Exodus 19: At The Mountain

Exodus 19 looms large in our mental picture of the Israelites before their God.  Fresh out of their slavery in Egypt, they assemble at the foot of the mountain in Sinai.  This is a fulfillment of God's promise given to Moses at the burning bush all the way back in Exodus 3:12.  This is also a scene that will be referred to in the New Testament in Hebrews 12:18-21 as a contrast with the inheritance that Christians have at Mount Zion.

Of special note is the sacredness of this mountain and the people's encounter with the Lord.  God requires that that the Israelites be sanctified, or made holy.  Specifically, the people are to:

• Wash their clothes.
• Prepare for the third day.
• Not touch the mountain.
• Abstain from sex.

God is impressing upon the people His might and power.  He is inviting them to enter into a covenant with Him (vs. 5) - the Mosaic Covenant - which will be the basis for the Old Testament Law which follows.

God desires that the Israelites be for Him a special possession.  Though He already owns everything and all the peoples of the earth are His, God's plan is for this people to be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.  These words, too, are very familiar as we will hear them again in the New Testament in I Peter 2:9.

As the people gather, there are all the elements you would expect in a divine encounter: thunder and lightning, thick cloud, trumpet blasts, smoke, earth-shaking, etc.  Several times God warns the people not to approach the mountain.  He is establishing the holiness of the Divine Presence at the mountain.