The Israelites reach Sinai in our study today, where many important things are going to happen.
"On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt---on that very day, they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain." (Exodus 19:1-2) Rephidim is the place where the Lord caused water to come out of a rock and it's also the place where Israel won a battle when the Amalekites unexpectedly attacked them.
Now they are at the foot of Mount Sinai and Moses goes up onto the mountain to commune privately with God, just as God said he would back in Exodus 3. The burning bush where the Lord spoke to Moses was in this area and the Lord promised He would make Moses successful in Egypt and that He would bring Moses back to this mountain where Moses would worship Him. "Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did in Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.'" (Exodus 19:3-6)
The people have already witnessed enough to know that God is trustworthy. He displayed His power in Egypt and brought them out by His mighty hand. They already know enough about God that they should want to serve Him. On top of that, He rescued them from Egypt not simply to right a wrong. He has far more in mind for them than merely setting them free of slavery. He rescued them to make them His. He wants to be their personal God. He wants to have a relationship with each and every one of them. Their faith may still be weak at this point, and they may be led more by human thinking than by spiritual thinking, but they have enough strength to believe He is there and that's a good starting point. They have enough strength to call upon His name and that lays a foundation upon which the Lord can build. This is a foundation upon which He can teach them His laws and commandments---and if they remain faithful to Him and do not renounce Him and turn to idolatry, they will forever be a special, chosen people to the Lord.
The Lord is laying out His terms for a binding legal agreement with the people. Moses takes His terms to the elders and explains to them how the people are to keep their part of the bargain. "So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, 'We will do everything the Lord has said.' So Moses brought their answer back to God." (Exodus 19:7-8) The people accept the Lord's offer. They say, "We will serve Him and only Him. We will follow His instructions. We will not turn aside to other gods." This transaction reminds me of marriage vows, in a way, when each party to the legally binding contract of marriage promises to keep themselves only for the other and to remain together no matter what comes their way. The Israelites are saying, "We will not serve other gods. We will keep ourselves only for You, Lord. We will remain faithful to You in good times and in bad times. We will adhere to our side of the contract."
Moses tells the Lord that the people have accepted His offer. Of course the Lord already knows this, but Moses is acting as a mediator between God and man and it's important that he go through all the steps that a mediator has to follow. The people need to see the legal procedure taking place between Moses and God. This is how a mediator would act as a go-between if he were mediating an agreement between humans. He would go back and forth between the parties until the terms of the agreement were settled. To show that God has received and has accepted the people's reply, He is going to put on a visual and auditory display for them. "The Lord said to Moses, 'I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.' Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said." (Exodus 19:9)
This cloud is believed to be the pillar of cloud that went before them on their journey out of Egypt. It will cover Mount Sinai while the Lord converses with Moses. This display will lend further support to the authority of Moses over the people; it puts the Lord's "seal of approval" upon Moses' leadership. If such glory comes down and covers the mountain while Moses speaks with God, then surely Moses is God's chosen leader for this period of time. It proves to the people that the instructions Moses gives them are coming from the Lord Himself and that means the instructions are to be obeyed. They are not man-made instructions but God-made instructions.
"And the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." (Exodus 19:10-11) The people will not approach God as closely as Moses will, but to even be in the vicinity of the cloud they must bathe and wash their clothes. This outer cleansing is intended to reflect a cleansing that should have taken place in the heart, for what good is it to cleanse the outside and leave the inside filthy? They are to ready their hearts and minds and spirits to come near to God. This readying should include a time of prayer and inward reflection so the Holy Spirit can reveal to each of them anything that needs to be repented of or changed. We are told to do something similar before taking part in communion in church: "Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink of the cup." (1 Corinthians 11:28) Baptism is another example of an outward sign of an inward change. We accept Christ as Savior, then we voluntarily submit to baptism. The ritual of baptism reflects the cleansing that has happened on the inside.
Inward consecration is the goal in our passage today, and the Lord Jesus once hotly criticized some of the religious leaders in His community for making themselves look clean only on the outside while not having their hearts right on the inside: "You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." (Matthew 23:25, Luke 11:39) They appeared to be doing all the right things from the outside. They were going through the motions. They were observing the rituals. But they had lost the heart of their religion. They weren't loving their neighbors as themselves. They weren't loving the Lord their God with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength. What good did it do them to look right on the outside when they were wrong on the inside? The Lord has Moses instruct the people to wash and put on clean clothes, but this is to reflect the consecration of the heart. True consecration is not outward; it's inward.
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