Thursday, November 9, 2017

Exodus 19:9-15 comments: Moses is to direct the people to sanctify themselves

19:9 ¶  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 for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. 10  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11  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. 12  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: 13  There shall not an 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. 14  And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15  And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.

Jehovah God is going to display some of His majesty in how He appears to the people so as to impress them as to whom they are promising obedience. He is going to come down on Mount Sinai in His appearance from the thick cloud.

2Chronicles 6:1  Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

Psalm 18:11  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

No one was to touch the mount of God as Paul reminds us later when he compares the mount of God to the New Jerusalem.

Hebrews 12:20  (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21  And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24a  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant…

A trumpet blast plays an important role at the end of history.

1Corinthians 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The third day is also very significant throughout the Bible representing to us the resurrection of Christ after three days.

Luke 24:46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

This resurrection is a theme mentioned in several places in prophetic verses in the Old Testament. Here in Exodus it has to do with God calling the people to come near to Him.

Hosea 6:2  After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

They are to prepare themselves for this appointment with God. Here, it is interesting that they are to deny the pleasure of physical union with their wives in that preparation. Here is something that was a gift to man and woman from God from the very beginning. Part of their preparation was to deny themselves that very blessing bestowed uniquely on man and wife.

Genesis 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Christians are not told to do this except under one very special circumstance. In fact, they are warned against it. While Paul extolls the virtue of being celibate like he apparently was (although he seems to suggest that he would be willing to have a wife in 1Corinthians 9:5) he gives this admonition as part of his opinion.

1Corinthians 7:4  The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. 5  Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

So, denying your spouse sexual relations is considered as defrauding them, except for a specific purpose for both parties during a specific time by mutual consent.

Moses is acting as the mediator between the people and God. Christians have God Himself in the form of the Word, capital W, of God, the second part of the three parts of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him only, as the mediator between us and God the Father.

1Timothy 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Hebrews 9:15 ¶  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.


As the mediator between God and mankind, only God Himself could be the propitiation for sin, only God Himself could pay the ransom to Himself for our souls, and only God Himself could raise His own body from the grave for our justification and the promise of eternal life. You are as helpless to do these things as these Hebrews were helpless in the wilderness.

No comments: