The Covenant at Mount Sinai (Exodus): After rescuing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Yahweh invited them into a covenant relationship at Mount Sinai. In one of the most crucial chapters in the Bible, we find that the great, big beating heart of God behind all his saving work is this: to have a real, intimate, and life-giving relationship with people — people who have been separated from a holy God by their sin — but people who are still greatly loved and are precious to God. Recorded on Dec 15, 2024, on Exodus 19 by Pastor David Parks.
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This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God’s Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.
Sermon Transcript
Since September, we’ve been working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. After freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Yahweh God led them through the desert wilderness by his word given through the prophet Moses and by his own holy Presence in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. The Israelites struggled and grumbled; it was tough, and the people barely trusted the God who had just rescued them from Egypt. But Yahweh proved faithful and good. Last week, we considered when Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, visited them at Rephidim. He heard everything Yahweh had done for the Israelites and had a conversion experience. But he also offered a suggestion about the leadership structure that probably saved Moses from being crushed under the burden of leading all these people. Well, today, after months of traveling through the desert wilderness, we finally get to Mount Sinai and discover the purpose of God behind this dramatic rescue of the Israelites from Egypt. Why did he do all this? What was God’s heart behind rescuing and redeeming a people for himself? Well, here, we find that the great, big beating heart of God behind all of creation and salvation is to have a real relationship with people — people who have been separated from a holy God by their sin — but people who are still greatly loved and are precious to God. This is the defining story of Israel, but this is also our story in Christ. So, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 19:1.
Exodus 19:1–6 (NIV), “1 On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. 3 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: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 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, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” Everything in the Exodus story has led up to this point when Yahweh God invited the Israelites into a covenant relationship with him at Mount Sinai. And this is just so significant. Yahweh had promised he would do this for the family of Abraham and Sarah some 430 years earlier. He repeated the promise down through the generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He told Moses this is what he was doing when he appeared to him from the burning bush. And now, here it was coming to pass. It’s hard to overstate how important this part of the story is in the Bible. This would be the story that defined Israel for generations after, too. Given how important this is, we’re going to spend some extra time on this first statement of Yahweh at Mount Sinai, this formal invitation into a relationship. First, what is a covenant relationship? One of the things we talk about during pre-marital counseling is that marriage is a covenant relationship. It’s where two parties enter voluntarily into a relationship that isn’t based on your feelings or what you get out of it. But where two commit upfront to become one, no matter what might happen. It’s formal and legal, but as in marriage, it’s also supposed to be real and intimate and life-giving, not merely a business contract. Covenant relationships were common at this time and could be between people, but often were between a king and a person or group of people. Yahweh knew the Israelites would understand the concept of a covenant relationship from their culture and used that language and concept to make it clear that he wanted to be Israel’s King, that there would be a mutual, unconditional commitment, which would bring a real, intimate, and life-giving relationship. But who was this Yahweh God? Was he the God of Mount Sinai or of the Israelites or something else? Who would Israel have a covenant relationship with? Yahweh starts with what he had most recently done. “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” He points back to his salvation of the Israelites and his victory over Egypt and all their gods. In other words, “I’m the one who rescued and redeemed you. I’m the one who fought for you. I’m the one who sustained you in the wilderness. I’m the one who provided bread from heaven and water from the rock.” He went on to say, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” Covenants with kings always contained certain stipulations or requirements for the relationship. If the Israelites were to have a relationship with God, they had to obey him. They had to be faithful to him. Unfaithfulness would break the covenant just as adultery breaks the marriage covenant. But if they were to obey him and be faithful to him, then out of all the other nations, all the other people groups on the earth, Israel would be Yahweh’s treasured possession. Now, everywhere in the OT, the Hebrew word that is translated here as “treasured possession” (segullah) refers to a king’s personal treasure (usually gold and silver). So God is saying that as the Creator, as the King of the Universe, this covenant would make the people of Israel his personal treasure. They would be precious to him. This wasn’t a political alliance; this was a marriage. Israel would be his people, and he would be their God, and they would be dearly loved. Now, “Although the whole earth is mine…” is an enormous claim. The Exodus story is really the beginning of the widespread belief in monotheism in human history. Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God, the maker of the heavens and the earth. The universal religious belief at this time was polytheism. There were believed to be many gods and goddesses who were good and evil and who had sovereign power over every aspect of life. Animal sacrifices, grain/wine sacrifices, and sometimes even human sacrifices would be offered at shrines in people’s homes, altars, often built on high places, or temples to get the gods on your side and bless whatever you were trying to do — get food, get married, have kids, defeat your enemies, recover from an illness…you know, the things that have always been important to humans. One of the things Yahweh did in the Ten Plagues was systematically demonstrate his sovereignty over every aspect of life, revealing that all those other gods and goddesses were powerless; they were fake, made-up idols. They were gods created in man’s image and likeness, which were no gods at all. It certainly seemed as though Yahweh had just walked into Egypt, the most powerful kingdom in the world at the time, a place full of gods and goddesses who had been worshipped for thousands of years, did what he wanted to do, and then just walked out with whoever and whatever he wanted. It didn’t seem difficult for him at all. Maybe the whole earth is his? But if you think about the story, Yahweh flipped the typical understanding of worship, sacrifice, and blessing on its head. The Israelites hadn’t offered enough sacrifices to Yahweh to appease/convince him to rescue them from captivity in Egypt. If you remember Moses’ calling back in chapter 3, Yahweh said he would rescue the Israelites, saying, “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Ex 3:12b). In other words, Yahweh would save them by his grace, as a gift, which would lead them to worship. Probably many Israelites wondered, “What kind of religion is this? What kind of God is this??” This all seems upside down. Finally, Yahweh tells them his purpose for choosing Israel out of all the other nations/peoples on earth. He chose them to “be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” They were to be a kingdom of priests. They were to be people who properly represented God to the world, who would know and teach God’s word, who would pray and offer acceptable sacrifices, and who would lead all peoples into a relationship with the one true God. Part of how they would do this is by being a holy nation. We’ll talk more about holiness in a moment. But for now, God was saying they were to fulfill his promise from Genesis 12 that “…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Ge 12:3b). God chose Israel, but his heart was always for the world. Well, what would the Israelites say? How would they respond to this most unusual invitation from Yahweh El Shaddai?
Exodus 19:7-9 (NIV), “7 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. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord. 9 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.” So God proposed, and Israel accepted. They all said together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” I wonder if they had any idea how difficult it would be for them to keep that promise. Now, when “Moses told the Lord what the people had said,” it’s not like God didn’t know what they had said. Even though God was inviting the people of Israel into a covenant relationship with him, he still wanted Moses to be the mediator between them. But God had promised to come down from heaven to the mountain in a dense cloud. And he would speak for all to hear so that the people would trust that it was actually God who was speaking to Moses. Even here, we find that God is patient and kind, and he understands that people might have some doubts. So he allowed them to hear him directly to help them with their doubts.
Exodus 19:10-15 (NIV), “10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 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. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. 13 They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.” 14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.” Commentator Douglas Stuart writes, “Consecration means “making holy,” which means “making acceptable to be close to God.” [The most basic meaning of the word “holy” (qādôš) in Hb. is “belonging to God.” In one way or another, anything that is correctly called holy is a thing that belongs specially to God.]” (Exodus, TNAC, p. 425 and footnote) If someone really important came over for dinner, a king or president or someone like that, would you use paper plates? (Some of you would!) But no, you’d probably use the best plates you have. And you wouldn’t reheat some leftovers; you’d serve the best food you could make or buy, right? This is a little picture of holiness. No one is more important than God. So anything or anyone that belongs to God must be sacred/special, not common, and perfect, not flawed or broken. This is because God is holy. As we’ll see as we continue through the Exodus story, the holiness of God and the requirement of God’s people to be holy sometimes felt more like a threat than anything. God promised to treasure his people but also warned that if they approached him in the wrong way, they would die. That sounds pretty threatening to me! But this was and is the main question: how can a holy God be in a real relationship with sinful people? The question will remain unanswered in this chapter of the story, but will be addressed as we continue on. But one of the purposes of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself was to create a holy nation full of holy people. Men and women who are sacred, set apart for the Lord, and perfect.
Exodus 19:16-25 (NIV), “16 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. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. 20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.” 23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’ ” 24 The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.” This is God’s word. So, again, we see the tension between God’s great big beating heart to have a relationship with people, but also the threat of having a relationship with a holy God. Could the people learn to live with a holy God in their midst? Well, if we followed the history of the people of Israel for the generations after Sinai, it might seem impossible. Time and again, despite the commitment the people made together at Sinai, they struggled and grumbled and even were unfaithful to Yahweh God. What would God do? He would have to somehow make a way for people to have a relationship with him despite their sinful unfaithfulness. The people wondered what God would do until the coming of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus lived a perfect life. He was perfectly obedient to the God the Father. He was holy. There was nothing to separate him in his relationship with the Father. But he came down, just as God came down on Mount Sinai, but instead of the fireworks of Sinai, Jesus came down in humility. He came down to rescue and redeem a people for God once again. He came to establish a new covenant in his blood through his death and resurrection. So now, as the Apostle Peter writes, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pe 2:9–10). If you’re not a Christian here today, there was a lot of information that will be helpful for you if you continue to learn the way of Jesus. But either way, what I want you to take away is this: God, your Creator, your Maker, the one who sustains your life and breath, wants a real, intimate, and life-giving relationship with you. He wants you to know him and be with him. And in relationship with him, he will make you new, he will transform you to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, by the word and Spirit in Christ. This is the great big beating heart of God in the gospel. Let us pray.
