Chapter 19 and we are in the narrative about Moses in the
life of Moses with God's people coming out of Egypt in the
wilderness and we're now chapter 19 of Exodus and this is the
story partially of what happened when they reached Mount Sinai.
And so a lot of things happened at the foot of Mount Sinai, both
before and after Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the
ten and that's the law from god. So let's just look at this
portion here in chapter 19. These first nine verses on the
third month, after the people of Israel had gone out of the land
of Egypt. On that day, they came to the
Wilderness of Sinai and they encamped in the wilderness,
their Israel and camped before the mountain while Moses went up
to God. The Lord called to him out of
the mountain saying, thus, shall you say to the house of Jacob
and tell the people of Israel, you Our sales have seen what I
did to the Egyptians how I bore. You on Engel Eagle's Wings and
brought you out to myself. Now, therefore, if you will
indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant, you shall be my
treasured possession, among all the peoples for all the Earth is
mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you
shall speak to the people of Israel.
So Moses came and call the Elders of the people and set
before them all the words, the Lord had commanded him.
All the people answered together and said all that.
The Lord has spoken. We will do and Moses reported
the words of the peat people to the Lord.
And the Lord said to Moses behold, I am coming to you in a
thick Cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you, and
I met all and may also believe you forever.
The word of the Lord, you may be seated.
You'll notice What's Happening Here.
Moses is speaking to the Lord. The Lord is speaking to Moses.
In fact the scriptures tell us that there was a unique
relationship. They had the word is used that
God spoke to Moses face to face. Now we know later on exactly how
that worked out, but what it really means is God spoke
directly to Moses. In other prophets, he'll speak
in dreams and visions and all sorts of symbols and things like
that. And occasionally, he'll speak
audibly to them of speak deep within their consciences.
But in this instance, God spoke to Moses.
And he gave Moses. What he wanted Moses to hear,
that is called special Revelation that is called
self-disclosure God discloses himself, what he's thinking,
what he wants his people to know what he wants his people to do.
He makes it known He is there and he is not silent.
Would be a good title for a book wouldn't it think Francis
Schaeffer wrote that book a few years ago?
God is there. He speaks we live believe it
whether we like it or not Christians we are the recipients
of Oracle Oracle religion. Is our religion.
We actually believe that God speaks on a mountain to a
person. Sometimes it's hard to get
comfortable with that idea, particularly, but that's what we
have. Now, we have authentication all
through the centuries that it was indeed God.
Speaking at these prophets, were faithful in their communication
of what God Said but that is God speaking to the prophet and this
case Moses later on Isaiah, Jeremiah and many others.
And then the prophet speaking to the people, but then we also see
here that the people would speak to Moses and Moses would go back
and tell god what the people had said.
That's called mediation. Moses is a mediator.
He's in the middle between God and the people.
In that instance, in many other instances, Moses is a type, a
very clear type and lesson as to Christ's Ministry Christ is a
mediator, there is one mediator between God and man, and that's
the man Christ Jesus. Des.
Jesus is in fact, the word of God.
He speaks the word of God. He is the word of God to his
people, and in responding. Back to him.
We come to him through that mediator.
What God told the people here is that one day.
And he speaks it and he brings it to pass.
It's the people are going to be priests and Kings.
He's going to make of this little fragile people that he's
brought out of slavery and brought into the desert.
And as we saw last week, he has given them water to drink and
food to eat. He has protected him in the
desert and now he is going to call them his people, all the
Gentile Nations on the face of the Earth.
And the Earth was full of people in those days.
But God selected, this one family, the family of Jacob, the
family of Israel came into Egypt, 70 souls.
And now, his left is a great throng.
He's going to make of this little Nation.
This little little group, a nation, a great nation with a
great name, and a great reputation, and a great king is
going to sit on the throne of this nation.
And they're going to rule and reign with this great king
forever. And the words that Moses uses
and speaks to the people are Eternal words.
Notice, he says that they may also believe you forever.
There's a whole lot more Happening Here than just this
little story of them in the desert.
What we have here is the god of Heaven and Earth.
The Creator is talking to his people and he is enabling his
people to talk to him. He's establishing a mediator
between the two and he's going to see.
Then one day a greater mediator, Moses was faithful in the house
of the Lord, as a servant, the book of Hebrews says, but Jesus
is faithful in the house of the Lord, as a son, hey, where is in
time past, God spoke to the prophet to the father's by the
prophets and all kinds of ways. But now he has spoken to us by
one who is the son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is all over this. This scene at the face of Mount
Sinai, on the floor of the desert, the Wilderness God is
opening up. He's showing himself.
He's telling what kind of relationship he will have with
his people. And here's one of the most
tender things, you'll read anywhere in the Bible is here at
about verse for, I think it is. You yourselves have seen what it
says the Lord speaking. You've seen what I did to the
Egyptians and how I bore You On Eagle's Wings and brought you to
myself. And brought you.
To myself. That's what the Lord does to his
own. Has the Lord brought you to
himself. My sheep hear my voice.
Jesus said, I know them, they follow me.
There's only one way to be brought to God and that's in the
arms of the Good Shepherd, as a lost lamb straying.
All we like sheep. Have gone astray.
We have turned to our own way, but we've been solved.
And we've been bought and we've been brought To the father.
By Jesus Christ in his finished work.
I don't want you to leave here, we only have a few minutes
together, these Sunday mornings, but I don't want anybody to
leave and walk through those doors without knowing Jesus
Christ. That's all I really really care
about. I love the Bible of all this
history. I love to teach, I love
Doctrine. I love all that stuff, but my
heart says, I want everybody in this room to come to know
Christ. And coming to know Christ that
they will love him and serve him and be safe for all eternity.
Not only for this life, but the life to come and that's what the
Lord says. Now, therefore, beginning in
verse 5, the Lord is going to make a covenant with his people.
Now me say a word about covenants in the Bible.
There are several varieties of Covenant.
A covenant is not simply a contract to coveted his more
than that, the most important Covenant anywhere in the Bible.
And as far as getting the Old Testament and everything
foundationally laid out is the Covenant that God made with
Abraham God made the Covenant with Abraham and it was a
promissory Covenant. God says, I will do this this
and this it was kind of on the arrangement of some of the
ancient Covenant, swear a great Susan rain, or a great Sovereign
has performed a great Act of rescue and help as he led
Abraham out of the ER of the Chaldeans up the Euphrates
Valley and across down the Jordan Valley in Toward the Nile
and all the way into Egypt and the great Fertile Crescent.
Took him on that great journey and brought him to where he
wanted him to be. Abraham was given this Covenant
that's back in the Book of Genesis, you read about in
chapter 12 15 and other places their God.
Repeated this to the, to the Patriarchs Isaac and Jacob, he
gave this promissory Covenant that he was going to accomplish
it and my friends, he's accomplished every syllable of
it literally in King Solomon. And greater than that.
In one who's greater than Solomon in a great Eternal
spiritual way in. Jesus Christ, everything God
promised them. He gave them a land, he gave
them a great nation, he gave them a great name, he gave them
a great king, he gave them a great blessing.
And all this was fulfilled in the days of Solomon.
Literally, the Bible says it all came to pass.
If you're looking for a literal fulfillment of the abrahamic,
Covenant, there it is about 1,000 years before Christ.
Literally fulfilled Solomon's Reign was from the Euphrates to
the Nile, the whole Fertile Crescent, the whole, and not
just a little tiny land of Canaan there in the middle of
it. But the whole thing, but in a
greater sense, God gives his people What Abraham really
expected when he was talking to God, according to Paul, in the
Book of Romans, he gave him the whole Earth.
In fact he did more than just give him the Earth is it is he
gives him the Earth as it's a new Heaven and a new Earth.
The great fulfillment of everything.
God promised to Abraham is fulfilled in Israel.
As Israel, brings in the Gentiles is Israel believes in
the Messiah as unbelieving, Israel is punished and cut off
as believing. Israel is given the inheritance
which is Christ. That's what's being set up here.
This these old ancient stories are historical but they're not
they're not merely just the raw history.
I hear sometimes historical Redemptive preaching and it's
very historical and I don't hear the Redemptive element as strong
as it comes through in the scriptures at least my reading
of the scriptures but look at what the Lord says he's going to
require them to do some things because the Mosaic Covenant the
Covenant God makes it Sinai. Is not a promissory Covenant.
It's an obligatory Covenant, you're obligated to do certain
things, and if you do them, I'll do this.
But if you don't do it, I don't want.
In fact, I'll do something else. And that's what you see, spelled
out beginning in chapter 20, all the way through the rest of the
pentateuch. Like, especially through the
book of Deuteronomy, you say, you hear God saying I will do
certain things for you if you will do these things for me and
he lists them out here. He says. he says, if you will
obey my voice, keep my Covenant. So they've got to do some things
as God's redeemed. People notice that they're
redeemed at this point. He's talking to Believers.
Bible's talking to Christians when he talks about obeying the
law, not talking to unbelievers. Unbeliever can't take the law
in. Try to obey it in order to be
saved, you just don't work that way, the laws got nothing but a
curse in it for Sinners. There's a death penalty in the
law for Sinners. But Christ has died taking that
very sentence. That very ordinance that very
prescription into his own body on the tree nailing it to the
Cross, Paul says, in Colossians, and it's been fulfilled every
last bit of that Covenant. Has been fulfilled in Christ.
The law, the Commandments are given to a redeemed.
People a saved people. A rescued people of people that
have already said but they said here all that the Lord has
spoken. We will do.
This is a two-way street. God says do this and they say
we'll do it now later on God's going to spell out in quite a
bit of detail all that they are to do.
And the consequences, the wonderful consequences of
perfect obedience. but the people never give perfect
obedience Jesus Does And that's why he's the only true Covenant
keeper. And that's why in order to be a
covenant keeper, you've got to be in Christ by faith.
To be regarded as a covenant keeper and receive the blessings
of the Covenant. Just making any sense at all.
Because everything I'm saying every statement I'm making in my
head. I'm thinking boy this a heresy
out there. I need to draw upon a little bit
but I don't have time to do that.
There's a misunderstanding out there.
We need to chase down and kill. Don't have time to do that.
He's just try to set it forth positively and affirmatively.
but for Covenant Breakers, those that do not keep the law in the
first place and for any person that claims to be redeemed, When
he comes to keep the law when he fails, he has to recognize that
it's sin. And he needs to be confessed and
forsaken, his be put under the blood of Christ.
He needs to be taken to Christ. And that's the Ten Commandments.
Now, we will see what time will we got a minute or two?
Let me just bring you read them. I mean, Robbie read them, a
moment ago, you contemplated them.
Let me just take for brevity's sake.
The, the second table first table has to do with God first
four Commandments, and then commandment five through 10 has
to do with our relationship, to one another loving each other.
And let me just sort of sketch through with the Lord does for
us in the Commandments. This is for a and people that I
say that, Think I did. This is not how you get saved,
folks. This is what you do when you are
saved. If you're saved.
A lot of people claim to be saved.
They don't keep these Commandments at all and that's
the fruit that's the test. We see people breaking his
Commandments. The question mark can go up over
their head or they really Believers.
Are they really walking in the ways of the Lord?
Are they? Keeping his statutes and his
Commandments. Are they obeying his voice?
Are they in the Covenant? Really are the in there by faith
believing in Jesus, as they should be, let me just sketch
through them. He says, honor your father and
your mother. That establishes for all of the
earth authority, The Authority is in the father in the mother
in the home and that basic unit. Of civilization forms,
everything else. All in the world of family is is
expansion of a mother and father all in the world.
Neighborhood is is expansion of a family.
All in the world of community is an expansion of a neighborhood,
all the world of town at you. Get the point all the way up to
State all the way up to Nation. It's just all the same.
God has an authority that he's established.
He spells it out in unbelievable detail throughout the rest of
scripture, but it establishes it with honor.
Your father and your mother. If you honor your father and
your mother, you are a civilized person.
You are a citizen of the kingdom of God's chosen people.
Then you shall not murder into this commandment the Lord
establishes the principle of Life, the sanctity of Life, the
right to life, to protect life and all about life, the right to
life. He says Thou shalt not commit
adultery in this God sanctifies marriage.
One woman one man for one lifetime establishing, the whole
order of sexuality for every person on the face of the Earth.
And anything else is ADD alt and alter e.
It's to go to something else. Any deviation off that any
perversion of that is breaking of the Covenant with God, he
says you shall not steal. This establishes, the principle
of private property. Private property, you are
entitled to certain things because why?
Because if you obey God will bless you.
Everything you have is a gift of God, it's sacred.
And I don't have a right to it and everything God's given me,
not only that. Let me just say one of the thing
when God comes time to curse you to discipline you, to bring you
in line for whom the Lord. Loveth he chasteneth and
scourges every son. That's is God might take some of
that property away. He may change that property,
leave a turn that property into little bit of an aggravation.
God can do all kinds of things with your property and I'm
talking about that's all you possess in order to discipline
you and to bring you where you need to be and that needs to
apply to you. The soul that Sins Not to the
whole community and I'll just jump straight to the very last
one. Thou shalt not covet for a
community. An ethnic group, a state. or a
government of federal government or any other kind of government
to go after your property is the spirit of envy And they can work
it out through What's called the politics of envy.
Yeah, make the rich pay more taxes.
Yeah, let's give those reparations.
Yeah, I'm going to stop there. Thou shalt not bear false.
Witness that establishes truth and truth is the basis of a
society of a society is not have truth.
It does not have personal relationships, it does not have
business contracts. And it does not have most
importantly, I justice system. Most important thing that
happens in a courthouse is when you put your hand on the Bible
and swear in which you're about to say the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth in this commandment establishes.
It Thou shalt not bear. False witness.
Let me say one more thing about the passage.
If you'll give me a moment, notice that Moses, when he's
talking to the Lord, the Lord says I'm going to be talking to
you from now on in a cloud. You noticed that in the text, a
thick cloud is going to be the partition between God and Moses,
and Moses is going to be in a cloud.
He'll hear the voice of God in a cloud.
This is the Shekinah Glory of God.
This is the glory Cloud. This this Cloud spoken.
Love all through the scriptures. This Cloud was an incredibly
important to Israel in their days because this Cloud hovered
over them, when the burning Sun of the desert was about to fry
them. On the desert floor, This Cloud
gave them shield and comfort and cool, and rest.
That's Christ. Is that cloud?
By the way, it's the glory cloud of God's spirit enshrined upon
his people at night. That cloud turned into a pillar
of fire, when the desert floor got cold.
And when the winds blew there was the warmth of God's presence
in the thick Cloud, that was over them.
I got to stop right here and I'm going to tell you this, you
remember on the Mount of transfiguration.
Who's up there? Moses, Elijah, and Jesus
remember what the wolves are all around them.
A bright Cloud. Why was it a bright cloud and
not a thick dark cloud? Because it had inside of it, the
light of the world. Who's up there?
Moses, Elijah, and Jesus remember what the wolves are all
around them. A bright Cloud.
Why was it a bright cloud and not a thick dark cloud?
Because it had inside of it, the light of the world.