Exodus chapter 19 is filled with tremendous preparation and anticipation. We see that coming before God is to be revered because God is Holy. After 3 months of deliverance, miraculous provision and God-won victory in battle; they have been brought to the foot of Mount Sinai. They will remain here for the next 57 chapters and learn God’s laws. We live in a society in which no one wants to stop to read the instruction manual first; we just want to get to it. Even in the study of God’s Word, we want to race through His instruction. But God gives His law as a measuring stick that we might know how far we are from His perfection. It is only by realizing this, that we can truly embrace our need for a Savior. God begins by telling Moses, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to say to tell the people of Israel“. Of all the names He could have used, ‘The house of Jacob’ is the least flattering. Jacob was such a scoundrel that God even changed his name, yet God knows we are all “Jacobs” by nature. God also tells the people, “if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant… you will be My treasured possession… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation“. Wow, God considers us His prize possession.
God tells Moses, “I am going to come down to you… so the people will hear me speaking with you“. “Go to the people and consecrate them… and be ready… because the Lord will come down from Mount Sinai.” He also explains the Mountain is not even to be touched by man or animal under penalty of death. On the morning of the third day, “there was thunder and lightning with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast…everyone in the camp trembled… the whole mountain trembled violently… Moses spoke and the voice of God answered Him“. Imagine that scene, what all these people will see, it seems impossible they could ever stray, yet within forty days they will be worshiping an idol created by their own hands. God even tells Moses to “Warn the people“, and “Moses went down to the people and told them“. Through Israel’s rebellion, we can see OUR need for a Savior. Just like Israel, we cannot be good enough to approach God on our own merit.
In chapter 12 of the book of Hebrews, the author discusses this scene at the foot of Mount Sinai and compares it to the grace we have in Christ. He explains to followers of Christ, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant“. He says, “for the Law made nothing perfect” (Hebrews 7:19). But of Christ our perfect High Priest, he says, “He is able to save forever those that draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). And he reminds us, “Through His own blood, He entered the Holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption… for this reason He is the mediator of the new covenant… those that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance… since a death has already taken place for the redemption of the transgressions“. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is payment for our sins if we will receive Him as our Savior by faith. “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16)