Exodus 19:18 Kommentar

This chapter introduces the solemnity of the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, which was one of the most striking appearances of the divine glory that ever was in this lower world. We have here, I. The circumstances of time and place (Exo 19:1, Exo 19:2). II. The covenant between God and Israel settled in general. The gracious proposal God made to them (Exo 19:3-6), and their consent to the proposal (Exo 19:7, Exo 19:8). III. Notice given three days before of God's design to give the law out of a thick cloud (Exo 19:9). Orders given to prepare the people to receive the law (Exo 19:10-13), and care taken to execute those orders (Exo 19:14, Exo 19:15). IV. A terrible appearance of God's glory upon mount Sinai (Exo 19:16-20). V. Silence proclaimed, and strict charges given to the people to observe decorum while God spoke to them (Exo 19:21, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 19 In this chapter we have an account of the coming of the children of Israel to Mount Sinai, Exo 19:1, of the covenant made with them there, the proposal on the part of God, and their acceptance of it, Exo 19:3, the previous notice God gave three days before of his appearance on the mount, the orders for their preparation to meet him, and the execution of them, Exo 19:9, the awful and tremendous appearance of God upon the mount, Exo 19:6 and the strict charge given, that neither people nor priests should come near and gaze, only Moses and Aaron with him were to come up, bounds being set to prevent the rest, Exo 19:21, and the chapter is closed with observing, that Moses went down from the mount, and delivered to the people what the Lord spoke to and by him, Exo 19:25.

And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke,.... Not from nature, as volcanos, but for a reason after given; it seemed to be one large body of smoke, nothing else to be seen but smoke; an emblem of the darkness of the legal dispensation, which was full of obscure types and figures, of dark shadows and smoky sacrifices, to which the clear day, of the Gospel dispensation is opposed, see Co2 3:12. because the Lord descended upon it in fire; in flaming fire, as the Targums, which set the mountain on fire, and caused this prodigious smoke; for if he, who is a consuming fire, but toucheth the hills and mountains, they smoke, Psa 104:32. and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace such an one as that which Abraham in vision saw, Gen 15:17. and the whole mount quaked greatly; to which circumstance Deborah refers in her song, when she speaks of mountains melting and flowing from before the presence of the God of Israel, and particularly of Sinai, Jdg 5:4, and the psalmist, who makes mention of the earth shaking, and the heavens dropping, and of Sinai being moved at his presence, Psa 68:8, it is probable there was an earthquake at this time, which sometimes attends thunders and lightnings, see Rev 16:18.

But the sound of that voice and the corporeal appearance of the dove and the “parted tongues as it were of fire that sat upon every one of them,” like those terrible manifestations that happened on Mt. Sinai and that pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, were performed and carried out as figurative acts. Now in these matters special care must be taken lest anyone believe that the nature of God, either the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, is subject to change or transformation. And let no one be troubled because sometimes the sign receives the name of the thing signified. Thus the Holy Spirit is said to have descended on Christ in the corporeal appearance, as it were, of a dove and to have remained upon him. Thus also the rock is called Christ because it signifies Christ.

What shall I say about this except that no one is so insane as to believe that the smoke, the fire, the cloud and the darkness and everything else of a similar nature are the substance of either the Word and the Wisdom of God which Christ is or of the Holy Spirit. For not even the Arians have dared to say this about God the Father. Therefore all those things were produced by a creature serving its Creator and were manifested by a suitable dispensation to the human senses.… Perhaps carnal thoughts will suggest that the cloud was certainly seen by the people but that within the cloud Moses saw the Son of God with his bodily eyes, whom the raving heretics will have to be seen in his own substance, because it was said, “Moses entered the cloud where God was.”

When about to give the law, the Lord descended in fire and smoke. Through the brilliance of his manifestation he enlightened the humble, and through the murky smoke of error he dimmed the eyes of the proud.

The children of Israel, having departed from Rephidim, come to the wilderness of Sinai in the third month, Exo 19:1, Exo 19:2. Moses goes up into the mount to God, and receives a message which he is to deliver to the people, Exo 19:3-6. He returns and delivers it to the people before the elders, Exo 19:7. The people promise obedience, Exo 19:8. The Lord proposes to meet Moses in the cloud, Exo 19:9. He commands him to sanctify the people, and promises to come down visibly on Mount Sinai on the third day, Exo 19:10, Exo 19:11. He commands him also to set bounds, to prevent the people or any of the cattle from touching the mount, on pain of being stoned or shot through with a dart, Exo 19:12, Exo 19:13. Moses goes down and delivers this message, Exo 19:14, Exo 19:15. The third day is ushered in with the appearance of the thick cloud upon the mount, and with thunders, lightning, and the sound of a trumpet! at which the people are greatly terrified, Exo 19:16

ARRIVAL AT SINAI. (Exo. 19:1-25) In the third month--according to Jewish usage, the first day of that month--"same day."--It is added, to mark the time more explicitly, that is, forty-five days after Egypt--one day spent on the mount (Exo 19:3), one returning the people's answer (Exo 19:7-8), three days of preparation, making the whole time fifty days from the first passover to the promulgation of the law. Hence the feast of pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day, was the inauguration of the Old Testament church, and the divine wisdom is apparent in the selection of the same reason for the institution of the New Testament church (Joh 1:17; Act 2:1).