Mount Sinai

Exodus 19:10-25

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. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.”

¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lorddescended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹ And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. ²⁰ Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.”

²³ But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Exodus 19:10-25

The God of the heavens was about to make a covenant with His people. Unlike pagan deities who supposedly dwelt in the mountains, the God of Israel descended from heaven (1 Kings 8:30, 49) to the mountains to converse with His people. Only when summoned by the blast of a ram’s horn (cf. Ex. 19:16, 19) were the people to go toward the mountain (v. 13).

19:16–25. Then on the third day of preparation the God of heaven descended to Sinai in a display of power and majesty. God demonstrated His holiness and awesomeness; little wonder that the people trembled, standing at the foot of the mountain (v. 16; cf. 20:18). The people heard crashing thunder and a very loud trumpet blast (cf. 19:13); they saw flashing lightning.… fire, and dense billowing smoke as from a smelting furnace; and they felt the mountain trembling in a violent earthquake. The “black cloud” of smoke brought “darkness” to the sky (Deut. 4:11; cf. Ex. 20:21).

Only Moses (19:20) and Aaron (v. 24) were permitted on the mountain; the priestsand the people were to stand before it. If they in curiosity saw the Lord they would perish (cf. comments on 33:11, 20; John 1:18). Though the Levitical priesthood had not yet been established, the elders (Ex. 3:18) or some young men (24:5) served as priests. Moses made three trips to the mountaintop and back (19:3, 7; vv. 8–9; vv. 20, 25). These instructions vividly reminded the people of the immeasurable chasm between the divine and the human, as well as the miracle of divine revelation.

 

 

Exodus 24:16-18

¹⁶ Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷ The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸ So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Exodus 24:12-18

24:12–18. Moses was summoned before God on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, with the Law (the Decalogue, 20:2–17; cf. 34:28) and commands related to Israel’s worship. God had given Moses the Decalogue earlier but now it was inscribed in stone.

The leadership of the people was temporarily delegated to Aaron and Hur (cf. 17:10, 12) while Moses … with Joshua proceeded up Sinai, the mountain of God (cf. 3:1; 4:27; 18:5). Joshua, first mentioned in 17:9, became increasingly more prominent (cf. 33:11). Perhaps Joshua went up the mountain only partway.

A cloud, representing God’s glory (cf. 19:16), heralded the approach of God to meet Moses. God’s glory.… covered the mountain and there after six days God communed with Moses from within the cloud. To the people below, God’s glory … looked like a consuming fire (cf. 19:18). While there 40 days Moses ate and drank nothing (cf. Deut. 9:9).

 

 

Exodus 31:18

¹⁸ And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Exodus 31:18

Because the nation was in a covenant relationship with Him, the people were to do as He had done. The Sabbath marked Israel out as God’s people. Observing the Sabbath showed that the Israelites were set apart (i.e., holy) to God.

 

 

Exodus 34:1-4

34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. ² So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain. ³ And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”

⁴ So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Exodus 34:1-4

(1) The second tablets of stone.

34:1–4. The tangible token of God’s unique relationship with Israel was the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, which Moses had broken (32:19). Once again Moses was to ascend Mount Sinai, taking with him two tablets chiseled … like the first ones. As before, he was to go alone. This obviously indicates that God was about to renew His covenant with Israel.

 

 

Exodus 34:29-35

²⁹ Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. ³⁰ So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. ³² Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³ And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. ³⁴ But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. ³⁵ And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Exodus 34:29-40

34:29–35. In contrast with the anger and holy indignation that Moses evidenced when he returned with the first set of tablets (32:19), this time his face radiated with the glory of God (cf. 2 Cor. 3:7), but he was unaware of it. This made the people afraidof him, but he encouraged them to listen as he told them the stipulations of the renewed covenant.

Apparently the people told Moses his face shone because he then covered it with a veil (masweh, a word used only here—in Ex. 34:33–35—in the OT; cf. 2 Cor. 3:13). But in the Lord‘s presence Moses took off the veil (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18).

1. The construction of the tabernacle (chaps. 35–40)

With the covenant renewed, the construction of the tabernacle was essential. Most of the material in chapters 35–40 about the construction of the tabernacle is similar to God’s instructions to Moses on the mountain (recorded in chaps. 25–31), except that most of chapters 35–40 records in the past tense Moses’ and the people’s carrying out God’s commands. However, the order of the subject matter differs slightly in these two major sections of the book. The book concludes with the record of God’s condescending to dwell in His glory among His people (40:34–38).

Comments on these last chapters of Exodus are comparatively brief because they have been discussed already. Chapters 35–40, however, are not needless repetition; they stress two important truths: (a) the faithfulness of God, who dwells among His people in spite of their failures, and (b) the obedience of Moses in carrying out God’s instructions (cf. 25:9). Seven times in each of the last two chapters the words “as the Lord commanded Moses” (or “as the Lord commanded him”) occur (39:1, 5, 7, 21, 26, 29, 31; 40:19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32). Moses was indeed a faithful servant (Num. 12:7; Heb. 3:5).

 

 

Leviticus 7:37-38

³⁷ This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, ³⁸ which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Leviticus 7:37-38

     Conclusion to the laws concerning sacrifices (7:37–38)

7:37–38. This concluding paragraph probably refers back to the entire first seven chapters of the book, which included both the handbook on sacrifice addressed to the Israelites (1:1–6:7) and the additional regulations addressed to the priests (6:8–7:36). The administrative order of listing the sacrifices was followed since this order was just followed in the priestly regulations. The addition of the ordination offering (which probably refers to the special fellowship offering of a ram, 8:22–29) anticipates chapter 9 which records the ordination of Aaron and his sons. The reminder that these regulations are those which the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai points out that the sacrificial system was part of the covenant obligation given at Sinai (cf. 1:1).

 

 

Leviticus 25:1-7

25 And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. ³ Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ⁵ What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. ⁶ And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, ⁷ for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Leviticus 25:1-7

the sabbatical year (25:1–7)

25:1–7. Much as people were to work six days and then rest on the Sabbath, so the land on which they lived was to be worked for six years (v. 3) and then allowed to reston the seventh or sabbatical year (v. 4). No sowing, pruning, reaping, or harvesting was to be done during that seventh year (vv. 4–5). Any spontaneous yield of the land could be consumed for food by anyone (not just the owner), but there was to be no organized harvest and no selling of the produce to others (vv. 6–7; cf. Ex. 23:11). So for one-seventh of the time landowners and the landless were on an equal footing in living off the land. Thus the sabbatical year brought a cessation of all normal agricultural activity. A second purpose of that year is given in the supplemental passage (Deut. 15:1–11), the canceling of all debts. Also a freeing of slaves occurred at this time (Deut. 15:12–18; Ex. 21:2–6; but also see comments on Lev. 25:39–55).

 

 

Leviticus 26:46-47

⁴⁵But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God:

I am the Lord.’ ”

⁴⁶ These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Leviticus 26:46-47

      concluding summary (26:46)

26:46. This conclusion is reminiscent of verse 3 and identifies Moses as the mediator of this divine revelation given when Israel was camped at Mount Sinai.

 

 

Leviticus 27:34

³⁴ These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Leviticus 27:34

            conclusion (27:34)

27:34. Typical of numerous sections of the book, the chapter closes with a reference to the divine Author, the covenant mediator, the location (implying the time of encampment at Mount Sinai), and the recipients of its commands.

 

Numbers 3:1-4

3 Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. ² And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests. ⁴ Nadab and Abihu had died before the Lord when they offered profane fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Numbers 3:1-4

3:1–4. Chapter 3 refers back to the Lord’s revelation to Moses on Mount Sinaiconcerning the family of Aaron and Moses (cf. Ex. 28–29). Aaron, the high priest, had had four sons who were to assist him and succeed him in the sacred office. But two of these four, Nadab and Abihu, died as the result of an arrogant deviation from authorized priestly procedure (see comments on Lev. 10:1–2). This left the other two sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, who served with their father. Since only Aaron and his direct descendants could serve as priests (Ex. 28:1; 29:9; 40:15) it was impossible for them to attend to all Israel’s religious needs by themselves. So the entire tribe of Levi was selected to undertake religious responsibilities short of actual priestly ministry. Since Aaron was a Levite this meant that all the priests were Levites but not all the Levites were priests.

 

 

Numbers 28:6

⁶ It is a regular burnt offering which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Numbers 28:6

The first of these were the daily burnt offerings. These had already been legislated at Mount Sinai (v. 6; cf. Lev. 1 and comments on Ex. 29:38–46, where the reasons for their presentation were given)

 

 

Nehemiah 9:13

¹³“You came down also on Mount Sinai,

And spoke with them from heaven,

And gave them just ordinances and true laws,

Good statutes and commandments.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Nehemiah 9:13-17

Then they recounted God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Neh. 9:9–12; cf. Ex. 1–15), and the giving of the Law (Neh. 9:13–14) and of manna (bread from heaven) and water(v. 15; cf. Ex. 16–17).

 

 

Galatians 4:24-26

For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—²⁵ for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—²⁶ but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.

 

The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Galatians 4:24-26

4:24. First, the apostle pointed to two covenants. One, the Mosaic, had its origin at Mount Sinai. Those under this legal covenant were slaves. As Hagar brought forth a slave, so does the Law. At this point the reader is expected to understand and supply the implicit reference to the Abrahamic Covenant, a gracious system represented by Sarah which through its messianic promise brought forth children who are free.

4:25–26. Next, Paul pointed to two Jerusalems. Hagar also stood for the first-century city of Jerusalem, a city enslaved to Rome and in slavery to the Law. Sarah, on the other hand, corresponded to the Jerusalem … above, the mother of all the children of grace. This heavenly city, which one day will come to earth (cf. Rev. 21:2), is now the “city of the living God” (cf. Heb. 12:22), the home of departed believers of all ages.

 

God in all His holiness is only your creator until you accept Him. After you accept Him, He becomes your God, your Father, your creator. He will cleanse you of your sins and accept you into the kingdom of His heaven and hear your prayers.

They Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. Also, love your neighbor as you love yourself.

God is testing us every day and has given us the right to make our own choices. Do you know which ones are the right choices in God’s mind?

Fear God, love God, honor God, and trust God with all your heart, mind and soul and you will receive and experience the joy of the promises of God’s blessings in His time. And always remember to ask the Father for His help and guidance in all things.

 

Prayer:   Father, we are grateful for Your Son our risen Christ and Your Spirit. We praise You for the opportunity to glorify Your Son and live with Him forever. We also praise you for the opportunity to be able to choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior and to be elect children of Yours. We praise you for the laws You have set down to teach us, to keep our lives in harmony, to learn how to treat others and how to live within your boundaries. Please bless those who have read this article for they too are seeking Your righteous truth, love, wisdom and understanding.

 Father, I pray these brothers and sisters have or will come to realize that Your existence is a treasure of grace and love that You have for all Your elect children.

May God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Christianity be our guiding lights for eternity. Let it be Your will Lord not mine. Please come Lord Jesus.

I pray in Jesus sweet name and to His glory through the power of The Holy Spirit,

Amen.