The stop at Mt. Sinai fulfilled God’s promise to Moses in Exodus 3:12. There is so much of importance in today’s reading.
God offers to establish His covenant with the nation of Israel. Note the condition: they must obey God’s commands. Note what God will do for them: they will enjoy special relationship with Him. He describes the relationship as their being “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” What does that mean? It is important to us New Covenant people, because God uses similar language to describe us, and His intended relationship with His Old Covenant people will help us understand His intentions for His relationship with us.
The people agreed to enter into the covenant with God, and so God announced how He would give them the commands He expected them to obey. He first gave them instructions for preparing to meet with Him to receive these commands. They couldn’t come just as they were; they had to be clean to meet with Him. How easy would it have been for them to wash themselves and their laundry in the wilderness? That preparation required three days. They would have to observe boundaries. They met with God outside of the camp where they were living. What do these requirements teach us about God’s wishes for our own meetings with Him today? I encourage you to ponder that prayerfully today. One does not meet with God on any terms except God’s.
Note what meeting with God was like for the Israelites: they saw lightning and fire descending to the top of the mountain, large enough to engulf the entire mountain in a thick cloud of smoke. They not only heard but felt thunder and the violent quaking of the entire mountain. They also heard a trumpet, and God speaking to Moses with a voice that sounded like thunder. The experience frightened them so much that they asked to be allowed to keep their distance and let Moses meet with God as their representative. We can’t imagine what God is like; this is only one representation of Him. If we meet with Him, we will not think of ourselves except to recognize our unworthiness.
Notice that God sent Moses back down the mountain to warn the people again, even though barriers had been erected for their protection at God’s first warning. He didn’t want to have to impose the consequences of their violating the boundaries He had established. But no one seemed to be interested in taking a risk upon seeing the awe-inspiring manifestation of God.
Why are the Ten Commandments so important? In Deuteronomy 4:13, Moses refers to them as “God’s covenant, which He commanded you to perform.” God wrote them on tablets of stone – twice, thus distinguishing them among the commandments of the Law. Many think they aren’t relevant to us, but they truly are. Jesus said that He didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. These commandments distinguished by God reveal His desire for His people, and we are His people of the New Covenant. Hopefully we’re not checking off boxes to acknowledge accomplishment of the bare minimum; hopefully we desire to enjoy the most intimate relationship with God that we can possibly enjoy, and thus are seeking to understand His heart and His will for His people so that we might conform to it.
The rules for worshiping God were different from the way others worshiped their gods, and thus were counter-intuitive for people who thought the most honoring worship was in the most elaborate representations and highest altars. Consider what this means for our worship of God: does He want less from His worshipers, or more?