The Covenant at Sinai
Notes
Transcript
1. Arrival at the Mountain of God, 19:1-2.
1. Arrival at the Mountain of God, 19:1-2.
VS. 1-2 the most reasonable understanding of the time of their arrival at the mountain is that they arrived on the fifteenth day of the third month, the new calendar that God had established when He gave instructions for the passover, just over a two-month journey
the Wilderness of Sinai is a large area in the southern Sinai peninsula.
Though there is some debate about where the mountain was, it is traditionally identified with Jebel Musa, which is an impressive granite mountain in southern Sinai, that stands about 7,500 feet high. Also called Horeb, this name may refer more to the area where the mountain was.
Wherever it truly was, it was the presence of the LORD that made it “the mountain. This is the meeting place once again of God and humankind.
It is here where the Israelites must proceed to fulfill their calling, that reason for their liberation: The LORD’s people will be a worshipping people.
This was the “sign” that Moses’ mission had its origin and cause in the LORD, not merely in other factors.
The future form and character of the children of Israel as they become a nation will take shape here at Sinai.
The covenant made here, whose creator and author is God Himself, gives visible form to the hope, promises, and goals of the unconditional covenant with the patriarchs.
2. God’s offer of covenant, 19:3-6.
2. God’s offer of covenant, 19:3-6.
VS. 3ab. We do not know whether Moses climbed all the way to the top, or just up to a certain location on the side of the mountain. The LORD called to him from the mountain, establishing Moses again as Israel’s representative before the LORD.
VS. 3cd-6. The chiastic pattern is
A:19:3.
3c. Thus you shall say ...
3d. and tell the sons of Israel:;
B:19:4.
4a. You yourselves have seen ...
4b. and how I bore you …
4c. and brought you to Myself.
C:19:5ab.
5a. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice ...
5b. … and keep My covenant …
B’:19:5cd-6ab.
5c. You shall be my own possession ...
5d. For all the earth is mine; …
6a. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests ...
6b. (You shall be to me) a holy nation.
A’:19:6cd.
6c. These are the words ...
6d. … that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.
The conditional clause in C is the hinge; B speaks of past grace, B’ is future grace toward Israel, bracketed by the command to speak to Israel in vs. 3 and 6. This gives us the boundaries, emphasizing the importance of the message and the offer it contains.
Here is the Creator of all who offers Israel a covenant relationship to Himself, the most important single event in the history of the nation.
VS. 4. Note the contrast between what the LORD did to Egypt and what He did to Israel; between what the LORD did to Egypt, and that He bore … brought Israel to Himself.
‘on eagle’s wings’ has theological significance because of the contrast of the events in cps. 15-18.
From Israel’s perspective, they have had a hard journey through a harsh land, experiencing severe thirst, hunger and warfare along the way.
God’s claim, however is entirely true: God broke the power of Egypt and He delivered the people from troubles along the way. God makes the claim--the claim itself is a test of faith. If they can see how this claim is true, they have faith; if they scoff, they do not.
VS. 5-6. This will be a bilateral covenant, which means both parties will agree to its terms, and the success will depend on Israel’s faithfulness as well as the LORD’s. The Abrahamic and David covenants were unilateral covenants, created by God and without stipulations for the participant.
See Deut. 32:46-47.
he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.
“For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
The LORD’s laws that will proceed from this encounter with the Lawgiver Himself and embedded in this covenant, will be distinctive is some ways compared to ancient Near East laws while also sharing some parallels and contacts with those laws
The conditional clauses describe the obedience of Israel in both internal and external terms. They are not equivalent:
5a-speaks of internal obedience from the heart;
5b-in keeping the law, it is external and observable. These go together.
To claim to obey God is hollow if not accompanied by obedience to the Law; the practice of observing the Law is dead if one does not obey from the heart.
‘indeed obey’ -- “earnestly listen” an emphatic Hebrew construction, but it must be only the LORD’s voice they listen to. Then they must do what He says.
Looking to the future, we next see the contrast of God’s relationship to Israel with His relationship to all the other nations. Israel is the LORD’s special treasure alone. Anyone who touches her has touched God’s personal property. He has set her aside for Himself.
This is reiterated in Deut. 7:6; 14:2; and Psalm 135:4.
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession.
This context helps us understand “kingdom of priests” and “holy nation.”
Our text is not speaking of a universal priesthood, or that anyone could officiate at the sanctuary, but rather that Israel would enjoy a special relationship to God, a status like a national priesthood.
In the ancient world, a priest knew things about the god he served that outsiders did not; such things as the details surrounding the god’s myth, the god’s secret names, and the rituals involved. They would have special access to the god and could make intercession to him.
Israelites, in contrast to the other nations, would have knowledge of God in the Torah. They alone could participate in worship at the sanctuary in which He dwelt, they alone could partake of Passover. They could also call upon Him by His chosen name, YHWH, and He would answer them.
All peoples of the earth belonged to God, but Israel was a special treasure out of all the treasures (people). They knew God.
These are the words of the LORD. Moses is tasked to bring these words, and only these words, to the sons of Israel. Their acceptance of the terms would put them under obligation to fulfill their part.
3. The Israelites acceptance of God’s offer, 19:7-8.
3. The Israelites acceptance of God’s offer, 19:7-8.
VS. 7. The offer of the LORD to covenant was conveyed by Moses to the elders to efficiently communicate it to the respective tribes, clans, and family units.
VS. 8. The elders did not answer for the people; rather they brought the answer of the people back to Moses. They accepted the LORD’s offer, which together with the offer itself, is the decisive moment in Israel’s history. Israel is now the bearers of the covenant; they were bound to God as no other people were. Subsequent failures do not diminish the glory of the relationship. Their obligated themselves to complete obedience to God with no claim to moral perfection. The terms that the LORD gave them were accepted by the people themselves. They wisely accepted the gift rather than run away.
Moses then returns to the mountain to share the peoples’ acceptance of the LORD’s terms. They are at the initiation of the Sinai covenant, which is in the form of a law code, with specific obligations and specific repercussions for obedience or disobedience.