The following is Pastor Nate’s teaching transcription from Calvary Monterey’s 3/9/21 Tuesday Night Service. We apologize for any transcription inaccuracies.

Introduction

In Exodus Chapter 18, Moses is going to interact with his father-in-law, a man named Jethro and receive important counsel from this man. This counsel is going to impact generations of the people of Israel. Now, the context of Exodus Chapter 18 is a perfect setting. Chapter 17 records for us that the Amalekites as we saw in our last study, attacked the people of Israel. Here, we'll have Jethro, who is not an Israelite but a Midianite expressed positivity towards God, the people of Israel and what God is doing amongst the nation of Israel. This helps us see in context that not all of the nations are, or all of the people in the world are against the God of Israel.

Chapter 19 of Exodus which we'll get together ... we'll get to in our study today, begins the process of God delivering the law to the people of Israel from Mount Sinai. Here's the question, when they received the law, how would they then distribute the law to the nation? Moses at this point is of course, operating as the head of the people and as we know, of course, he's only one man. How could one man go to the mountain top, receive the law and then, be expected to have the responsibility of distributing it to millions of people and then, of course, to subsequent generations far after he's gone but part of the ... distributing it to the generations far after he's gone would be that Moses would write down the law of God.

That it would be recorded for future generations, but in order to distribute it to the people, Moses would have to raise up other teachers and he would have to share the word with the people so that the Bible, the truth, the law of God could be distributed amongst the nation. That's where Jethro comes in. His counsel to Moses will be crucial so that they can reorganize in a different way, so that once the law is delivered from Mount Sinai, it can be distributed to everyone, not just through Moses but through undershepherds underneath Moses. Chiefs, who will watch over tens and hundreds and thousands of God's people.

Exodus 18 - Jethro's Wise Counsel

1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).

At this point, approaching Exodus 18, we're at Mount Sinai or approaching Mount Sinai. The terrain is ominous and they are getting ready now to hear from the Lord but again, before that, Jethro arrives. Let's read our first four verses together. "Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people. How the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law had taken Zipporah Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom for he said, I've been a sojourner in a foreign land and the name of the other, Eliezer for he said, the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh."

Now here in this first movement of Exodus 18, Jethro, who you might remember is also called Reuel, at another part of the Book of Exodus, brings Moses' family to Moses. Now, it's likely that back in Exodus chapter four when Moses left the wilderness of Midian to come back to Egypt, to begin his ministry of announcing to pharaoh, God's intentions, that at that point as they were re-entering Egypt, and you remember the odd and catastrophic moment where hasty and quick circumcision had to occur and so, Zipporah said, "You've may be a person of blood," and it was a chaotic moment. Perhaps at that moment, Moses sent his family home.

Maybe he said to himself, and to his family, "Look, the work I'm about to do apparently is too difficult for me to have my family with me. You need to release me to go do this work in Egypt, and we will be set free and then, we can gather together again." It's also possible that Moses had sent his family on ahead to Midian to go get Jethro, the grandpa, to come over for a visit. It would have been helpful for Eliezer who would be the next high priest in Israel, to be a firsthand witness to all of the victories that God had won in Egypt. So, perhaps he needed to return, be there with Jethro and Moses and hear these incredible stories.

When they get together, what Moses declares to him is everything that God had done ... and Jethro, it says, in verse one, had heard of these things from afar. How the Lord had brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. Apparently, from afar, Jethro has followed the events that have unfolded in Egypt and he likely wasn't the only one who had followed these events. Perhaps the people in that region had known of God's power over the Egyptian superpower. So Jethro is representative of those who fear God because of the stories that they've heard of what God has done. You might remember that even four decades later, when the people of Israel go into the promised land, finally, even in Jericho, the people that are dwelling there have heard the stories of what God did in Egypt 40 years earlier.

Now, you probably also noticed in verse one that Jethro has a title. He's called the priest of Midian. When we were in the book of Genesis together, in Genesis, chapter 14, after God won a victory through Abraham for Lot, Abraham went out to the king of Salem, whose name was Melchizedek and it says in Genesis 14, verse 18, that he was the priest of the Most High God. Here, you have Jethro serving as the priest of Midian. Perhaps he is serving in that particular line. Perhaps he is not necessarily related to Melchizedek but another one of those figures on earth who is a God lover, and who is serving and bringing people to what he knows about God.

5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,”

Jethro might have known quite a bit about God because he is actually a descendant of Abraham through Abraham's final wife, named Keturah. You remember, after Sarah had died, Abraham married again, a woman named Keturah. Jethro comes from that family line. So it's possible that he'd heard of God and had worshiped him as best as he could. So he brings Moses' sons, Moses' wife, Zipporah to him in the wilderness. Now, in verse five, Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. When he had sent word to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife, and her two sons with her," Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him.

7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

They asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. Then, Moses told his father-in-law, "All that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way and how the Lord had delivered them." Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, and that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Now this is powerful, they reconnect Moses and Jethro after years of being separate from each other. You have to imagine that Jethro holds a special place in Moses' heart. When he was 40 years old, had fled Egypt, went out into the wilderness, met one of Jethro his daughters at a well and was introduced to Jethro.

Jethro brought Moses in to his family. Moses, a vagabond, someone without a home, was brought into a home by this man, Jethro, given one of his daughters to be a bride. So Jethro is an important man in Moses' life. Moses, ever the meek man, bows down to Jethro, pays homage to this man when he approaches. Moses' success, so to speak, did not swell his head. He did not say to himself, "Who am I to bow to a man like Jethro. I, the mighty Moses, the deliverer of the people of Israel." It is amazing to me how quickly a little success even in ministry can swell a person's head and instead, we should remain humble for it as God who is working in and through our lives and would do even more if we were better and more equipped for the work.

So Moses bows down. He's humble towards Jethro. Kisses him and reports to them all, verse eight, that the Lord had done. What an exciting report. By the way, this is a great place to start, in sharing with people who are in and around your life. Tell them the different things that God has done for you, that God is doing through you, that God is doing in you. The lessons that he's teaching to you. When you share these things, it's so exciting and encouraging and of course, especially for Moses, all the plagues, the miracles, the faithfulness of God, he could not wait to report it. Now, Jethro responded in verse 10.

10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

It says, "Jethro said, blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now, I know that the Lord is greater than all Gods, because in this affair, they dealt arrogantly with his people. Jethro, Moses' father-in-law brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God." So they have this feast, this festival before the Lord and they do this in part because Jethro, he's now convinced or re-convinced, verse 11, that the Lord is greater than all Gods.

The events in Egypt had been interpreted correctly by Jethro. He thought of the plagues, he saw the fate of Pharaoh, he heard the story of the Red Sea and he'd come to the conclusion that God is mightier than every other God who is claimed on the face of the earth. Now, as I said, it's possible that he was already worshipping the God of Abraham to a degree but in a land filled with idolatry, perhaps what he needed was a reminder. God is the true and great God. Now, of course, the question that we would ask ourselves is, do we know this is the truth? Do we know that the Lord is greater than all gods? Now, of course, part of our Christian confession would be that God is one, that God is great, that He is the only wise God.

So we would confess not only is He greater, He is the only true and legitimate God. That might be our confession but is it the practice of our lives? I find that so often we create functional Gods, functional saviors, idols, so to speak, of the heart. Things that we think can deliver us, satisfy us, bring us joy or peace or prosperity. There is no god like God Himself. Don't let any of these lesser gods be the ones that invade your heart. If I had the ability to snap my fingers and change all of the times where I've seen someone put so much stock in a relationship, that they've convinced themselves will bring them joy and satisfaction, only to find that that false god cannot truly satisfy.

13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”

Only the Lord is God. He is greater than all gods. Now, the next day, verse 13, Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood around Moses from morning until evening, when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning until evening." Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws." So this moment happens after Jethro has been there a little while.

He watches Moses one day, as Moses is working. Moses sits there and the people line up and all day long from morning to evening, they come to Moses to inquire of God. He's operating like an oracle for the entire nation of Israel. You can only imagine the crushing weight of this responsibility that was laid upon this man. Jethro wonders, what is it that you're doing and Moses explains, "Well, the people they want to inquire of God. They want to know God's heart and I met God at the bush that burned yet was not consumed. I have been God's mouthpiece and spokesperson. I have been the one who's held the staff in my hands. I've heard God's voice to throw the branch into the water to make the bitter waters sweet. I've heard God talk about the quail and the manna. I'm a communicator for God.

17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.

"So, the people, they just want to know who God is, so they come to me and I declare to them, God, His perspectives, His truth, His thoughts on the matters of their lives." While Moses' father-in-law, verse 17, said to him, "What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now, obey my voice, I will give you advice and God be with you. You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws and make them know the way in which they must walk, and what they must do."

21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

"Moreover, look for able men from all the people. Men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe and play such men over the people, as chiefs have thousands, of hundreds, of 50s and of tens and let them judge the people at all times. Every gray matter they can bring to you but any small matter, they shall decide themselves, so it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you and you will be able to endure and all this people also will go to their place in peace." Now, the fascinating thing about this movement is that Moses is going to receive the counsel of Jethro. Before even inspecting the counsel of Jethro, I have to ask you the question, are you able to receive counsel?

You see, Moses did not look at what Jethro said and say, "Hey, man, you're just a hater in my life. You're not supporting me in what I'm doing or feel called to do?" No. Moses was ready to listen to this outsider's perspective. You see, Jethro saw clearly, he saw something that Moses could not see himself. The two things that Jethro saw was this. Number one, he saw that there would be a drastic energy deficiency. He said in verse 18, you and the people will certainly wear yourselves out. There's no way you can keep up with all of this work, Moses. There's not enough energy in your body to do everything that's required. Then, he says, "Secondly, there's an ability deficiency, the thing is too heavy for you," he said, "You're not able to do it alone. Even if you have the energy for the work, you don't have the ability. There's just too many people. You'll never be able to answer all of their requests."

Someone has said it this way, "Justice, delayed is justice denied," and there's no way that Moses could settle all the disputes that people were bringing to him, so the delay would lead to difficulty and cancellation of justice in Israel. So, Jethro just steps forward, verse 17, frankly, says, "What you are doing is not good." What Moses needed to do was two things according to Jethro. The first thing that Moses needed to do was be a man of the word and prayer. He was to pray for the people of Israel and then, he was to communicate the word to the people of Israel. He was not to be the individual judge and arbiter of issues in Israel, but was to be the teacher and to be praying for the people.

What this would do ... this would have great effects on the people. First of all, this would build up the people if Moses prayed and if Moses taught them God's word, there would be less disputes anyways. People would be receiving God's word, they'd be learning how they ought to live and Moses would be undergirding them with a life of prayer crying out to God, interceding for them. So there would be less disputes. Secondly, this would train up the elders. You see, the second part of Jethro's advice is that Moses should be looking for able men to operate as undershepherds or judges or chiefs under Moses. Well, how would those figures know what to do?

By listening to the teaching of Moses, as he declared the Word of God. They would become stronger at handling disputes and additionally, this decision by Moses, this counsel of Jethro would have the positive effect of decentralizing the authority, decentralizing it to not only Moses but to everyone who had the word. Everyone who'd learned the scripture would have an element of authority because they would know what the right thing was. Now, this does have New Testament corollaries. You see, Paul tells pastors over and over again to be men of the word. First Timothy 4:13, "Until I come, Timothy, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture to exhortation and teaching." First Timothy 4:16, "Keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching. Persist in this for by so doing you'll save both yourself and your hearers."

Second Timothy 2:15, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." Second Timothy 3:16 and 17, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching reproof, correction and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." Second Timothy 4:2, "Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching." Titus 2:1, "But as for you, Pastor, teach what accords with sound doctrine." This is the primary role of the man of God. It's an it's an astounding thing to me that this is sometimes lost in the pastoral role.

If you ask the man on the street, what does a pastor do? More often than not, what you're going to hear is, "Well, a pastor goes to hospitals and visits the sick. A pastor focuses on feeding the poor. A pastor is the one who on the TV show when the character is stressed about life and wanders into the church sanctuary, the pastor is just kind of over there in the corner, just sitting around minding his business, waiting for an occasional parishioner to pop by for a chat." Well, these might be good things that a pastor can do but biblically, a pastor must be a communicator of God's Word. This is the major role of the pastorate. Moses was hearing that counsel from Jethro, "Hey, what you're doing is good. It's great that you've got the opportunity to weigh in, in people's lives on how they should be obedient to God, but for you, Moses, you've got to pull away, pray and communicate the truth."

The second thing that Moses needed to do was not only communicate the truth of God's Word and pray but he needed to look for qualified undershepherds to help him. These needed to be, verse 21, men who feared God. This is the beginning of knowledge according to Proverbs one verse seven. They needed to be, verse 21, trustworthy. They needed to, verse 21, hate a bribe, so they're not influenced by greed, the desire for money. These are to be mature men that God is going to use. Now, this new organization, as I said, would have blessed the people so much. I think it was D. L. Moody who said that it's better to have 100 men working than one man doing the work of 100 men.

24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

So Moses here hears this counsel from Jethro. No longer Moses, should you be the exclusive judge, you need to farm this out. Trust others with the work of judging. So what did Moses do? Verse 24, Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and have tens and they judge the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses but any small matter, they decided themselves. Then, Moses led his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country. Moses listened, he received the counsel of Jethro.

Like I said, this would set up the framework for the judicial system that was needed in Israel after the law was given to the people of Israel. How will we dispense what Moses receives on the law to the nation and it would happen through this system that Jethro had advised. Now, there are applications of this to our modern life and world. One of them, I have pressed already, when it comes to the church. In Acts chapter six, there was a complaint that rose up from a group of widows in the church who were Hellenist. They were Jewish women but who are Greek living or had a Greek background. They complain that they were being neglected in the daily distribution.

Their complaint arose to the apostles of that infant church there in Jerusalem. The apostles conferred, thought about it, prayed and they said, "It's not right that we should leave the Word of God to serve tables. Instead, choose for yourself, seven men of good reputation, who are full of the Holy Spirit. They will take care of the daily distribution but as for us, we will give ourselves to the word and prayer." So you see that same principle carrying forward into the church age. Secondly, there is an application, especially if you're a part of this church, Calvary Monterey, and that one of the ways that we seek to design things is just like this, that myself as the lead or teaching pastor, my focus is prayer and the Word, to communicate scripture with God's people.

When I was 18 years old, I sensed the presence of the Spirit saying to me, "Nate, I've not called you to these other things but I've called you to teach the word," and so humbly, gratefully, I've tried to point my life in that direction. Praise God, we have undershepherds, who are able to minister to smaller pockets of God's people. Now, some of those undershepherds are pastors themselves in their own right, capable of handling the Word of God, teaching and delivering it and in this stage in their lives, though they do it from time to time or though they do it in a smaller setting, the bulk of their responsibility is not the declaration of God's Word publicly, but the application of God's word in more private settings and in the leading of ministries.

Beyond that, not only do I have men like that in my life and around me and in the church, but we have a small group ministry where the leaders of these small groups or the leaders of these discipleship groups, they are called to take care of that smaller group of people. So, in a sense, this is one of the ways that we have applied this in our modern context but in another sense, this whole passage reeks of Jesus. You see, Jesus, not Nate, not your senior pastor, not any lead pastor, really, Jesus is the replacement for Moses as you're tracking forward. Jesus, also like Moses, is a delegator. It says in Second Corinthians two, verse 14, that Jesus always leads us in triumphal procession and threw us, spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

If you ever thought about it, Jesus really is the greatest delegator of all time. He's commissioned millions, billions of people over the course of the last 2000 years to go about the work of the gospel, to do the work of discipling all nations. He is the head, through Him, we get the word, he communicates and even intercedes and prays for us, and the rest of us are trying to do our job in our little neck of the woods, to be the salt and light that we're called to be. He delegates to you, in your workplace, amongst your family, amongst your friends, he delegates to us. Now let's move on to Chapter 19 and what is happening now in the book of Exodus is we are shifting.

Exodus 19 - The Setting for the Law

We are shifting from a narrative where we've been following the people of Israel or the life of Moses and we've seen the plagues and the redemption and the Exodus and the Red Sea, and the beginnings of their wandering and their sojourn. Now, we are shifting in Chapter 19, to a new section in the book of Exodus, where God is going to deliver the law to Moses on Mount Sinai for the people. So there will be some narrative elements to this back half of the book of Exodus, but mostly it is a communication of God on Mount Sinai to Moses about the law. What God says, how God is going to lead the people of Israel. The law, of course, is confusing to many Christians when they look back on the law of the Old Testament.

This law that God would give to Moses would govern God's people from Exodus 19, all the way until the cross of Christ. It says in Colossians two, verse 14, that Jesus canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law and a law of love, and then the New Testament law was then given to us as His people. Now as we go through this, we're going to see that there are parts of the law that are moral in nature like the 10 commandments. Other parts of the law will be ceremonial in nature, like the sacrificial system and other parts of the law will be civil in nature. Everyday laws, in other words that governed everyday life. Some of those laws would crossover into all categories.

The fourth commandment regarding the Sabbath for instance, would be part of the ceremonial law, certain ceremonies they were supposed to do every Sabbath and the civil law the way they were supposed to, as a group or a people, adhere to a day of rest every week. Now, the Mosaic law did not annul the Abrahamic covenant that had already been given but added to it. You see, God had made a covenant with Abraham in years past, but the Mosaic Law was added to the promise that God had made to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So what is the purpose of this law that we are about to see God delivered to the people of Israel?

Well, don't make the mistake of saying that God set this law up as a pathway to salvation that they could not keep? No, it's impossible for a person to be saved by the acts of the law. Abraham was justified by faith and so is every believer in all of history, who has ever partaken of eternal salvation. The law was not there to save, perhaps it was there to demonstrate that they could not be saved by their works but it was not there in order to save. It was there to reveal God's glory. Deuteronomy five, verse 24, "You said, behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness. We have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire," when they received the law. "This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live."

So the law reveals God, reveals who God is. It does expose our sin. Though we cannot be saved by keeping the law, it does show us our shortcoming according to the New Testament. The law as well would mark the people of Israel as a different and separate people under God, as we'll see in a moment. It gave them a standard for godly living. Showed them how to live, how to treat god, how to treat each other. It did have a preparatory effect. It prepared the nation for Christ. The law, Paul said in Galatians 3:24, was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. So the New Testament makes it very clear that the Christian is not under the law, but lives in the sphere of grace, Romans 6:14, Galatians 5:18, "We are not under the law, it does not have dominion over us. We are under grace. We are led by the Spirit."

However, many of the commandments are repeated in New Testament form throughout the New Testament. So there are many things that we can glean from the Old Testament law, though we might not in our modern nations, live in the same exact way that they lived back in their era. So now, we are governed by the greater law of love, according to the New Testament, but we'll learn great things and very applicable things as we move through this back half of the book of Exodus. We'll just have to do a little bit of work to maybe sometimes see modern applications to our situations. We'll have to find and mind for the wisdom of various Old Testament laws, though they might not be the same exact things that we do today.

For instance, the dietary laws that we're going to read of. These are things that have been fulfilled in Christ. They're not for the non-Jewish church to have to embrace or adhere to. It was for God's people, Israel in that era but there might be some applications that we might make about living a holy and separate and different kind of life. Being willing to be a different person from the nations around us. So we'll just have to do a little bit of work when we come to these individual laws. In chapter 19, the law is not yet delivered. We're not going to read of any of the laws, but we'll read of the setting that God delivered the law at Mount Sinai.

1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3a while Moses went up to God.

It says verse one, "On the third New Moon, after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day, when they came into the wilderness of Sinai, they set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God." Now, what this is telling us is that this event occurred three months after the Passover. The third New Moon is the way it said there in verse one. Three months after the Exodus from Egypt, there they are before the mountain. God had said back in chapter three of Exodus verse 12, to Moses, "I'll be with you. This will be a sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

This was the same mountain, Mount Horeb that's also called Mount Sinai that Moses had heard from the Lord. Many think that Horeb would be the mountain range and Sinai was a particular peak, inside of that mountain range. As I said, the rest of Exodus occurs at this mountain, because Moses there will receive the law for the people of Israel. Notice that twice in those first few verses, the word wilderness is used. It's a mountain range that's in the midst of wilderness and it seems that God is repeating that concept or telling us of this setting, so that we'll understand that the law took place, somewhere where there was nothing else.

Everything else has been removed. There's no Pharaoh. There's no modern civilization. There's no pyramids. There's no anything except a wild setting. It was the perfect place for God to deliver the law because there's nothing else really there except God. So, this would help them see that something new was about to be established, and to get rid of all distractions so that they could hear the voice of the Lord. Now, in verse three, we saw there that Moses went up to God. In this chapter, Moses is going to go up and down the mountain a handful of times. He'll go up and hear from the Lord. He'll come back down and announce to the people that God is about to speak.

3b The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 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.”

He'll then wait for the trumpet to blast from God and he'll go up the mountain and hear from God, then he'll come back down from the mountain to get Aaron to bring him back up the mountain. So he's kind of traversing the same trail going up into God's presence, but here in this first time, he goes up the mountain of God. Now, verse three continues and says, "The Lord called to him out of the mountains, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself."

"Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all 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." Now, here, what Moses hears from God is, first of all, a recounting of what God had just done. God had taken care of them. He says, "You've seen what I did to the Egyptians, I bore you on eagle's wings, and I brought you to myself." In other words, they were never to forget the grand act of God's redemption.

I mentioned this at this point, because as I've been saying, the law is about to drip from the mouth of God, but the law and the keeping of the law is a response to what God has already done. God has rescued them, purchased them, made them his own and now, he'll deliver to them his word. This should be the question of every believer. Looking at the cross, seeing what Christ has done, the question that we should ask is, how can I then respond? That would make us want to look into his word. This is how, in fact, many of the letters of Paul the Apostle were written, describing on the front end of the epistle or the letter, what God has done in Christ Jesus.

Then, the back half of the letter is what our response should be to what Christ has done. So God is drawing attention to the first half of the book of Exodus and saying, "This is what I have done and I'm about to tell you how you can respond to my incredible grace." What God says there in verse five and six is of utmost importance. He says, his plan for Israel is that they would be number one, his treasured possession among all the peoples. Number two, that they would be a kingdom of priests and number three, that they would be a holy nation. To be the treasured possession of God among all the peoples means that they were going to be a unique people with special status before God.

Now of course, today, the church operates as a special people with unique status to and before the Lord, but there is no way we can deny the fact that Israel historically and even today has a special nature about it, that God has made a special and treasured possession. Why is it that the world has been impacted through the existence of this small little nation, the size of New Jersey? Well, it's because God has chosen them. He placed them at the crossroads of the known world geographically and even now today, the major religions of the world have their roots and their ties to the forefather, the ancestor of the Israelite people, Abraham, himself.

Why are the nations always concerned with Israel, thinking about Israel and what nation on earth could survive so many centuries of non-existence and then, be brought back into existence years later, as the people of Israel have miraculously done? It's clear they have a special nature. I think the presence, the reality of the nation of Israel is in one sense, a great apologetic to who God is and the truthfulness of scripture. Not only would they be his special treasured possession, he says, secondly, they should be a kingdom of priests. That's God's destiny for the people of Israel.

Each member of the nation would be ... was meant to live with God as their king and know and have access to God. They were to be mediating as priests of the nations, bringing them to God. Then, finally, they'd be a holy nation, morally pure and dedicated entirely to God. Now, this is God's hope and purpose for his church today. It says in Revelation one, verse six, that God has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. We're called to priesthood before God. We call this doctrine, The Priesthood of All Believers. This means that we are God's representatives to the world, trying to help people connect to God through the gospel of Jesus Christ but it also means that we have access to God personally and privately by the blood of Jesus.

The veil has been torn in two, and now we have access to Him. So don't neglect your priestly role. This is the centerpiece of what God wanted to do in Israel and it remains the centerpiece of what he wants to do in you. He wants you to be a praying person, and a sharing person. He wants you to be a person who is spiritual and connects to God, but also allows who God is to impact your material world. He wants you to be God's representative in your workplace and in your family and in your community. I don't just mean His representative, and that you tell everybody that you're a Christian, but that you show them that you are, with the way that you live, the way that you care, the way that you work.

7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 9a 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 may also believe you forever.”

So Moses, verse seven, came and called the elders of the people and said before them all these words that 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 people to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I'm coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever." So Moses comes back down the mountain, and he says, "Hey, God wants this for us. He wants us to be a holy nation. He wants us to be a kingdom of priests. He wants us to be his treasured special possession." They respond and say, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do." Now, if you know the people of Israel and know where this is going, you know that they answered too quickly.

9b When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, 10 the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

They didn't really yet know everything that God would ask of them and they really didn't have the ability to commit like they thought they could commit. So, Moses tells these words of the people to the Lord and the Lord told Moses to go back up, that God is going to appear in a thick cloud. Now, when Moses, verse nine, told the people ... told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai, in the sight of all the people, and you shall set limits for the people all around saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death."

"No hand shall touch him but he shall be stoned or shot whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, then shall they come up to the mountain." So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people and they washed their garments and he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day. Do not go near a woman." So here, God tells Moses to have the people consecrate themselves for this great meeting where God is going to now deliver his commandments to his people and show them what it looks like to be a special possession, priests who are a holy nation before Him.

Before they receive the law of God, the Word of God, they needed to prepare themselves. Have you ever thought about this? By the way, have you ever thought about before popping in a podcast, before coming to your church community, preparing yourself for that moment, prepare yourself to hear, to receive from the Lord. God will speak to someone who has done no preparation whatsoever and has just lazily stumbled in to the gathering, but he will also minister to you more so if you consecrate and prepare yourself in advance. Now, the way they were to prepare themselves is simple. First, they were to wash their garments. This was symbolic of being clean before God.

They needed to put off all uncleanness. Verse 11 says they were to be ready for the third day. For three days, in other words, they were to prepare for this moment where they receive the law of God. It spoke to the importance of the word that they were about to receive. Verse 12, says that they were to set limits for the people all around the mountain, there were to be boundaries, they could only go so far. They were not to touch the mountain. No person should touch the mountain lest they die. These were rules that communicated something. It communicated that unholiness is contagious but so is Holiness. God's holiness, when you touch it, if you're unclean, it will kill you.

It's kind of the message that's there in this passage. Sealing off the mountain was a boundary that would help them have the proper worship of God. What are the people of Israel learning here? They're learning God is holy. His law is holy. Who he is, is holy. He is perfect and pure and uncleanness cannot touch him. It was giving them the appropriate concept of who God is and they were supposed to wait. Moses told them to abstain from sex for a few days to be cleaned before God, not that sex is dirty in and of itself but it just spoke to a separation. Even the married couples were to abstain for a season, so that when the Trumpet sounded ... this was a trumpet from God. God's horn blowing from the mountain, then they would come up.

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

After keeping away from that mountain for three days, on the third day, they would then approach and the law would be delivered to their man, Moses. All these external preparations were meant to demonstrate the inward preparations of their heart to hear from God. So on the morning of the third day, verse 16, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then, Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. God appears on this mountaintop with a thick, cloud important because these people in that community had been steeped in idolatry in Egypt and idolatry in that region for so long.

18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Now, God appears he doesn't take the form of any animal or being that they could fashion into an idol but he comes in the form of a cloud to sort of communicate and you can't make anything that looks like me. You can't make any image that looks like me. Now, Mount Sinai, verse 18, was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder, the Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

I mean, just imagine this scene. Fire, the smoke, the trumpet blast, the earth quaking, the lone solitary figure, leaving the millions of people to climb the mountain, to be with God once again. It's powerful and the Lord said to Moses, verse 21, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves thus the Lord breakout against them, and Moses said to the Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for you, yourself warned us saying, set limits around the mountain and consecrate it. Now, this is a fascinating little movement. There is Moses with God and God says, "Go down and warn them not to come up lest they look at me."

Now, God had already set a limit around the mountain and that's what Moses reminds God of. They can't come up here, there's a limit, you set the limit, so they can't come up any further. Moses thinks that the people will obey. Moses thinks that the people heard the requirement and are going to do it but God knows better than Moses. He knows the tendency of the people. He knows the tendency of the human heart that need, the requirement to hear the word, the law over and over and over again, because though we commit to it one day, we might not commit to it next. Though, we might commit to it one hour, we might not commit to it the next. So God is asking Moses, "Go tell them again, make sure that they don't come up." Now, in verse 22, God alluded to a group called the priests and said, "Let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves."

Now, this is interesting, because the priesthood, the tabernacle, the sacrificial system has not yet been established in Israel. So clearly, these priests are different figures than the priests who would develop as a result of the giving of the law. These were likely those who perform some kind of priestly function in Israel, before the law had been delivered and Aaron and his sons had been established as the priests in Israel. So there were not yet official priests in Israel but probably these were family heads, the elders, perhaps the firstborn, who had been dedicated to the Lord, after the Passover. They were operating in that role.

24 And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

So Moses hears this from God and the Lord said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing, verse 24, Aaron with you but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and told them. Listen, in our modern era, of course, as the church, we have a better mountain than the mountain of Sinai where the law was given. Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that we worship on a different mountain. You see on that mountain, Moses was the figurehead but on Mount Calvary there in Zion or Jerusalem, Jesus is the figurehead. On that mountain, the law was delivered but on the Mount that Jesus went to, grace is delivered.

Fear was the attitude. Terror was the attitude of the day when the law was given but love, grace and acceptance was given on the day of Christ. That law was given on a mountain that was in the midst of the wilderness but Jesus' mountain produces the city of the living God. That mountain was one that only Moses could climb, but because of the blood of Jesus, all are invited into the presence of God. That mountain required a fence around it, keeping people from the Lord but Jesus, of course, is the door to God. That mountain was a mountain of exclusion but Jesus, He invites us in. That mountain was old but Jesus brought a new covenant.

You see, their forerunner would go up to the mountaintop for them and receive the law, but our forerunner, Jesus Christ, went up to the mountaintop and fulfilled the law and called us up to himself. God bless you, church. Have a wonderful week.