Lesson 11 - Exodus19:1-25; 20:18-21 OUTLINE

I. What are we doing here? God had delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh, given them food and water in the desert and delivered them from the Amalekites, but their survival seemed touch and go there for a while.

a. This is not what they had been promised when they set out. Three months out of Egypt...they are still in the desert.

II. Sinai, the primary destination. Exodus 3:12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

a. They remain camped at Sinai for the next eleven months. The rest of the book of Exodus takes place at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

i. The Sinai campground was no short, side-stop along the way. It was (according to Alec Motyer), God’s primary destination for them.

1. They were still headed to the “Promised Land,” but they couldn’t get there without first spending some major time at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

2. God had brought his redeemed people to this mountain so that:

a. they could hear his voice and learn his law for their lives.

b. they could be given instruction on how to live a life that was pleasing God.

c. They could understand that it was by God’s grace alone they were saved.

b. In the rest of the book of Exodus, Moses will make seven trips up and down the mountain. In Chapter 19, we look at the first three.

i. Trip #1 19:3-8 God rehearses His connection with the Jews.

ii. Trip #2 19:8b-15, God’s presence is made tangible

iii. Trip #3 19: 16-25 God sets out the parameters for this new relationship.

III. What the Lord has done. Ex. 19:4 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.”

a. The Israelites had seen what God had done, they were eyewitnesses. They knew how God had taken care of them like an eagle takes care of her young.

i. Warren Wiersbe writes, “At a certain stage in the development of their young, the parent eagles force their eaglets to fly. The young birds may not be anxious to leave the security of their nest, but they must learn to fly if they are going to fulfill their purpose in life. The adult birds stay near to their fledglings and, if they fall, carry them on their strong wings until the young birds learn how to use their wings, ride the air currents, and enjoy the abilities God gave them.”

1. “If God is calling me into his service (that is to risk trying something new or moving into unknown territory), I will be acting under his authority. My obedience to him makes him responsible for my destiny.”

The Crime of Living Cautiously, by Luci Shaw

2. 12 Steps of healing: the third step reads: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.”

a. What does one get when they turn their life and will over to the care of God? They get CARE!

ii. Deuteronomy 7:7-8, “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

1. God loved them because he loved them.

2. Despite who they were, God liberated them, provided for them and now has brought them to a place where they can enter into a two way relationship with him. God is teaching them to fly.

IV. What the Lord Promises. Exodus 5b-6. “…out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'

a. The Hebrew word means “personal treasure.”

i. They were to be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.”

1. As priests they are to have a special connection with God and the responsibility of being a bridge between God and the rest of humanity.

2. As a holy nation they are to reflect God’s character to the world.

b. The apostle Peter uses this same passage to talk about the church.

i. “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.” 1 Peter 2:9 (the Message)

c. “Holy” in both the Hebrew and Greek has a sense of being different, of being separate in some way. As Christians we are to be different from non-believers. We are set apart by God for God’s purposes.

i. Our separateness is not to be from the world, but a difference that we embody while we are in the world. Engaged with the world.

V. What the Lord Requires. Exodus 5a. “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant…” The “if” does not talk about our part in some even, two-sided bargain. The if, is the great benefit we get in responding to God’s unilateral gift of fellowship with us. “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” The status of being God’s treasured possession comes by God’s act alone. Our enjoyment comes in our response and commitment of obedience.

VI. Moses’ second trip up the mountain. Exodus 19:8-15

a. How do we go from wanting to follow God to actually following God?

i. The people had pledged obedience to God. The Lord is going to honor their intention by speaking to them.

b. God transforms our intentions into obedience by the power of his Word.

i. “The life of obedience arises out of the Word of God. In our case this is the Bible, for the Hebrews it was Moses. The connection between the life of obedience and the word of God is inseparable, for the Word of God transforms our best intentions into actual conduct. Holiness is obedience to revealed truth.” Motyer

1. The book of Exodus reflects a biblical way of thinking – both Old and New Testament. The word of God is designed to be life-changing.

2. The Hebrews had one word which meant both “listen” and “obey.”

3. Nothing is truly “known” until it moves from our head down to our heart and out of our hands.

VII. The Lord Comes. Exodus 19:16-25 “The whole of creation reacted to the coming of the Creator in thunder and lightening, the trembling and quaking of the physical world and its people.” Motyer

a. Much of the symbolism in the Old Testament highlights this distance: the fence around the tabernacle, the veil in the holy of holies, the fact that the priests could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year.

b. This is why the message of Jesus is so radical. Because Jesus is Immanuel - God with us.

i. It is not true that the God of the Old Testament is angry judgmental and distant and the God of the New Testament is all about love. But it is true that through his death and resurrection, Jesus opened a new and living way into the presence of God.

c. “The combination of washing themselves and changing their closes, witnessing the storm and keeping their distance from Sinai, couldn’t help but impress the people with their own sinfulness and God’s majestic holiness. They were called to be a sanctified people, unlike the nations around them. Only as they obeyed God could they truly enjoy the privileges of being a kingdom of priest, God’s special treasure and His holy nation.” Wiersbe

So what about us?