Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 20:18
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off.
18. saw ] Heb., more graphically, were seeing.
the thunderings (Heb. voices), &c.] see Exo 19:16; Exo 19:19.
and when, &c.] Heb. and the people saw and trembled, where ‘saw,’ after clause a , is tautologous. Read probably, with merely a change of vowel-points, and the people were afraid, and trembled (so Sam. LXX. Vulg.; cf. v. 20).
trembled ] swayed to and fro, shook, is the meaning of the Heb. : cf. Isa 7:2 ‘and his heart shook as the trees of a forest shake with the wind’; Nah 3:12. On the marg. it is rendered, not very expressively, were moved, as in Isa 6:4 RV., Isa 7:2 EVV., Isa 19:1 EVV.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 21. The people, alarmed by the terrible accompaniments of the theophany, express a desire that in future Moses may speak to them instead of God. Their wish is implicitly granted. Cf. Deu 5:22-31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare Deu 5:22-31. Aaron Exo 19:24 on this occasion accompanied Moses in drawing near to the thick darkness.
Exo 20:22 to Exo 23:33 is a series of laws which we may identify with what was written by Moses in the book called the book of the covenant, and read by him in the audience of the people Exo 24:7.
The document cannot be regarded as a strictly systematic whole. Portions of it were probably traditional rules handed down from the patriarchs, and retained by the Israelites in Egypt.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 20:18-21
They removed, and stood afar off.
Israel and Sinai
I. That all men as sinners must be brought into conscious contact with moral law. The guarantees of this conscious contact are found–
1. In the law of our spiritual nature.
2. In the special Providence that is over us.
3. In the provisions of the gospel.
4. In the transactions of the final retribution.
II. That this conscious contact is ever associated with feelings of the most terrible alarm.
III. That under the influence of this most terrible alarm there will arise a conscious necessity for a Mediator.
IV. That heaven has graciously provided such a Mediator, who is equal to the emergency. (Homilist.)
The superficial and the profound
I. Superficial views of Divine proceedings induce fear.
II. Profound views of Divine proceedings encourage confidence.
III. Profound views of Divine proceedings lead to a correct understanding of Divine purposes.
IV. The unenlightened and the fearing stand afar off. And the people stood afar off. There is no reason to keep away from God. Why should we shut out the light of a Fathers compassion?
V. But the heaven-taught are taken into the thick darkness where the true light appears. Moses drew near, or more correctly, was made to draw near, unto the thick darkness where God was. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Gods revelation of Himself
I. The mode of this revelation was striking (Exo 20:18).
1. Such a mode was necessary.
(1) To reveal Gods majesty–to men familiar with the puerilities of heathen worship;
(2) to show that God was not to be trifled with, and His laws broken with impunity;
(3) to meet the case of those open only to impressions made on their fear.
2. Such a mode served some of the most important functions of the old dispensation.
(1) Preparatory;
(2) symbolic.
3. Such a mode was appropriate, as accompanying judicial proceedings.
II. The reception of this revelation was what God intended it should be.
1. Intelligent.
2. Reverent.
3. Prayerful.
III. The comfort of this revelation disarmed it of all its terrors.
1. The God of their fathers had spoken.
2. God had spoken for their encouragement.
3. God had spoken but to prove their loyalty to Him. If they could stand the test, what could harm them? (Rom 8:39).
4. God had spoken for their moral elevation.
(1) That His fear may be before your faces.
(2) That ye sin not (1Jn 2:1-2).
Learn–
1. Not to dread Gods revelation.
2. To approach God through the one new and living way which is ever open.
3. To keep all Gods laws in the strength of the comfort which His presence brings. (J. W. Burn.)
The seriousness of life
The Hebrews had come up out of Egypt, and were standing in front of Sinai. They turn to Moses and beg him to stand between them and God. At first it seems as if their feeling were a strange one. This is their God who is speaking to them. Would it not seem as if they would be glad to have Him come to them directly, to have Him almost look on them with eyes that they could see? That is the first question, but very speedily we feel how natural that is which actually did take place. The Hebrews had delighted in Gods mercy. They had come singing up out of the Red Sea. They had followed the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud. But now they were called on to face God Himself. In behind all the superficial aspects of their life they were called on to get at its centre and its heart. There they recoiled. We are willing to know that God is there. We are willing, we are glad, that Moses should go into His presence and bring us His messages. But we will not come in sight of Him ourselves. Life would be awful. Let not God speak with us, lest we die! I want to bid you think how natural and how common such a temper is. There are a few people among us who are always full of fear that life will become too trivial and petty. There are always a great many people who live in perpetual anxiety lest life should become too awful and serious and deep and solemn. There is something in all of us which feels that fear. We are always hiding behind effects to keep out of sight of their causes, behind events to keep out of sight of their meanings, behind facts to keep out of sight of principles, behind men to keep out of the sight of God. We have all known men from whom it seemed as if it would be good to lift away some of the burden of life, to make the world seem easier and less serious. Some such people perhaps we know to-day; but as we look abroad generally do we not feel sure that such people are the exceptions? The great mass of people are stunted and starved with superficialness. They never touch the real reasons and meanings of living. They turn and hide their faces, or else run away, when those profoundest things present themselves. They will not let God speak with them. So all their lives lack tone; nothing brave, enterprising, or aspiring is in them. For we may lay it down as a first principle that he who uses superficially any power or any person which he is capable of using profoundly gets harm out of that unaccepted opportunity which he lets slip. You talk with some slight acquaintance, some man of small capacity and little depth, about ordinary things in very ordinary fashion; and you do not suffer for it. You get all that he has to give. But you hold constant intercourse with some deep nature, some man of great thoughts and true spiritual standards, and you insist on dealing merely with the surface of him, touching him only at the most trivial points of living, and you do get harm. The unused capacity of the man–all which he might be to you, but which you are refusing to let him be–is always there demoralizing you. But–here is the point–for this man with his capacities to live in this world with its opportunities and yet to live on its surface and to refuse its depths, to turn away from its problems, to reject the voice of God that speaks out of it, is a demoralizing and degrading thing. It mortifies the unused powers, and keeps the man always a traitor to his privileges and his duties. Take one part of life and you can see it very plainly. Take the part with which we are familiar here in church. Take the religious life of man. True religion is, at its soul, spiritual sympathy with, spiritual obedience to, God. But religion has its superficial aspects–first of truth to be proved and accepted, and then, still more superficial, of forms to be practised and obeyed. Now suppose that a man setting out to be religious confines himself to these superficial regions and refuses to go further down. He learns his creed and says it. He rehearses his ceremony and practises it. The deeper voice of his religion cries to him from its unsounded depths, Come, understand your soul! Come, through repentance enter into holiness! Come, hear the voice of God. But he draws back; he piles between himself and that importunate invitation the cushions of his dogma and his ceremony. Let Gods voice come to me deadened and softened through these, he says. Let not God speak to me, lest I die. Speak thou to me, and I will hear. So he cries to his priest, to his sacrament, which is his Moses. Is he not harmed by that? Is it only that he loses the deeper spiritual power which he might have had? Is it not also that the fact of its being there and of his refusing to take it makes his life unreal, fills it with a suspicion of cowardice, and puts it on its guard lest at any time this ocean of spiritual life which has been shut out should burst through the barriers which exclude it and come pouring in? Suppose the opposite. Suppose the soul so summoned accepts the fulness of its life. It opens its ears and cries, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. It invites the infinite and eternal aspects of life to show themselves. Thankful to Moses for his faithful leadership, it is always pressing through him to the God for whom he speaks. Thankful to priest and church and dogma, it will always live in the truth of its direct, immediate relationship to God, and make them minister to that. What a consciousness of thoroughness and safety; what a certain, strong sense of resting on the foundation of all things is there then! Oh! do not let your religion satisfy itself with anything less than God. Insist on having your soul get at Him and hear His voice. Never, because of the mystery, the awe, perhaps the perplexity and doubt which come with the great experiences, let yourself take refuge in the superficial things of faith. It is better to be lost on the ocean than to be tied to the shore. Therefore seek great experiences of the soul, and never turn your back on them when God sends them, as He surely will! The whole world of thought is full of the same necessity and the same danger. A man sets himself to think of this world we live in. He discovers facts. He arranges facts into what he calls laws. Behind his laws he feels and owns the powers to which he gives the name of force. He will go no further. He dimly hears the depth below, of final causes, of personal purposes, roaring as the great ocean roars under the steamship which, with its clamorous machineries and its precious freight of life, goes sailing on the oceans bosom. You say to him, Take this into your account. Your laws are beautiful, your force is gracious and sublime. But neither is ultimate. You have not reached the end and source of things in these. Go further. Let God speak to you. Can you not hear the answer? Nay, that perplexes all things. That throws confusion into what we have made plain and orderly and clear. Let not God speak to us, lest we die! You think what the study of Nature might become if, keeping every accurate and careful method of investigation of the way in which the universe is governed and arranged, it yet was always hearing, always rejoicing to hear, behind all methods and governments and machineries, the sacred movement of the personal will and nature which is the soul of all. The same is true about all motive. How men shrink from the profoundest motives! I ask you why you toil at your business day in and day out, year after year. I beg you to tell me why you devote yourself to study, and you reply with certain statements about the attractiveness of study and the way in which every extension or increase of knowledge makes the world more rich. All that is true, but it is slight. This refusal to trace any act back more than an inch into that world of motive out of which all acts spring, this refusal especially to let acts root themselves in Him who is the one only really worthy cause why anything should be done at all–this is what makes life grow so thin to the feeling of men who live it; this is what makes men wonder sometimes that their brethren can find it worth while to keep on working and living, even while they themselves keep on at their life and work in the same way. Let us be quiet and natural, men say, and all will be well But the truth is that to be natural is to feel the seriousness and depth of life, and that no man does come to any worthy quietness who does not find God and rest on Him and talk with Him continually. The whole trouble comes from a wilful or a blind under-estimate of man. Let not God speak to me, lest I die, the man exclaims. Is it not almost as if the fish cried, Cast me not into the water, lest I drown? or as if the eagle said, Let not the sun shine on me, lest I be blind? It is man fearing his native element. He was made to talk with God. It is not death, but his true life, to come into the Divine society and to take his thoughts, his standards, and his motives directly out of the hand of the eternal perfectness. We find a revelation of this in all the deepest and highest moments of our lives. Have you not often been surprised by seeing how men who seemed to have no capacity for such experiences passed into a sense of Divine companionship when anything disturbed their lives with supreme joy or sorrow? Once or twice, at least, in his own life, almost every one of us has found himself face to face with God, and felt how natural it was to be there. And often the question has come, What possible reason is there why this should not be the habit and fixed condition of our life? Why should we ever go back from it? And then, as we felt ourselves going back from it, we have been aware that we were growing unnatural again. And as this is the revelation of the highest moments of every life, so it is the revelation of the highest lives; especially it is the revelation of the highest of all lives, the life of Christ. Men had been saying, Let not God speak to us, lest we die; and here came Christ, the man–Jesus, the man; and God spoke with Him constantly, and yet He lived with the most complete vitality. And every now and then a great man or woman comes who is like Christ in this. There comes a man who naturally drinks of the fountain and eats of the essential bread of life. Where you deal with the mere borders of things, he gets at their hearts; where you ask counsel of expediencies, he talks with first principles; where you say, This will be profitable, he says, This is right. And in religion, may I not beg you to be vastly more radical and thorough? Do not avoid, but seek, the great, deep, simple things of faith. (Bp. Phillips Brooks.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. And all the people saw the thunderings, c.] They had witnessed all these awful things before, (see Ex 19:16), but here they seem to have been repeated probably at the end of each command, there was a peal of thunder, a blast of the trumpet, and a gleam of lightning, to impress their hearts the more deeply with a due sense of the Divine Majesty, of the holiness of the law which was now delivered, and of the fearful consequences of disobedience. This had the desired effect; the people were impressed with a deep religious fear and a terror of God’s judgments; acknowledged themselves perfectly satisfied with the discoveries God had made of himself; and requested that Moses might be constituted the mediator between God and them, as they were not able to bear these tremendous discoveries of the Divine Majesty. “Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die;” Ex 20:19. This teaches us the absolute necessity of that great Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, as no man can come unto the Father but by him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Saw the thunderings, i.e. heard them. One sense is oft put for another, as seeing, Gen 42:1, for hearing, Act 7:12.
They removed from the bottom of the mountain, where it seems they stood.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18-21. all the people saw thethunderings and the lightningsThey were eye and ear witnessesof the awful emblems of the Deity’s descent. But they perceived notthe Deity Himself.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings,…. That is, they heard the one, and saw the other; they heard the dreadful volleys of thunder, and saw the amazing flashes of lightning, which were like lamps and torches, as the word used signifies; by a communication of senses, one sense is put for another, and the sense of sight being the principal, as Ben Melech observes, it is put for the rest, and so in the following. It is an observation of Austin’s o that to “see” is used of all of the five senses, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling:
and the noise the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: they the sound of the trumpet, which made them tremble and saw the mountain all in a smoke, which made it look very terrible. Though the words may be rendered, as they are by some, “they perceived the thunders”, c. p had a sensible perception of them with their eyes ears, which greatly affected them, and made strong impressions upon their minds, and filled them with fear and dread:
and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off; their minds were not only terrified and distressed, and their bodies shook with fear; but they could not stand their ground, but were obliged to retreat, who but just before were curious to draw near, and gaze and see what they could, to prevent which bounds were set; but now these were needless, what they saw and heard were sufficient to keep them at a distance, nay, obliged them to quit their places; they were at the lower part of the mount before, and now they removed a good way from it, even to their camp, and to their tents in it, see De 5:30. The Targum of Jonathan says, they removed twelve miles; and so Jarchi, who observes, that this was according to the length of their camp.
o Confess. l. 10. c. 35. p “percipiebant”, Junius Tremellius, “intelligebant” so some in Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(cf. Deu 5:19-33). The terrible phenomena, amidst which the Lord displayed His majesty, made the intended impression upon the people who were stationed by the mountain below, so that they desired that God would not speak to them any more, and entreated Moses through their elders to act as mediator between them, promising at the same time that they would hear him (cf. Exo 19:9, Exo 19:16-19). , perceiving: to see being frequently used for perceiving, as being the principle sense by which most of the impressions of the outer world are received (e.g., Gen 42:1; Isa 44:16; Jer 33:24). , fire-torches, are the vivid flashes of lightning (Exo 19:16). “ They trembled and stood afar off: ” not daring to come nearer to the mountain, or to ascend it. “ And they said, ” viz., the heads of the tribes and elders: cf. Deu 5:20, where the words of the people are more fully given. “ Lest we die: ” cf. Deu 5:21-23. Though they had discovered that God speaks with man, and yet man lives; they felt so much that they were , flesh, i.e., powerless, frail, and alienated by sin from the holy God, that they were afraid lest they should be consumed by this great fire, if they listened any longer to the voice of God.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Terror with Which the Law Was Given. | B. C. 1491. |
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
I. The extraordinary terror with which the law was given. Never was any thing delivered with such awful pomp; every word was accented, and every sentence paused, with thunder and lightning, much louder and brighter, no doubt, than ordinary. And why was the law given in this dreadful manner, and with all this tremendous ceremony? 1. It was designed (once for all) to give a sensible discovery of the glorious majesty of God, for the assistance of our faith concerning it, that, knowing the terror of the Lord, we may be persuaded to live in his fear. 2. It was a specimen of the terrors of the general judgment, in which sinners will be called to an account for the breach of this law: the archangel’s trumpet will then sound an alarm, to give notice of the Judge’s coming, and a fire shall devour before him. 3. It was an indication of the terror of those convictions which the law brings into conscience, to prepare the soul for the comforts of the gospel. Thus was the law given by Moses in such a way as might startle, affright, and humble men, that the grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ might be the more welcome. The apostle largely describes this instance of the terror of that dispensation, as a foil to set off our privileges, as Christians, in the light, liberty, and joy, of the New-Testament dispensation, Heb. xii. 18, c.
II. The impression which this made, for the present, upon the people they must have had stupid hearts indeed, if this had not affected them. 1. They removed, and stood afar off, v. 18. Before God began to speak, they were thrusting forward to gaze (ch. xix. 21); but now they were effectually cured of their presumption, and taught to keep their distance. 2. They entreated that the word should not be so spoken to them any more (Heb. xii. 19), but begged that God would speak to them by Moses, v. 19. Hereby they obliged themselves to acquiesce in the mediation of Moses, they themselves nominating him as a fit person to deal between them and God, and promising to hearken to him as to God’s messenger; hereby also they teach us to acquiesce in that method which Infinite Wisdom takes, of speaking to us by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us afraid, nor their hand be heavy upon us. Once God tried the expedient of speaking to the children of men immediately, but it was found that they could not bear it; it rather drove men from God than brought them to him, and, as it proved in the issue, though it terrified them, it did not deter them from idolatry, for soon after this they worshipped the golden calf. Let us therefore rest satisfied with the instructions given us by the scriptures and the ministry; for, if we believe not them, neither should we be persuaded though God should speak to us in thunder and lightning, as he did from Mount Sinai: here that matter was determined.
III. The encouragement Moses gave them, by explaining the design of God in his terror (v. 20): Fear not, that is, “Think not that the thunder and fire are designed to consume you,” which was the thing they feared (v. 19, lest we die); thunder and lightning constituted one of the plagues of Egypt, but Moses would not have them think they were sent to them on the same errand on which they were sent to the Egyptians: no, they were intended, 1. To prove them, to try how they would like dealing with God immediately, without a mediator, and so to convince them how admirably well God had chosen for them, in putting Moses into that office. Ever since Adam fled, upon hearing God’s voice in the garden, sinful man could not bear either to speak to God or hear from him immediately. 2. To keep them to their duty, and prevent their sinning against God. He encourages them, saying, Fear not, and yet tells them that God thus spoke to them, that his fear might be before their face. We must not fear with amazement–with that fear which has torment, which only works upon the fancy for the present, sets us a trembling, genders to bondage, betrays us to Satan, and alienates us from God; but we must always have in our minds a reverence of God’s majesty, a dread of his displeasure, and an obedient regard to his sovereign authority over us: this fear will quicken us to our duty and make us circumspect in our walking. Thus stand in awe, and sin not, Ps. iv. 4.
IV. The progress of their communion with God by the mediation of Moses, v. 21. While the people continued to stand afar off, conscious of guilt and afraid of God’s wrath, Moses drew near unto the thick darkness; he was made to draw near, so the word is: Moses, of himself, durst not have ventured into the thick darkness, if God had not called him, and encouraged him, and, as some of the rabbies suppose, sent an angel to take him by the hand, and lead him up. Thus it is said of the great Mediator, I will cause him to draw near (Jer. xxx. 21), and by him it is that we also are introduced, Eph. iii. 12.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 18-21:
The people saw the awesome manifestations of God’s presence upon the Mount Sinai, and they were filled with fear. They heard the sound of God’s voice in thunderings, but were likely unable to discern the words He spoke.
“Moses said. . .” not immediately, but after conferring with God, see De 5:28. God had not come to execute terror or vengeance upon the people, but to “prove” to test them, to see whether or not they were inclined to submit to Him.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Exo. 20:19. We will hear.] Kalisch happily remarks that in the word vnishmaAH, with the he paragogicum, lies the readiness and willingness: we will eagerly and gladly hear.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 20:18-21
THE SUPERFICIAL AND THE PROFOUND
The law was given under circumstances of great solemnity. Nature assumed her sternest aspect; and spoke in tones of thunder. All was calculated to impart deep and striking emphasis to every enactment given forth by the worlds great legislator. The whole scene was so appalling that the people were filled with terror. When we think of our own emotions as we listen to the thunders deep base, or watch the lightnings vivid flash, we are not surprised that these people were alarmed. Let us, however, seek to get a correct view of Divine proceedings, and thus gain confidence.
I. Superficial views of Divine proceedings induce fear. Superficial views are always dangerous, though they may not always lead to fear. The superficial man is bold through his very shallowness. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Ignorant men are not troubled with doubts. They sometimes speak with repellant fluency and painful dogmatism upon subjects they have never thoroughly studied and much less mastered. Nevertheless, superficial views are dangerous, and lead to great mistakes. They did so in this case. The people said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die. Their fear led them to prefer the human and to reject the Divine. This is the history of fearing and deluded humanity. Human voices are followed through a mistaken sense of safety. Divine voices are rejected through baseless terror. The world follows the teaching of the priests, instead of listening to the still small voice of the Infinite. And the world is thus led fearfully astray; for earthly priests are not constituted after the Mosaic type. Our fears are the result of our sins; for conscience doth make cowards of us all. Earthly and self-seeking priests take advantage of our fears; but not so Moses, he was the worlds sublime prophet.
II. Profound views of Divine proceedings encourage confidence. The voice of the earthly priest is fear; but the exhortation of the Heavenly Priest is, Fear not. The former carries on his trade by increasing the fears of the people; but the latter, with Divine benevolence, seeks to encourage a legitimate confidence. Moses had profound views of Divine proceedings, therefore his exhortation. A correct understanding will remove terror; it often does so in things temporal. The lions produce terror, until we get a further revelation and find that they are chained. It must do so in things moral. God is to be feared in the assembly of His saints, but He is not to be regarded with terror. Fear not, is the exhortation of Moses; Fear not, is the exhortation of Jesus Christ, of whom Moses was an eminent type. If men were to fear not in the presence of the mount that might not be touched, how much more may we say, Fear not, to men who see the mount which is bright with the light of Divine love?
III. Profound views of Divine proceedings lead to a correct understanding of Divine purposes. For God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. Shallow views lead to disastrous mistakes. The religion of mere sentiment will be a religion of terror. We must think upon the Divine ways, and then shall we turn our feet unto the Divine testimonies, and understand more correctly the deep things of God. Here is a seeming paradox, fear not and yet fear. Fear not with slavish terror; but fear as loving children. Fear not with that terror which makes you shrink from the Divine voice; but fear so as to shrink from that which the Divine voice forbids. The purpose of Divine proceedings is that His people may be proved. Nature herself tests mans powers. His power of labour and of endurance are tested. The phenomena of nature may become great moral tests. The thunders peal and the lightnings flash may develop a true manhood. God comes to prove His people, not always by the thunder and the lightning and the smoking mountain, but by the common events of our daily life. Disappointments in business, defeats in ambitious projects, a new and seemingly unpromising opening in life, disorders in the family or in the nation, sickness, and bereavement, are the pathways along which God travels to prove His beloved. The ultimate purpose of all Divine methods is that His people sin not. The terrors of the Jewish economy were to keep people from transgression. The love and grace of the Gospel are intended to promote holiness. Jesus came to save people from their sins, to deliver them from moral bondage and corruption.
IV. The unenlightened and the fearing stand afar off. And the people stood afar off. There is no reason to keep away from God. He invites and welcomes to Himself the children of men. We do not get to ourselves the true knowledge of the Divine Fatherhood, and therefore we keep at a distance. The prodigal felt himself unworthy to be called his fathers son, until he understood the greatness of the fathers love. Let us pray for more light. Let us consider that God is our Father in heaven, bending down with loving gaze and deep interest to us His children upon the earth. And why should we keep away from a Fathers love? Why should we shut out the light of a Fathers compassion? Why should we stand afar off, when we may be embraced by the arms of the Eternal?
V. But the heaven-taught are taken into the thick darkness where the true light appears. Moses drew near, or, more correctly, was made to draw near, unto the thick darkness where God was. The rabbis suppose that God called unto Moses, and encouraged him, and sent an angel to take him by the hand, and to lead him up. This may be a mere fancy, but it has its foundation in fact. Gods encouraging call is heard in the hearts of the faithful. Gods guiding angels lead by the hand Gods faithful ones into the thick darkness where the true light appears. The pure in heart shall see God. At first the vision may seem only like thick darkness, but soon it will be one of celestial splendours. This is often the Divine method through the thick darkness into the Divine celestial splendour. Through the thick darkness of earlier formations into the light, and glory of the finished creation. Through the thick darkness of the law into the light of the Gospel. Through the darkness of repentance into the light of pardon. Through the darkness of this world, and through the deeper darkness of death, into the land of unclouded light and unsullied glory.
W. Burrows, B.A.
GODS REVELATION OF HIMSELF.Exo. 20:18-20
Gods revelation of His law was accompanied by a revelation of Himself. What was this but a symbolic promise that He would be with them and enable them to keep His law. Cf. Mat. 28:19-20; Mar. 16:20; Luk. 14:4-9. We have dealt with this subject under other aspects before, (see on Exo. 19:14-25). Here we have the mode, the reception, the comfort. Notice
I. That the mode of this revelation was striking. Exo. 20:18.
1. Such a mode was necessary
(1.) to reveal Gods majesty to men familiar with the puerilities of heathen worship;
(2.) to show that God was not to be trifled with and His laws broken with impunity;
(3.) to meet the case of thoseand the Israelites in general were suchwho are open only to impression which can be made upon their fear.
2. Such a mode served some of the most important functions of the old dispensation.
(1.) Gal. 3:24, cf. Joh. 1:17. It was preparatory to the mild and beneficent grace of Jesus Christ that by contrast with it the latter might be the more welcome. It was the storm before the calm, the night before the day. See also Heb. 12:18.
(2.) It was a symbol of the workings of the law in an awakened conscience before the blessing and liberty of the Gospel of Christ (Romans 7, 8).
3. Such a mode was appropriate as accompanying judicial proceedings. It was the same
(1) at the flood;
(2) at the destruction of the cities of the plain;
(3) it will be so at the last day (2Th. 1:7-9; Revelation 20.) &c. &c.
II. That the reception of this revelation was what God intended it should be.
1. It was intelligent. All the people saw it.
(1.) Revelation is not an appeal to credulity, but to reasonable faith. Its evidences and credentials all appeal to the intelligence of man.
(2.) The people saw what God intended them to see, not merely a spectacle which it would be difficult to forget, but the manifestation of Himself in it. So many painful providences tax our energies to see the meaning of them; but if our eyes are opened we shall see Him there (2Ki. 6:14-17).
2. It was reverent. They removed and stood afar off.
(1.) This was reasonable; undue familiarity would have been shocking.
(2.) This was exemplary. Many Christians in their references to the person, words, or works of God, may learn a profitable lesson from it.
(3.) This should be usual (Exo. 3:5; Ecclesiastes 6).
3. It was prayerful. Exo. 20:9.
(1.) This shows the natural and reasonable yearning of mans heart for a mediator.
(2.) This shows how desirable it is that the mediator should be man.
(3.) This shows that the benefit of mediation is mercifully accepted by God.
III. That the comfort of that revelation disarmed it of all its terrors.
1. God had spoken. The God of their fathers. Their Redeemer. The God who had promised to bless them if they would keep His law.
2. God had spoken for their encouragement, Fear not. The fire should not burn, the lightning should not strike them. These were but manifestations of the power which was on their side.
3. God had spoken but to prove their loyalty to Him. If they could stand the test, what could harm them? (Rom. 8:39).
4. God had spoken for their moral elevation.
(1.) That His fear may be before your faces.
(2.) That ye sin not (1Jn. 2:1-2), especial in earnest with Exo. 20:21. Learn
I. Not to dread Gods revelation. Ye fearful souls, fresh courage take. II. To approach God through the one new and living way which is ever open. III. To keep all Gods laws in the strength of the comfort which His presence bringsJ. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
THE REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Law and Love! Exo. 20:18. The prodigals father was no Eli, chiding with bated breath. Faithful and monitory were his counsels; urgent and expostulatory were his warnings. Did he love the wayward child less when thus he chided sternly than when he gently seated him at the festive board with its fatted calf? We trow not. The same deep, tender love was there in both; only it differed in expression. When I warn one dear to me from entering on some desperate plunge that must end in peril if not death, is my affection less than when I plunge in to save him! No. And so there is the same love in the law as in the gospel. In the law of Moses, love warns; in the gospel of Messiah, love wins. Both are the true mirror of Him who thus defines His own character, God is love.
The Law brought forth her precepts ten,
And then dissolved in grace.
Erskine.
Divine Discernment! Exo. 20:20. The law was in one sense Gods odometer. It reminded men that He could tell when they had gone beyond the boundaries of righteousness. The odometer is a machine something like a clock which can be fastened on to a carriage, and in some way is connected with the motion of the wheels. It is so arranged that it marks off the number of miles travelled over. Two young men hired such a conveyance, not knowing that it had an odometer fastened to it. Having gone ten miles more than the hire, they returned to the stableyard, where the postmaster asked them how many miles they had been? Twenty was the reply. He touched the spring, the cover opened, and there on the face of the instrument the thirty miles were found recorded. The moral law is the odometer divinely fastened to the conscience, and when the journey of life is over, its face will tell how far the conscience has deviated from the way of holiness.
Law of the Lord most perfect!
And traced in burning light!
How can a fallen rebel
Survive the dreadful sight!
Divine Design! Exo. 20:20. The tidal river, below the banks of which a pretty rural village stood, suddenly overflowed with an unusual spring-tide, and sweeping away the low banks for hundreds of yards, poured its rushing waters over the whole district for miles round. Nancys cottage was one of the first to be surrounded by the roaring torrents, and but for the land sloping behind, it must at once have been swept away as a frail leaf. As it was, the rushing waters made it tremble and almost totter, and to save herself from the fast-rising water within the cottage, she retreated up her little staircase. As step by step the waters rose, she retreated still higher, wondering what the end would be. Her husband was away in the fields a mile or two distant, and no human help was at hand. And how did you feel then, Nancy! I inquired, as we talked together in the evening of that memorable day. O miss, it was dreadful to hear the rushing of the water come so sudden. But I thought, Well, the Lords here too; and SO I sat on the stairs and sang that verse
This awful God is ours,
Our Father and our Love;
He will send down His heavenly powers
To carry us above.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(18) And all the people saw the thunderings
i.e., Perceived them. On the true character of the Sinaitic manifestation, see Note on Exo. 19:16-20.
They removed.Moses had brought the representatives of the people as near to Sinai as possibleclose to the foot of the great precipice of Ras Sufsfeh (Exo. 19:17). The wide plain of Er-Rahah allowed of a removal to a considerable distance.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
AT THE PEOPLES REQUEST, MOSES BECOMES THEIR INTERMEDIARY.
(18-21) The delivery of the Ten Commandments by a voice manifestly superhuman impressed the people with an awful fear. They felt the near contact with God to be more than they could bear. Even Moses was so deeply moved that he exclaimed, I exceedingly fear and quake (Heb. 12:21). The people were still more afraid, and felt compelled to withdraw to a distance, beyond the sound of the terrible voice. From Deuteronomy we learn that they retired within their tents (Deu. 5:30), having first sent a deputation to Moses, with a request that he would thenceforth act as their intermediary. It pleased God to assent to this proposal; and the remainder of the Law was communicated by God to Moses, and by Moses to the Israelites.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE EFFECT ON THE PEOPLE, Exo 20:18-21.
These words form a transition from the decalogue to the legislation which was given through Moses. The statements are considerably amplified in Deu 5:22-33.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18. The people saw the thunderings Hebraic mode of expression . Comp . Rev 1:12: “I turned to see the voice that spake with me . ” On the sublime scenes here described see notes on Exo 19:16-20. Such an awful theophany could not fail to inspire all who witnessed it with a profound fear of Jehovah, and they naturally shrank away, and stood afar off . To effect this wholesome fear was one object of theophany and the commandments .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Aftermath ( Exo 20:18-21 ).
This passage immediately follows the glorious and awesome experience that has been theirs in the proclamation of Yahweh’s covenant. The people are trembling in fear, and are not sure that they can bear any more such experiences of Yahweh. So in it Yahweh gently brings them down to earth and assures them that that they need not be afraid.
We can analyse it as follows:
a The people are awed by the splendour and glory and move and stand far off (Exo 20:18).
b The people promise that they will obey God but plead that they may no longer be required to experience the awful voice of God (Exo 20:19).
b Moses assures them that they need not fear. The reason that Yahweh has given them this experience is so that they recognise the awfulness of sinning against Him (Exo 20:20).
a The people stand far off and Moses draws near into the thick darkness. Their request is answered (Exo 20:21).
Note the reversal in ‘a’ of the people awed by God’s glory and moving to stand far off with, in the parallel, the people standing far off and Moses entering to meet with God in thick darkness so that the people are shielded from His glory. In ‘b’ the promise to obey is paralleled with the awfulness of not obeying but of sinning against God, while their plea is responded to by Moses’ assurance.
Exo 20:18
‘And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, and when the people saw it they stood afar off.’
It would appear that the people heard the thunder but did not understand what God had been saying. We can compare with this Joh 12:28-29 where again the voice was heard but the people did not understand. But they were very much aware of the external signs. They heard the thunder and the trumpet sound, they saw the lightning and the smoke (compare Exo 19:16). And they were afraid. Those who had been growing bolder now cowered back trembling, and drew away. They no longer wanted to climb the mount.
We note that at this stage no response is required to the covenant. They have already made their choice in response to a shortened form of the covenant (Exo 19:8). Now the more detail has been laid out with no choice available, although final response will come later once they know the full terms (Exo 24:1-11).
Exo 20:19
‘And they said to Moses, “You speak with us and we will listen. But do not let God speak with us or we die.” ’
So great was the effect that they no longer wanted even to hear the voice of God. They were terrified and pleaded to be spared such an ordeal. Rather let Moses be God’s mouthpiece. They did not want to go through another experience like the one they had just been through. For their fuller speech see Deu 5:24-27.
The use of the term God is significant. It is the awesomeness and the otherness that has impacted on them. They recognise that they are dealing with the God of all things.
Exo 20:20
‘And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come to test your obedience and so that his fear may be before you so that you do not sin.” And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.’
Moses tried to calm their fears. He pointed out that the purpose of God in what they had experienced was to test their obedience, whether they would respond to His covenant or not, and to make them aware of His awesome presence so that they would not fall short of His requirements. If they obeyed Him they would have nothing to fear. This was Yahweh’s third ‘proving’ of their obedience. Compare Exo 15:25; Exo 16:4, each connected with the proving of obedience.
“That His fear may be before you.” God wanted them ever to remember what they had seen of His awesome presence so that fear and awe of Him might be constantly before them lest they treat His words lightly. He was giving them every chance.
“The people stood afar off.” They no longer wanted even to approach the mount, and retired to the entrance to their tents (Deu 5:30). This was in stark contrast to Moses who advanced into the thick darkness to meet with God.
“Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” For Moses was unafraid. He responded to God’s command and entered God’s temporary abode. For thick darkness compare Deu 4:11; Deu 5:22 where the cloud is mentioned separately. Thus it would appear that He was enveloped in the ‘smoke’, possibly misty vapour.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The People Cry Out in Fear From the description of thunder and lightening given in Exo 20:18 it seems that the voice of God speaking to Moses and Aaron was heard as thunder by the people. This scene and its noise overwhelmed the people and they asked Moses to speak to them directly rather than letting God speak in such awesome power and demonstration.
God answered the prayer of the people when they cried out in fear at Mount Sinai by raising up both Moses and later, Jesus Christ as the prophet who would speak to them in God’s behalf. This is explained in Deu 18:15-19 and Act 3:22.
Deu 18:15-19, “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”
Act 3:22, “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Terror of the People
v. 18. And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. v. 19. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. v. 20. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not; for God is come to prove you, v. 21. And the people stood afar off,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
WITHDRAWAL OF THE PEOPLE, AND NEARER APPROACH OF MOSES TO GOD. The effect produced upon the people by the accumulated terrors of Sinai”the thunderings and the lightnings, the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking”the cloud, and the voice out of the cloudwas an awful and terrible fear. They could not bear the manifestation of the near presence of God; and therefore “they removed and stood afar off.” It seemed to them as if, on hearing the voice of God, speaking out of the thick darkness, they must die (Exo 20:19). Moses, upon their expressing these feelings, comforted them with an assurance that God had shown his terrors, not for their injury, but to put his fear in their hearts (Exo 20:20), and allowed them to retire to a distance from the mount, while he himself “drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Exo 20:21).
Exo 20:18
The people saw the thunderings. The use of a specific verb for a generic one, with terms to all of which it is not, strictly speaking, applicable, is common to many writers, and is known to grammarians as zengma. “Saw” here means “perceived, witnessed.” The mountain smoking. Compare Exo 19:18. In Deu 5:23 it is said that “the mountain did burn with fire.” When the people saw it, they removed. It appears, from Deu 5:23, that. before retiring, the people sent a deputation of heads of tribes and elders up to Moses in the mount, to convey to him their wishes, and suggest that he should be their intermediary with God. Moses laid their wishes before God, and was directed to give them his sanction, whereupon they withdrew to their tents (Deu 5:30).
Exo 20:19
And they said unto Moses. Their whole speech, as delivered in Deuteronomy, was as follows:”Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day, that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now, therefore, why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go then near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and. we will hear it, and do it” (Deu 5:24-27). The speech is here abbreviated greatly; but its essential points are preserved”Speak thou with us”be thou our intermediary”Let not God speak with us, lest we die.'”
Exo 20:20
And Moses said unto the people. Not immediatelyMoses first held colloquy with God. God declared that the people had “spoken well” (Deu 5:28); and authorised Moses to allow of their withdrawal (Deu 5:30). Fear not. Here Exodus is more full in its details than Deuteronomy. Moses, finding the people in a state of extreme alarm, pacified themassured them that there was no cause for immediate fearGod had not now come in vengeancethe object of the terrors of Sinai was to “prove” themi.e; to test them, whether they were inclined to submit themselves to God, or notand to impress upon their minds permanently an awful fear of God, that they might he kept back from sin by dread of his almighty power. The motive of fear is, no doubt, a low one; but where we can appeal to nothing else, we must appeal to it. Israel was still a child, only fit for childish discipline; and had to be directed by the harsh voice of fear, until it had learnt to he guided by the tender accents of love.
Exo 20:21
The people stood afar off. They retired from the base of Sinai to their tents, where they “stood,” probably in their tent doors. And Moses drew near unto the thick darkness. As the people drew back, Moses drew near. The display which drove them off, attracted him. He did not even fear the “thick darkness”a thing front which human nature commonly shrinks. Where God was, he would be.
HOMILETICS
Exo 20:18-21
The Divine presence at once attractive and repellent.
When Christ was upon the earth, so winning was his graciousness that crowds flocked to him, and one man at least exclaimed, “Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” But at the same time so terrible was the manifestation of his power, that there were those who “besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.” God is love, and God is power, and wherever he is, be exhibits both qualities; but there are some who sea mainly the love, and there are others who see only the power. Hence the Divine presence at once attracts and repels, charms men and affrights them. The Israelites invited to draw near to God, and hold with him direct communication, after brief trial, decline the offer, and will have an intermediary. Moses, given the same invitation, and a witness of the same sights and sounds, not only stands his ground, but at the end draws more near. The reasons for the difference would seem to be these
1. FEAR, WHERE IT IS EXCESSIVE, EXPELS LOVE. The devils, who have no love, “believe and tremble.” Men, who have greatly sinned, and who therefore cannot help seeing in God mainly a “consuming fire,” and “an avenger to execute wrath,” lose sight of all his gentler attributes, cease to feel that he is their Father, no longer look upon him as “merciful and gracious,” and consequently no longer have any feeling of love towards him. We cannot love one from whom we expect nothing but punishment.
II. LOVE, WHERE IT IS STRONG, COUNTERACTS FEAR AND MASTERS IT. “The fear of the Lord endureth for ever”no love of which a creature is capable can altogether cast it out. Tim very angels veil their faces before the Lord of Hosts, and feel themselves unworthy to gaze upon the Divine perfections. But where love increases, fear diminishes. Let love grow, and become strong, and glow within the heart like a flame of fireby degrees fear changes its character, ceases to be a timorous dread, and becomes awe. Awe and love can very well co-exist; and love draws us towards God more than awe keeps us back. Love is glad to have no intermediaryrejoices that it may “go boldly to the throne of grace”seeks to draw as near as possible to the beloved oneso constrains fear, that fear ceases to act any longer as a deterrent, is mastered, and held under restraint. “Moses drew near into the thick darkness where God was.” The loving soul presses towards Godwould “see him face to face”and “know even as it also is known.”
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 20:18-22
The terrors of Sinai
their design and their effects.
I. THEIR DESIGN.
1. Not to slay the people. The people dreaded that if God spoke to them again, they would die (Exo 20:19). But Moses saidNo; this was not the design of the manifestation. “Fear not” (Exo 20:20). The voice of the law in Scripture, though it is felt in the conscience to be a voice of death (Rom 7:9-11), is not intended to be really so. It is meant to lead to Christ.
2. To prove the people (Exo 20:20). God gave this awful manifestation, that his fear might ever after be before their faces. They had heard with their own ears the proclamation of the law, and they had seen these terrors. If anything could awaken fear in thema salutary fearand keep them from apostasy, these things should. But, alas! terror is a very ineffective instrument of conversion. These Israelites soon forgot their terrors, and within forty days were dancing in mat[ glee round their golden calf (Exo 32:1-35.).
II. THEIR EFFECTS.
1. They inspired the keenest alarm. This is the invariable result in the sinful breast of any near approach of God. A fear akin to that of the Israelites has often been manifested
(1) In presence of unusual appearances of nature (comets, eclipses, etc.).
(2) Under the powerful preaching of the realities of judgment.
(3) In prospect of death.
2. They awakened the cry for a mediator (Exo 20:19). However much, under ordinary circumstances, the unbeliever may scout the idea of being indebted to a mediator, it will be strange if there do not come times in his life when he feels that he needs one. Three principles in our nature give birth to this feeling
(1) The sense of weakness and finitude.
(2) The sense of sin.
(3) The feeling of need.
The longing for fellowship with God gives rise to the desire for one to mediate that fellowship, to bring it about by making peace.
3. They impelled the self-convicted Israelites to flee from God’s presence (Exo 20:18, Exo 20:21). This is what will take place at the last judgment. How different with Moses, who had “boldness” to enter even into the thick darkness! The good man need not fear to be anywhere with GodJ.O.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Exo 20:18. And all the people saw the thunderings, &c. That is, perceived; were sensibly affected with the noise, and with the light; insomuch, that they shrunk back with terror, and removed to a distance from those bounds near the mountain which were appointed for them. See ch. Exo 19:12; Exo 19:24.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 92
THE GIVING OF THE LAW
Exo 20:18-19. And all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
THE law of God was originally written on the heart of man: but by sin it was almost obliterated, so that scarcely any traces of it remained. When therefore it pleased God to separate to himself a peculiar people, who should know his will, and enjoy his presence, and subserve his glory, it was necessary, if we may so speak, that he should republish his law, and record it in some way, which might give it a permanent establishment in the world. This he was pleased to do on Mount Sinai, after having conducted his people thither in safety, and shewn, by the wonders he had wrought, that he was indeed the only true God. What were the particulars of that law, we do not now stop to inquire [Note: See Disc. on Rom 3:20.]: that to which we would draw your attention is, the manner of its promulgation. In the preceding chapter we are informed of all those particulars which are briefly recapitulated in our text. On contemplating that tremendous scene, we are naturally led to inquire, Why did God publish his law in that manner? The answer to this question is important; and will prove highly instructive to us all. He did it,
I.
To impress their minds with a fear of his Majesty
[God is a great God, and greatly to be feared [Note: Deu 10:17.]. But though the Israelites had seen ample demonstrations of this in Egypt, they had a very inadequate sense of it upon their minds. Hence arose their murmurings and distrust as often as any fresh difficulty occurred. And what is at the root of all our disobedience? Is it not that we do not fear that great and fearful name, The Lord our God [Note: Deu 28:58.] ?
To beget in the minds of those whom he was bringing into covenant with himself a just sense of his greatness, he appeared to them in a thick cloud, with thunderings, and lightnings, and the sound of a trumpet most terrific. The effect was produced, insomuch that Moses, though terrified beyond measure himself, was forced to administer comfort and encouragement to them [Note: 0.]. We find somewhat of a similar effect upon ourselves in a violent tempest: and, if we could realize the scene that was exhibited on Sinai, we should say indeed, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ]
II.
To shew them the nature of that dispensation
[The dispensation of the law, though suited to the Jews at that time, and even glorious, as a type or figure of the Gospel dispensation, was yet in fact a ministration of death [Note: 2Co 3:7; 2Co 3:9.]. It required perfect obedience to the law, and denounced a curse for every instance of disobedience; and required all the people, not only to accept it, but to approve of it, in that particular view [Note: Compare Gal 3:10 with Deu 27:26.]. Who can contemplate such a covenant, and not tremble to have his hopes founded on it? There was indeed much of the Gospel contained in the ceremonial law; and the penitent Israelite found refuge there. But the law published on Sinai was a fiery law, a ministration of condemnation: and the terrors which were infused into the people by the thunders of Sinai, fitly represented the terrific nature of that covenant.Happy would it be for us, if we availed ourselves of these instructive intimations, to renounce that covenant which consigns us over unto death, and to embrace that better covenant which is revealed to us in the Gospel!]
III.
To make them feel their need of a Mediator
[The people, who but just before had been with difficulty restrained from breaking through the bounds that had been assigned them, were now so alarmed, that they fled from their station, and entreated, that God would no more deliver his commands to them in that way, lest they should die. They desired that Moses might be appointed as a Mediator between God and them, and that all future intimations of Gods will should be given them through him. Of the full meaning of their own request they themselves were not aware: for, inasmuch as Moses was a type of Christ, it was, in fact, a desire that Christ might be their Mediator, and that all their intercourse with the Deity might be through Him. This was the construction which God himself put upon it; and in this view he approved of, and applauded it [Note: Compare Deu 5:27-28; Deu 18:15-18.] To the same effect also the Apostle speaks. He tells us that the law was not designed to give us life, but to shew us our need of Christ, and to bring us unto him as our only hope [Note: Gal 3:24.] ]
Infer,
1.
How thankful should we be for the Christian covenant!
[It is to this that we are come, if we have truly believed in Christ. And oh! how different is our state from those who are yet under the law [Note: Heb 12:18-24.] ! Instead of being prohibited from drawing nigh to God, we are permitted and commanded to come unto him. Let us avail ourselves of the blessed privilege, and seek closer fellowship with our God, and brighter views of his glory ]
2.
How careful should we be not to revert to the Jewish covenant!
[We do, in fact, revert to it, if we seek justification by the law of works. If we do any thing in order to be justified by it, we instantly become debtors to do the whole law.Let it not then appear to us a light matter to indulge a self-righteous spirit; for if we do, we renounce all hope from the grace of the Gospel, and Christ, with respect to us, is dead in vain [Note: Gal 5:1-4.].]
3.
How studiously should we cultivate the fear of God!
[Terrible as the appearance and the voice of God were on that occasion, his appearance in the day of judgment will be infinitely more tremendous Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, we would persuade you to turn unto him, ere it be too late. We wish however to produce in you, not a slavish, but a filial fear: that will only drive you from God; and therefore in relation to it we say with Moses, Fear not: but this will make you happy in the service and enjoyment of God; and therefore we add, Let his fear be ever before your faces, that ye sin not [Note: 0.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Reader! observe here once again, the awful signs with which the Lord proclaimed his law. And doth not the Holy Ghost even now, in bringing home to the sinner a deep sense of transgression, accompany his word to the soul with the same? Gal_3:10-12; Gal_3:24 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
XXIII
THE LAW OF THE ALTAR
Exo 20:18-26
1. Repeat the three divisions of the Sinai Covenant.
Ans. (1) The Decalogue, or God and the normal man, Exo 20:1-17 ; (2) the altar, or God and the sinner, Exo 20:18-26 ; (3) The judgments, or God and the state, Exodus 21-23.
2. How much of this covenant has already been absolutely considered?
Ans. The Decalogue, or the first division.
3. In Exo 20:18-21 we see that the people could not deal directly with God in the matter of the Decalogue, and could not keep it. Why?
Ans. As I quote get the importance of that question fixed on your mind. Just as soon as the Ten Commandments had been spoken by the voice of God, then follows: “And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before you, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” I repeat the question: Why could not the people deal directly with God in the matter of the Decalogue, nor keep it? Ans. (1) This Decalogue expressed the obligations of the normal man in his innocent state as originally created, having free and open communion with God, as Adam in paradise before he sinned. (2) But these people were sinners, corrupt in nature and evil in practice, like Adam in paradise after his gin, therefore fear and shame made God’s approach terrible. In his holiness he was to them a consuming fire.
4. What therefore was necessary in order to a consummation of a covenant with this holy God?
Ans. Some provision of grace by which a sinner might approach God without shame, fear and death, and so come to an agreement of peace. There could never have been a covenant at all if the covenant involved only the Decalogue, because the people could not deal directly with God in this matter. Those Ten Commandments expressed the import of man’s obligations in his normal state as he was originally created. But now when God approached and spoke in an audible voice and the sound of the trumpet was heard, the people were filled with fear and went afar off and said to Moses, “You speak with us; don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”
5. In this connection what one word stands for all the law of the sinner’s approach to God?
Ans. The word is “altar.”
6. Why did not Adam in paradise before he sinned need an alter?
Ana. Being in God’s image, created in knowledge, righteousness and true holiness, there was nothing in God’s holiness to cause shame or fear in coming directly into God’s presence and communing with him direct. And Adam had no sin to be expiated on an altar.
7. If these people could not enter directly into covenant with God in the matter of the Decalogue, nor were able to keep it, why then give it to them?
Ans. (1) An absolute and fixed standard of right in all man’s relations, a standard holy and just and good in all of its parts, and with all of its penal sanctions, would discover to a sinful man his want of conformity to law, whether in nature, desire or in deed. Sin in the light of that standard would
appear to be sinful. Now that is one purpose of giving that law to them, viz.: to discover their want of conformity to it.
(2) To disclose to man his normal inability to atone for sin already committed, or to keep from future sin because of his corrupted nature. Now it was necessary that that moral inability should be brought to light with those people.
(3) It would thus prepare them to accept a plan of reconciliation by grace which would both atone for the past, recreate a new nature disposed to obey, and by a perfected holiness enable them finally to obey and ultimately bring them into perfect conformity with an absolute standard of right. The answer, you see, is threefold: To make a man see that he is a sinner; To show him his moral inability to keep the law; To prepare him for a plan of reconciliation to God, a plan that would atone for past sin; a plan that would change his corrupt nature, giving him a disposition to obey; a plan that would perfect him in holiness so that he would obey, and thus ultimately find himself in perfect accord with that law.
When we come to the New Testament that thought is presented this way by the apostle Paul: “I had not known sin except by the law, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” “I was getting along all right [thought I was alive and all right] but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. I saw I was a dead man in the light of that law. Then I saw that while with my mind I might appreciate the goodness and holiness of that law, yet I would find a law in my members that would war against this law of my mind and would bring me into condemnation.” Again he says, “The law was added because of transgression.” Man had sinned; so a law was added; put there to show him he was a sinner, and then he says, “The law was our schoolmaster unto Christ,” i.e., our pedagogue unto Christ.
So that it was never intended that the giving of those Ten Commandments should save a man. They were not expressed in that statutory form until man’s nature had become corrupted, so that he didn’t desire to keep them, and on account of that nature there was a moral inability to keep them. It was to be a law of right to him, but not a way of life to him. In other words, the “oughtness” would never die. Now, yesterday, and in eternity, it would remain true that a man ought to love God with all his heart and ought to love his neighbor as himself, and if he kills he does wrong; if he commits adultery he does wrong; if he steals, if he bears false witness, if he profanes the sabbath day, if he disobeys his father and his mother he does wrong, and eternally the right and wrong of that can never be changed. The “oughtness” is there, but from the standpoint of fallen man, obedience to those commandments can never become a way of life to him. So when Moses says in that Decalogue, “Do and live” it was not in hope that any of them would “do and live,” but to show them that if they obtained life they must obtain it through a subsequent part of the covenant, and that is where we are now considering, viz.: the law of the altar. The very words, ipsissima verba , must be remembered by every reader, and the answer.
8. What are the essential elements of the law of a sinner’s approach to God, as represented by the altar of this section, and its subsequent developments in the Pentateuch?
Ans. (1) A throne of grace, or a place where God may be approached. The first constituent element of the law of a sinner’s approach to God is a place where he may find God, find him without death. It can be only a throne of grace.
(2) The next element is a way of approach to that throne of grace, which is by the altar. You can’t get to God on his throne of grace if you don’t come to the altar. That is the place where the sacrifice of the propitiatory victim is offered, the blood is shed, the sacrifice is made. It is an altar of blood and of fire. Of blood to show that the life was poured out, and of fire to show that the sacrifice was consumed. There must not only be a place, which is the first element, but there must be a way of approach to that throne of grace, which is the altar.
(3) There must be a suitable offering that will be the ground of that approach, the meritorious ground of approach. It must be a suitable offering, one that is to die, that is to be consumed under the hot wrath of God, and it becomes the ground of approach to the throne of grace; for it is on the altar that the victim of propitiation is sacrificed.
(4) There must be a mediator through whom this approach is to be made. The people said to Moses, “Don’t let God speak to us; we will die. You speak to us. You go and talk to God, then come and talk to us; you be the ‘go-between’ between God and us.” So when an offering is to be presented upon the altar there must be a middleman. A mediator is one that stands in the middle and makes contact possible without death between the sinner and God.
(5) There must be set times to approach God.
(6) There must be a ritual telling how to approach God, prescribing everything, a ritual that will tell all about the offering; how old it must be, what kind of an animal it must be, what its character must be, when it shall be brought, who shall take charge of it when it is brought, just how the blood is to be caught, just how that blood is to be carried up to the throne of grace, who is to take it when it gets there, what he does with it, when he disposes of it what is the result of it, and when he comes out from the place of offering what he says to the people.
9. What are the specifications of the altar in this section?
Ans. Exo 20:24-26 : (1) “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me. . . . And if thou make me an altar of stone” that is the first specification about the altar: it must be of earth or stone; that is the material.
(2) The second specification, Exo 20:25 : “If thou make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.” It must be an altar not smooth nor arranged with man’s skill. It isn’t intended that this altar which is the way of approach to God shall have any excellence in it that a man can impart to it at all. A man would naturally say, “I will build it of gold and I will cover it with the most beautiful carvings.” He would want to highly ornament it and he would want to glorify himself in how he had fixed up that altar. It is an altar of extreme simplicity. They could either gather up the dirt and make the altar, or they might pick up the stones just as they were lying around and pile them up, leaving space enough to put a victim on it. But they must not go to a quarry and dig up stones, and then shape and fit them together beautifully, when they were shaped. None of their skill must be in it. But why should that alter be of earth or stone? Why not of wood? A big fire was to be kindled on that altar. It must be of noncombustible material. A man once went around the world, thinking he had learned everything the world could tell him, and when he got back in sight of his home he wanted to light his pipe, and he asked a little Negro to bring him a coal of fire. The Negro first placed some ashes in his hand and put the coal of fire on top of the ashes; and the man acknowledged that he had learned something right at his home from this little Negro. The ashes intervening between the fire and the hand kept the fire from burning it. Now this altar, as a big fire is to be kindled upon it, must be noncombustible.
(3) “Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.” The altar was to be of considerable size and height, and as huge victims were to be placed on it, it naturally occurred to man, “Let us make a couple of steps here; when we carry wood and the victims to lay on top of the altar, or on top of the wood, we will want to step up.” God says, “You must not do it. Slope the ground up on one side.” It must be a sloping approach, and not even the ankle of the man as he goes up must be exposed, as would be, if the approach was made by way of steps. The robe that he wears must go clear to the ground, and going up that slope no part of his person was to be exposed. These three specifications, then, viz.: that it must be of earth or stone; that it must not be hewn stone; that it must not be approached by steps. These are designated not merely to show that the altar was exceedingly simple, but that it was an altar in which the man as an artisan, or as one approaching it, must not appear. The altar is an appointment of God.
(4) The last specification about it is set forth in the latter part of Exo 20:24 : “In every place where I record my name I will come unto thee and bless thee.” The altar must be a place where God’s presence is, and where he comes to bless. We commenced with the statement that there must be an appointed place and time where God may be found. Who establishes that place? God does. Jacob is going along, traveling away from home in exile, and in the night God comes. Next morning he says, “Surely God was in this place, and I didn’t know it. And God was here to bless me, because in my vision he said he would bless me, and he was here to show me that there was a stairway that connected earth with heaven.” And Jacob built an altar there. The altar must be where God’s presence is; must be of noncombustible material, earth or unhewn stone; must not be shaped by the cunning skill of man. Its approach must not be up steps; in lifting the robe not even the tip of his toe or his ankle should be visible as the priest goes up.
10. Under this section, what two classes of offerings are to go on that altar?
Ans. Exo 20:24 : “Thou shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings and thy peace-offerings.” These are the two great classifications of offerings. One is propitiatory, an offering to expiate sin. Now the other, the thank offering or eucharist (we call the Lord’s Supper the eucharist because there is a giving of thanks in it) is an offering with the giving of thanks. But you will observe that while two general classes of offerings must go on that altar there is an order in which they must go on it. Don’t you dare approach God with a thank offering first. There is no value in a thank offering that is not preceded by a blood offering, because peace is secured by the blood and the peace offering is an expression of gratitude for the expiation of sin. Take the first case of an altar that was ever erected on earth; Cain and Abel came before God in a place where God was to be present; both came by an offering, by an offering on that altar; Cain brought a thank offering, and that is all he brought; and God indignantly rejected it. Abel brought not only a peace offering, but the sin offering first, the firstling of his flock. The two classes of offerings, then, are burnt offering and peace offering; burnt offering first; the other second and consequential.
11. Now in these offerings, what kind of victims must be offered?
Ans. Offerings of the flock and herds, clean animals. That is expressed in Exo 20:24 : “Thy sheep and thy oxen”; a sheep, a goat, or an ox, a calf, cow, or bullock. It must be one of those kinds. They could not offer a leopard; they could not offer a tiger, or a lion. Here are the characteristics of the offerings: they must chew the cud and divide the hoof. A camel could not be offered, though he chews the cud he divides not the hoof. But the goat, the sheep, and the ox all divide the hoof and chew the cud; they are clean animals.
12. Show the presence of the six essential elements cited above in the first altar that ever was erected; that will answer the question: How were the patriarchs saved? Did they have any idea of Christ’s coming as a sacrifice for sin? By their animal sacrifices did they exhibit faith in a coming Redeemer? If not, Just what was the object of those sacrifices?
Ans. Those sacrifices were to typify the coming Redeemer. A man who could not look through the type and see the antitype didn’t have the faith. If he simply brought the type and stopped at the bullock or the goat, then Paul in Hebrews says to him, “It was impossible for the blood of sheep and bullocks and goats to take away sin. You must go beyond this ceremony, this symbol, this type. You must look to the One that it points to, by faith.” By faith Abel did that; and he was saved just like you are, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah; only he did not see him as you see him; he had not come, but Abel looked through the type to the antitype, the Saviour. “Abraham saw my day,” says Jesus, “and rejoiced.”
Now my question: Show the presence of the six essential elements. While I repeat these from Gen 4 , you see if, in Gen 4:3-5 , you can locate them: (1) the throne of grace, or a place where God is to be approached; (2) the altar, or a way by which to approach him; (3) a suitable offering, or the ground on which they approach him; (4) a mediator, through whom he is to be approached; (5) a set time for approaching him; (6) a ritual telling how to approach him. Do you see those six things there? We find, first, the place, the throne of grace. When Adam sinned and was expelled from the garden, God sent cherubim, and a blazing sword, and at the east of the garden was placed an altar by which Adam might approach God; a place where God might be found on a throne of grace. Next it says, “In the process of time.” There you have the appointed time. It does not say just exactly what time, but “in process of time.”
Then you have the ritual, telling how to do things, as indictated certainly in these verses: When to bring the offering; they brought it to the right place. One brought the right kind of offering; the ritual told him that; he put it on the right place, the altar; the ritual told him that. Where is the mediator? We discover that this way: Who in patriarchal times before the Mosaic law was established, had the priesthood? The father, the head of the family, was the priest of the family, and if there was no head man to be the priest, then the one having the progeniture was the priest. When a man is off to himself, and acting to himself as Jacob was, he is the head of his house. Job acted as mediator in offering those sacrifices mentioned at the end of his book. To get that mediator fixed in your mind, I quote it, Job 42:7-8 : “After Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Now therefore, take unto you seven bullocks and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves, a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept that I deal not with you after your folly; for ye have not spoken of me that which is right, as my servant Job hath.” In other words, “You can’t come before me direct; for the way you talk you must have a mediator. Job shall be your priest and shall intercede for you.”
Let us look at Gen 8:20 : “And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. And Jehovah smelled the sweet savour; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake.” We are looking for the six essentials: (1) The altar is there and the right kind of altar: “And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was dry and God commanded Noah to go forth from the ark, and Noah went forth, and builded an altar,” a great deliverance accomplished here. Notice all through the flood that the seventh day is recognized. It is all governed by weeks. The birds are sent out in the interval of seven days; (2) It was an appointed time; (3) You have the mediator, Noah, acting for all the family. The altar, the offering, the indication of the ritual in the selection of all these things, the plans and the kind of offering, all are there; and God is there, because that verse says that God smelled the sweet savour and said in his heart, etc. The first essential was a place where God could be found the throne of grace.
We know that this throne of grace continues under the new covenant: “Let us come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and help in every time of need. But there is this change of the place, it is not located at Jerusalem or Gerizirn; not in this mountain or that but God is a Spirit under the new covenant. Any spot where you stand, any place where you lie down, where you breathe, God is there. You yourselves are your own priests; he has made you a kingdom of priests. You do not have to offer sin offerings; one sin offering has been offered for you. You offer the sacrifice of praise, prayer, and contribution, spiritual sacrifices. Whenever you can distinguish between the Old and New Covenant you have learned a great deal of theology.
Notice about the place. One of the most gracious promises of God is that he will appoint a place and he says, speaking to Solomon when Solomon built him a house, “Mine eyes shall be there, I shall see it; mine ear shall be there, mine omnipotence, my heart shall be there; my love.” One of the greatest sermons Spurgeon ever preached was on that passage of Scripture. And the New Testament says, “Where two or three of you are gathered together in my name, I will be with you.” Wherever a number of God’s people covenant themselves into a congregation, each several building groweth up into a holy temple for the habitation of God through the Holy Spirit.
13. What parts of the Pentateuch are but developments of the altar division of the covenant?
Ans. The parts of the Pentateuch are the last chapters of Exodus, the whole of Leviticus and much of Numbers. (See pp. 140, 144, question 25).
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Exo 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw [it], they removed, and stood afar off.
Ver. 18. They removed, &c., ] viz., From the hill foot, where they stood and trembled. Deu 4:11 They feared and fled. Man is , a a creature that would fain live.
a Aristot.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
saw. Figure of speech Zeugma. App-6(here, Protozeugma), the one verb “saw” used for two things, but appropriate only for one. Emphasis on “saw”. and. Note Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the People Fear; Idols and Altars
Exo 20:18-26
When our Lord was on earth He was so attractive and winsome that the publicans and sinners drew near to hear Him, penitents wept at His feet, children nestled to His heart. But even then there were some who desired Him to depart out of their coasts. So here, while Moses drew near, the people stood afar off. Let us not be among those who avoid the near presence of God, but of those who are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Let us exercise our right to draw near to the throne of grace, and stand in the very presence of our Father-God, because we have a great High Priest, who is passed through the heavens.
At Exo 20:22, we begin the Book of the Covenant, which extends to Exo 23:33, containing a series of wholesome laws, and the first enactment deals with the worship of the Most High. Note that in all places He will record His Name. Everywhere we may worship Him. The altar had to be of earth, teaching us the lessons of humility, simplicity and self-abasement. See Heb 13:10. But always the adjustment with God precedes rightness toward man.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
afar off
For contrast between law and grace, cf. Eph 2:13; Luk 1:10 with Heb 10:19-22.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
And all: Exo 19:16-18
they removed: Psa 139:7, Psa 139:8, Jer 23:23
Reciprocal: Gen 4:16 – went Gen 42:1 – saw Exo 4:27 – the mount Exo 9:23 – the Lord sent Exo 19:18 – mount Sinai Deu 4:10 – the day Deu 4:11 – stood Deu 4:33 – General Deu 4:36 – General Deu 5:4 – General Deu 5:5 – General Deu 5:23 – General Jdg 5:5 – that Sinai 1Ki 19:11 – and a great Psa 18:13 – thundered Psa 81:7 – secret Psa 114:4 – General Eze 10:5 – the voice Hab 3:3 – His glory Joh 12:29 – thundered 1Co 15:52 – last 2Co 3:9 – the ministration of condemnation 1Th 4:16 – with the trump Heb 12:18 – General Heb 12:19 – they that Rev 4:5 – proceeded Rev 14:2 – of a
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 20:18-19. They removed, and stood afar off Before God began to speak, they were thrusting forward to gaze, but now they were effectually cured of their presumption, and taught to keep their distance. Speak thou with us Hereby they obliged themselves to acquiesce in the mediation of Moses, they themselves nominating him as a fit person to deal between them and God, and promising to hearken to him as to Gods messenger.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 20:18-21 E. Alarm of the People.This resumes Exo 19:17 or Exo 19:19), and describes how the frightened people (read in Exo 20:18 b and the people were afraid and trembled) asked that Moses and not God should speak to them. Then Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was (Exo 20:21). This idea, afterwards much developed by the mystics, is reflected in the windowless Holy of Holies in the Temple (cf. 1Ki 6:16-20; 1Ki 8:13, and RV references).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
3. The response of the Israelites 20:18-21
The rest of this section contains the record of the Israelites’ reaction to the giving of the Law and God’s reason for giving it as He did. He wanted the people to reverence Him and therefore not to sin (Exo 20:20).
"It can be argued that in the present shape of the Pentateuch, the Decalogue (Exo 20:1-17) is intended to be read as the content of what Moses spoke to the people upon his return from the mountain in Exo 19:25. After the Decalogue, the narrative in Exo 20:18-21 looks back once again to the people’s fear in Exo 19:16-24. In retelling this incident, the second narrative fills the important ’gaps’ in our understanding of the first." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., pp. 56.]
Similarly Genesis 2 retells the story of creation in Genesis 1 to fill in important gaps.
"The Book of the Covenant begins technically with Exo 20:22, having been separated from the Decalogue by a brief narrative (Exo 20:18-21) describing the people’s response to the phenomena accompanying Moses’ encounter with Yahweh on Sinai (cf. Exo 19:16-25). The technical term ’ordinances’ (mispatim), which describes the specific stipulations of the covenant, does not occur until Exo 21:1, so Exo 20:22-26 serves as an introduction to the stipulation section. This introduction underlines Yahweh’s exclusivity, His self-revelation to His people, and His demand to be worshiped wherever He localizes His name and in association with appropriate altars." [Note: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," p. 41.]
God evidently spoke the Ten Commandments in the hearing of all the Israelites (Exo 19:9; Exo 20:19; Exo 20:22) to cause them to fear Him (Exo 20:20). The people were so awestruck by this revelation that they asked Moses to relay God’s words to them from then on (Exo 20:20), which he did (Exo 20:21).
"This verse [Exo 20:20] contrasts two types of ’fear’: tormenting fear (which comes from conscious guilt or unwarranted alarm and leads to bondage) or salutary fear (which promotes and demonstrates the presence of an attitude of complete trust and belief in God; cf. the ’fear of the LORD God’ beginning in Gen 22:12). This second type of fear will keep us from sinning and is at the heart of the OT’s wisdom books (cf. Pro 1:7; Ecc 12:13 et al.)." [Note: Kaiser, "Exodus," p. 427.]
"Whereas Exo 19:16-24 looks at the people’s fear from a divine perspective, Exo 20:18-21 approaches it from the viewpoint of the people themselves. What we learn from both narratives, therefore, is that there was a growing need for a mediator and a priesthood in the Sinai covenant. Because of the people’s fear of God’s presence, they are now standing ’afar off’ (Exo 20:21). Already, then, we can see the basis being laid within the narrative for the need of the tabernacle (Exodus 25-31). The people who are ’afar off’ must be brought near to God. This is the purpose of the instructions for the tabernacle which follow this narrative." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., pp. 56-57.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
THE LESSER LAW.
Exo 20:18 – Exo 23:33.
With the close of the Decalogue and its universal obligations, we approach a brief code of laws, purely Hebrew, but of the deepest moral interest, confessed by hostile criticism to bear every mark of a remote antiquity, and distinctly severed from what precedes and follows by a marked difference in the circumstances.
This is evidently the book of the Covenant to which the nation gave its formal assent (Exo 24:7), and is therefore the germ and the centre of the system afterwards so much expanded.
And since the adhesion of the people was required, and the final covenant was ratified as soon as it was given, before any of the more formal details were elaborated, and before the tabernacle and the priesthood were established, it may fairly claim the highest and most unique position among the component parts of the Pentateuch, excepting only the Ten Commandments.
Before examining it in detail, the impressive circumstances of its utterance have to be observed.
It is written that when the law was given, the voice of the trumpet waxed louder and louder still. And as the multitude became aware that in this tempestuous and growing crash there was a living centre, and a voice of intelligible words, their awe became insufferable: and instead of needing the barriers which excluded them from the mountain, they recoiled from their appointed place, trembling and standing afar off. “And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die.” It is the same instinct that we have already so often recognised, the dread of holiness in the hearts of the impure, the sense of unworthiness, which makes a prophet cry, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” and an apostle, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.”
Now, the New Testament quotes a confession of Moses himself, well-nigh overwhelmed, “I do exceedingly fear and quake” (Heb 12:21). And yet we read that he “said unto the people, Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not” (Exo 20:20). Thus we have the double paradox,–that he exceedingly feared, yet bade them fear not, and yet again declared that the very object of God was that they might fear Him.
Like every paradox, which is not a mere contradiction, this is instructive.
There is an abject fear, the dread of cowards and of the guilty, which masters and destroys the will–the fear which shrank away from the mount and cried out to Moses for relief. Such fear has torment, and none ought to admit it who understands that God wishes him well and is merciful.
There is also a natural agitation, at times inevitable though not unconquerable, and often strongest in the highest natures because they are the most finely strung. We are sometimes taught that there is sin in that instinctive recoil from death, and from whatever brings it close, which indeed is implanted by God to prevent foolhardiness, and to preserve the race. Our duty, however, does not require the absence of sensitive nerves, but only their subjugation and control. Marshal Saxe was truly brave when he looked at his own trembling frame, as the cannon opened fire, and said, “Aha! tremblest thou? thou wouldest tremble much more if thou knewest whither I mean to carry thee today.” Despite his fever-shaken nerves, he was perfectly entitled to say to any waverer, “Fear not.”
And so Moses, while he himself quaked, was entitled to encourage his people, because he could encourage them, because he saw and announced the kindly meaning of that tremendous scene, because he dared presently to draw near unto the thick darkness where God was.
And therefore the day would come when, with his noble heart aflame for a yet more splendid vision, he would cry, “O Lord, I beseech Thee show me Thy glory”–some purer and clearer irradiation, which would neither baffle the moral sense, nor conceal itself in cloud.
Meanwhile, there was a fear which should endure, and which God desires: not panic, but awe; not the terror which stood afar off, but the reverence which dares not to transgress. “Fear not, for God is come to prove you” (to see whether the nobler emotion or the baser will survive), “and that His fear may be before your faces” (so as to guide you, instead of pressing upon you to crush), “that ye sin not.”
How needful was the lesson, may be seen by what followed when they were taken at their word, and the pressure of physical dread was lifted off them. “They soon forgat God their Saviour … they made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the work of their own hands.” Perhaps other pressures which we feel and lament today, the uncertainties and fears of modern life, are equally required to prevent us from forgetting God.
Of the nobler fear, which is a safeguard of the soul and not a danger, it is a serious question whether enough is alive among us.
Much sensational teaching, many popular books and hymns, suggest rather an irreverent use of the Holy Name, which is profanation, than a filial approach to a Father equally revered and loved. It is true that we are bidden to come with boldness to the throne of Grace. Yet the same Epistle teaches us again that our approach is even more solemn and awful than to the Mount which might be touched, and the profaning of which was death; and it exhorts us to have grace whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe, “for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 4:16, Heb 12:28). That is the very last grace which some Christians ever seem to seek.
When the people recoiled, and Moses, trusting in God, was brave and entered the cloud, they ceased to have direct communion, and he was brought nearer to Jehovah than before.
What is now conveyed to Israel through him is an expansion and application of the Decalogue, and in turn it becomes the nucleus of the developed law. Its great antiquity is admitted by the severest critics; and it is a wonderful example of spirituality and searching depth, and also of such germinal and fruitful principles as cannot rest in themselves, literally applied, but must lead the obedient student on to still better things.
It is not the function of law to inspire men to obey it; this is precisely what the law could not do, being weak through the flesh. But it could arrest the attention and educate the conscience. Simple though it was in the letter, David could meditate upon it day and night. In the New Testament we know of two persons who had scrupulously respected its precepts, but they both, far from being satisfied, were filled with a divine discontent. One had kept all these things from his youth, yet felt the need of doing some good thing, and anxiously demanded what it was that he lacked yet. The other, as touching the righteousness of the law, was blameless, yet when the law entered, sin revived and slew him. For the law was spiritual, and reached beyond itself, while he was carnal, and thwarted by the flesh, sold under sin, even while externally beyond reproach.
This subtle characteristic of all noble law will be very apparent in studying the kernel of the law, the code within the code, which now lies before us.
Men sometimes judge the Hebrew legislation harshly, thinking that they are testing it, as a Divine institution, by the light of this century. They are really doing nothing of the sort. If there are two principles of legislation dearer than all others to modern Englishmen, they are the two which these flippant judgments most ignore, and by which they are most perfectly refuted.
One is that institutions educate communities. It is not too much to say that we have staked the future of our nation, and therefore the hopes of humanity, upon our conviction that men can be elevated by ennobling institutions,–that the franchise, for example, is an education as well as a trust.
The other, which seems to contradict the first, and does actually modify it, is that legislation must not move too far in advance of public opinion. Laws may be highly desirable in the abstract, for which communities are not yet ripe. A constitution like our own would be simply ruinous in Hindostan. Many good friends of temperance are the reluctant opponents of legislation which they desire in theory but which would only be trampled upon in practice, because public opinion would rebel against the law. Legislation is indeed educational, but the danger is that the practical outcome of such legislation would be disobedience and anarchy.
Now, these principles are the ample justification of all that startles us in the Pentateuch.
Slavery and polygamy, for instance, are not abolished. To forbid them utterly would have substituted far worse evils, as the Jews then were. But laws were introduced which vastly ameliorated the condition of the slave, and elevated the status of woman–laws which were far in advance of the best Gentile culture, and which so educated and softened the Jewish character, that men soon came to feel the letter of these very laws too harsh.
That is a nobler vindication of the Mosaic legislation than if this century agreed with every letter of it. To be vital and progressive is a better thing than to be correct. The law waged a far more effectual war upon certain evils than by formal prohibition, sound in theory but premature by centuries. Other good things besides liberty are not for the nursery or the school. And “we also, when we were children, were held in bondage” (Gal 4:3).
It is pretty well agreed that this code may be divided into five parts. To the end of the twentieth chapter it deals directly with the worship of God. Then follow thirty-two verses treating of the personal rights of man as distinguished from his rights of property. From the thirty-third verse of the twenty-first chapter to the fifteenth verse of the twenty-second, the rights of property are protected. Thence to the nineteenth verse of the twenty-third chapter is a miscellaneous group of laws, chiefly moral, but deeply connected with the civil organisation of the state. And thence to the end of the chapter is an earnest exhortation from God, introduced by a clearer statement than before of the manner in which He means to lead them, even by that mysterious Angel in Whom “is My Name.”