Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning and welcome back to another Biblit! The last time we talked, we were discussing this really cool reunion between Moses and his family in Exodus 18.
This week is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Or the moment Israel has been waiting for. Well, maybe they didn’t even know what they were waiting for. Either way, this is the day they make it to Mt. Sinai!
Let’s jump into this commentary on Exodus 19.
Context
This is a cool chapter with one main subtle emphasis: God’s Holiness.
But we’ll get to that later.
Exodus 19 is all a prelude to God giving the laws to Moses, which contain the laws and ordinances for the construction of the tabernacle. Those are extremely important laws and regulations because they are the one and only way for the people of Israel to be with the Holy God.
However, before we get into any of that, God has to prepare Israel and Moses so they are ready to receive the law.
The chapter opens up with God reminding Moses of the covenant He has established with Israel earlier:
“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:4-6 CSB).
This was God’s reminder of His faithfulness and Israel’s responsibilities.
He told Moses that in 3 days He would come down to Mt. Sinai which meant that for the next 2 days they needed to consecrate themselves to God and purify themselves in every way imaginable. They needed to be clean in and out when God came into their presence.
God also warned Moses that when He comes onto the mountain, anyone that touches the mountain will die. In some way shape or form, they will die.
Moses goes on His merry way and informs Israel, who are all very excited by this potential prospect of death. Just kidding; Israel’s response is actually a beautiful picture. They don’t even think twice about the potential death, they are just ecstatic and begin shouting praises to God. I mean, the God who created the universe and saved them from slavery is coming down to earth to be with them in all of His glory! How insane is that!?
Well, just as God said, on the third day, thunder and lightning surrounded the mountain, and a huge trumpet blast was heard throughout the camp sending fear through every person.
Moses and the people went to the mountain but didn’t touch it.
By that point, the mountain was now consumed with smoke and (God’s favorite theophany version, fire). I can’t imagine how epic a picture this would be in real life!
As they got closer, the trumpet got louder and louder, but Moses tried to speak anyways. The Lord answered Moses with thunder and called him to come up the mountain.
I imagine that Moses was a little scared, I know I would be, but he goes without hesitating.
When he gets to the top, God tells him to go warn the people again not to climb up the mountain to see the Lord or else they will die.
Moses naively says, “oh don’t worry, God, I already told them.”
God, in His almighty patience, says it again,
“Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out in anger against them.” (Exodus 19:24 CSB).
And so Moses listened that time and obeyed immediately. All lives were spared that day.
Interpretation
I think it is just so powerful that this entire chapter is filled with God’s careful instruction to Israel so that they can be safe and prepared to receive His laws.
I’m reminded of Isaiah:
“And one called to another:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.
The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.
Then I said:
Woe is me for I am ruined
because I am a man of unclean lips
and live among a people of unclean lips,
and because my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of Armies.” (Isaiah 6:3-5 CSB).
When Isaiah was in God’s presence he was ruined. The immense Holiness God exuded shattered him to the bone to the point he collapsed. The angels had to pick him up and cleanse him themselves.
The first part of this passage is really powerful and a lot of times overlooked. “Holy, holy, holy.” That is the phrase the angels used flying around God, praising Him.
This form of repetition is called a “Trisagion.” It means it’s repeated 3 times. The Jews often used repetition as a way to emphasize certain things. Kind of like how I might bold a word or add italics to it.
Well, this style of emphasis has a maximum of 3. I think of it as I can either bold something or italicize it to add some emphasis. Those would be examples of double repetition. But when I want maximum emphasis, I can bold and italicize it. That’s an example of a Trisagion in the English language. At least in my head.
Why is any of this important?
Well, it’s important because in the entire Bible God is given many attributes. He’s called love, just, merciful, glorious, and on and on. But there is only one attribute of God that is talked about with the emphasis of Trisagion. And that is God’s Holiness. Nowhere in the Bible is God praised as being “love, love, love,” or “mercy, mercy, mercy.” Only as being “holy, holy, holy.”
That must mean that God’s holiness is a massive deal. I’ve heard it explained that His holiness is the umbrella that captures all of His other attributes. He doesn’t just have love. He has a Holy Love.
All of that to say, this passage in Exodus 19 paints a beautiful, and scary, picture of God’s holiness.
Application
Why is it important to grasp His holiness?
I think the application to this passage is just to remind ourselves of God’s holiness. When Jesus sacrificed Himself on our behalf, he was fulfilling all the laws that Moses is about to receive.
He became the sacrifice of all sacrifices so that our sins were fully expunged. He became the high priest so we don’t have to go to a priest anymore; we always have Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, advocating on our behalf.
But we shouldn’t forget what that does. It gives us access to the Holy God. The same God who came down to a mountain in an epic storm of fire and lightning. The same God that when He surrounded the mountain, if anyone touched it, they would die! The same God who created the entire universe with nothing but His voice.
That’s the God we have free access to thanks to Jesus! I think that’s the big reminder from this passage. At least for me. This is a passage that should drive us to Jesus in awe and praise.
Powerful truth.