. 21 So the people stood at a distance, but Moses came near the dense gloom where God was.

The scene concludes with a powerful visual summary of the whole transaction. The arrangement the people requested is now formalized. "The people stood at a distance." They remain where their sinfulness requires them to be, separated from the immediate presence of God. But this is not a position of rejection; it is now a position of covenantal order. They are where they belong. And Moses? "Moses came near the dense gloom where God was." He goes where the mediator must go. He enters the very heart of the terror, the thick darkness that conceals the unbearable light of God's glory. He goes alone, as their representative. He is able to draw near because he is the one appointed by God for this task. This is a living portrait of the gospel. We stand at a distance, in ourselves. But our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, has gone into the very presence of God for us. He has entered the dense gloom of Golgotha and has passed through the heavens, and because of Him, we who were far off are now brought near.

Application

The first thing we must learn from this passage is the absolute necessity of a mediator. Modern sensibilities want to democratize access to God, to pretend that we can all just stroll into His presence on our own terms. Sinai thunders a resounding "No!" to all such foolishness. The holiness of God is a terrifying reality, and our sin is an equally potent reality. The collision of the two means death, unless there is a mediator. For Israel, that mediator was Moses. For us, it is one far greater than Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must never lose our sense of gratitude for the one who stands in the gap for us.

Secondly, we must learn to distinguish between two kinds of fear. There is a craven fear that sees God as a cosmic tyrant and flees from Him. This is the fear of Adam in the garden, hiding in the bushes. This is the fear that leads to torment, as the apostle John says. But there is another fear, a godly fear, that is the beginning of wisdom. This is the fear that God intended to instill in Israel. It is an abiding sense of His majesty, His holiness, and His authority. This fear does not drive us away from God, but rather drives us away from sin. It is a grace from God, given to us to keep us on the straight path. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, not because we are afraid God will arbitrarily cast us off, but because we understand the gravity of sin and the holiness of the God we serve.

Finally, we see the pattern of worship. We come, as the people did, standing at a distance. We are unworthy. We cannot approach. But we do not stay there. We come through our Mediator, Jesus. He has entered the gloom for us, and through His blood, He has opened up a new and living way into the very presence of the Father. We approach with reverence and godly fear, but we also approach with boldness, because our Mediator has made the way safe. The thunder of Sinai is silenced at the cross, but the holiness it revealed remains. And so we come, not to a mountain that can be touched and that burned with fire, but to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.