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Exodus 19:9–15
“Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments” (v. 14).
From the beginning of God’s mission to rescue the Israelites from Egypt, Moses served as the mediator between the Lord and Israel. After all, he delivered God’s words to the people and stood in place of the Lord, as it were, when they grumbled against God (see, e.g., Ex. 4:27–31; 16:1–8). Israel’s encounter with the Lord at Mount Sinai, however, would make Moses’ office as mediator even clearer to the people. Already we have seen how the Lord spoke to Moses on the mountain and then Moses spoke to the elders of Israel to give God’s call to the Israelites to be His people, and they willingly answered the Lord’s summons, committing to do what He said (19:1–8). With this elementary foundation for the covenant laid, God told Moses that He would be making His presence known in a tangible way at Sinai to formalize the bond between the Lord and His people (Ex. 19:9).
In today’s passage, God delivers instructions to Moses for how the people were to prepare to encounter His presence at Sinai. What the Lord required of His people emphasizes the seriousness of the occasion. We see, for instance, that the Israelites were not allowed to ascend the mountain or even to touch it once God descended in a cloud and made the place holy. Anyone who touched it, human or beast, was to be put to death by stoning or arrow (“shot”), so that the people could not even touch those who had been in contact with the mountain (Ex. 19:12–13). This reveals that the Lord’s presence is not something to be taken lightly, that human beings cannot approach God casually but must respect His holiness and His transcendence as our Creator. Later in Israel’s history, individuals who did not respect the Lord’s holiness and treated casually what He sets apart would meet death (2 Sam. 6:5–15).
Moses also tells the people to clean their clothes and to abstain from sexual relations as they prepare to meet God (Ex. 19:10, 15). This does not mean that dirt or sex in the proper context are wrong or sinful; rather, these were means for Israel to set itself apart from ordinary life and to avoid the temporary ritual uncleanness associated with certain bodily discharges (Lev. 15:16–18). All these instructions, therefore, emphasize the importance of being prepared to meet with the Lord. Access to God under the new covenant, of course, does not involve so many strictures, but we still learn from today’s passage not to take meeting with Him lightly (Heb. 12:18–25).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Matthew Henry gives the proper new covenant application of today’s passage: “When we are to attend upon God in solemn ordinances it concerns us to sanctify ourselves, and to get ready beforehand. Wandering thoughts must be gathered in, impure affections abandoned, disquieting passions suppressed, nay, and all cares about secular business, for the present, dismissed and laid by, that our hearts may be engaged to approach unto God.”
For Further Study
- Leviticus 10:1–3
- 1 Peter 1:13–25