Exodus chapter 19. Last time we looked at the first
eight verses in this chapter, and especially at the word covenant,
the word covenant in verse five. It is here that God made a covenant
with the nation of Israel. It's called the Sinaitic Covenant
because it was made, of course, on Mount Sinai. The nation agreed
to it, if you notice in verses seven and eight, and Moses came
and called for the elders of the people and laid before their
faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the
people answered together and said, All that the Lord hath
spoken, we will do. And Moses returned the words
of the people unto the Lord. And we also went ahead and looked
over in chapter 24, after the giving of the law and explaining
the covenant, that the covenant was ratified, that Moses with
blood ratified the covenant. And he took the book of the covenant.
This is chapter 24, verse seven. He took the book of the covenant
and read it in the audience of the people. And they said, all
that the Lord has said, well, we do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and
sprinkled it on the people and said, behold the blood of the
covenant, which the Lord has made with you concerning all
these words. Now, We know that this covenant
was ratified by blood, but the blood of animals. The everlasting
covenant, the covenant of grace, the covenant in which the Lord
Jesus Christ saves his people, it is a covenant that also has
been ratified by blood, but not the blood of an animal. It was
ratified by his own blood last Sunday evening when we partook
of the Lord's table, that's what we said when we took the cup
and said, repeated the words of our Lord, this is my blood
of the New Testament or the New Covenant, which is shed for many
for the remission of sins. Well, tonight, I want us to look
at the rest of this chapter, chapter 19, and we'll divide
it into two parts. Let's read verses nine through
15. And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick
cloud that the people may hear when I speak with thee and believe
thee forever. And Moses told the words of the
people unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow and let
them wash their clothes. And be ready against the third
day, for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the people upon Mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto
the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that
ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it. Whosoever
toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. There shall not
a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether it be beast or man, it
shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth long,
they shall come up to the mount. And Moses went down from the
mount unto the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their
clothes. And he said unto the people,
be ready against the third day, come not at your wives. First
of all, in these verses, I want us to see that God promised to
come to the people. God promised to come to the people. The people were, I believe, taught
several lessons by the way the Lord came to the people. When I say He came to the people,
He came down upon Mount Sinai. Notice in verse 11, we read this. The Lord told Moses that he would
come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. He would come down upon the top
of the mountain in such a way that no one could ever doubt.
No one could ever question. that God manifested His presence
here to the nation of Israel. Some of the writers believe that
not only to the nation of Israel did God manifest Himself, but
as He came down on the top of this mountain, that it was high
enough that these nations the nations of Canaan, that he was
dispossessing of Canaan to give to the nation of Israel, that
they too could see that God came down on that mountain. And that
would put fear in their hearts, of course. You know, one of the
wonderful attributes of God, every one of his is wonderful,
but one is his omnipresence. The fact that God is everywhere
Always present. There's no escaping His presence. And to the child of God, this
is a great comfort. To a lost person, a person who
doesn't know God, that's a fearful thing. He'd rather believe that
God doesn't exist in every place. But the Bible is very clear.
Remember in Psalm 139, where David asked that rhetorical question,
whither can I flee from thy presence? And he named several places,
making it evident, making it evident there's no place that
man may flee and be somehow out of the presence of God. And then
of course, in Jeremiah, God said this, do not I fill heaven and
earth, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord? He's everywhere present. But at the same time, we know
that he especially manifests himself at certain places. As here, when he came down upon
Mount Sinai, he came in a thick cloud. This is what the Word
of God tells us here. He came down in a thick cloud
years later when Solomon was used of God to build that elaborate
and beautiful temple in Jerusalem. Remember the day he dedicated
it, he made the point in saying, thou hast said that he would
dwell in thick darkness. God would dwell in thick darkness
and Solomon confessed that he could not build a house It's
impossible to build a house that would encompass God, because
He's everywhere. He's everywhere present. Just
like He knows everything, just like He has all power, so He's
everywhere present. But as I looked at this passage
of scripture, I have, I believe, four things I believe that that
the way the Lord came down upon this mountain was to teach the
nation of Israel these four things. First of all, they were to learn
that the Lord God, the Holy Lord God is a spirit. He is a spirit. If you look, keep your places
here, but turn over to the book of Deuteronomy. And you know
in this chapter, Moses is just rehearsing what took place here
in Exodus chapter 19. But in Deuteronomy chapter 4, three times Moses makes this
point. Let's begin. With verse 9, only
take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou
forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they
depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. but teach them
thy sons and thy sons' sons, especially the day that thou
stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb. Now Horeb is just
another name for Mount Sinai. And this is Moses here in Deuteronomy
is reminding them of what took place what is recorded in our
text in Exodus chapter 19. Especially the day that thou
stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said
unto me, gather me the people together, and I will make them
hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days
that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach
their children. And you came near and stood under
the mountain, And the mountain burned with fire unto the midst
of heaven with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. Now watch
here in verse 12. And the Lord spake unto you out
of the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of the words. Here it is. saw no similitude,
only you heard a voice. And then also, if you will, a
little bit further down in verse 15, he repeats this, take you
therefore good heed unto yourselves for you saw no manner of similitude
on the day that the Lord spake unto you in horror out of the
midst of the fire. And then again in verse 16, lest
you corrupt yourselves and make you a graven image, the similitude
of any figure, the likeness of male or female. So the first
lesson, I believe that God is teaching the Israelites this
day when he came down upon the mountain in thick darkness, yes,
They heard a voice, but they did not see the essence of God. He is spirit. Remember the Lord
Jesus Christ told that lady, the woman at the well in John
chapter four, God is spirit and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth. And you know, the second commandment
that God is going to give the nation of Israel in this covenant,
part of the covenant, these 10 commandments, but the second
Commandment was, thou shall not make unto thee any graven image
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above. In the New
Testament, in Romans chapter one, where the apostle Paul begins
to show how that all the world is guilty before God, he begins
with the Gentiles and he makes this statement. He says that
they change the glory of the incorruptible God into the image
of corruptible man. Actually, we know in that passage
they worship beast, images of beast, images of creeping things
even. Man wants a God. Every man wants a God. Every
man will have a God. He'll make his own God. And he
wants a God that he can see. He wants a God that he can see.
Also, of course, a God that he can manipulate. A God that he
can put in his place and he stays there until he calls him out,
until he needs him. But he doesn't want the God of
the Bible, who is a spirit and everywhere present at the same
time, and there is no manipulating him. He does his will among the
armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? So the first lesson
I believe they were taught in the way God came down upon the
mountain was God is spirit. You didn't see a similitude.
You didn't see anything. You heard his voice, yes. He
spoke, yes. But you didn't see his essence,
no. The second lesson, it seems to
me, is they were to learn that the Lord is the holy Lord God. You notice in verse 12, here
in Exodus 19 again. And thou shalt set bounds unto
the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that
you go not up into the mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever
toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. The mount had to
be cordoned off in some way. I think of these crime scene
tapes you see every once in a while, you know, where the police will
come out to investigate and they'll just carding off a big area. Nobody's supposed to go behind
the tape. Well, that's the way God said
you do to this mountain. Some believe they maybe had dug
ditches around it to make sure, because God was very emphatic,
if a man or beast touched this mountain, he's going to die.
The animal's going to die. And what is that but to show
us how holy God is? How holy the Lord God is. Some believe they maybe had driven
stakes around it, around the border of the mountain. But this
is a lesson that they were taught here, I believe. that the Lord our God is a holy
Lord God. Remember in Isaiah 6 when he
had that vision, in the year the king Uzziah died, I saw the
Lord high and lifted up. And remember what those seraphims
were crying one to the other? They weren't crying, love, love,
love. What were they crying? Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord our God. He's holy. Look with me in First
Timothy just a moment. This may be one of the things
that this generation in which we live has missed out on. The
fact that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is a
holy God. You don't just run into his presence.
In 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 13, the apostle wrote, I give
thee charge, 1 Timothy 6 verse 13, I give thee charge in the
sight of God who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus,
who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou
keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in his times he shall show,
who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto. unto whom no man has seen nor
can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting." You know,
in 1 John, that's one of the things that the apostle writes,
isn't it? Not only God is love, but God
is light. In fact, he told us God is light
before he wrote God is love. Even the holy angels, as I mentioned
those in Isaiah chapter six a few minutes ago, remember they had
six wings, but with two they covered their faces in the presence
of God. How holy is God? How holy is
God? And that's the God we're all
going to meet. Every last one of us in this building tonight
and everybody outside of this building, we're going to meet
him. We're going to meet him one day. He's a holy God. And that's one
thing that God was teaching the nation of Israel and the way
that he came down upon this mountain. The third thing, they were to
learn that the holy Lord God demands reverence. They were
to be sanctified. Moses said, now, you tell them
to wash their clothes. Notice that in verse 10. And
the Lord said unto Moses, go unto the people and sanctify
them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes. Now,
think about that. Washing their clothes could no
more make them holy. then the blood of bulls and goats
could take away sin. We know that. Those were emblems
of good things to come, the scripture says. It wasn't the blood of
a bullock, it wasn't the blood of a goat, it wasn't the blood
of a lamb, except the Lamb of God. that takes away the sin
of the world. And the same thing here, by washing
their clothes, it would remind them, it would serve to remind
them that in the presence of God, God's coming down. In three
days, he's coming down. It was to remind them, of course,
that just as their clothes needed to be washed, their souls needed
to be washed, their hearts. Their hearts needed to be cleansed
from sin. It could be the truth that in
coming before the Lord, we must get ready. We must get ready. We should prepare our hearts
when we come to worship the Lord. We should be ready to worship
him. That little chorus that we have sung over the years at
different times, We have come into this place and gathered
in his name to worship him. So forget about yourself and
concentrate on him and worship him. We need to be ready to worship
the Lord. And then the fourth thing, a
lesson I see here, they were to learn that the Holy Lord God
would speak to them through Moses. Look at that in verse nine. And
the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick
cloud, that in order that the people may hear when I speak
with you, Moses, and believe you forever. They were to learn
that God would speak to them through Moses and only through
Moses. Brother Scott Richardson, I remember
hearing him so many times, I'm not sure I can quote this exactly
the way he would say it, but God will only be spoken to and
God will only speak to a person through Jesus Christ, our Lord. There has to be a mediator. Moses was the one mediator for
the nation of Israel. concerning this covenant. And
God came down upon the mountain in such a way that thick cloud,
that thick darkness, and the people trembled. Well, Moses
did too. You know, many people believe
this is recorded in Hebrews when it's not recorded in the Old
Testament, but Moses said, I exceedingly fear and tremble. when God came
down upon this mountain and the lightning and the thundering
and the sound of the trumpet louder and louder, the fire. Yeah, God's going to speak to
us through Christ and he's not gonna speak to us through the
Virgin Mary and we're not going to speak to him through the Virgin
Mary or through any other saint. There's one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and that's never going to change.
Thank God we have a mediator, right? The second part of my message,
let's read on from verse 16 to the end. And it came to pass
on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and
lightnings and a thick cloud. upon the mount, and the voice
of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people that was
in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the nether
part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether
on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in a fire. And the smoke thereof ascended
as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet
sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and
God answered him by voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai, on the top of the mount, and the Lord called Moses up
to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. And the Lord said
unto Moses, go down, charge the people lest they break through,
and to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perished. And let
the priests also which come near to the Lord sanctify themselves,
lest the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the
Lord, the people cannot come up to the Mount Sinai, for thou
chargest us, saying, set bounds about the Mount and sanctify
it. And the Lord said unto him, away,
get thee down, and thou shalt come up thou. and Aaron with
thee, but let not the priests and the people break through
to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. So
Moses went down unto the people and spake unto them." Well, it
doesn't surprise us that God came down, does it? He said he
was. He promised he would. And it
doesn't surprise us that he came down. And it's interesting that
this came to pass on the third day. God manifested himself on
Mount Sinai on the third day. And doesn't this remind us that
it was on the third day that the Lord Jesus Christ manifested
himself alive to his disciples. God manifested himself on Mount
Sinai with thunder and lightning, a thick cloud, the exceeding
loud voice of the trumpet, and the mountain quaking greatly.
And we read here the people trembled. Sure they did. Many, as I have
already said, many believe this is when that took place. It's recorded in Hebrews 10 when
Moses said so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. Can you imagine him being called
up into that thick cloud with all that was going on, the lightning
and the fire and the thunder? The trumpet sounded louder and
louder. When the Lord Jesus, I'm thinking
about this the third day, And as we was reading that just now,
I thought about it. It says that Moses led the people
out. No preacher's ever led a larger
congregation out to beat the Lord than Moses did that day.
Led them out to the mount. God's coming down. On the third
day, and when the Lord Jesus manifested himself to his disciples,
on the third day, he said, fear not. They were afraid when God
manifested himself here on Mount Sinai, quaking, shaking. But when the Lord manifested
himself to his disciples on the third day, he said to them, fear
not. And he showed them his hands
and his feet. And they knew, they knew that
the Lord Jesus Christ had conquered death. They knew he had died. They knew his body was left when
it was laid in the tomb. And when he appeared unto them,
they knew he conquered death. Not only death, but Satan, hell,
and the grave. And he conquered death and hell
for his people. They were not afraid of him when
he showed them his hands, the nail prints in his hands and
his feet. Them were the disciples glad.
And they were glad. They couldn't believe it for
joy. Too good to believe is literally
what it says there. It was too good to believe. But
it was true. It was true. Notice two things, and I'll close
in these last few verses. First of all, God called Moses
to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up, verse 20. And the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai on the top of the mount, and the Lord called Moses up
to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. Let you and I,
let us never lose sight of the truth of God's effectual call. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. The only reason that you, if
you have come to Christ, the only reason that I have come
to Christ is because of God's grace, God's effectual call. Isaac Watts wrote these words
in one of his hymns that have always impressed me. Why was I made to hear thy voice
and enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched
choice and rather starve than come? T'was the same love that
spread the feast that sweetly drew us in. else we had still
refused to taste and perished in our sin. Thank God for his
effectual call. Dead, dead in trespasses and
sins, blind by sin. And the Lord passed us, passed
by. He could have passed us by, but
he passed by. like that infant in Ezekiel 16
that was cast out. And he said, live. Aren't you
thankful? Amen. And the second thing I'm
reminded here that God knows his people better than Moses
did. God told Moses, you go back down.
Notice that in these last verses. In verse 21, the Lord said unto
Moses, go down, charge the people lest they break through unto
the Lord. Well, Moses said, they can't break through. We've already
taken care of that. God said, you go down. God knew. God knew these people well enough
to know some of them were going to try to sneak in and gaze and
see a similitude of God. And when they did, they were
going to be destroyed. No, Moses, you go down. You make
sure nobody's to touch this mountain. How holy is the Lord our God?
What a wonderful Savior is Christ.