A Kingdom of Priests, A Holy Nation
Exodus 19:1-14
SS Lesson for 03/02/2025
Devotional Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Like all peace treaties between nations, it took both sides - represented by Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel, to find common ground and shared goals. The peace talks also required a patient mediator, the United States and President Jimmy Carter, to bring them together. The key role of a mediator is related to today’s lesson in three ways. First, Moses played the role of communicator and mediator at Mount Sinai. Second, God communicated a plan through his mediator to form Israel to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). Third, those functions took on new meaning at the coming of the ultimate mediator, Christ, who brings lasting peace to all who turn to him with faith (Romans 5:1). Four hundred thirty years from the time of Joseph, God delivered Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:40; 18:10). Through miraculous plagues, which showed Egypt’s deities to be powerless (7:8-11:10; 12:29-42), God brought the people out into the wilderness, where he continued to protect and provide for them (Exodus 13-18). In spite of dangers and trials, the people arrived at their destination: Sinai, the mountain where God had first revealed himself to Moses (Exodus 3). Exodus 19 begins the climactic meeting of God with his redeemed people.
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
1 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.
2 For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain.
3 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
4 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
2 A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man.
6 The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
20 He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.
8 Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
9 And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever." So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.
11 And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
12 You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
13 Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain."
14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
7 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
11 "Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
19 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
Verses 4-6 are the heart of the section, and some would go so far as to say they are the heart of the Old Testament revelation of God pertaining to His covenant with Israel. The first three verses set the stage for the pronouncement which God is about to make. Perhaps it is the third month “to the very day” (v. 1, cf. Exod. 12:41) that Israel is said to have arrived in the wilderness of Sinai. It may be that the Holy Spirit is reminding us by these words that Israel was right on schedule. They were precisely where God wanted them, when God wanted them there. It was here that the reunion of Moses’ family took place (Exodus 18:5). It was here that Israel would remain for 11 months (cf. Numbers 10:11).
Apparently it was not necessary for God to summon Moses. Verse three implies that Moses went up the mountain without any overt prompting from God. This may very well be due to the fact that it was here, on Mt. Horeb (which seems to by synonymous with Mt. Sinai) that Moses first encountered God (cf. Exodus 3 and 4). At the burning bush, God promised Moses that the nation would come to worship Him “at this mountain” (Exodus 3:12). Thus, Moses seemed to know that he was to ascend the mountain to speak with God.
From the mountain, God spoke some of the most significant words found in the Old Testament,201 words which Moses was to proclaim to the Israelites (vss. 3, 6b): “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6a).
These words convey several important truths:
(1) Israel’s history is proof of God’s faithfulness to His covenant, for He distinguished the Israelites from the Egyptians, delivering them and making them the special object of His care. In verse 4 God reminds the Israelites of the contrast between their fate at God’s hand at the exodus and that of the Egyptians. God brought about Israel’s deliverance, while at the same time He destroyed the Egyptians.
God uses a beautiful image here, that of the eagle’s care for its offspring. In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses explains the image more fully: “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions” (Deuteronomy 32:11). While there were times when God seemed (to the Israelites) to have abandoned His people, in reality, God, like the mother eagle, was simply stirring up the nest, forcing the Israelites to “try their wings.” When Israel thought she was about to perish, God swooped beneath her, bearing her up. What a beautiful picture of the loving and compassionate care of God for His people. Israel’s past proved that God had dealt graciously with her, while at the same time He destroyed the Egyptians.
(2) Israel’s deliverance was for the purpose of being brought to God, so that the nation could be His prized possession and to serve Him as a priestly nation. In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised Abraham that Israel would become great as a nation, the special object of His blessing. The blessing of Israel was also meant to be a source of blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:2). While this would ultimately be fulfilled by the coming of Messiah, there was also a more immediate application. God purposed to bless the nations by establishing Israel, His Servant, as a mediatorial people, who would be a “light to the Gentiles,” sharing with the nations the way of entering into fellowship with God.
(3) In order to maintain this privileged status, Israel must keep God’s covenant (as defined by the Law). Israel’s calling was to a position of both privilege and of responsibility. To whom much is given, much is required. Thus, in order to enjoy fellowship with God and to serve Him as His representative to the nations, Israel must reflect His holiness and purity. Israel was thus given the commandments, so that Israel would be distinct from the nations and God-like, so that they could fulfill their priestly calling.
Moses conveyed the words which God had spoken to him on the mountain to the people (v. 7).202 Unanimously, the people responded, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” (v. 8) It is noteworthy that the Israelites agreed to do all that God commanded in principle, rather than in particular. That is, the Law has not yet been given. To this point, God has only indicated that the people must keep their covenant by obeying the laws which He is about to set down. This indicates to us the eagerness with which the Israelites anticipated the Law, as well as the implicit trust they had in the character of God, so that they could commit themselves to obedience without knowing what it is that they would obey.
Moses returned to the top of the mountain to convey the words of the people to God.203 Before he was able to speak, however, God revealed to Moses that He would appear to Moses in a thick cloud. The purpose for this appearance is not what we would have expected: “Behold, I shall come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever” (v. 9). God was going to speak with Moses as Israel watched and listened, so that his leadership would be evident to the people. In light of later (not to mention earlier) events, when Moses’ authority would be challenged, God purposes to clearly establish Moses’ position and authority publicly. His appearance to Moses will accomplish this purpose.
Verses 10-15 outline the steps which the Israelites must take in order to purify and prepare themselves for the appearance of God on the third day. During the two day interval, a number of things were to be done:
(1) Boundaries were to be set, barring both man and beast from coming in contact with the mountain (vss. 12-14). Any man or beast which touched the mountain was to die. Death was not to come from the hand of God, but from the hand of the Israelites (vss. 12-13). Execution must occur in such a way that no one would touch the executed person (v. 13).
(2) The people were to consecrate themselves by washing their garments (vss. 10, 14).
(3) The people were to abstain from sexual intimacy prior to God’s visitation on Mt. Sinai (v. 15). There was, of course, nothing evil or defiling about normal marital sexual relations, but, as the Law would later spell out, there was a ceremonial uncleanness. Thus, until God’s visitation sexual abstinence was required.
What is it that makes violating the boundaries God has set such a serious matter? Why would God demand that anyone who touches the mountain be put to death? Usually we think of “capital punishment” as the penalty for a grievous sin, such as murder or adultery. Why would execution be required here, however? Is this not unduly severe? And why would God require the person to be killed by the Israelites? Why would he not be stricken dead by God?
The text does not provide us with the answers to these questions directly, but I would like to make several suggestions, which would help to explain the severity of this offense of overstepping the barriers which were set up at the base of the mountain.
(1) We must acknowledge that the offense of violating the boundaries is an offense of the highest order, and thus worthy of the same punishment as a murderer would receive. The severity of the penalty is our clue to the seriousness of the violation. The violation here is one that must be most serious, if not in our eyes, it is at least so to God.
(2) The sin which is punishable by death appears to be that of irreverence. The barriers which were constructed at the foot of the mountain made it impossible for one to inadvertently wander onto the mountain. The reason stated for pressing past these barriers is that of gazing (v. 21)—we would say “gawking.” In other words, it was curiosity which would have motivated people to draw too close to the mountain.
To press past the barriers which were constructed to satisfy one’s curiosity would be to demonstrate an attitude of irreverence. It is this irreverence which God finds such a serious sin. If you are not inclined to agree with me as to the seriousness of irreverence, let me remind you that it was irreverence which resulted in Uzzah being struck dead, even though his intentions (to keep the ark from falling from the ox cart) were well-meaning (2 Samuel 6:6-7). It was also Moses’ irreverence (in the striking of the rock) which kept him from entering into the promised land (Numbers 20:12).
But why was it irreverent to touch the mountain? The answer to this question is clearly given in our text. The mountain was to be constituted a “holy mountain” due to the fact that God would manifest Himself to Moses and to the Israelites there. Thus, just as the ground around the burning bush was holy (Exod. 3:5), so the mountain was holy as well. This is the reason why the mountain was to be “consecrated” by placing boundaries around it (v. 23).
If irreverence is such a serious sin, it is surely one about which we should be most sensitive. And yet, I find few (including myself) who are conscious of this evil, let alone sensitive to it in their own personal relationship with God, or in their worship.
(3) Irreverence is the byproduct of an inadequate sense of the holiness of God. The Israelites did not, as yet, have an adequate grasp of the holiness of God. The manifestation of God on Mt. Sinai was a spectacular demonstration of God’s power and majesty. His coming necessitated preparatory consecration, and it also motivated continual consecration, as men could see themselves in the light of His glory and grace. The purpose of this passage is intended, I believe, to serve as an antidote to irreverence. Let us therefore consider the final section of the chapter, which highlights the majesty and holiness of God.
(Adapted from URL:https://bible.org/seriespage/12-preamble-israel-s-constitution-exodus-19)
In its context, Exodus 19 shows the responsibilities that fall upon people whom God chooses and redeems. They are required to prepare themselves for God’s presence. In the new covenant context, it is not church buildings that house God’s presence; rather, it is the bodies of Christians themselves, those who become a “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Followers of Jesus also serve as mediators who introduce others to the ultimate mediator, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:15). By making Israel his “kingdom of priests” and “holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), God was laying the groundwork to bless the world through the children of Jacob. Israel would break the Sinai covenant and fall victim to sin, but God had a plan to make a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-32; compare Matthew 26:28). For Christians, the promise that “all peoples on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3) has come true, in and through Jesus. He is the seed of Abraham, the inheritor of God’s promise (Galatians 3:16). Christ alone, because he is God’s Son, is fit to be king of God’s kingdom; the permanent high priest to a group of priests, he is the perfect mediator between God and humans.