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If you could turn with me in 
your Bibles to Exodus chapter 19. That's Exodus chapter 19. Tonight 
we're going to look at Exodus 19 through 24. I think we see 
a thesis or the summary of the Old Covenant with Israel in chapter 
19 verses 3 through 8. Nonetheless, I'm going to read 
all of chapter 19 to set the stage. Namely, we're going to 
look at God's divine demand from a holy God. The divine demand 
from the holy God. I'll read now from Exodus 19, 
verse 1. On the third new moon, after 
the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on 
that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim 
and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in 
the wilderness. There Israel encamped before 
the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to 
him out of the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house 
of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You yourselves have 
seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' 
wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed 
obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession 
among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. And you shall 
be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are 
the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So Moses 
came and called the elders of the people and set before them 
all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people 
answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken we will 
do. And Moses reported the words 
of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, 
I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear 
when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever. When 
Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to 
Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and 
let them wash their garments, and be ready for the third day. 
For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai 
in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for 
the people all around, saying, Take care not to go up into the 
mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain 
shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but 
he shall be stoned or shot. Whether beast or man, he shall 
not live. When the trumpet sounds a long 
blast, they shall come up to the mountain. So Moses went down 
from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and 
they washed their garments. And he said to the people, be 
ready for the third day. Do not go near a woman. And on 
the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings 
and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, 
so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought 
the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their 
stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in 
smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it 
went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled 
greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, 
Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came 
down on Mount Sinai to 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 the Lord to look, and many of them perish. 
Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, 
lest the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the Lord, 
the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself 
warned us saying, set limits around the mountain and consecrate 
it. And the Lord said to him, go down and come up bringing 
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 told them, amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank 
you for this day, Lord. We know that you are a holy God. 
We know that, Lord, we must approach you in an appropriate and acceptable 
manner, which is why we praise you so much for the work of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, who is that great high priest who fulfilled 
the law, who lived that law in perfection, who died as that 
perfect sacrifice. We thank you, Lord, that we can 
approach you with boldness because of his work, because you are 
a holy God. Father God, help us here to understand 
your holiness. Understand your apartness, Lord 
God, how you are different from the creature. You are God. And 
Lord God, I pray that you be with me as I teach this truth, 
Lord God. I know that I am not a holy person. I know that I am in need of your 
strength and your aid and your spirit, Lord God. And I know 
that the people here are not holy as well, and I pray that 
you would just help them. That you would just, by your 
spirit, help them to be attentive, for this is your word, Lord God. 
Help us to be awake and aware of what's going on in your truth. 
And may you forgive us of our sins, day in and day out, because 
of the work of Christ, Lord God. And may you be glorified in all 
things. Amen. So the last time we gathered 
together several weeks ago, we looked at Exodus 1 through 18, 
which is the divine deliverance from sinful bondage. And I want 
to highlight some other things that we need to remember about 
the book of Exodus as a whole. First of all, I take the author 
of Exodus to be Moses, and I take the audience to be Israel. Secondly, 
regarding the whole of Exodus, is the overarching theme. The 
primary theme of Exodus is that God is present as Israel's savior 
and king. We saw him present with his people 
as a divine deliverer in 1 through 18, and today we're going to 
see him as the divine lawgiver in chapters 19 through 24. And 
I want to highlight again the overarching structure of Exodus. I take this separation or this 
division from a guy named Dale Ralph Davis. He divides it really 
nicely. First of all, what we looked 
at last time was the deliverance, Exodus 1 through 18. Secondly 
is the demand, Exodus 19 through 24, which we will look at tonight. 
And thirdly is the dwelling of the Lord in chapters 25 through 
40. So tonight we're looking at the 
demand of the Lord. So in Exodus 19 through 24, Yahweh's 
holy will is revealed in his awful presence as he communicates 
his holy law. In Exodus 19 through 24, Yahweh's 
holy will is revealed in his awful presence as he communicates 
his holy law To the people of Israel, so we will look at God's 
holiness God's demand under three headings this evening We will 
look at God the holiness of God Exodus 19 and 20 Secondly we 
will look at the book of the covenant or the judicial laws 
for the people of Israel in Exodus 21 through 23 and then lastly 
we will look at the covenant ratification of in Exodus chapter 
24. So we're going to look at the 
holiness of God, the book of the covenant, and the covenant 
ratification. So let us first now look at the 
holiness of God, Exodus 19 and 20. We'll look at the holiness 
of God under two broad considerations. First of all, the conditions 
of the covenant that's primarily found in chapter 19 verses 3 
through 8. And then we will look at the 
presence or the holiness of the Lord from chapter 19 verse 9 
to the end of chapter 20. So let us look now at the conditions of the Covenant 
or look at the Old Covenant itself. But first of all I want you to 
notice in chapter 19 verse 1 a promise fulfilled. It says in chapter 
19 verse 1, on the third new moon after the people of Israel 
had gone out of the land of Egypt on that day they came into the 
wilderness, chapter 2 as well, they set out from Rephidim and 
came into the wilderness of Sinai and they encamped in the wilderness 
There, Israel encamped before the mountain while Moses went 
up to God. This is a fulfillment of Exodus 
chapter 3 verse 12. This is the burning bush experience 
when Yahweh appears to Moses and he said, I am who I am and 
I will lead these people out of the land of Egypt. And what 
he does is he gives Moses this promise in chapter 3 verse 12. 
Moses says in chapter 11, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh 
and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? And God said, but 
I will be with you and this shall be the sign for you that I have 
sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you 
shall serve God on this mountain. So we see the fulfillment of 
that in chapter 19 where God fulfills his promise to Moses 
that Moses is going to be this mediator on behalf of the people 
of God. So now let us look at the conditions 
of the covenant primarily in chapters 19 verses 3 through 
8. Now chapter 19 verses 3 through 
8 is very much structured like an Old Testament or an ancient 
Near Eastern treaty. We have a preamble, that is, 
the parties involved. We have the historical prologue, 
that is, the history between the two parties. We have the 
stipulations, what you should and should not do. We have the 
blessings, what you will receive if you fulfill these conditions. 
And then we see this covenant confirmation as well. So notice 
the preamble in chapter 19, verse 3. The Lord called to him out 
of the mountain, saying, thus you shall say to the house of 
God and tell the people of Israel." So we see the preamble. We see 
the two parties involved. It is Yahweh, the covenant Lord, 
with the people of Israel. And Moses functions as a mediator 
between the people of Israel and Yahweh. And then we also 
see this historical prologue in chapter 19, verse 4. You yourselves have seen what 
I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and 
brought you to myself. We see a bit of a history of 
the relationship between Yahweh and his people. And I really, 
it's very interesting, this imagery of eagle's wings. And it's used 
in Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 11. Chapter 32, verse 11. I'm going 
to read actually at verse 10. And this is praising Yahweh for 
his faithfulness. Chapter 32, verse 10. He found 
him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness, 
he encircled him, he carried for him, and he kept him as the 
apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that 
flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, 
bearing them on its pinions. The Lord alone guided him, no 
foreign god was with him." So we see Yahweh, like an adult 
eagle, caring for his young. And that is what he does for 
the people of Israel when they are taken up out of the land 
of Egypt. He carries them on his back, if you will. That's 
an anthropomorphism. He carries them on his back up 
out of the land of Egypt. It's truly a wonderful, wonderful 
image that we see here. And notice how he brought the 
people to himself. He is the one who brought about 
salvation for the people and brought them to himself. We see 
the stipulations in chapter 19 verse 5. Now therefore, if you 
will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant. Notice the 
stipulation. If you obey my voice. Now this is a conditional covenant. There's an if you do this, then 
you will receive this. You will do this and live as 
it were so. In this case, you will do this 
and you will remain in the land and flowing with milk and honey. And so we see that they have 
to have faithful obedience unto Yahweh, the one who brought them 
up out of the land of Egypt. It is a conditional covenant. 
Then we get to see the promises in chapter 19, the second half 
of verse 5 and verse 6. Then you shall be my treasured 
possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and 
you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 
These are the words that you shall speak to the people of 
Israel." Now this is Old Covenant Israel, but Peter draws on the 
same imagery in 1 Peter chapter 2 Verse 9, when he talks about 
the New Covenant Saints in the New Covenant with Christ Jesus. The Church of God is considered, 
we'll read in 1 Peter 2 verse 9. I went a little far. 1 Peter 2 verse 9, But you are 
a chosen race, you are a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation, 
a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies 
of him who called you out of darkness and into marvelous light. 
So Peter is drawing on the same idea, the same imagery, even 
for New Covenant people. as well. So it's a wonderful 
thing to see that God says that these people will be a treasured 
possession. Unfortunately, in the Old Covenant, it's based 
on a conditional covenant. Thankfully, in the New Covenant, 
it's based on the Lord Christ, who fulfilled the conditions 
of the Old Covenant, that we can be called a holy nation, 
a royal priesthood, because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
So that's the promise, that's the blessing that they should 
receive should they fulfill the stipulations of the covenant. 
But notice we see confirmation from the people of God. Chapter 
19 verses 7 and 8. So Moses came and called the 
elders of the people and set before them all these words that 
the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together 
and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses 
reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said 
to Moses, behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud that 
the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe 
you forever. So are they a faithful people? 
Will they actually do what they said they would do? According 
to this, they say they're going to do it. We know that that's 
not the case. That's just one of several affirmations 
that the people of Israel give in chapters 19 through 24. Are 
they a faithful people? Not at all. That gives it away, 
but not at all. They are not a faithful people. So we see the stipulations of 
the covenant in its micro form. If you want to understand the 
Old Covenant, I would say memorize 19.3 through 8, and you'll get 
a good grasp of the Old Covenant with Israel. We saw the conditions 
of the covenant. Now let's look at the presence 
of the Lord under the holiness of God. So we see in chapter 
19, verse 9, that, behold, the Lord is going to come with a 
thick cloud, that the people may believe Moses forever. So then Moses takes these words 
to the people. And the Lord says to Moses in 
chapter 19, verse 10, go to the people and consecrate them. and 
consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments 
and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord 
will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 
And you shall set limits for all the people around saying, 
take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of 
it. Whoever touches the mountain 
shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but 
he shall be stoned or shot with an arrow, whether beast or man. He shall not live. When the trumpet 
sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain." So 
Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated 
the people, and they washed their garments. And he said to the 
people, be ready for the third day. Do not go near a woman. So there's a lot of preparation 
for the coming of the Lord God Most High. And what Dale Ralph 
Davis does is he sums up why we even have chapter 19 here. 
We have 1 through 18. We have salvation by Yahweh from 
Egypt. And then we have what maybe would 
be great if we just jumped into 20 and we got the actual specifics 
of the covenant stipulation. Yet we have this long chapter 
here in chapter 19. And Davis sums up why this is 
here. because of God's holiness must 
impress God's people if they are to revere God's law. The 
majesty of God nurtures the fear of God and so Yahweh wastes a 
whole chapter getting the people prepared to receive his law. 
God is a holy God and we still must revere Him. We must understand 
that He is holy other. He has set apart. We are the 
creature. He is the creator. He created 
heaven and earth. We are finite. He is infinite. He is eternal. We are temporal. 
And praise God that He is. Praise God that He is the holy 
God of Israel. And that's what Yahweh is trying 
to impress on his people that they must revere who he is. They must revere Yahweh as this 
holy God before that he even gives them the law. Before he 
even gives them that law. And so the people are consecrated, 
that is, they are set apart for the service of God. They are 
a holy nation set apart for the service of God. And we saw that 
when I preached on Ephesians chapter one, where the new covenant 
people are set apart, are predetermined to be set apart for the service 
of God as well. In this case, it's more of a 
theocratic sphere, where the people are a holy nation under 
God. Certainly there's the moral aspect 
as well, but really, the gold covenant is with the people as 
a nation. And so, look at also the seriousness 
of coming to God. We see capital punishment here. Do we not? And chapter 19 verse 
12, and you shall set limits for the people all around saying, 
take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of 
it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand 
shall touch him. but he shall be stoned or shot. 
Whether beast or man, he shall not live." It is a serious thing 
when we are dealing with the Holy God. It is a serious thing 
when we approach the Lord God Most High, even on Sunday morning, 
when we come to worship the true and the living God. He is holy, 
something that I think is missed in our day and age. We see God 
as this buddy, this grandpa that we can approach, and he is loving, 
and he is good, but he is wholly other. He is wholly other, and 
we are unholy. Even in Exodus chapter 3, in 
the same place, what? Moses had to take his sandals 
off because he was on holy ground. He had to take his sandals off 
because he was before Yahweh. Because he was before that holy 
God. And notice, after we see this 
preparation, we actually see the holiness of God kaboom. The holiness of God kaboom. Chapter 19, verse 16. On the morning of the third day, 
there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain 
and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the 
camp trembled. Kaboom! Thunder, lightning. Remember when you're ever in 
a thunderstorm? It's awe-inspiring, it's terrifying when we hear 
the thunder go kaboom. That is just a glimpse of the 
terrifying awfulness of Yahweh, or the awesomeness of Yahweh 
Most High. It's like that earthquake that 
happened in Abbotsford the other day. We weren't there, so we 
didn't feel it, but we heard stories of how it was just like 
a kabam! God took his hand, smacked it down upon the earth, kaboom! 
Yahweh is awful. Yahweh is awesome. Yahweh is 
the most powerful being that there is. And that is what he's 
trying to impress on his people before he even gives them these 
stipulations. Before he even gives them the 
law of God. And one guy calls this classic 
storm theophany. The theophany basically means 
the appearance of God. God, theophany, appearance. The appearance of God. And he 
points us back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 8. Now, I don't like 
the translation in the ESV here, and I think it's the same in 
the New King James as well. This is after Adam and Eve have 
sinned, and then we hear the sound of the Lord coming. And 
this is what chapter 3, verse 8 says, And they heard the sound 
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 
It kind of sounds like God is just kind of going for a little 
stroll in the garden. He's just kind of having a little 
chill time as he's looking for his people, looking for Adam 
and Eve. But I think there's one commentator 
who highlights that the translation highlights this judgment, this 
appearance of Yahweh, and it's probably better translated, the 
wind of the storm. the wind of the storm. And think 
about it. What has happened? This is the 
cosmic fall of mankind. Right? Adam and Eve have sinned 
and now Yahweh is appearing for judgment upon them in this case. 
He is appearing to judge them because they violated what? They 
violated His holy law. They have violated the holiness 
of God, and now He's appearing to them. So this idea of thundering 
and lightning and thick cloud is very much representative of 
what is called storm theophany, or the appearance of Yahweh in 
an awesome, awesome way. In an awesome, awesome way. And 
so we see the presence of the Lord, we see the people tremble 
at the Lord, but yet we don't see the response of the people 
of the Lord until chapter 20 verse 18. So it's kind of interesting 
that inserted in there is we have chapter 20 verses 1 through 
17, namely the Ten Commandments. Now some commentators take chapter 
20 with chapters 21 through 23. That is, we have the Ten Commandments 
and then we have the Book of the Covenant. That is, the judicial 
stipulations or the civil stipulations that flesh out the Ten Commandments. But I actually think chapter 
20 goes with this idea of the holiness of God, because the 
Decalogue is God's holy standard. And we see in chapter 19, verse 
19, and the trumpet, excuse me, the sound of the trumpets grew 
louder and louder. Moses spoke and God answered 
in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai 
to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the 
top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And in chapter 20, we 
get to see what that kaboom was. We get to see the Decalogue as 
it's taught, as it's revealed. God's holiness is revealed to 
the Old Covenant Israel right there. And so we see that this 
is God's holy standard. This is what Adam broke when 
he sinned against the Lord God Most High in the garden. And 
that holy standard is still applicable even today. That is God's holy 
law. This is His standard. And that's 
what He's trying to say to His people. Here is my Ten Commandments. Here is my standard of holiness. 
And then He eventually fleshes that out in a national sphere 
in chapters 21 through 23. So that's why I take chapter 
20 to go with the holiness of God or the awesomeness of God 
here. So we see, you know, in chapter 
20 verses 1 through 2, we see again another historical prologue 
type idea, the history of the relationship between Yahweh and 
Israel. He says in chapter 20 verse 2, 
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 
out of the house of slavery. And then he goes to the first 
table in chapter 20 verses 3 to 11. You shall have no other gods 
before me. You shall not make for yourself 
a carved image or any likeness or anything that is in heaven 
above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water 
under the earth. You shall not bow down to them 
or serve them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. Excuse 
me, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to 
the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but show 
steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my 
commandments. You shall not take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy. Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord 
your God. On it you shall not do any work, 
you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your 
female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within 
your gates. For in six days the Lord made 
heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them, and rested 
on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath day and made it holy." So we see that first table that 
is directed vertical towards Yahweh. And specifically we see 
in chapter 20 verse 3, you shall have no other gods before me. 
This theme is repeated throughout this section in chapter 20 verse 
23 when it comes to the making of altars. You shall not make 
gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourself 
gods of gold. Chapter 22, verse 20, regarding 
social injustice. Whoever sacrifices to any God 
other than the Lord alone shall be devoted to destruction. Chapter 
23, verse 24. You shall not bow down to the 
gods, their gods, nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall 
utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. That 
is when the people of Israel enter in and take down the Amorites, 
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, 
and the Jebusites. Israelites aren't supposed to 
go into the land of Canaan and serve false gods. So that's an 
important theme. Remember, Yahweh has just crushed 
the Egyptian gods. Yahweh has just extinguished 
the blazing sun of the Egyptian god Ra in darkness. And he has 
absolutely decimated Pharaoh. He's absolutely destroyed Pharaoh 
and so what is he saying? And notice he's come to them 
in thunder and lightning to bring terror and show them his awesomeness 
so that they won't, they will not, what? That they will have 
no other gods before him. Idolatry is a serious, serious 
thing whether it's something that we craft with our hands 
or that we conjure up in our hearts. It is a serious Serious 
offense to the Lord God most high and so then we see the second 
table as well that is horizontal That's relationship with people 
chapter 20 verse 12 honor your father and your mother that your 
days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving 
you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you 
shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your 
neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall 
not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female 
servant or as ox, or as donkey, or anything that is your neighbors. 
So again, we have this relationship where we're supposed to love 
God and love others. We have a horizontal aspect of 
the law of God and a vertical aspect of the law of God as well. So we see the Ten Commandments, 
the revelation of Yahweh's will here, part of His holiness, part 
of who He is, part of His standard of holiness. Then we get to see 
the reaction of the people of Israel in chapter 20, verses 
18 to 21. Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes 
of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountains 
smoking, the people were afraid and trembled and they stood far 
off and said to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen, but 
do not let God speak to us lest we die. Moses said to the people, 
do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of 
him may be for you that you may not sin. The people stood far 
off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God 
was. They had this fear and trembling 
at the boom that God was bringing on Sinai. I think Stewart highlights 
what we can learn from this. Simply that the presence of God 
is so threatening to less than entirely holy people that his 
presence in the world, even amongst his own people, must be limited 
so as not to overwhelm humans." This wasn't even the full import 
of who he is. And notice, I like what he said, 
it is so threatening to less than entirely holy people. that his presence is in the world. So we see this appearance of 
Yahweh to bring terror and fear that they might trust in Yahweh, 
that they might not sin against him. And so then they say, Moses, 
no. Will you stand as that mediator 
for us? Will you speak to Yahweh that 
we might that we might hear the words from you, because we are 
afraid lest we die. And Moses commends them. Do not 
fear in a bondage type way, but fear the Lord in a trusting way, 
in a believing way on who He is, that He is the true and the 
living God. He is the Holy One. He is that all-powerful God. 
who has saved his people already out of bondage and slavery. So 
he says that, do not fear for God has come to test you that 
the fear of him may before you that you may not sin. So the 
people stood far while Moses drew near to the thick darkness 
where God was. We also see the reaction here. 
We also see this idea of worship in chapter 20 verses 22 to chapter 
22 verses 22 to 26. This is regarding the laws concerning 
altars and proper altar preparation. Chapter 20 verse 22, thus you 
shall say to the people of Israel, you have seen for yourselves 
that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods 
of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourself gods 
of gold. An altar of the earth you shall make for me and sacrifice 
on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep 
and your oxen. In every place where I cause 
my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. If 
you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn 
stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it. And 
you shall not go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness 
be not exposed on it." There is this idea that we have to 
approach God properly. We have to approach God acceptably. And Stuart comments concerning 
the preparation of the altars. Now that he has become their 
covenant of God, it was important that they be able to respond 
fully to him in worship, not merely repeating the practices 
of the past or simply borrowing from pagans the concepts and 
procedures of worship and sacrifice. They need to extinguish the polytheistic 
paganism that was within them. They need to crush that. And 
Yahweh, thankfully in His goodness and kindness, is setting forth 
what they must do. And it's pretty simple and pretty 
clear how they should approach Yahweh. So we've seen the holiness 
of God. We've seen the terror that He 
brought on the people of Israel, that they might worship Him, 
that they might react to Him, that they might keep. They're 
these commands and we can take away one application. I think 
is very clear We must fear Yahweh who is awesome You know that 
old song that we I used to sing in Sunday school. Our God is 
an awesome God You know, that's a cool. I I thought I was thinking 
about that today. I used when I was singing it 
before as a kid I didn't think about how awesome it really is. 
It really is an awesome song. Our God is an awesome God he 
you know, he with power and love he reigns it's just I Very very 
cool about the awesomeness of who our God really is and so 
really we need to trust in Yahweh with this fear That's what that 
fear means fear means we need to trust in him who he is We 
see in Proverbs 1 7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of knowledge Throughout the Old Testament we see the fear of 
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and to shun evil is understanding 
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and and to shun evil 
is understanding. Another thing is we need to approach 
God appropriately. I liked what one pastor said 
when he was preaching a sermon. I can't remember what it was 
about, but I remember what he said concerning worship. He said, 
I don't believe in the worship of God. He said, I believe in 
the worship of God acceptably. I believe in the worship of God 
acceptably in the way that he is prescribed, in the way that 
he has set forth in his holy word, which is what makes the 
regular principle of worship so wonderful. God has told us 
what he would do, and that's what we must do. It's pretty 
simple. preach the Word, sing the Word, 
pray the Word every Sunday. We don't need any other gimmicks 
or other things to add to it. It's what the Lord God has prescribed 
for us to do. So we've seen this holiness of 
God. Let us now look at the Book of the Covenant in chapters 21 
through 23. Now I'll probably just give summaries 
of these. We can't go into all these in 
detail. But I'll just give the outline that I got from a guy 
named Walter Kaiser. There's some outlines that are 
a little bit different. I like the way he outlined things, so 
I chose him. And so again, this is for judicial 
state stipulations for a specific nation. And these stipulations 
are based on the Decalogue that we've already seen in Chapter 
20. And so in Chapter 21, verses 1 through 11, we see laws concerning 
slaves. In chapter 21, verse 12 through 
17, we see laws concerning homicide. In chapter 21, verses 18 through 
32, we see laws concerning bodily injuries. Chapter 21, verses 
33 to 22, 15, we see laws concerning property damages. Chapter 22, 
verses 16 through 31, we see laws concerning society. Chapter 23, verses 1 through 
9, we see laws on justice and neighborliness. And then chapter 
23, verses 10 through 19, we see laws concerning sacred seasons. And I'll just draw your attention 
to a few interesting things that we can draw from these things. 
So the section on laws on homicides, that's 21, verses 12 to 17. Notice 
chapter 13. I'll read chapter 12 to 14. Whoever 
strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if 
he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his 
hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 
But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, 
you shall take him from my altar that he may die. That's notice 
chapter 21 verse 13. This is the foreshadow of the 
cities of refuge that we see in the rest of the Pentateuch 
or the Torah or the Law of God. We see these cities that have 
been set apart for men who accidentally kill someone and who are being 
pursued by the avenger of the one who was killed. They can 
go to these cities for refuge, for safety that the Lord God 
has set. So we see a foreshadow of that. 
Notice in chapter 21 verses 18 through 32, these are the laws 
on bodily injuries, we see the first instance of what is called 
the lex talionis, or eye for an eye. In chapter 21 verses 
23 and 24. But if there is harm, then you 
shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand 
for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe 
for stripe. It's a judicial thing that basically 
can be summarized that the punishment fits the crime. What God does 
is he protects the innocent civilly, and he punishes the guilty. he 
protects the innocent and punishes the guilty. This isn't for personal 
revenge but it was a judicial process that was set forth to 
make sure the person who actually committed the crime actually 
committed the crime and that the punishment would fit that 
crime. It was both for the complainant and the defendant as well. So we see those laws, we see 
those stipulations and then chapter 23 verses 20 to 33 we actually see the conquest 
of Canaan promised. This conquest of Canaan promised. Chapter 23, verse 20. Behold, I send an angel before 
you to guard you on the way and to prepare you to the place that 
I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him 
and obey his voice. Do not rebel against him, for 
he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if 
you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I'll 
be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries." 
Again, we have that conditional aspect of the covenant. If you 
obey, then this will happen. And notice what the angel will 
do in chapter 23, verse 23. When my angel goes before you, and brings you to the Amorites, 
and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, 
and the Jebusites, and I will blot them out. And again, you 
shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do as they 
do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars 
in pieces." And notice in 23 verse 32, you shall make no covenant 
with those people and their gods. You shall not dwell in your land, 
they shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin 
against me. For if you serve their gods, 
it will surely be a snare to you." What's Yahweh planning 
to do? Taking out these people so that 
the people of Israel do not sin. He's planning to crush these 
people so that the people of Israel do not sin. Again, we 
know the end of the story. They don't crush the people, 
all the people in the land of Israel, in the land of Canaan. 
And unfortunately, the people actually do end up whoring themselves 
out to the Canaanite gods and worshiping false gods, which 
is truly abominable. But notice, I think the angel 
of the Lord, a lot of commentators see this as the pre-incarnate 
Christ. This is the pre-incarnate Christ who goes before his people 
to do battle for his people, even before they enter into, 
or this one will enter into the land of Canaan. And so we see 
again, we see this, the conquest promise, we see this conquest 
of Yahweh. But why are these laws here? Why do we have these laws specifically 
in this place? So I want to highlight a few 
things concerning why it's placed here. As I mentioned already, 
that the people had just come out of Egypt. It's been about 
three months since they've come out and they're at Sinai now. 
So there's probably still some Egyptian residue upon them. There's 
probably still these pagan ideas within them, even a little bit. 
So what's God trying to do? He's trying to crush those ideas 
and get them out of their system. But probably most importantly 
is that he set these people apart as a nation. as a holy nation. What nation can run without rules? What nation can run with no order 
no governance, no one to give them guidance, otherwise it'd 
be absolutely utter chaos. So what he does is he's setting 
apart for these people what they must do as a covenant people, 
as a national people, and it's actually a truly wonderful thing 
the way he sets these things up. And I'll get to that in just 
a second. But another thing to notice as well, as we'll see 
at the end of chapter 24 at verse 18, Moses is gonna be gone for 
40 days and 40 nights. Moses, this mediator, is going 
to be gone. They don't have Google. They 
don't have a library. They don't have any of the luxuries 
that we do. They can't just open their phone 
and look at the stipulations that are there. So therefore, 
what do they do? Moses writes these laws down 
before he goes up to the Lord once again, so the people know 
I think what to do in the land, right off the bat as this holy 
nation. But notice as well that these 
laws are set up for the protection of the innocent. They are set 
up to protect people. Remember they were in bondage 
to Pharaoh in Egypt and he was a tyrant, he was evil, he treated 
them poorly. But now they're in servitude 
to the Lord God Most High. Not for salvation, but again, 
because they have been saved. that they are set apart that 
they might serve Yahweh because of His grace. Here's what Yahweh 
has done, therefore serve me. Now the conditions of the Old 
Covenant are still conditional, but that doesn't mean there can't 
be the grace of God even there, because God brought these people 
up out of the land of Egypt. But again, He's protecting these 
people. I really liked what Stuart had 
to say concerning, he's talking about the difference between 
some of the penalties that were given, namely restitution. That 
is, if you burn someone's house down, you probably need to give 
them a new home. That's just a summary of that. But if you 
burn someone's house down, you give them a new home. But I like 
the way he summarized the advantages of this over something like prison. 
He had four things he had to say. So this restitution that 
is throughout the Old Testament, throughout even Deuteronomy as 
well and Exodus, he says, this compensates the victims more 
generously, so that the victims are protected. Two, it requires 
the offender to deal directly with the person he offended. 
It requires the person actually to confront the person that he 
wronged and actually look in their face, look in their eyes 
and see what they did. Thirdly, I like this one a lot. 
It permits a repentant offender to continue a productive life 
immediately upon making a restoration. What happens now? If you go to 
jail, you're going to be there for a while. Right? But here, 
if you sin, if you do something wrong to your neighbor, if you 
burn his house down, then you pay him back, repent, and move 
forward with your life. So it even not only protects 
the complainant, but it protects the defendant as well. And that's 
what the lex talionis does. It makes sure, again, that the 
punishment fits the crime, that it doesn't exceed what the person 
should receive. And fourthly, this does not require 
society to provide housing, food, and clothing for the duration 
of the offender's imprisonment. That is, we don't have to pay 
for the people to be in prison. So you see, the law of God is 
set up in such a wonderful way that it should protect the innocent 
if it were to be upheld perfectly. Obviously, it wasn't. But if 
they were to uphold it perfectly, it's supposed to be protecting 
the innocent and punishing the guilty. And so it actually is 
a very, very wonderful setup, a very, very wonderful way in 
which God sets forth a civil stipulation or a civil covenant 
with his people. But I think the one application 
we can draw from this Book of the Covenant, we are not under 
these judicial laws now. The theocratic Israel has been 
gone into exile, they are extinguished, but nonetheless, we are still, 
the moral law is still binding for believers who believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is still normative. Remember 
why God brought about, appeared to them in his holiness, and 
that's to make sure that they obey him, that they trust in 
him. But for us, thankfully, because Jesus Christ has provided 
salvation for his people, we must respond to the work of the 
Lord Christ out of gratitude, not for acceptance with God, 
but because we have been saved. So we do need to obey God. We 
do need to trust in Him. And that these, even these laws 
are meant even for our good as well. They're meant to protect 
us. They're meant to be, to be to 
be, so that we don't, you know, murder our brother, hurt our 
brother, that we don't have the ramifications of the things even 
on a civil sphere that we would face. You know, if we murder 
someone, we're probably going to go to prison. If we kill someone 
in the States, we're probably going to get the death penalty. 
Like, these things are good, are good restrainers for us. 
Even as the New Covenant people, you know, we shouldn't murder, 
we should worship God, we should keep his Sabbath. Again, we won't 
do it perfectly, but thankfully, we have that true Israel who 
did fulfill those 10 words perfectly, who was that true Israel, who 
lived, died, and rose again on behalf of his people. And as 
I've said already, another application is that we are saved. We see 
that Israel is saved from this bondage to Pharaoh, and now they're 
under bondage to God. We see the bondage, and same 
for the New Covenant people. We were once under bondage to 
sin. Now we are slaves to righteousness. We were once under bondage to 
sin, but now we are slaves to Yahweh, or slaves to Jesus, slaves 
to the triune God. in righteousness because of his 
goodness because of his grace we are released from that curse 
of the law but again it's we're not under the law as that covenant 
of works that israel was under but we are under it as a normative 
use as a pattern for living that we might live in a manner consistent 
with the gospel of our lord and savior jesus christ so praise 
god if we're believers we're under a law that doesn't that 
doesn't condemn us, that doesn't hurt us. Because, you know, even 
in 1 John 5, God's, Jesus' laws are not burdensome. The commandments 
are not burdensome. You know, He even says in, yeah, 
His commandments are not burdensome. It is truly a wonderful thing 
when we understand that we are released from the curse of the 
law, released from that covenant of works, yet as believers we 
still to live in a manner consistent with the gospel. So we've seen 
the holiness of God that should strike fear in his people, we've 
seen his stipulations for the people of Israel for a specific 
time, and now we'll see that covenant ratified in chapter 
24. in chapter 24, at verse one. Then he said to Moses, come up 
to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders 
of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to 
the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people 
shall not come up with him. Moses came and told the people 
all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people 
answered with one voice, and all said, All the words that 
the Lord has spoken, we will do. All the words that the Lord 
has spoken, we will do. This is reminiscent of chapter 
19, right? All the words that the Lord has 
spoken, we will do. They say they're going to do 
this. Are they a faithful people? Question mark, question mark, 
question mark. Are they going to be a faithful people? And 
we know that that answer is no. And so we see them say this, 
and then Moses ratifies the covenant. But notice, first of all, how 
he does it. Chapter 24, verse 4. And Moses wrote down all the 
words of the Lord. And Moses wrote down all the 
words of the Lord. And I think this gives us an 
indication of the importance of the necessity of seeing that 
Exodus and the old books, the books of the Old Testament, are 
part of the canon. Because what are we dealing with 
here in Exodus? We're dealing with a covenant. Now, as one 
theologian pointed out, canon is inherent in covenant. Canon 
and authoritativeness is inherent in covenant and basically even 
in the ancient Near East we saw the treaties Would be would have 
these things called what they're called document clauses And what 
they do is they would sign on paper the covenant they were 
they have the written covenant out They would sign it essentially 
sign it and then they keep it for themselves in some area or 
another. We still do this today when we 
are making contracts. I think for the most part we're 
pretty thick and we need reminders of what it is we must, or the 
contracts we must fulfill, like a phone contract, right? You 
know, the preamble, I'm with, I'm Covenanting with Telus to 
make sure that they give me this service and I'll pay them this 
dough, right? And what's the issue if I don't? 
Oh, I'm not going to have a phone anymore. Oh, and what do we do? 
We sign it to make sure that we understand the stipulations 
and what the covenant is so that we know it. The same thing is 
true here. Canon is inherent in covenant. 
because Yahweh wants to make sure also his people know what 
it is that they must do. And as I said already, Moses 
is going to be gone. Thankfully, now they have a written document. 
Now they have something that they have there. But nonetheless, 
I hope this highlights the idea. Even in the New Covenant, the 
New Testament is a New Covenant document between God and the 
believers, God and his people, Jesus as that mediator. And so 
it's quite a wonderful thing when we understand that, that 
this idea of canon is within the idea of covenant as well, 
based on the ancient Near Eastern treaties. They have these document 
clauses as well. And then we see what they do. 
In chapter 24, verse 5, we see this kind of covenant meal And 
he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt 
offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 
And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half 
of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book 
of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And 
they said, all that the people, all that the Lord has spoken, 
we will do and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and 
threw it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant 
that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these 
words, it is binding in blood. It is binding in blood and both 
parties must seek to fulfill it. In this case, in the conditional 
covenant, we know that Israel does not fulfill this, that Israel 
does not fulfill this. And what this signifies is this 
idea of alliance with one another, with this binding in blood. But the end of the chapter, I 
think, sets the scene for chapters 25 through 40. It's kind of a 
cliffhanger of sorts. It's actually very, very interesting, 
very fascinating. We see twice in chapter 24, the 
people say, all that the Lord has said, we will do. All that 
the Lord has said we will do. And then Moses ascends the mountain. He ascends the mountain. We see 
that in chapter 24 verse 12 and verse 15. The Lord is supposed 
to go up and Moses does ascend that. But notice he gives a charge 
in 24 14 to the elders. And he said to the elders, wait 
here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Ur 
are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him 
go to them. That is, wait here for us. And 
behold, there's this charge for the elders to be in charge while 
Moses is gone. And then we see this summary 
statement that Moses ascends the mountain and he's going to 
be there 40 days and 40 nights. Again, that sets the stage for 
25 through 40, where we see worship, And we also see, I won't tell 
you because it's a cliffhanger, so you have to come next time. 
But it's truly, truly an interesting thing, what will happen to the 
people of Israel. So in conclusion, we must remember 
in this section that Yahweh is revealing His holiness, both 
in His presence and in His law as well. And I think the applications 
are pretty clear that I've said already. fear Yahweh, we need 
to obey Yahweh, and we need to praise, but we also need to praise 
Yahweh for the faithful Israel, that is, Jesus Christ. Thanks 
be to God that we have Jesus Christ, who is the true Israel, 
who came, He was born of a woman, born under the law, that He might 
redeem those under the law. He fulfilled the stipulations 
both with the covenant of Adam, the covenant of works with Adam, 
and the old covenant with Israel. He did what we could not have 
done, he did what Israel could not do, and he died as that perfect 
sacrifice for a better covenant. I'm going to close by reading 
Hebrews chapter 12, verses 18 through 24. concerning the mountain 
that we get to ascend because of the work of Christ. Hebrews 
chapter 12 verses 18 through 24, this is a better covenant. 
And he actually quotes, the writer of Hebrews quotes Exodus 19 verse 
12. Hebrews 12 verse 18. For you 
have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and a 
darkness and gloom and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and 
a voice whose words may the hearers beg that no further messages 
be spoken to them. For they could not endure the 
word that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, 
it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the 
sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. But you have come 
to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and 
to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and 
to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous 
made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and 
to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood 
of Abel. Amen. Well, let us pray. Dear 
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your awesomeness, Lord God. 
We thank you that we can come to you and approach you because 
of the work of Christ, Lord God. We know that we are unholy people, 
Lord God, but yet we know that you call a people to be a holy 
nation. Help us by your spirit to have 
a right and holy fear of who you are. Help us to have that 
true fear, that trust in you, knowing that you are the one 
who can save people from their sins. We thank you for the work 
of the true Israel, the true mediator, that true Adam who 
lived, died, and rose again. We thank you for that work of 
Christ, Lord God. For if we see those stipulations and we would 
not have been able to fulfill them, Lord God, and we see that 
Israel did not, Lord God, we pray that you would forgive us 
of our sins. Help us now as believers to walk in a manner consistent 
with the gospel that you might be glorified, Lord God. Amen.