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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
19:1-40:38 Covenant at Sinai. The second half of Exodus focuses on the events at Mount Sinai and the content of the law revealed to Moses. The narrative includes: the preparation of the people (19:1-25); the Ten Commandments and other laws (20:1-23:19); the instructions for entering the land (23:20-33); the confirmation of the covenant (24:1-18); the instructions relating to the tabernacle (25:1-31:18; 35:1-3); the breach, intercession, and renewal of the covenant (32:1-34:35); and the assembling of the tabernacle (35:4-40:38).
19:1-25 Setting: Sinai. Israel arrives at Sinai, where the rest of the events of Exodus will take place and where the Lord will reveal his covenant through Moses. Chapter 19 focuses on the instructions that the Lord gives to Moses in order to prepare Israel for his presence at Mount Sinai.
19:1-3 When Israel comes to the wilderness of Sinai and camps at the mountain (vv. 1-2), it is the fulfillment of the sign the Lord promised to Moses at the burning bush--that he would bring the people out of Egypt and they would "serve God on this mountain" (3:12). On the third new moon puts their arrival at Sinai about after the exodus. This coincides with the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), which among other things celebrates the giving of the law (Lev. 23:15-21).
19:4-6 The Lord calls Israel to be faithful to his covenant even before he has revealed all of its particulars (v. 5). What they have seen in Egypt (v. 4) reminds them that God's covenant relationship with them is prior to and essential for their living as his people.
19:6 When the Lord calls Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, he is not referring exclusively to the role that Aaron and his sons will fill as priests (28:1) but also to what Israel's life as a whole is to represent among the nations. By keeping the covenant (19:5), the people of Israel would continue both to set themselves apart from, and also to mediate the presence and blessing of the Lord to, the nations around them (see Gen. 12:3; Deut. 4:6; note on Isa. 61:5-7). When Peter applies these terms to the church (see 1 Pet. 2:5, 9), he is explaining that the mixed body of Jewish and Gentile believers inherit the privileges of Israel, and he is calling the believers to persevere in faithfulness so that those around them "may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation" (1 Pet. 2:12).
19:9 that the people may hear when I speak with you. The sights and sounds of the Lord's presence on Mount Sinai are emphasized throughout the section (see also vv. 11, 16-19) and were to signify further that Moses was the one through whom the Lord was revealing his word to Israel.
19:10-13 Through the instructions to consecrate the people (vv. 10-11) and to set limits (vv. 12-13), the Lord is preparing Israel for the pattern of worship that will be embodied in the tabernacle (see 26:31-37). The mountain is to be set apart because it will be made holy by the Lord's presence on it (19:11). The Hebrew verb translated "consecrate" is lit. "to set apart as holy" and indicates that Moses is to prepare Israel to come before a holy God. While most of the specifics are not given, the call to wash their garments (v. 10) indicates that consecration includes setting aside or altering aspects of daily living in preparation to meet God (see v. 17).
19:15 It is not clear whether the instruction to not go near a woman was included in or implied by the Lord's instruction to Moses. The purpose of consecration (see vv. 10-13) indicates that the rationale likely includes abstaining from sex as an aspect of setting oneself apart to meet with God (cf. Lev. 15:16-18), not because of anything presumed to be inherently unacceptable in either sex or women.
19:16-20 All the sights (lightnings and a thick cloud, v. 16; smoke and fire, v. 18) and sounds (thunders and a very loud trumpet blast, vv. 16, 19) signify the Lord's presence (v. 18); the experience was to be a continual reminder to Israel that the Lord had spoken to Moses (see vv. 18-21).
19:22-24 The reference to the priests precedes the Lord's instructions that Aaron and his sons will fill the role (see 28:1). If Aaron's sons are being referred to here, they are grouped together with the people as those who are restricted from coming up on the mountain. break out against them. I.e., kill them (cf. Lev. 10:1-2; 2 Sam. 6:6-8).
