Yahweh is Savior and Lord
Last week we saw how grace is the basis of how God relates to his people. This wasn’t a new development when Jesus died on the cross. From the beginning, God loved his people simply because he loved them, not because of their performance. Yahweh made Israel his son (Ex. 4:22-23) before he gave them the law. He set them free from slavery before he gave them the law.
As we enter Exodus 19, the prologue to God giving Moses the law, we must see that grace always comes before the law. The law will kill you unless you understand that God relates to his people through grace, not law.
Last week we talked about how the Lord delights in his people, making them his “treasured possession” (19:5), how the Lord loves and even likes his people. But if that’s all we knew about the Lord then we’d have an incomplete view of who he is.
Yahweh is good and great, redeemer and righteous, Savior and Lord. He’s above and beyond us, and close and with us. He’s the Lion and the Lamb.
The danger is emphasizing one aspect of his character over the other. If we think God is only loving and not righteous, then we’ll think sin is not that big of a deal. If we think God is only righteous and not loving, then we’ll think we have to perform to please him.
If we over-emphasize God’s delight in us, then we may think the rules don’t apply to us, that we can do whatever we want and God not be affected. If we over-emphasize God’s righteousness, then we may think that we have to perform for him to love us. Biblical Christianity holds these things together. God is love and God is holy.
The two dangers are lawlessness or legalism, rule-breaking or rule-keeping, self-indulgent or self-righteous. Which way do you lean?
In Exodus 19, the Lord shows Israel his love and his holiness. He delights in Israel, but he also demands that they be holy. This week we move from the statement of his love (vv. 1-8) to the revelation of his holiness (vv. 9-25). Yahweh wanted Israel to know his love and then to know his holiness. In our text today, we’ll see the announcement of the Lord’s coming (vv. 9-15) and the arrival of the Lord (vv. 16-25).
The Announcement of the Lord’s Coming
In verses 9-15, we see the announcement of the Lord’s coming. Verse 9 sets up the purpose of the interchange between Yahweh and Moses that’ll take place over the next few chapters. Yahweh wants Israel to listen in on his conversation with Moses so that they’ll trust him and his leadership. The Lord is going to speak in a very public way to Moses to convince the people that Moses is the mediator of his word, not his own opinion.
God doesn’t need the audio and visual phenomena to convey his word to Moses. In fact, he talks with him and other leaders without them in chapter 24. They’re meant to show the people that what Moses says comes from God, not Moses.
Consecration
In verses 10-13, the Lord tells Moses how the people should prepare to meet him. There are several things they should do and not do. They’re to “wash their garments” (v. 10), set limits around the mountain (v. 12), don’t touch the mountain (v. 12), kill anyone who does touch it (v. 13), refrain from sexual relations (v. 15), and wait for the trumpet call (v. 13).
Washing garments symbolizes purifying themselves. Setting limits around the mountain reminds them that sinners can’t enter the presence of the holy without dying. The community-enforced death penalty reveals how serious this is.
Husbands and wives refraining from sexual relations seems like an unusual prohibition. It doesn’t mean that sex in marriage is sinful. Rather, as Alec Motyer says, it arises “from the awareness that in a true and happy marriage, intercourse involves a total absorption of each with the other and is the deepest emotional delight and commitment known on earth. The restriction was put in place at this important moment in time because the Lord wished to have his people’s hearts wholly for himself.”[1] Their entire attention needed to be on what the Lord was about to say to them.
What’s the point of all these preparations and precautions? To impress upon them that what’s about to happen is unlike anything they’ve ever experienced. This is the only time in the Old Testament when the whole community of Israel hears God speak without an intermediary. There was nothing like this before or since. God is getting them ready for something spectacular.
It’s like when you go out on a nice date, or get ready for a wedding, you spend extra time getting ready. You do things you normally don’t do. You take your time and you’re filled with eager anticipation over what’s about to happen. There’s a nervous excitement.
Moses is told to “consecrate” the people or get them ready for something that isn’t like their ordinary affairs. Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, but here Israel is supposed to get ready for a “tomorrow” unlike any other “tomorrow,” when God will speak in a decisive way.
Electrifying and Terrifying
This moment is similar to Moses’ experience at the burning bush, which took place on the same mountain (3:1). There’s revelation from fire in both. There’s attraction to and cowering in the divine presence. There’s a command to come no closer.
The air is filled with divine electricity. There’s something terrifying and fascinating about what’s happening. It’s like doing something that’s exhilarating but could cost you your life, like skydiving, rock climbing, or swimming with sharks. There’s a risk and a thrill. You could die but you can’t wait to do it.
There’s something about encountering the presence of God that’s both electrifying and terrifying, both dangerous and delightful. In God’s presence is consuming fire and fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11). You can’t just stroll into his presence. You have to get yourself ready.
This reminds us of the importance of preparing ourselves for worship each week. Do you prepare to worship the Lord on Sundays? What we do here together is unlike anything else in the world. It’s a sacred moment. You don’t have to treat it like you’re getting ready for prom. But it’s good to think about how you can “consecrate,” or prepare yourself, for this holy moment. Going to bed on time, getting up early enough to pray for yourself, the church, and the preaching of the word, reading the sermon text ahead of time, or getting here 10-15 minutes early to engage with people are all good ways to get ready for worship.
“Be Ready for the Third Day”
Notice the emphasis on being ready on “the third day” (vv. 11, 15). There’s a pattern in the Old Testament of the Lord doing something spectacular for his people on “the third day.”
Abraham and Isaac arrive at Mount Moriah on the third day (Gen. 22:4). Joshua leads Israel across the Jordan River on the third day (Josh. 3:2). King Hezekiah is healed from his sickness on the third day (2 Kgs. 20:5-6). Esther asks the people to pray and fast and then on the third day she goes before the king to intercede for the life of the people (5:1).
When Paul says Jesus “was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4), he’s not saying that Jesus’ resurrection fulfills a specific prophecy in the Old Testament. He’s saying that the resurrection fulfills a pattern of God intervening for his people on the third day.
Something life-altering is going to happen on the third day. Israel must be ready. Yahweh, the Creator of heaven and earth and their Redeemer, is coming down from heaven so they can see his glory and hear his voice. The Lord is coming and they must be ready.
The Arrival of the Lord
In verses 16-25, the Lord arrives on Mount Sinai. This is one of the most awe-inspiring moments in the Bible. Yahweh descends on the mountain in fire. There’s lightning and thunder, a thick cloud covering the mountain, a tower of smoke rising up into the sky, the mountain was shaking, and the trumpet was getting louder and louder until “God answered Moses in thunder” (v. 19).
The Lord of heaven and earth came down to the top of the mountain to have a conversation with Moses, and by extension, Israel. When he arrived, everyone was terrified (v. 16).
The fire in verse 18 reminds us of the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were blocked from coming back into the Garden by a “flaming sword” (Gen. 3:24). As sinners, the fire of God excluded them from his presence. An unaided return was impossible.
The fire of God shows us that God’s holiness is life-threatening to anyone who tries to come into his raging inferno of holy fire without protection. Mount Sinai has become the Holy of Holies.
If the fire scares them, the cloud protects them. In the cloud and smoke (vv. 16, 18), God comes to his people without incinerating them. In the cloud, he accommodates himself to be among his people without consuming them. The cloud is a sign of grace. Yahweh wants to be near his people but he knows his unshielded glory would consume them, so he veils himself.
God Warns Them to Save Them
It appears that verses 20-25 are an interlude, with 20:1 picking up where 19:19 left off. God tells Moses to warn the people yet again to not touch the mountain or else they’ll die. Moses tells God that he’s repeating himself (v. 23), but the Lord insists that he tell them again.
Why? To make sure they still understood the gravity of the situation. No matter how much they wanted to see more, they must remain obedient. “Breaking and entering” will be punishable by death. God has to keep the people at a certain distance from himself to keep them alive. If they get too close, his presence will consume them as a flame would consume a butterfly.
He wants his people to be close to him, but because they’re sinners, they can’t come into his presence unaided and live. The Lord is giving these commands to keep them alive. He wants to bless them with his word, not kill them with his fire. God warns them to save them. Do you see how grace is present with his holiness?
God wants his people to come into his presence, but it’s crucial that people come into the Lord’s presence on his terms, not theirs. David says in Psalm 24:3-4, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). And Hebrews 12:14, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Only the pure and holy can come into God’s presence. Only the consecrated can see the Lord.
Are You Prepared?
Are you prepared to see the Lord? Yahweh will descend on the earth again. Yahweh-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ, will return to the world. Before he died, Jesus announced that he’d return: “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:30-31). And Paul said, “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (1 Thess. 4:16).
The Lord has yet again announced his arrival and his arrival could be soon. Are you prepared to see him? How can you be prepared? There are three things you must do to be prepared: you must understand his holiness, consecrate yourself to him, and believe the word of his Servant.
Understand His Holiness
Yahweh is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He loves and likes his people. He is “gentle and lowly in heart,” and is the friend of sinners.
But he’s also holy and righteous. There’s no one like him. He’s in a category all by himself. He created us in his image to glorify him, but we chose to rebel against his authority and go our own way, so now the whole world is under his curse and we’re born as his enemies. Because he’s just, he can’t let our sin go unpunished. Our sin excludes us from his presence and his holiness threatens our existence. Our biggest problem is our sin before a holy God.
The problem is deep in us, in our hearts. We don’t want to love and obey God. We prefer to live according to our rules, not his. We don’t trust his goodness. We believe the lies of the serpent that God is holding out on us.
Our problem isn’t our behaviors, but our hearts. Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart,” not “pure in behavior.” The fruit of our life won’t change until the root changes. At root, we don’t fear the Lord. We assume that he’s not that holy, our sin isn’t that bad, and as long as we’re basically good people then we’ll go to heaven. It’s been said that “an easy-going people believe in an easy-going God.”[2] Is the God you believe in the God of Mount Sinai?
The existence of hell teaches us that God’s glory is even better than we imagine, which is why there’s so great a punishment for falling short of it. The wages of sin is eternal death because God is eternal and our sin against him is a complete afront to his goodness.
Do you understand God’s holiness? This passage teaches us that we must never presume upon God’s grace. Israel was God’s treasured possession, but they couldn’t causally rush into his presence without a mediator telling them the way.
Consecrate Yourself
The next thing you must do is consecrate yourself to him. You must give your entire life to him, devoting your whole being to him, even if it doesn’t make sense.
You have to come to God on his terms, not yours. Israel prepared themselves for three days, but Sinai showed them that their holiness wasn’t the Lord’s holiness. They must know that no self-preparation can ever satisfy the demands of God’s holiness. Even after preparing themselves for a couple days, they’d die if they touched the mountain.
Our best efforts to clean up our lives will never make us ready to enter God’s holiness. No matter how sincere and strong our efforts are, we can’t make ourselves ready to see God. The problem is too deep. Can you purify your heart? Self-consecration projects will not work.
Unless we throw ourselves fully on Jesus, the only One who was fully consecrated to God, we’ll never be fit for his presence. On our own, the Lord’s presence is a mortal danger to us.
We need more than washing our clothes and refraining from sex to make ourselves ready to see the Lord. What do we need?
Believe the Word of the Lord’s Servant
We need to believe the Word of the Lord’s Servant, Jesus Christ. Just as Moses brought God’s word to Israel, so Jesus brought God’s word to the whole world. His word is straightforward: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk. 1:15).
Jesus says we must “repent,” or turn away from all our efforts to save ourselves and put our hope fully in him. This is consecration.
And he says we must “believe in the gospel.” What’s the gospel? It’s the good news of Yahweh coming down out of heaven a second time, not as a consuming fire, but as a humble servant. He came down onto another mountain, Calvary. He came down to be lifted up on the cross. If Israel touched the mountain they’d die; Jesus was tortured on a mountain so we could live. At Sinai, God’s fire killed people who came too close; at Calvary, Jesus walked into the fire of God for us. At Sinai, the people washed themselves; in the gospel, God washes us.
In the gospel, God comes down to be lifted up on a cross for our sins, so that we can be lifted up to a new mountain with him in holy joy forever.
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant” (Heb. 12:22-24).
Jesus went into the fire of Sinai to bring us into the joy of Zion. Have you come to God on Mount Zion through Jesus? Do you understand his holiness? Have you consecrated yourself to him by giving your whole life to him? Have you believed the word of his servant Jesus? Do you see the consuming fire of God’s love for you on Mount Calvary?
If you do, you’ll want to live for Jesus, obey him, tell others about him, and be in his presence. His presence will be electrifying. If you haven’t, his presence will be terrifying.
Are you prepared to see the Lord when he descends on the earth again?
[1]J. A. Motyer, The Message of Exodus, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2005), 204-5.
[2]Ibid., 208.