← Back to sermon library

You can turn to Exodus chapter 
19. Exodus chapter 19. The children of Israel arrive 
at Sinai and they will be there for several months. So I'll read 
beginning in Exodus 19 at verse 1. In the third month, after the 
children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the 
same day they came to the wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed 
from Rephidim, had come to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped 
in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before 
the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and 
the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus you shall 
say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, 
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you 
on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself. Therefore, if 
you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you 
shall be a special treasure to me above all people. For all 
the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests 
and a holy nation. These are the words which you 
shall speak to the children of Israel. So Moses came and called 
to the elders of the people and laid before them all these words 
which the Lord commanded him. Then all the people answered 
together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. 
So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. And 
the Lord said to Moses, behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, 
that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe 
you forever. So Moses told the words of the 
people to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, 
Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and 
let them wash their clothes, and let them be ready for the 
third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon 
Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds 
for the people all around, saying, Take heed to yourselves that 
you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches 
the mountain shall surely be put to death. Not a hand shall 
touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow. 
Whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds 
long, they shall come near the mountain. So Moses went down 
from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and 
they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, be 
ready for the third day. Do not come near your wives. 
Then it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there 
were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, 
and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the 
people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people 
out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot 
of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely 
in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended 
like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked 
greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and 
became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by 
voice. Then the Lord came down upon 
Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called 
Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord 
said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through 
to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. Also let the 
priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the 
Lord break out against them. But Moses said to the Lord, The 
people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you warned us, saying, 
Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it. Then the Lord 
said to him, Away, get down, and then come up, you and Aaron 
with you. But do not let the priests and 
the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break 
out against them. So Moses went down to the people 
and spoke to them. Amen. Well, when we introduced 
the book of Exodus, I said it was pretty easy to break down 
into three major sections. The first is deliverance, and 
you see that in chapter 1, verse 1 to chapter 18, verse 27. So God, in the Exodus, delivers 
his people. We move now to the second section 
in the book, demand. And basically, God commands his 
people how they are to function when they enter into the promised 
land. That begins here in 19.1 and continues to 24.18. And then 
the final section of the book is the dwelling of God with Israel, 
and that's from 25.1 to 40.38. So there are instructions given 
for the tabernacle, and then there is the actual execution 
of the plan and the construction of the tabernacle. So you've 
got deliverance, demand and dwellings. We'll probably be in this demand 
section for a while. We're going to go through the 
Ten Commandments and then the Law of the Covenant in verses 
21 to 23. Lots of things in there for us 
to consider in light of God's Word. One man, Dempster, in a 
book called Dominion and Dynasty, which is an excellent book, says 
that Israel stays at Sinai for 11 months in real time. It's 
calculated by looking at Exodus 19.1 and then Numbers chapter 
10 at verse 11. So Israel stays at Sinai for 
11 months in real time and 57 chapters in narrative time. This 
is important given the fact that 68 chapters precede Sinai and 
59 chapters follow it. Sinai is central to the Torah. In other words, God's law is 
the prevalent emphasis in this particular section. God commands 
his people. And so when you look at chapter 
19, the emphasis there is on the fear of God. The people are 
being prepared, the people are being taught to receive with 
reverence the spoken word of the living God, and they are 
called to apply that in their lives, not only as individuals, 
but as a civil society when they enter into the land of Canaan. 
Much of the laws from 21 to 23 are simply exposition or application 
of the principles found in the Ten Commandments as they work 
their way out in civil society. So as I said, it's very relevant 
for us today to see the use of God's law. We'll try to keep 
it in that proper reformed framework. You have the civil use. You have 
the pedagogical use, and you have the normative use. We'll 
say more about that as we move on. But as we look at this particular 
chapter, we see, first of all, the exhortation to faithfulness 
in verses 1 to 8. Secondly, the consecration for 
readiness in verses 9 to 15. And then finally, the demonstration 
of glory. I should have said gloriousness, 
so I could sort of fill it out in a symmetrical way. but you 
have the people being prepared to meet with God, and that's 
the emphasis here in chapter 19. So let's look at the exhortation 
of faithfulness, and herein you see specifically covenant making. God is entering formally into 
a covenant with the nation of Israel. So notice in the first 
place, they arrive at Sinai, we're given the time frame. In 
the third month, after the children of Israel had gone out of the 
land of Egypt, on the same day they came to the wilderness of 
Sinai. So from the time or point when they left Egypt with boldness, 
because the Egyptians were burying the firstborn, whom the Lord 
had killed, now three months later they come to Sinai. The 
travel route is given to us in verse 2, and then the mountain 
is mentioned in verse 3. Notice, and Moses went up to 
God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus 
you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children 
of Israel, If you go back to chapter 3, in the preparation 
of Moses to function as the deliverer, God had announced to him that 
they would rendezvous again, that they would meet again at 
Mount Sinai. You see that in chapter 3 at 
verse 12. So God said, I will certainly 
be with you and this shall be a sign to you that I have sent 
you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall 
serve God on this mountain. So they're at Mount Sinai, and 
now God speaks to the nation of Israel through the mediation 
of Moses. Moses is the mediator of the 
Old Covenant, and he functions that way very specifically in 
this particular chapter. Now notice in terms of the historical 
review in verse 4. This is symptomatic or typical 
of covenant making. You'll see it when you get to 
the book of Deuteronomy. Before you get into the actual terms 
and elements involved in the covenant, there's usually a historical 
prologue where the one making the covenant recounts or rehearses 
his history with that particular body of people. This wasn't unique 
to biblical covenants. This was something symptomatic 
of ancient Near Eastern covenants. You would have the suzerain or 
the king who would make covenants with the subjects, and he would 
typically review his involvement in their lives as God does in 
verse 4. Notice what he says. He says, 
you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you 
on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. So with reference 
to the historical prologue, the exodus, the deliverance, the 
redemption that God had wrought relative to the children of Israel. 
How he had subjugated their enemies, how he had destroyed and decimated 
their enemies, and how he had brought them unto himself. And 
this idea of bearing them on eagle's wings comes up again 
in Deuteronomy chapter 32. It's also interestingly used 
in Revelation chapter 12 at verse 14, which I think is an allusion 
to this concept of Yahweh bearing up these people as it were on 
eagle's wings. But then notice at the end of 
verse four, he brought them to himself. And then he gives this 
command based on this historical prologue. Notice they are to 
obey God's voice. Verse 5a. There's a lot of debate 
as to whether the Old Covenant is a covenant of grace or a covenant 
of works. The Westminster Confession says 
that it's a covenant of grace. Our confession does not say that. Our confession, and I don't think 
that there's no grace in the Old Covenant, but if you look 
at the Old Covenant, it is primarily a law covenant, and the children 
of Israel understand it that way. Notice in verse eight, all 
that the Lord has spoken, we will do. The beauty of the covenant 
of grace is all that Christ has accomplished we have benefited 
as a result. So as we move through this particular 
section again the argument is not that there's no grace dealing 
or God's dealings with his people of Israel. But in terms of this 
particular covenant, it is a law covenant. It is a republication 
of the covenant of works. I think there's biblical theology 
to suggest that Adam was given a particular task and vocation 
that was repeated to the nation of Israel, and they, both parties, 
failing, it was up to the last Adam to accomplish what had been 
entrusted to him in terms of obedience and in terms of redemption. And so Adam the first and Israel 
as an Adam-like character do not fulfill the obligations placed 
upon them, but rather they point forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's what's going on 
covenantally. But back to the text, notice 
the command to obey God's voice and to keep his covenant in 5a, 
and then notice the promise attached to that in verse 5b. Then you 
shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all 
the earth is mine. In other words, God has universal, 
comprehensive, absolute sovereignty over all peoples everywhere, 
but he chooses, out of the mass of humanity, Israel as his special 
treasure. Calvin says the sum then is that 
whilst the whole earth is in God's dominion, yet the race 
of Israel has been chosen by him to excel all nations. This 
is repeated in Deuteronomy 7, Deuteronomy 9. God reminds the 
children of Israel, I didn't choose you because you were more 
numerous and I didn't choose you because you were more righteous. 
I chose you because I loved you. In other words, it's God's good 
pleasure. It is his sovereignty that makes this distinction between 
Israel and the nations. So they will be his special treasure. And then notice the purpose for 
which Israel was to exist according to verse six. You shall be to 
me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which 
you shall speak to the children of Israel. They were to be a 
kingdom of priests. What does a priest do? A priest 
has access to the true and living God. They were to be a holy nation. One man, G.K. Beal, says this 
expression in 1906 is a summary of God's purpose for Israel and 
primarily meant that the Israelites were to be a kingly and priestly 
nation mediating God's light of salvation revelation by witnessing 
to the Gentiles, a purpose which the Old Testament prophets repeatedly 
blame Israel for never fulfilling. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4. 
where we see this evidently manifested in terms of their particular 
mission or purpose as God's special treasure. They were to be a kingdom 
of priests and a holy nation, not just so they could enjoy 
their privilege, but so that they could exercise responsibility 
in mediating God's blessings to the nations around them. Look 
at Deuteronomy 4, verse 5. Surely I have taught you statutes 
and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you 
should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 
Therefore be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom 
and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will 
hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a 
wise and understanding people. See, they were supposed to function 
in such a way that the nations around them would be allured 
to Israel's God. Notice what he goes on to say 
in verse 7. And what great nation is there 
that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this 
law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to yourself 
and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your 
eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the 
days of your life. And teach them to your children 
and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood 
before the Lord your God in Horeb or Sinai, when the Lord said 
to me, gather the people to me, and I will let them hear my words, 
"'that they may learn to fear me "'all the days they live on 
the earth, "'that they may teach their children.'" See, Israel 
was not only given redemptive privilege, but they were also 
given a marching orders or marching orders in order to function in 
a particular capacity. Now turn to the New Testament 
and see how this language is applied to the church of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. If you've been around our church 
for any amount of time whatsoever, you've probably heard the word 
dispensationalism. Dispensationalism is a theological 
system that teaches there are two peoples of God. They teach 
that the Jews are one people of God and the Gentiles are another 
people of God. And that at this present time, 
God's dealings is with the Gentiles. Once this present time is over, 
he will rapture the Gentiles into heaven and then his dealings 
with the Jews will start again. Now, covenant theology, in contrast 
to that, says no, that's not what's in view at all. The promises 
that were made to Israel are fulfilled in Israel, Jesus being 
Israel. And by virtue of the fact the 
church is in union with Christ, all of the promises made by God 
are fulfilled in Christ and in the church. In other words, there 
is one people of God, there is the Israel of God, as Paul says 
in Galatians chapter 6. Now something that demonstrates 
that is the application of Exodus 19, 6 language to the church 
of Jesus Christ. In other words, Peter and John 
do not say, well, I'm going to just sort of use this and kind 
of apply it a little bit to the church, but I really mean that 
it's for the Jews. That's not what happens. That's 
not what happens at all. Look at 1 Peter 2 at verse 9. But you are a chosen generation, 
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that 
you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of 
darkness into His marvelous light. Notice their corporate identity. 
Verse 9a, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 
His own special people. what God says to Israel at Sinai 
in Exodus 19.6. This is the fulfillment or the 
fruition or the realization of it in the church of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Notice their God-centered function. They are to proclaim the praises 
of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Sounds just like Deuteronomy 
4. You've been saved and you ought to enjoy that privilege 
and that blessing, but you also need to mediate the blessings 
of God to others around you. In other words, proclaim His 
excellencies. Proclaim His praises. Tell sinners 
the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ." Notice that he goes 
on to say, "...who once were not a people, but are now the 
people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained 
mercy." So an Old Testament passage applied initially to Israel as 
a body politic is applied now to the Church of Christ as the 
Israel of God. Turn over to Revelation chapter 
1. Revelation chapter 1. Notice specifically at verse 
4, John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you 
and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and 
from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus 
Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, 
and the ruler over the kings of the earth. to him who loved 
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made 
us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and 
dominion forever and ever, amen. So the idea that there are two 
distinct peoples of God is simply not biblical. If you need further 
evidence, look at Ephesians chapter two. The apostle is very forthright 
there. He says that Christ took the 
two and made one new man. Jew and Gentile have solidarity 
when they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't matter 
if you're an ethnic Gentile, if you are a believing Gentile, 
you are considered part of the Israel of God. Galatians chapter 
6. So going back to Exodus chapter 
19, we see not only the promise that they would be God's special 
treasure, but the purpose involved in their redemption from bondage 
in Egypt. It was to go into Canaan, and 
it was to shine as a light in the midst of a crooked and perverse 
generation, and it was to hold forth the word of truth. And 
as Beal says, the prophets constantly upbraid Israel for not doing 
that. They failed. They were miserable. 
They were rebellious. They went into the land of promise, 
and instead of affecting it for good, they became like the inhabitants 
of Canaan. When you go to the book of Joshua, 
it's very positive in terms of conquest and in terms of occupying 
the land. By the time you get to the book 
of Judges, you see the Canaanization of Israel. In other words, Israel 
becomes like Canaan, or Canaanites. That is what the explanation 
is for the Assyrian sort of captivity, the expulsion of the northern 
tribes by Assyria, and then the expulsion of the southern tribes 
by Babylon. They lived like the Canaanites 
instead of carrying out the purpose that God had given them. So by 
way of application, as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're 
not supposed to look like the Canaanites. We're to proclaim 
the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into marvelous 
light. We are to shine as lights in 
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, holding forth that 
word of truth. We're not to be like the Canaanites 
in the land. That doesn't mean we don't wear 
pants, and we don't wear dresses, and we don't have jobs, and we 
don't put our gas in our cars, or anything like that. I'm not 
suggesting that, but in terms of our spiritual and corporate 
identity, we are the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we 
ought to learn how Israel failed, and by God's grace, how we as 
the church, the new Israel, or true Israel, ought to function 
in a manner that is consistent with our calling in the Lord 
God Most High. So back to Exodus chapter 19, 
we see the response of Israel in verses 7 and 8. So Moses came 
and called for the elders of the people. See, already early 
on, you have these elders, you have Moses telling the elders, 
and then they in turn go and tell the other people." It's 
a beautiful system, a division of labor. We saw that delegation 
of judicial authority at the behest of Jethro in Exodus 18, 
where you see Moses' reliance upon the elders to go and lay 
before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. And 
then as I said, verse eight, then all the people answered 
together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. 
So Moses brought back the words of the Lord. I'm sorry, Moses 
brought back the words of the people to the Lord. So the covenant 
is made. You've got the parties. And then 
you have the stipulations, which is obey my word, do what I tell 
you. And then there are sanctions 
attached, typically in covenant making. If you obey, there will 
be blessings. If you disobey, there will be 
cursings. Lo and behold, that's how the 
Pentateuch ends. It ends at Deuteronomy 27 and 
28. I mean, formally, there's a few 
more chapters. But that section of blessings 
and curses is programmatic for the rest or subsequent history 
of Israel. When you get to Deuteronomy chapter 28, it's almost like 
it's a prophecy in terms of what's going to happen later on. God 
knew that he was dealing with covenant breakers. God knew that 
when they rose their hand in verse 8 and said, all that the 
Lord has spoken, we will do. He knew they weren't going to 
do it. He knew they were sinners. He knew that they were going 
to fail miserably as soon as they put their hands down. Look 
over at chapter 24. when they come to ratify the 
covenant. Again, they emphasize the same thing in verse 3. All 
the words which the Lord has said, we will do. And then drop 
down to verse 7. All that the Lord has said, we 
will do and be obedient. And then the covenant is ratified. 
We get the instructions for the sanctuary. But by chapter 32, 
they're worshiping a calf. They're bowing down to a calf. 
And they're suggesting that that calf is somehow the being that 
brought them out of the land of bondage. So God knew precisely 
what was going to happen because God is sovereign and God decrees 
whatsoever comes to pass. So Deuteronomy 28 is not only 
a section that promises curses and blessings, but it also, for 
the informed reader, informs us as to what is going to transpire 
as we move through the rest of the Old Testament. In fact, in 
Deuteronomy chapter 30, we often think, as especially Reformed 
Baptists, the giving of the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 
31, 31 to 34. Jeremiah is only repeating what 
God had already said on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter 
30. The promise of the New Covenant, 
redemption by Jesus Christ, is announced there on the plains 
of Moab. So the law was given to the nation of Israel for a 
few reasons, one of them being to continually show them their 
need for the Messiah. All of these promises concerning 
the Messiah would come home with power when they would see their 
own sin and their own lawlessness. Additionally, the law of God 
was useful to restrain this people and to keep them in order such 
that Messiah would actually come from the line of David. If God 
would have allowed them to do whatever it was they wanted to 
do, there'd be no messianic line. They would have certainly perverted 
that. They would have certainly destroyed that. That's why there 
were various prohibitions about marrying with the Canaanites 
or the pagans around them. They were to keep the line pure. 
So back to Exodus chapters 19 to 24, this law covenant was 
a republication of what Adam was given in the garden. Adam 
was given a prohibition and then he was given probation. And he 
fails. The same happens with Israel. 
They are given prohibition. They are given probation. They 
fail. Jesus comes. He is given prohibition 
and commandment. And he is given probation in 
terms of his earthly ministry. and he fulfills it. That's why 
he's the last adder. That's why we celebrate his redemptive 
work, and that's why it is, in fact, a covenant of grace. For 
Christ, it was a covenant of works. One man has well described 
the covenant of grace. It is a covenant of works kept 
for us. So we don't, in the New Covenant, 
have to swear fidelity in order to make it into heaven. Christ 
has already done that. Christ has provided through His 
life, death, and resurrection everything that a guilty, vile, 
helpless sinner needs in order to enter into heaven. Now that 
doesn't minimize our calling, it doesn't minimize the 1 Peter 
2.10 or 2.9 emphasis of proclaim the praises, live faithfully, 
mediate those blessings of God, but we do that not in order to 
be saved, but as a result of us having been saved. We are 
justified freely by His grace, we enter into the life of sanctification, 
and we seek by grace to live in a manner that is consistent 
with that. So after they make this statement, 
we now come to the consecration for readiness. In other words, 
they need to be prepared. God is going to come and dwell 
in their midst. And one of the things that you 
ought to appreciate in this chapter is that that's not like any other 
meeting. Even if the Prime Minister or 
the President, if they came today, it would be something. We'd have 
to show respect. We'd have to show respect. But 
with reference to that visit, it would be altogether different 
than a meeting with the God of heaven and earth. That's why 
the thunder and the lightning. That's why the awe. That's why 
the awesomeness and the dread and the fear. That's why the 
command that if you get near, you will die. Because we're not 
having to do with a fellow or an equal, but rather with the 
living and true God. When we get to the book of Deuteronomy, 
and it's repeated in the book of Hebrews, it is a terrifying 
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Israel is 
being taught this. The church today needs to learn 
this. God hasn't changed. There hasn't 
been a shift in terms of His majesty and glory. He hasn't 
lost any of His efficacy or power. And as I said, Deuteronomy 12, 
or rather Hebrews 12, highlights what you see in Deuteronomy in 
terms of God being a consuming fire. So the children of Israel 
are taught at Sinai to fear God. So notice in verse 9, the Lord 
said to Moses, behold, I come to you in the thick cloud that 
the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever. 
Again, the mediatorial role of Moses. God speaks through Moses 
to the people, and he functions in that capacity as a mediator. What are the people being taught? 
They're being taught they need a mediator. What are they being 
taught? They need a priest. They need a go-between. God's 
holiness is such that we don't just wander into his presence 
without any assistance or aid. So every step of the way, Israel 
is being taught something about the Messiah that would come to 
save them from their sins. So God promises this to Moses 
so that the people will believe you forever. Now notice the preparation 
for his coming in verses 10 to 15. The people are to be consecrated. They're to be set apart. They're 
to be sanctified. They're not to just again come 
in in all their filth and muck and say, oh, hey, how's it going, 
God? Notice in verse 10, go to the people and consecrate them 
today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes. I don't think 
there's anything uniquely special about the washing of the clothes, 
except that it's emblematic of a consecrated spirit. In other 
words, the washing of the clothes, and they could have been clothes 
they copped from the Egyptians, in which case they certainly 
would have needed to wash the pagan off those clothes, but 
the idea simply is an outward sign of what they had done by 
way of an internal consecration. And then notice their readiness 
to meet God in verse 11. You feel the tension in a good 
way. Again, these people aren't meeting 
an equal, they're not meeting a fellow, they're not meeting 
sort of a human king, but rather they're being taught to prepare 
themselves for thus on the third day they're going to meet with 
the great God of heaven and earth. When it says the Lord will come 
down, I think John Gill is right, which must be understood consistent 
with his omnipresence and is only expressive of some visible 
display of his power and of some sensible token of his presence 
to the people. He was now upon it in the pillar 
of cloud, but then he would appear in another manner and descend 
in a thick cloud and fire, which all the people would see, though 
they could not see the similitude of anything in it. In other words, 
God has no form. There's not like a body or a 
shape or anything that would resemble man. So they would see 
this visible representation of God Most High. And in order to 
do so, they must be ready. Again, I think if we jump into 
the New Covenant, one of the things that I think we miss in 
the church today is something of this. Now, it's not the exact 
same, to be sure. It's not, you know, you must 
wash your clothes before you come to church, you must, but 
there's something that we miss in terms of the reverence for 
God, especially in Protestantism today, that doesn't really have 
any sort of consistency with what we find in this setting. 
Again, I'm not espousing some legalistic Judaism or some sort 
of outward ceremony, but this idea that we're coming into the 
presence of the God of heaven and earth. That ought to wow 
us. It ought to promote fear in our 
hearts. It ought to do something in terms 
of our approach to the living and true God. I mean, this idea 
where it's just having fellowship with somebody sort of our equal 
or perhaps just a little bit better. There ought to be a fear 
of God in the hearts of the people of God, and we should learn something 
at least from this. Consecrate yourself. Set apart 
this mindset as we enter into the presence of our great God. And then notice the separation 
from God. So, consecration or sanctification 
has that idea of separation. So, consecrate yourself, separate 
yourself from profane or non-sacred things into a sacred use. But at the same time, understand 
there's still boundaries that obtain between the true and living 
God and us. We can't see Him as we are. We can't see Him as He is. And the way that we see this 
is given to us in verses 12 and 13. Notice, you shall set bounds 
for the people all around, saying, take heed to yourselves that 
you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches 
the mountain shall surely be put to death. Not a hand shall 
touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow, 
whether man or beast. Now, before we say, well, that's 
not fair to the beast, it was an emphasis so that the men would 
control their beasts and not let the beasts run to the mountain 
in an unfettered way. So whether man or beast, he shall 
not live. When the trumpet sounds long, 
they shall come near the mountain. Turn to the book of Hebrews, 
Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 shows us discontinuity 
between the covenants, but it also shows us continuity. Discontinuity 
between the old and the new, but also continuity between the 
old and the new. Notice in 12.18. For you have 
not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned 
with fire into blackness and darkness and tempest, and the 
sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard 
it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 
For they could not endure what was commanded. And if so much 
as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with 
an arrow. And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I 
am exceedingly afraid and trembling. So here's the discontinuity. 
You have not come to Sinai, but notice in verse 22, but you have 
come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God. This 
is a description of the church, by the way. It's describing the 
church, the people of God. You have come to Mount Zion and 
to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an 
innumerable company of angels. to the General Assembly and Church 
of the Firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of 
all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator 
of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks 
better things than that of Abel." See, discontinuity. You've not 
come to Sinai, but you have come to Zion. Now, no discontinuity, 
though. Verses 25 to 29, see that you 
do not refuse him who speaks, For if they did not escape who 
refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape 
if we turn away from him who speaks from heaven, whose voice 
then shook the earth. But now he is promised, saying, 
Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. Now 
this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that 
are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things 
which cannot be shaken may remain. Now notice, therefore, since 
we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have 
grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence, and 
notice, godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. So while 
there's a discontinuity between Sinai and Zion, there's continuity 
vis-a-vis in the majesty and in the glory of God Almighty. 
such that at Sinai, if your heart was filled with reverence and 
fear and trembling, it ought to be in church from time to 
time as well. It ought to be the case that 
you are mindful that you're coming into the presence, not of a fellow, 
not of an equal, not of one just a little bit better, but of God 
most high, the living and the true God. So they were given 
this prohibition that they were not to touch, they were not to 
get near, or they would die. And then it is intriguing. Look 
at verse 12 again in Exodus 19. It's like the mountain was divided 
in three. If you look at verse 20. Look at verse 20. Then the Lord 
came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain. And 
the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses 
went up. Matthew Poole, I think, is right 
on. He says, so here are three parts 
of the mount manifestly distinguished. The top, where the cloud was, 
the middle part, where Moses now stood, and about which the 
bounds seem to have been put. and the nether or lower part 
where the people were. Now brethren, just take a moment, 
I know it's late, we're gonna end probably soon, but think 
about this. This is a sanctuary. What is 
a sanctuary? A sanctuary is where God meets 
with people. The Garden of Eden was a sanctuary. The Mountain of God was a sanctuary. Scholars, have recognized that 
the very cosmos itself is a sanctuary. You have the heavens, you have 
the earth, and you have the sea. You have this tripartite division. When you come to the tabernacle, 
there's three parts. There's an outer court, there's 
a holy place, and there's a holy of holies. You see, what God 
is doing in terms of His appearance on the mount is consistent with 
sanctuaries or temples all throughout the Bible. Not only the cosmos, 
but the Garden of Eden. Some even see that Noah's Ark 
functioned as a sanctuary of sorts. The mountain of God, the 
tabernacle of God, the temple of God. You have the outer court, 
you have the holy place, and you have the holy of holies. 
There are strict stipulations as to who enters and who doesn't. And that is being sort of foreshadowed 
here in the way that the mount functions relative to Moses' 
access to certain points where the rest of Israel doesn't have 
access. Just like when the tabernacle 
and the temple are built, who enters into the Holy of Holies? 
Does everybody? Does the hoi poloi, does the 
rabble, do they just enter in? No, it's the high priest, one 
day out of the year, it's on the day of atonement. And he 
doesn't go in there without blood. He goes in there with a specific 
mission, and he gets in there, does his business, and gets out 
again. Jewish tradition suggests that 
he had a rope tied on him in case he were to die when he was 
in there so that they could yank him out and not have to violate 
the boundaries established by Yahweh and enter into a place 
they were not given access or authorization to. So with this 
mountain, understand it, it is a sanctuary where God is dwelling 
with his people, but there is regulation in terms of how his 
people dwell with it. So there is this threat of death 
concerning the touching of the mountain. And then notice the 
sanctification of the people. I'm sure verse 15 will intrigue 
all of us as we read through it. Moses does not have an axe 
to grind and neither does Yahweh with the conjugal relations that 
obtain in a marriage situation. Notice in verse 14. So Moses 
went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the 
people, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, 
be ready for the third day. Do not come near your wives. 
Not because that's sin, not because that's bad, not because that's 
evil, but because this is a special season. The apostle Paul deals 
with special seasons in 1 Corinthians 7 at verse 5. He tells you not 
to deprive one another except for a time or a season so that 
you may concentrate or give focused energy on prayer and fasting. And the same sort of thing is 
probably in view here. Stewart says, does this verse, 
verse 10, washing clothes, when coupled with verse 15, not having 
relations with your wife, imply that getting dirty is evil or 
that having sex is evil? Not at all. Rather, it asserts 
that there are special occasions of prayerful preparation and 
worshipful activity that call for avoidance of the usual, non-sinful, 
personal indulgences and demand special, focused, self-denying 
attention to God. That's what's in view, not marriage 
bed bad. No, God ordained that for His 
glory, for the propagation, obviously, of the species, and for the mutual 
comfort and pleasure of married people. But in this instance, 
when they're about to meet with God Most High, there's bigger 
fish to fry and you need to focus on consecration because you're 
going to stand in the presence of Yahweh. And that leads us 
finally to the demonstration of His glory in verses 16 to 
25. Notice the sights and the sounds. Verse 16, it came to pass on 
the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and 
lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound 
of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were 
in the camp trembled. Again, that conduct, or that 
idea, that reverence, that fear, that respect, filled the hearts 
of the people. And then notice the presence 
of God in verses 17 to 20. Moses brought the people out 
of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of 
the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because 
the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like 
the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 
And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder 
and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then 
the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain, 
and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and 
Moses went up. Again, brethren, we walk by faith and not by sight. 
We don't have the thunderings and the lightnings. We don't 
have some trumpet sound when we gather for church. But we walk by faith. Is the 
God of Sinai the same God that's present in the worship services 
of the church of Jesus Christ? If, in fact, He is, and the Bible 
says so, then there ought to be reverence. There ought to 
be joy, to be sure, but there ought to be that reverence in 
terms of standing in the presence of the God of heaven and earth. And then God commands with reference 
to the people. Again, the warning is repeated 
in verses 21 to 24, and then in verse 25, you see underscored 
the mediatorial role of Moses. So Moses went down to the people 
and spoke to them. It is consistent with John 1 
17. The law was given through Moses, 
but grace and truth came through our Lord Jesus Christ. So Moses 
functions in that mediatorial capacity to communicate on behalf 
of God to the people. And then as well, Moses goes 
to God for the people. So Moses functions As a prophet, 
that's one who speaks from God to the people, Moses functions 
as a priest. That's one who speaks for the 
people to God. And Moses, in that capacity, 
typifies the coming mediator of the new covenant, even the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who is typified throughout the entirety of the 
Old Testament. So the people are prepared to 
meet with God, and the people are prepared to receive the law. 
Now, when you see chapter 19, and when you see that this is 
preparation to hear, you might ask the question, well, what 
is it that's so important that they're gonna hear? Well, chapters 
20 to 23. God's law is that important. 
It calls for that mindset and that sort of a discipline on 
the part of the people to receive with eagerness that word that 
God speaks. And then in terms of the identification 
of the Israel of God, what was true of the remnant, the believers 
in the Old Testament, is true of believers in the New Testament. 
The one people of God, whether Jew or Gentile, those who believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, those justified freely by His grace, 
are God's special treasure. They are a kingdom of praise. 
They are a holy nation. And their function is to proclaim 
the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous 
light. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for this wonderful account, this wonderful 
description of a ready and an eager people at the foot of the 
mountain to hear the law of God Almighty. I pray that as we enter 
into this section in the book of Exodus, you would give us 
ears to hear and hearts to receive this truth as well. And God, 
we rejoice that Christ is the Lawkeeper, that He fulfilled 
all that is spoken in these chapters completely, and that He did so 
for us men and for our salvation. We thank You for His life of 
obedience, His death as a substitute and sacrifice, and His resurrection 
again the third day. And we know it's not so that 
we can live in any manner that we choose, but we know it's because 
we are justified freely by grace and now live the life of sanctification. So God help us by the Spirit 
to comply with the demand of the law and help us to call it 
our delight and our meditation day and night. For certainly 
as redeemed men and women, we love it, we see the beauty of 
it, and we see the revelation of God through it. I ask that 
you would go with us now again. Bless our brothers and our sisters 
in our local church. Bless all the brothers and sisters 
in this city, in this community, in this lower mainland that have 
been affected by these floods. Bless all of the image bearers 
that are dealing with these various things, God. And grant each one 
grace and strength and the ability to be able to deal with these 
things in a manner that is very helpful and good for them. And 
we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Any questions or comments 
on I said it's 19. On the point of sanctification 
of God's presence, again, Isaiah 6. That's the text that always 
comes to mind when we see stuff like this in the Torah. This 
notion where Isaiah, as Carl said, Isaiah is traumatized. 
He is utterly, I am low, I am undone. I'm completely ruined 
here. And I need to touch, I'm a man 
with ugly lips, and the angel touches his lips as a symbol 
of that sanctification. And to your point, yeah, we don't 
have this anymore in this post-modern era. We've imported the sexual 
revolution into our doxology, frankly, and that's just the 
way it is. But Jesus is my boyfriend, is 
that what you mean? Jesus is my boyfriend. That would have been unthinkable 
prior to five minutes ago. Yeah, yeah, it's an interesting, Yeah, the entertainment model, 
various things that are competing with reverence and respect for 
God. There's just a multitude of challenges, 
I think, that we face. And just the basic man-centeredness, 
what's in it for me? What do I get? How do I get my, 
you know, what, I mean not that, you know, there's always self-interest 
to some degree. Love your neighbor as yourself. 
We don't try to hurt ourselves. We don't try to... kill ourselves, 
but when we come to church, the idea is that God is to be glorified, 
God is to be worshiped. And I think that as the blood-bought 
children of God, with the spirit of God, that's what brings satisfaction 
to the believer, is when God is glorified, right? That's the 
point, we want to honor and praise the one who saved us from our 
sins. Yeah. Just like Isaac was saying, when 
you see some of the things that are going on, I've had for years 
people coming down with lights and rappelling from the rafters, 
all these things. There's churches. I know I was 
at one. You know, they had, you know, 
basically a latte shop set up outside the sanctuary. It was 
everybody like, if you're coming to Starbucks, you know, and then 
that goes into the sanctuary, and that's the center of everything. 
God is just, you know, whatever. It's just a complete lack of 
reverence. Yeah, I shared with a couple 
of, I think it was Matt and Stephanie. Having come out of Roman Catholicism, 
the first time I went to a Protestant church and I saw people chewing 
gum, I thought, what? I saw people get beat up for 
a whole lot less in Catholic church. I saw nuns, I kid you 
not, it seemed to me like their arms stretched all the way to 
the wall to the gratitude and yank them out of the church and 
slap them silly if they got to eat gum. It was just kind of 
an interesting wake up call. And then the latte sipping pastor 
while he's doing his spiel and he's got the relaxed attitude. It doesn't, again, there's discontinuity. We're not at the foot of Sinai. 
There's no prohibition against touching the mountain or you're 
gonna die, but there's something that we've lost in terms of new 
covenant worship that reflects on us, not God. God hasn't changed. He is still the consuming fire, 
and that's this thing that is continuous at the end of Romans, 
or at the end of Hebrews 12. So it's not that God's gone through 
some conditioning and he's a gentler, kinder, more tame being that 
we can now just kind of enter in with casualness. No, God hasn't 
changed. It's us and our approach and 
it's our sort of mindset now that we bring to the table. And 
it's a challenge. We've got to fight against it 
and resist it. I remember when Mike Crawford came to our church 
in Palmdale. He said, this is the first church 
I ever walked into where I had the fear of God. I thought, that's 
good. That's a good thing, right? You 
going to go to Baltimore ever again and see Mike? We've had 
some good contact with him recently. Yeah, I'm doing it every year. OK, cool. We'll make sure to 
see him. Go ahead a second. Why is it so different? Was he 
revealing himself in this way to God? Was he interacting with 
Israel in this way to set the foundation with them and everything? Well, two reasons I would give. I'd say the placement of Exodus 
19 you know, before we get into the law. I think, as that quote 
I read from Dempster, Sinai is central to the Torah, right? 
God's going to give his law, not that there hasn't been law 
given, right? There's law present prior to 
Sinai, but this is the co-efficacia the revelation of God's 10 commandments, 
and then how those are to be worked out in society. So that's 
one answer. The second answer, if you notice 
the worship of Old Covenant Israel, it was a lot more fleshly and 
carnal than is New Covenant worship. They used instruments. They had 
sacrifice. They had incense. There was a lot more sensory 
connection in terms of that. Whereas you get to New Covenant 
worship, it's very simple. It's not, none of that, none 
of those elements are present. And so what the Reformed tradition 
has said is that the Jews needed that because they didn't walk 
by faith. They were not, you know, I mean there was a remnant 
to be sure that we're safe. There were the David's, there 
were the Jacob's, there were those who weren't in Christ, 
but it was more of, they were a little child. Paul speaks of 
the Old Covenant in Galatians 3 as a pedagogue or as a child 
tutor. Some think he's talking about 
the law as law. I don't think so. I think he's 
talking about the Old Covenant. So the Old Covenant was that 
child tutor to do what? To lead us to Christ. Because 
when he goes on, he says those who have found the price no longer 
need the tutor. That doesn't mean you can go 
out and commit adultery. It means you don't have the same 
relation with the Old Covenant. The way I look at it is that 
he imposes this Old Covenant that's very restrictive. I mean, pretty much every job 
and title of your life is controlled in Old Covenant Israel. Again, 
there's a reason for that. If God allows them to do whatever 
it is they want, the few times that he does, They marry pagans. They jeopardize the sea. They 
do all those sorts of things. So God uses that law to hedge 
them in. And he's treating them like children, 
really. So when we get to the new covenant, 
redemption in through the Lord Jesus Christ, the emphasis isn't 
so much on being treated like a child. No, it's having the 
spirit of adoption wherein we cry, Abba, Father. And there's 
a simpler in the sense that there's not detailed legislation on how 
to worship, but in some ways more difficult and takes more 
discipline. I mean, there are some people 
that probably wouldn't mind going back to the old covenant. Just 
give me a bunch of rules, tell me exactly what I'm supposed 
to do. I think that's the default position of a lot of people. 
Whereas in Christ, in the New Covenant, there's that freedom 
and liberty of the new man in Christ Jesus. So Old Covenant, 
tutor, pedagogue, God keeping the people, not down, but together, 
until the fullness of the time when he sends forth his Son. 
as well, that they needed more. They needed more in terms of 
incense and different reminders and all that sort of thing, where 
ideally, ideally, in the new covenant we have the Spirit, 
we've been washed in the blood of Jesus, we should be able to 
function as mature adults and worship God the way we're supposed 
to. And there's checks and balances in place for that as well, right? 
I mean, it's not the exact same. There's no touch this mountain 
and you're going to die. But there's a Matthew 18 that 
if you sin and you fail to repent, then you will ultimately be treated 
like a heathen and a tax collector. And then one final thing is that 
In Old Covenant Israel, you weren't just dealing with the ecclesiastical 
or churchly or religious sphere. They were a body politic as well. 
They were a people that were going to live in a land that 
needed laws on how to function in terms of life in the land. 
They were a theocratic nation. God's governed directly through 
Moses and then later on the judges, I would argue, and then the kings 
of Israel. It was a different scenario in 
some ways, but God treated them in a way as to protect them. They probably didn't always see 
it that way, but nevertheless. In fact, Deuteronomy, I mean, 
you see it, they wind about the wilderness. God describes the 
wilderness as the time when he carried them like a father carries 
his son. So I think treating them not only as a body, but 
in a more childlike way versus the maturity of the new man in 
Christ. We have the full revelation. 
We have the whole thing. We can look back already on the 
Messiah, so I guess that's... Right. We have the full revelation. They were, again, still being 
pointed forward to. It's like Brian preached on Sunday 
night. The prophets knew they were writing 
about Jesus. They knew that they were writing 
about a Messianic figure. They knew this was the Genesis 
3.15 man. But not all of the contours that 
we have, right? I mean, we have it in a way that, 
again, Isaiah knew it in some ways better than we did. But 
it was for us that they were writing. And now that we have 
that, and then especially that whole idea of the regular principle. 
When you look at the Old Testament, That's why people get hung up. 
They say, well, how come we don't have tambourines? They had that 
in Old Testament worship. Well, we don't have incense either. 
There's a reason. It's the covenant you're in that 
provides the directions on approach to God. So if we live in the 
old covenant, and we're going to the tabernacle, or we're going 
to the temple, then we fetch an animal out of our flock. We 
go down to the temple. They cut the throat. They lay 
their hands on it. They drink the blood. That's 
not what we have, right? But when it comes to the new 
covenant, it's not that all bets are off. We still need to obey 
what God says, how God says. And if the disposition of reverence 
and fear is absent, that's our problem, right? That's something 
that we need to cultivate. Perhaps reading Exodus 19 before 
public worship wouldn't be a bad idea, just to get that sense 
of who God is and the divine majesty.