Exodus 18-19

[00:00:00] In Exodus chapter 18, Moses is going to interact with his father-in-law, a man named Jehthro and receive important counsel from this man. This counsel is going to impact generations of the people of Israel. Now the context of Exodus chapter 18 is a perfect setting.

[00:00:30] Chapter 17 records for us that the amalgacites, as we saw in our last study, attacked the people of Israel. But here we'll have Jehthro who is not in Israelite, but a mid-e night express positivity towards God, the people of Israel.

[00:00:52] And what God is doing amongst the nation of Israel. So this helps us see in context that not all of the nations are all of the people in the world are against the God of Israel.

[00:01:08] But chapter 19 of Exodus, which we'll get together, we'll get to and our study today, against the process of God delivering the law to the people of Israel from Mount Sinai. But here's the question, when they received the law, how would they then distribute the law to the nation?

[00:01:34] Moses at this point is, of course, operating as the head of the people and as we know, of course he's only one man. How could one man go to the mountaintop receive the law and then be expected to have the responsibility of distributing it to millions of people.

[00:01:55] And then of course to subsequent generations far after he's gone. Well, part of the distributing it to generations far after he's gone would be that Moses would write down the law of God that it would be recorded for future generations.

[00:02:10] But in order to distribute it to the people, Moses would have to raise up other teachers. And he would have to share the word with the people so that the Bible, the truth, the law of God could be distributed amongst the nation. That's where Jehthro comes in.

[00:02:29] His counsel to Moses will be crucial so that they can reorganize in a different way so that once the law is delivered from Mount Sinai, it can be distributed to everyone not just through Moses but through undersheppards underneath Moses, chiefs who will watch

[00:02:49] over tens and hundreds and thousands of God's people. At this point approaching Exodus 14 where at Mount Sinai or approaching Mount Sinai, the terrain is ominous and they are getting ready now to hear from the Lord. But again, before that, Jehthro arrives. Let's read our first four verses together.

[00:03:13] Jehthro, the priest of Median, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now, Jehthro, Moses' father-in-law had taken Zepura, Moses' wife after he had sent her home along with her two sons.

[00:03:35] The name of the one was Gersham for he said, I have been a soldier in a foreign land and the name of the other, Ellie Azer, for he said, the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.

[00:03:50] Now here in this first movement of Exodus 18, Jehthro, who you might remember is also called Ruel at another part of the book of Exodus, brings Moses's family to Moses. Now it's likely that back in Exodus chapter 4, when Moses left the wilderness of Median

[00:04:11] to come back to Egypt to begin his ministry of announcing the Pharaoh God's intentions. But at that point, as they were re-entering Egypt and you remember the odd and catastrophic moment where hasty and quick circumcision had to occur.

[00:04:34] And Zepura said, you may be a person of blood and it was a chaotic moment perhaps at that moment, Moses sent his family home. Maybe he said to himself and to his family look, the work I'm about to do apparently is too

[00:04:50] difficult for me to have my family with me. You need to release me to go do this work in Egypt and we will be set free and then we can gather together again.

[00:05:03] It's also possible that Moses had sent his family on ahead to Median to go get Jehthro, the grandpa to come over for a visit. It would have been helpful for Eleazer who'd be the next high priest in Israel to

[00:05:23] be a firsthand witness to all of the victories that God had won in Egypt and so perhaps he needed to return be there with Jehthro and Moses in here these incredible stories. But when they get together what Moses declares to him is everything that God had done it.

[00:05:43] And Jehthro, it says in verse 1, had heard of these things from afar how the Lord had brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. Apparently from afar Jehthro has followed the events that had unfolded in Egypt and he likely wasn't the only one who had followed these events.

[00:06:05] Perhaps the people in that region had known of God's power over the Egyptian superpower. And so Jehthro is representative of those who fear God because of the stories that they've heard of God has done.

[00:06:22] You might remember that even four decades later when the people of Israel go into the Promised land finally even in Jericho, the people that are dwelling there have heard the stories of what God did in Egypt 40 years earlier.

[00:06:40] Now you probably also noticed in verse 1 that Jehthro has a title he's called the priest of Midian. When we were in the book of Genesis together in Genesis chapter 14 after God won a victory through Abraham for Lot.

[00:06:59] Abraham went out to the king of Salem who was named was Mill Kizadek and it says in Genesis 14 verse 18 that he was the priest of the most high God. Here you have Jehthro serving as the priest of Midian and perhaps he is serving in that particular line.

[00:07:23] Perhaps he is not necessarily related to Mill Kizadek but another one of those figures on earth who is a God lover and who is serving in bringing people to what he knows about God. Jehthro might have known quite a bit about God because he is actually a descendant

[00:07:43] of Abraham through Abraham's final wife named Katura. Remember after Sarah had died Abraham married again a woman named Katura. Jehthro comes from that family line so it's possible that he'd heard of God and it worshipped him as best as he could.

[00:08:06] And so he brings Moses his sons, Moses's wife, Sephora to him in the wilderness. On verse 5 Jehthro, Moses's father and law came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God.

[00:08:22] When he had sent word to Moses, I your father and law Jehthro come into you with your wife and her two sons with her. Moses went out to meet his father and law and bowed down and kissed him.

[00:08:36] They asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. When Moses told his father and law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh into the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way and how the Lord

[00:08:48] had delivered them. And Jehthro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel and that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Now this is powerful. They reconnect, Moses and Jehthro after years of being separate from each other.

[00:09:08] You have to imagine that Jehthro holds a special place in Moses's heart. When he was 40 years old, had fled Egypt went out into the wilderness, met one of Jehthro's daughters at a well and was introduced to Jehthro. And Jehthro brought Moses in to his family.

[00:09:27] Moses, a vaga bond, someone without a home, was brought into a home by this man Jehthro, given one of his daughters to be a bride. So Jehthro is an important man in Moses's life.

[00:09:42] And Moses, ever the meek man, bows down to Jehthro, pays homage to this man when he approaches. Moses' success, so to speak, did not swell his head. He did not say to himself who am I to bow to a man like Jehthro.

[00:10:01] I, the mighty Moses, the deliverer of the people of Israel. It is amazing to me how quickly a little success, even in ministry, can swell a person's head. Instead we should remain humble for it is God who is working in and through our lives

[00:10:19] and would do even more if we were better and more equipped for the work. So Moses bows down. He's humble towards Jehthro, kisses him and reports to him all verse 8 that the Lord had done. What an exciting report.

[00:10:37] By the way, this is a great place to start in sharing with people or in and around your life. Tell them the different things that God has done for you, that God is doing through you, that God is doing in you, the lessons that he's teaching to you.

[00:10:54] When you share these things it's so exciting and encouraging and of course especially for Moses. All the plagues, the miracles, the faithfulness of God he could not wait to report it. Now Jehthro responded in verse 10.

[00:11:09] It says, Jehthro said, blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and is delivered the people from the hand from under the hand of the Egyptians.

[00:11:21] Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with his people and Jehthro Moses's father and law brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God.

[00:11:35] Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses's father and law before God. So they have this feast, this festival before the Lord. They do this in part because Jehthro he's now convinced or reconvenced verse 11 that the Lord is greater than all gods.

[00:11:57] The events in Egypt had been interpreted correctly by Jehthro. He thought of the plagues, he saw the fate of Pharaoh, he heard the story of the Red Sea and he'd come to the conclusion that God is mightier than every other God who is claimed

[00:12:19] on the face of the earth. Now as I said, it's possible that he was already worshiping in the God of Abraham to a degree but in a land filled with idolatry perhaps what he needed was a reminder. God is the true and great God.

[00:12:37] Now of course the question that we would ask ourselves is do we know this is the truth? Do we know that the Lord is greater than all gods? Now of course part of our Christian confession would be that God is one that God is

[00:12:55] great that he is the only wise God and so we would confess not only is he greater, he is the only true and legitimate God. That might be our confession but is it the practice of our lives?

[00:13:08] I find that so often we create functional gods, functional, saviors, idols so to speak of the heart, things that we think can deliver us, satisfy us, bring us joy or peace or prosperity but there is no God like God himself.

[00:13:27] Don't let any of these lesser gods be the ones that invade your heart. Oh if I had the ability to snap my fingers and change all of the times where I've seen someone put so much stock in a relationship that they've convinced themselves will bring

[00:13:47] them joy and satisfaction only to find that that false God cannot truly satisfy only the Lord is God. He is greater than all gods. Now the next day verse 13 Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood around Moses for morning till evening.

[00:14:07] When Moses's father and lost saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, what is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?

[00:14:20] Moses said to his father and Lord because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute they come to me and I decide between one person and another and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.

[00:14:38] So this moment happens after Jethra has been there a little while he watches Moses one day as Moses is working. Moses sits there and the people line up in all day long for morning to evening they come to Moses to inquire of God.

[00:14:55] He is operating like an oracle for the entire nation of Israel and you could only imagine the crushing weight of this responsibility that was laid upon this man. And Jethra wonders what is it that you are doing and Moses explains.

[00:15:13] Well, the people they want to inquire of God. They want to know God's heart and I met God at the bush that burned yet was not consumed. I have been God's mouthpiece and spokesperson. I have been the one who has held the staff in my hands.

[00:15:32] I have heard God's voice to throw the branch into the water to make the bitter waters. Sweet. I have heard God talk about the quail and the man I am a communicator for God. And so the people they just want to know who God is.

[00:15:50] So they come to me and I declare to them God. His perspectives, his truth, his thoughts on the matters of their lives. Well, Moses' father in law verse 17 said to him, what you are doing is not good.

[00:16:07] You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice. I will give you advice and God be with you.

[00:16:21] You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God. And you shall warn them about the statues and the laws and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.

[00:16:34] Moreover, look for Abel men from all the people who fear God who are trustworthy and hate a bribe and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands of hundreds of 50s and of tens. Let them judge the people at all times.

[00:16:49] Every gray matter they come bring to you but in a small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you.

[00:17:00] If you do this, God will direct you and you will be able to endure and all of this people also will go to their place in peace. Now the fascinating thing about this movement is that Moses is going to receive the Council of Jehthro.

[00:17:17] And before even inspecting the Council of Jehthro, I have to ask you the question, are you able to receive Council? You see, Moses did not look at what Jehthro said and say, hey man, you're just a hater in my life.

[00:17:32] You're not supporting me in what I'm doing or feel called to do. No Moses was ready to listen to this outsider's perspective. You see, Jehthro saw clearly. He saw something that Moses could not see himself. The two things that Moses that Jehthro excuse me saw was this.

[00:17:54] Number one, he saw that there would be a drastic energy deficiency. He said in verse 18, you and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out. There's no way you can keep up with all of this work, Moses.

[00:18:08] There's not enough energy in your body to do everything that's required. And then he says, secondly, there's an ability deficiency. The things too heavy for you, he said, you're not able to do it alone. Even if you have the energy for the work, you don't have the ability.

[00:18:27] There's just too many people you'll never be able to answer all of their requests. One is, said it this way, justice delayed is justice denied. And there's no way that Moses could settle all the disputes that people were bringing to him.

[00:18:47] So the delay would lead to difficulty and a cancellation of justice in Israel. So Jehthro just steps forward. Verse 17, frankly, says what you are doing is not good. What Moses needed to do was two things, according to Jehthro.

[00:19:09] The first thing that Moses needed to do was be a man of the word and prayer. He was to pray for the people of Israel. And then he was to communicate the word to the people of Israel.

[00:19:23] He was not to be the individual judge and arbiter of issues in Israel, but was to be the teacher and to be praying for the people. And what this would do, this would have great effects on the people. First of all, this would build up the people.

[00:19:42] If Moses prayed and if Moses taught them God's word, there would be less disputes anyways. People would be receiving God's word. They'd be learning how they ought to live and Moses would be undergirding them with a life of prayer, crying out to God, interceding for them.

[00:20:03] So there would be less disputes. Secondly, this would train up the elders. You see, the second part of Jehthro's advice is that Moses should be looking for able men to operate as under shepherds or judges or chiefs under Moses.

[00:20:26] Well, how would those figures know what to do by listening to the teaching of Moses? As he declared the word of God, they would become stronger at handling disputes. And additionally, this decision by Moses, this council of Jehthro would have the positive effect of decentralizing

[00:20:48] the authority, decentralizing it to not only Moses but to everyone who had the word. Everyone who'd learned the scripture would have an element of authority because they would know what the right thing was. Now, this does have new testament correlaries.

[00:21:10] You see, Paul tells pastors over and over again to be men of the word for Timothy 413 until I come Timothy to vote yourself to the public reading of scripture to exhortation and teaching.

[00:21:23] First Timothy 416, keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching persist in this for by so doing you'll save both yourself and your heroes.

[00:21:32] Second Timothy 215, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved a worker who has no need to be ashamed rightly handling the word of truth. Second Timothy 316 and 17, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching,

[00:21:50] reproof correction and training and righteousness that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work. Second Timothy 4, verse 2, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reproof, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

[00:22:09] Titus 2, verse 1, but as for you, pastor, teach what a chords with sound doctrine. This is the primary role of the man of God. It's an astounding thing to me that this is sometimes lost in the pastoral role.

[00:22:27] If you ask the man on the street, what does a pastor do? More often than not, what you're going to hear is, oh, a pastor goes to hospitals and visits the sick. A pastor focuses on feeding the poor.

[00:22:44] A pastor is the one who, on the TV show when the character is stressed about life and wanders into the church sanctuary.

[00:22:55] The pastor is just kind of over there in the corner, just sitting around, mining his business, waiting for an occasional parishioner to pop by for a chat. Well, these might be good things that a pastor can do. But, biblically, a pastor must be a communicator of God's Word.

[00:23:16] This is the major role of the pastor and Moses was hearing that counsel from Jeut-Roye. What you're doing is good, it's great that you've got the opportunity to weigh in in people's lives on how they should be obedient to God.

[00:23:33] But, for you, Moses, you've got to pull away, pray and communicate the truth. But the second thing that Moses needed to do was not only communicate the truth of God's Word and pray, but he needed to look for qualified under shepherds to help him.

[00:23:52] These needed to be verse 21, men who feared God. This is the beginning of knowledge according to, excuse me, according to Proverbs 1, verse 7. They needed to be verse 21, trust worthy. They needed to verse 21, hate a bride, so they're not influenced by greed, the desire for money.

[00:24:18] These are to be mature men that God is going to use. Now this new organization, as I said, would have blessed the people so much. I think it was D.L. Moody who said that it's better to have 100 men working than one man doing the work of 100 men.

[00:24:38] So, Moses here, here's this counsel from Jeut-Roye. No longer, Moses, should you be the exclusive judge? You need to farm this out, trust others with the work of Jeut-Roye. So, what did Moses do?

[00:24:54] Verse 24, Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose Abel-Man, out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands of hundreds of 50s and of tens. And they judged the people at all times.

[00:25:10] And he hard-cased, they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. Then Moses led his father-in-law depart and he went away to his own country. Moses listened, he received the counsel of Jeut-Roye.

[00:25:29] And like I said, this would set up the framework for the judicial system that was needed in Israel after the law was given to the people of Israel. How will we dispense what Moses receives on the law to the nation?

[00:25:45] And it would happen through this system that Jeut-Roye had advised. Now there are applications of this to our modern life and world. One of them, I have pressed already when it comes to the church.

[00:26:01] In Acts chapter 6, there was a complaint that rose up from a group of widows in the church who were Helleness. They were Jewish women but who were Greek living or had a Greek background. And they complained that they were being neglected in the daily distribution.

[00:26:15] And their complaint arose to the apostles of that infant church therein Jerusalem. And the apostles conferred, thought about it, prayed. And they said, it's not right that we should leave the word of God to serve tables.

[00:26:31] Instead, choose for yourself, seven men of good reputation who are full of the Holy Spirit. They will take care of the daily distribution but as for us we will give ourselves to the word and prayer. So you see that same principle, caring forward into the church age.

[00:26:52] But secondly, there is an application especially if you're a part of this church, Calvary Monterey. And that one of the ways that we seek to design things is just like this.

[00:27:07] That myself as the lead or teaching pastor, my focus is prayer and the word to communicate scripture with God's people. When I was 18 years old, I sensed the presence of the Spirit saying to me,

[00:27:23] Nate, I've not called you to these other things but I've called you to teach the word. And so humbly, grace, gratefully, I've tried to point my life in that direction. Praise God, we have undershepherds who are able to minister to smaller pockets of God's people.

[00:27:46] Now some of those undershepherds are pastors themselves in their own right, capable of handling the Word of God teaching and delivering it. And in this stage in their lives, though they do it from time to time or they'll do it in a smaller setting.

[00:27:59] The bulk of their responsibility is not the declaration of God's Word publicly but the application of God's Word in more private settings and in the leading of ministries.

[00:28:09] But beyond that, not only do we have men like that in my life around me and in the church, but we have a small group ministry where the leaders of these small groups. Or the leaders of these discipleship groups.

[00:28:26] They are called to take care of that smaller group of people. And so in a sense, this is one of the ways that we have applied this in our modern context. But in another sense, this whole passage reeks of Jesus.

[00:28:45] You see, Jesus, not Nate, not your senior pastor, not any lead pastor. Really, Jesus is the replacement for Moses as you're tracking forward. Jesus also like Moses is a delegator. It says in 2 Corinthians 2 verse 14, that Jesus always leads us in triumphant procession and through us spreads the phrase,

[00:29:14] spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. If you ever thought about it, Jesus really is the greatest delegator of all time. He's commissioned millions, billions of people over the course of the last 2000 years to go about the work of the gospel.

[00:29:32] So to do the work of discipling all nations, he is the head through him. We get the word, he communicates and even intercedes and praise for us.

[00:29:46] And the rest of us are trying to do our job in our little neck of the woods to be the salt and light that we're called to be. He delegates to you in your workplace amongst your family, amongst your friends. He delegates to us.

[00:30:03] Now let's move on to chapter 19. What is happening now in the book of Exodus is we are shifting. We are shifting from a narrative where we've been following the people of Israel or the life of Moses.

[00:30:19] And we've seen the plagues and the redemption and the Exodus and the Red Sea and the beginnings of their wandering and their sojourn.

[00:30:29] But now we are shifting in chapter 19 to a new section and the book of Exodus where God is going to deliver the law to Moses on Mount Sinai for the people. So there will be some narrative elements to this back half of the book of Exodus,

[00:30:48] but mostly it is a communication of God on Mount Sinai, two Moses about the law. What God says how God is going to lead the people of Israel. The law, of course, is confusing to many Christians when they look back on the law of the Old Testament.

[00:31:08] But this law that God would give to Moses would govern God's people from Exodus 19 all the way until the cross of Christ. It says in Colossians 2 verse 14 that Jesus cancelled the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands.

[00:31:26] Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law and a law of love, and then the New Testament law was then given to us as his people.

[00:31:35] Now as we go through this we are going to see that there are parts of the law that are moral in nature like the Ten Commandments.

[00:31:43] Other parts of the law will be ceremonial in nature like the sacrificial system, and other parts of the law will be civil in nature. Every day laws in other words that govern every day life and some of those laws would cross over into all categories.

[00:32:01] The fourth commandment regarding the Sabbath for instance would be part of the ceremonial law certain ceremonies they were supposed to do every Sabbath. And the civil law, the way they were supposed to as a group or a people adhere to a day of rest every week.

[00:32:19] Now the mosaic law did not annull the Abrahamic covenant that had already been given but added to it.

[00:32:27] You see God had made a covenant with Abraham in years past, but the mosaic law was added to the promise that God had made to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

[00:32:40] So what is the purpose of this law that we are about to see God deliver to the people of Israel? Well, don't make the mistake of saying that God set this law up as a pathway to salvation that they could not keep.

[00:32:56] No, it's impossible for a person to be saved by the Acts of the law. Abraham was justified by faith and so is every believer in all of history who has ever partaken of eternal salvation.

[00:33:09] The law was not there to save, perhaps it was there to demonstrate that they could not be saved by their works but it was not there in order to save. It was there to reveal God's glory.

[00:33:22] Do to honor me five verse 24 you said, behold the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness. We have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire when they receive the law. This day we have seen God speak with man and man still live.

[00:33:37] So the law reveals God reveals who God is. It does expose our sin that we cannot be saved by keeping the law. It does show us our shortcoming according to the New Testament.

[00:33:50] And the law as well would mark the people of Israel as a different and separate people unto God as we'll see in a moment. And it gave them a standard for godly living, show them how to live, how to treat God, how to treat each other.

[00:34:08] And it did have a preparatory effect. It prepared the nation for Christ. The law, Paul said in Galatians 324, was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.

[00:34:24] So the New Testament makes it very clear that the Christian is not under the law but lives in the sphere of grace. Romans 614, Galatians 518, we are not under the law. It does not have dominion over us. We are under grace. We are led by the spirit.

[00:34:44] However, many of the commandments are repeated in New Testament form throughout the New Testament. So there are many things that we can clean from the Old Testament law. Though we might not in our modern nations live in the same exact way that they lived back in their era.

[00:35:07] So now we are governed by the greater law of love, according to the New Testament. But we will learn great things and very applicable things as we move through this back half of the book of Exodus.

[00:35:21] We'll just have to do a little bit of work to maybe sometimes see modern applications to our situations. We'll have to find and mine for the wisdom of various Old Testament laws. Though they might not be the same exact things that we do today.

[00:35:35] For instance, the dietary laws that we are going to read of, these are things that have been fulfilled in Christ. They are not for the non-Jewish church to have to embrace or adhere to. It was for God's people Israel in that era.

[00:35:49] But there might be some applications that we might make about living a holy and separate and different kind of life. Being willing to be a different person from the nations around us.

[00:36:00] So we'll just have to do a little bit of work when we come to these individual laws. But in chapter 19, the law is not yet delivered.

[00:36:09] We're not going to read of any of the laws but we'll read of the setting that God delivered the law at Mount Sinai. It says verse 1 on the third new moon. After the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt.

[00:36:24] On that day, when they came into the wilderness of Sinai, they set out from Revedim and came into the wilderness of Sinai. And they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, well Moses went up to God.

[00:36:42] Now what this is telling us is that this event occurred three months after the Passover, the third new moon. It's the way it said there in verse 1. Three months after the Exodus from Egypt. There they are before the mountain.

[00:37:01] God had said back in chapter 3 of Exodus, verse 12 to Moses. I'll be with you. This will be a sign for you that I have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt. You shall serve God on this mountain.

[00:37:18] This was the same mountain, Mount Oribh that's also called Mount Sinai that Moses had heard from the Lord. Many think that Horab would be the mountain range and Sinai was a particular peak inside of that mountain range.

[00:37:38] And as I said, the rest of Exodus occurs at this mountain because Moses there will receive the law for the people of Israel. And notice that twice in those first few verses, the word wilderness is used. It's a mountain range that's in the midst of wilderness.

[00:38:01] And it seems that God is repeating that concept or telling us of this setting so that we'll understand that the law took place somewhere where there was nothing else. Everything else has been removed.

[00:38:19] There's no Pharaoh, there's no modern civilization, there's no pyramids, there's no anything except a wild land. It was the perfect place for God to deliver the law because there's nothing else really there except God.

[00:38:38] And so this would help them see that something new was about to be established and to get rid of all distractions so that they could hear the voice of the Lord. Now in verse 3 we saw there that Moses went up to God.

[00:38:56] And in this chapter Moses is going to go up and down the mountain a handful of times. He'll go up and hear from the Lord, he'll come back down and announce to the people that God's about to speak.

[00:39:06] He'll then wait for the trumpet to blast from God and he'll go up the mountain and hear from God and then he'll come back down from the mountain to get Aaron to bring him back up the mountain.

[00:39:17] So he's kind of traversing the same trail going up into God's presence. But here in this first time he goes up the mountain of God. Now verse 3 continues and says the Lord called to him out of the mountain saying,

[00:39:30] Does Jesus say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on Eagle's wings and brought you to myself.

[00:39:42] Now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. For all earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

[00:39:57] These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. Now here what Moses hears from God is first of all recounting of what God had just done. God had taken care of them. He says, You've seen what I did to the Egyptians.

[00:40:20] I bore you on Eagle's wings and I brought you to myself. In other words they were never to forget the grand act of God's redemption. And I mention this at this point because as I've been saying, The law is about to drip from the mouth of God.

[00:40:41] But the law and the keeping of the law is a response to what God has already done. God has rescued them, purchased them, made them his own, and now he'll deliver to them his word. This should be the question of every believer.

[00:41:01] Looking at the cross, seeing what Christ has done, the question that we should ask is, How can I then respond? That would make us want to look into his word. This is how in fact many of the letters of Paul the Apostle were written,

[00:41:17] describing on the front end of the epistle or the letter, What God has done in Christ Jesus? And then the back half of the letter is what our response should be to what Christ has done.

[00:41:31] And so God is drawing attention to the first half of the book of Exodus and saying, This is what I have done. And I am about to tell you how you can respond to my incredible grace. But what God says there in verse 5 and 6 is of utmost importance.

[00:41:52] He says, the His plan for Israel is that they would be number one, His treasured possession among all the peoples. Number two, that they would be a kingdom of priests. And number three, that they would be a holy nation.

[00:42:09] To be there the treasured possession of God among all the peoples means that they were going to be a unique people with special status before God. Now of course today, the church operates as a special people with unique status to and before the Lord.

[00:42:31] But there is no way we can deny the fact that Israel historically and even today has a special nature about it, that God has made a special and treasured possession.

[00:42:47] Why is it that the world has been impacted through the existence of this small little nation, the size of New Jersey? Well, it's because God has chosen them. He placed them at the crossroads of the known world geographically.

[00:43:07] And even now today, the major religions of the world have their roots and their ties to the forefather, the ancestor of the Israelite people, Abraham himself. But why are the nations always concerned with Israel thinking about Israel?

[00:43:23] The nation on earth could survive so many centuries of non-existence and then be brought back into existence. Years later, as the people of Israel have miraculously done, it's clear they have a special nature.

[00:43:41] I think the presence, the reality of the nation of Israel, is in one sense a great apologetic to who God is and the truthfulness of Scripture. But not only would they be his special treasured possession, he says secondly they should be a kingdom of priests.

[00:44:00] That's God's destiny for the people of Israel. Each member of the nation would be was meant to live with God as their king and no and have access to God. They were to be mediating as priests of the nations, bringing them to God.

[00:44:24] And then finally they'd be a holy nation, morally pure and dedicated entirely to God. Now this is God's hope and purpose for his church today.

[00:44:41] This is in Revelation 1 verse 6, the God has made us a kingdom priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. We're called to priesthood before God. We call this doctrine, the priesthood of all believers.

[00:44:59] This means that we are God's representatives to the world, trying to help people connect to God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. But it also means that we have access to God personally and privately by the blood of Jesus.

[00:45:16] The veil has been torn into and now we have access to him. So don't neglect your priestly role. This is the centerpiece of what God wanted to do in Israel and it remains the centerpiece of what he wants to do in you.

[00:45:33] He wants you to be a praying person and a sharing person. He wants you to be a person who is spiritually connects to God but also allows who God is to impact your material world.

[00:45:47] He wants you to be God's representative in your workplace and in your family and in your community.

[00:45:54] And I don't just mean his representative in that you tell everybody that you're a Christian, but that you show them that you are with the way that you live, the way that you care, the way that you work.

[00:46:08] So Moses verse 7 came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do.

[00:46:21] And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord and the Lord said to Moses, behold, I'm coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever.

[00:46:37] So Moses comes back down the mountain and he says, God wants this for us. He wants us to be a whole nation. He wants us to be a kingdom of priests. He wants us to be his treasured special possession.

[00:46:53] They respond and say, all that the Lord has spoken we will do. Now if you know the people of Israel and know where this is going, you know that they answered too quickly. They didn't really yet know everything the God would ask of them.

[00:47:11] And they really didn't have the ability to commit like they thought they could commit. So Moses tells these words of the people to the Lord and the Lord told Moses to go back up that God is going to appear in a thick cloud.

[00:47:30] Now when Moses verse 9 told the people, told the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today into Maro and let them wash their garments.

[00:47:42] And be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

[00:47:50] And you shall set limits for the people all around saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches this touches the mountain shall be put to death.

[00:48:01] No hand shall touch him but he shall be stoned or shot whether beast or man he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds along glass, then shall they come up to the mountain.

[00:48:12] So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, be ready for the third day, do not go near a woman. So here God tells Moses to have the people consecrate themselves.

[00:48:30] For this great meeting where God is going to now deliver his commandments and to his people and show them what it looks like to be a special possession. Priests who are a holy nation before him.

[00:48:43] Before they receive the law of God, the Word of God, they needed to prepare themselves. Have you ever thought about this by the way? Have you ever thought about before popping in a podcast before coming to your church community, preparing yourself for that moment, prepare yourself to hear,

[00:49:07] to receive from the Lord? God will speak to someone who has done no preparation whatsoever and has just lazily stumbled into the gathering. But he will also minister to you more so if you consecrate and prepare yourself in advance.

[00:49:26] Now the way they were to prepare themselves is simple. First they were to wash their garments. This was symbolic of being clean before God. They needed to put off all uncleanness. Verse 11 says they were to be ready for the third day.

[00:49:43] For three days in other words, they were to prepare for this moment where they received the law of God. It spoke to the importance of the Word that they were about to receive. Verse 12 says that they were to set limits for the people all around the mountain.

[00:50:02] There were to be boundaries, they could only go so far. And they were not to touch the mountain. No person should touch the mountain less they died. These were rules that communicated something. It communicated that unholyness is contagious but so is holiness. God's holiness.

[00:50:26] When you touch it, if you're unclean, it will kill you. It's kind of the message that's there in this passage. Sealing off the mountain was a boundary that would help them have the proper worship of God. What are the people of Israel learning here?

[00:50:47] They're learning God is holy. His law is holy. He is holy. He is perfect and pure and uncleanous. Cannot touch Him. It was giving them the appropriate concept of who God is. And they were supposed to wait.

[00:51:03] Moses told them to abstain from sex for a few days to be clean before God. Not that sex is dirty in and of itself, but it just spoke to a separation. Even the married couples were to abstain for a season so that when the trumpet sounded.

[00:51:19] This was a trumpet from God. God's horn blowing from the mountain, then they would come up. After keeping away from that mountain for three days on the third day, they would then approach. And the law would be delivered to their man, Moses.

[00:51:40] All these external preparations were meant to demonstrate the inward preparations of their heart to hear from God.

[00:51:48] So on the morning of the third day, verse 16, there were thunders and lightenings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blasts of that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.

[00:52:03] And they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. God appears on this mountain top with a thick cloud. Because these people in that community had been steeped in idolatry and Egypt and idolatry in that region for so long.

[00:52:21] And now God appears. He doesn't take the form of any animal or being that they could fashion into an idol, but he comes in the form of a cloud to sort of communicate.

[00:52:32] You can't make anything that looks like me. You can't make any image that looks like me. Now Mount Sinai verse 18 was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire.

[00:52:46] The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder.

[00:52:58] The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

[00:53:09] I mean, just imagine this scene, the fire, the smoke, the trumpet blasts, the earth quaking, the lone solitary figure leaving the millions of people to climb the mountain to be with God once again. It's powerful. And the Lord said to Moses verse 21, go down and warn the people.

[00:53:33] Let's say breakthrough to the Lord to look in many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves. Let's the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for you yourself.

[00:53:49] The Lord warned us saying, set limits around the mountain and consecrated. Now this is a fascinating little movement. There is Moses with God and God says, go down and warn them not to come up. Let's say look at me.

[00:54:07] Now God had already set a limit around the mountain and that's what Moses reminds God up. We can't come up here. There's a limit. You set the limits so they can't come up any further.

[00:54:20] Moses thinks that the people will obey. Moses thinks that the people heard the requirement and are going to do it. But God knows better than Moses. He knows the tendency of the people. He knows the tendency of the human heart and need.

[00:54:37] The requirement to hear the word, the law over and over and over again because though we commit to it one day we might not commit to it next. Though we might commit to it one hour we might not commit to it the next.

[00:54:50] And so God is asking Moses, go tell them again. Make sure that they don't come up. Now in verse 22, God alluded to a group called the priests and said, let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves.

[00:55:07] Now this is interesting because the priesthood, the tabernacle, the sacrificial system has not yet been established in Israel. So clearly these priests are different figures than the priests who had developed as a result of the giving of the law.

[00:55:25] These were likely those who performed some kind of priestly function in Israel before the law had been delivered and Aaron and his sons had been established as the priests in Israel.

[00:55:42] So they were not yet official priests in Israel, but probably these were family heads, the elders perhaps the first born who had been dedicated to the Lord after the Passover. They were operating in that role.

[00:56:01] So Moses hears this from God and the Lord said to him, go down and come up bringing verse 24 Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord. Let's keep break out against them.

[00:56:17] So Moses went down to the people and told them, listen in our modern era of course as the church. We have a better mountain than the mountain of Sinai where the law was given. Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that we worship on a different mountain.

[00:56:39] You see on that mountain Moses was the figurehead, but on Mount Calvary there in Zion or Jerusalem Jesus is the figurehead. On that mountain the law was delivered. But on the mountain that Jesus went to grace is delivered.

[00:56:59] Fear was the attitude, terror was the attitude of the day when the law was given, but love, grace and acceptance was given on the day of Christ. That law was given on a mountain that was in the midst of the wilderness.

[00:57:17] But Jesus's mountain produces the city of the living God. That mountain was one that only Moses could climb, but because of the blood of Jesus all are invited into the presence of God. That mountain required a fence around it, keeping people from the Lord.

[00:57:41] But Jesus of course is the door to God. That mountain was a mountain of exclusion, but Jesus he invites us in. That mountain was old, but Jesus brought a new covenant. You see, therefore, runner would go up to the mountain top, for them and receive the law.

[00:58:07] But our forerunner, Jesus Christ went up to the mountain top and fulfilled the law and called us up to Himself.