Exodus 19 - I AM Revealed

[Music] well good morning everybody let's open our bibles to the book of exodus chapter 19 exodus chapter 19. and let's pray as we come before god's word together we're grateful lord it's a fitting sunday for us to think about all the good things you've done and for us to think about what return we may make unto you out of gratitude but lord one of the great things we're grateful for is this revelation of who you are and how you deal with man unto us we're thankful for your word and lord with that attitude of thanksgiving we ask that you would bless your word to our minds to our hearts this morning lord we've already been blessed through the time of worship through the the community of what you're doing here through through lord the information and the challenge of our life but now lord speak to us through your word we pray this in jesus name amen you know it's a wonderful thing to teach verse by verse through books of the bible because the bible has its own natural drama its own natural flow it's not as if the preacher has to stand up here and some so somehow breathe life into a dead book that would be boring without the work of the preacher ladies and gentlemen this is an amazing story that we're taking a look at going chapter by chapter through the book of exodus and we've seen how god brought israel out of egypt we saw how god delivered them through the plagues that he laid upon egypt through that terrible judgment upon the firstborn through the red sea providing for them in the wilderness bringing him to this place where now in exodus chapter 19 they come to mount sinai let's take a look at verse one in the third month after the children of israel had gone out of the land of egypt on the same day they came to the wilderness of sinai for they had departed from rephadim had come to the wilderness of sinai and camped in the wilderness so israel camped there before the mountain there they are before mount sinai it took them some three months to go from the clutches of egypt to make it through the red sea in the wilderness but finally now they've come to the wilderness of sinai and verse 2 tells us so israel camped there before the mountain now i find it fascinating that way back in the book back in exodus chapter 3 when moses had that dramatic burning bush experience it was on that very mountain that moses had that experience it was on that very mountain that god told moses when i set you and the people of israel free from egypt you're going to come back to this mountain and i will meet with you there and now moses was here with all the nation of israel fulfilling that promise and they're going to stay there at mount sinai they're going to stay at mount sinai for the rest of the book of exodus they're going to stay at mount sinai through the entire book of leviticus and they're going to be at mount sinai until numbers chapter 10. it's only then that they break camp and begin to move on towards kanan now there's a question i just need to deal with quickly and i i wish i had more time i almost considered taking an entire sunday to deal with this question just because it's so fascinating but the question is where is the actual site of mount sinai where israel met with god there's good reason to believe that the traditional site of mount sinai there on what this called of course the sinai peninsula is not the correct location of the mountain where this came to pass now of course where you see that marker where there is the traditional mount sinai there in the sinai peninsula there's a monastery and there's a whole tourist infrastructure there to receive tourists and such but there's good reason to believe that actually there's another place that might actually be the more accurate site of mount sinai because according to exodus chapter 2 and exodus chapter 3 this mountain was in the region of midian and by best accounts midian was on the east side of the gulf of aqaba east of the sinai peninsula the ancient land of midian is what we would call the modern land or at least a portion of the modern land of saudi arabia and that would argue that mount sinai would be on the east of the sinai peninsula then again in galatians chapter 4 verse 25 the apostle paul clearly described mount sinai as being in arabia that's exactly the words that he uses now some people claim that this can also be understood as extending to the sinai peninsula but it's not the normal understanding of where arabia is either in the modern or in the ancient understanding and then finally i would say this that there's significant evidence historical and archaeological to associate the arabian mountain with the arabia with the mount sinai with the arabian mountain called jebel alas on the site of mount sinai and there's a pretty good reason to believe that that's exactly where they gathered but ladies and gentlemen even if we couldn't pinpoint the exact location what happened here was of lasting significance notice here verse 3 and moses went up to god and the lord called to him from the mountain saying thus you shall say to the house of jacob and to the children of israel you have seen what i did to the egyptians and how i bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself i hope you're paying attention as i read those words to you because i want them to be firmly planted in your mind ladies and gentlemen god is going to speak to israel very plainly in the rest of the chapter about things that they must do and in the next chapter exodus chapter 20 he gives to them things that they must do matter of fact we call next chapter at the chapter about the ten commandments these are things that israel must do and then the following chapters after that are filled with laws and principles and regulations this is what i want to get firmly in your mind is that god is going to tell israel over and over again what they must do for him but please understand before god ever told them a single thing that they must do for him he reminded them of what he did for them and this is such an important foundation for anybody's walk with god either in the ancient world under the mosaic covenant or as we deal with god today under the beautiful work of jesus christ on our behalf yes god commands you and i to do things there's no point in sort of disputing that yes there's an obligation that we have to god but it is always and i'll say it again always put in light of what he has done for us first so before god told israel to do anything he looked at them squarely and said i want you to remember verse 4 you have seen what i did to the egyptians israel you didn't do that for yourself i did it for you and then he says in verse 4 beautifully i bore you on eagle's wings and we would know that the eagle's wings are strong and sure but they also speak of careful protection and i'll just tell you what i read in books listen i'm no bird expert maybe there's somebody who knows birds better than i do but this is what i read in books about eagles that eagles are different in that when they carry their young they don't carry their young in their talons in their claws rather they put their young on their back on their wings and fly with them and transport them that way they tell their young ones grab on to me and hold on and what this does is this provides a measure of beautiful precious protection for the young matter of fact the idea is and this is what all the you know books and such say is that if somebody were to sort of shoot an arrow from the ground it would have to go through the eagle first before it could ever get to the young on their wings and this is what god is saying to israel this is how i protected you i made it very plain to you that you would have to get to me first before you ever got to my people and it's so important that we put this in context that god before he tells israel to do a single thing he tells them please pay attention remember what i did for you and i just want you to keep that in mind especially in the coming weeks it's basically i don't know exactly what to call it it's going to be a law a thon it's going to be a law a rama you're going to know the law of god inside and out over the next coming weeks you're going to get so much of the law and the regulation of god and you need to hear it and i need to hear it we need to understand this but it is always set in the context of what god has done for us first lady i just don't ever want you to forget that if you believe that the core of the christian life is about what you do for god it's a complete misunderstanding the core of the christian life is always about what god has done for you in jesus christ now there's definitely stuff that you and i must do in response but the core is what he has done for us right continuing on now verse 5. now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation these are the words which you shall speak to the children of israel now i want you to notice a couple things first of all god spoke to them about keeping his covenant very soon and we'll see this in the coming weeks god promised that he would make a formal covenant with israel and before he did that he wanted to reveal what he would do for this obedient israel and so he told them keep my covenant i just want you to understand this the covenant is greater than the law the law was just one aspect of the covenant as a matter of fact if i could describe the covenant in detail i would just say that the covenant was made up of the law the sacrifice and the choice that was given to israel law sacrifice and choice and law was only one aspect of it in any regard it says please keep my covenant then verse 5 you shall be a special treasure to me and you shall be a kingdom of priests and you shall be a holy nation god gave to israel right there a very special role among all the peoples of the earth he looked out upon those 2 million or 3 million or however big that group was of israel that came out of egypt he looked out upon them and he said you have a special place in my plan among all the nations you have a special place and i will use you to bring my word and my voice and my testimony to the entire world to do that you're going to be a special treasure to me you're going to be a kingdom of priests to me and you're going to be a holy nation and ladies gentlemen haven't we seen this work out through the history of the world isn't it strange that even today the world's focus is upon one little nation one little nature that's basically the size of something like new hampshire or something like that one little nation there and the focus of the world is upon it and i tell you you go through the generations of history and you can't get away from the fact that the people of israel the jewish people testify to the entire world to all of humanity not only existence of god but something of the nature of his dealings with mankind it's an amazing amazing thing the fulfillment of this promise that was given way back at mount sinai now look at it here verse 7 so moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid them before all these words which the lord commanded him then all the people answered together and said all that the lord has spoken we will do so moses brought back the words of the people to the lord and the lord said to moses behold i come to you in the thick cloud that the people may hear when i speak with you and believe you forever so moses told the words of the people to the lord i think this is fascinating moses brought down the message to the people and said hey this is god's calling upon us god wants us to be a kingdom of priest god wants us to be a holy nation god wants us to be his special treasure how does that sound to you israel and what was their response notice what they said in verse 7 all that the lord has spoken we will do they just yeah sounds great to us i like what g camo morgan said about their statement he said their answer was sincere but ignorant did they even know what they were getting into did they even know that yeah no problem you just tell us what to do and we'll do it god i don't mean to spoil the story for anybody just a few months later they're going to be dancing around a golden calf saying this is the god that brought us up out of egypt but right here they say yeah no problem god we'll do it this speaks to me of a few things first of all it speaks to me about how casually sometimes we make our commitments to god we need to be more thoughtful about this do we not we need to be more thoughtful about the vows and the commitments that we make unto god and not fall into the same trap that israel did but secondly it's almost as if god wanted to give them the product warning so to speak the lawyer's statement before they went on god said essentially this you have made this answer a little too light a little too easy let me reveal something of myself to you and they're going to get a revelation of god that comes to them in the next portion of the book of exodus chapter 19 the rest of this chapter that i think is going to blow your mind look at it here verse 10. then the lord said to moses go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes and let them be ready for the third day for on the third day the lord will come down upon mount sinai in the sight of all the people you shall set bounds for the people all around saying take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death not a hand shall touch him but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow whether man or beast he shall not live and when the trumpet sounds long they shall come near to the mountain god basically said to israel through moses tell them to get ready i'm going to reveal myself now how did they get ready well first of all verse 12 says you shall set bounds for the people all around the people were to consecrate themselves they were to wash their clothes they were to get ready they were to put themselves in a mentality that says we are ready to meet with god but then verse 12 says you shall set bounds all around the people god said i'm going to reveal myself to you on mount sinai but you better not get too close put a fence put a fence between the nation and the mountain because i don't want anybody wandering up there thinking that they can have the most casual frivolous contact with a holy god and matter of fact god said anybody who crosses that bound anybody who goes over that barrier that i set shoot them down don't even run after them and grab them stone them from a distance or pick them off like a sniper with an arrow don't you dare even touch that person there's a boundary and they must not cross it i don't know if i'm speaking in general or just for myself but there's something in me that's maybe in some of you two whenever there's a boundary i want to cross it you know i i don't even think about crossing a boundary until you draw a line then i go what would it be like to step over that line see there's a fence i wonder what's on the other side of that fence maybe i should go maybe i should translate there's something within us in human nature that says you set a boundary and i want to transgress it i want to go across it and god said no not here not now set a boundary at mount sinai and when the trumpet sounds long then they can come near the mountain not to go past the boundary but to go up to it look at it here verse 14. so moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people and they washed their clothes and they said to the people be ready for the third day do not come near your wives get ready everybody regard these as special unique days god's going to do something in your life over the next few days that you're never going to forget prepare yourself for them their meeting with god was going to come i find it fascinating verse 15 their meeting with god was going to come on the third day as if god says this get yourself ready sanctify yourself set yourself apart in a special way deny yourself some of the things that are just normal human enjoyments but deny yourself to prepare your spirit to meet with god get ready for this because on the third day i'm going to meet with you you know there's a lot i could say about this i'm really itching to get to the following verses this is one of my favorite passages of scripture but i will tell you this i just feel compelled to say at least this much to say there's a valuable lesson that we learn here how important it is to prepare yourself to meet with god i i am so blessed that you're here right here right now and and i'll say as a pastor as a leader of a congregation of god's people i don't take it lightly i know very well that there's there's a dozen different things that you could be doing right now sleeping in being one of them and here you are god bless you for taking this time and this place and and i think that god is honored by you being here by you giving attention to the things of god and i think that's a wonderful thing but i'll tell you this good thing that you do right now can be made even better if you prepare for sunday morning and what do i mean by preparing i mean by putting yourself in the right frame of mind and spirit to receive from the lord by maybe setting some time aside saturday evening for prayer by waking up and thinking of your schedule and the arrangements and the customs that you must do with the children or whatever else goes on in your household so that it's less stress and more of a focus on the lord by coming in here and saying yes lord prepare my heart to receive the worship that's brought before me but prepare my heart to truly be led into your presence prepare my heart to hear from your word ladies and gentlemen there's something so powerful there's something so true about the way that blessing is magnified in our life if we'll take just a little bit of time and prepare ourselves to meet with god okay going on verse 16. then it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and the sound of the trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled and moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with god and they stood at the foot of the mountain now mount sinai was completely in smoke because the lord descended upon it in fire its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly and when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder moses spoke and god answered him by voice don't you wish you had a time machine and could go back and be a part of this what an amazing experience here you have these hundreds of thousands if not a couple of people gathered together at the foot of mount sinai and they wake up in the morning after a few days of careful preparation and getting their heart and their soul ready to meet with god and god says on the third day i'm gonna reveal myself and so when they wake up in the morning on the third day they go out and they gather the man and when they come back and i envision it being maybe sometime in the later morning the clouds come down upon mount sinai and there begins thunder and lightning and a thick cloud that comes upon and the whole environment speaks of god revealing himself but him revealing himself in the strength of his majesty almost in a terrifying way but i tell you what really grabs me look at it there in verse 16 where it says the sound of the trumpet was very loud i just got a simple question for you who blew the trumpet i have to believe that that was a trumpet from heaven that that was a trumpet blown by some angel that it was no earthly trumpet that this was no special effects or production value from moses and the crew no the sound of the trumpet didn't come from the camp but it came from heaven itself no wonder it tells us that the people in the camp trembled can you imagine the shaking going on i'm hearing something audibly from heaven reach earth and then verse 17 it says moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with god you see the thunder you you feel the lightning you you hear the the sound of the trumpet you feel the earth tremble under your feet and god says okay come up to the boundary can't you imagine that most people said why don't you go first god reveals himself sometimes it's a revelation that doesn't make us feel comfortable you know one of the things that we as preachers say is we're constantly inviting people to have a personal relationship with jesus christ you've probably heard that many times you've heard it from me no doubt you can have a personal relationship with jesus christ you can have a personal relationship with god do you understand that within the heart of many people the reaction to that is whether they would ever speak it or not but just the visceral reaction inside when somebody says that says preacher that's what i've been trying to avoid my entire life a personal relationship with god you want me to come to mount sinai you want me to come and see the fire and the smoke and the thunder and the lightning and feel the earthquake under my feet because this is one thing i know god is perfect and holy and i'm not and you want to confront me face to face with this god who's the judge of all the earth thank you you may as well just invite me to the principal's office when i'm a grade school kid there's many people who feel like the more separation that there is between them and god the better and i can understand why they feel that you look here look at verse 19 with me this blows my mind when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder there the nation edges up forth to the barriers that are set around mount sinai and in the midst of this the sound of the trumpet that echoes from heaven becomes louder and louder and longer and longer until finally moses breaks it all and he speaks he cries out to god i have to say and i can't say i know this exactly but moses probably cried the lord stop stop the sound of the trumpet they're terrified can't you see the people lord stop please then look what happens verse 20 then the lord came down upon mount sinai on the top of the mountain and the lord called moses to the top of the mountain and moses went up i imagine that the people were terrified that god would call them all upon the mountain but god said there's no you people you stay behind the barriers that i've set for you and moses you come up you come up and i will speak to you and then you can speak to the people verse 21 and the lord said to moses go down and warn the people lest they break through to gaze at the lord and many of them perish also let the priests who come near the lord consecrate themselves lest the lord break out against them but moses said to the lord the people cannot come up to mount sinai for you warned us saying set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it then the lord said to him away get down and then come up you and 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 spoke to them those who through rebellion through an overactive sense of of adrenaline rush thought that now is the time to break through now is the time to seize that forbidden thing he said no do not you're going to perish the greatness and the glory of god is far too much and then ladies and gentlemen this is what i want you to understand if you take a look at the very first verse of chapter 20 i'm just sort of prepping you for next week and god spoke all these words to them the people heard the ten commandments uttered by god from heaven can you imagine what that would be like i don't know what profound spiritual experiences maybe you've had or have not had i've never experienced anything like this i feel that i've had my own deep and profound spiritual experiences but isn't there something within you and i that says you know what if i have could ever see the smoke and and smell the fire and see it all burning and feel the thunder and see the lightning and feel the earthquake you know just how an earthquake makes you go a little bit queasy just to feel it i mean imagine feeling it there in that setting know that the lord is there he's revealing himself on mount sinai if only i could drink all of that in and hear the trumpet blast and then hear god's voice speak from heaven if only i could hear all of that man i would never sin again how'd that work out for israel do you see what i'm talking about when god revealed himself in all this terror and all this exclusion it was a true revelation of god but it did not transform israel fundamentally it impressed them it frightened them but it didn't transform them that's why hebrews chapter 12 tells us that under the new covenant we come to a different mountain israel came to mount sinai hebrews chapter 12 tells us that under a new covenant we come to a different mountain we come to mount zion now mount zion is just sort of a poetic description it's geographic but it's also poetic for jerusalem and the law came down at mount sinai as we're going to see but you know what came down at mount zion jesus christ died on a cross jesus christ poured out his blood jesus christ gave his life for you and for i that's what happened at mount zion and friends what a contrast between the two sinai speaks of fear and terror but zion speaks of love and forgiveness sinai is out in the wilderness but zion is the city of the living god sinai with all of its fear and power it's all earthly but the zion that we come to is heavenly and spiritual at sinai only moses could come and meet with god but at zion there's all of us before god's throne sinai sets guilty men in fear but zion has just men made perfect at sinai moses is the meteor but at zion jesus christ is our mediator you see sinai is all about the old covenant mount zion is all about the new covenant sinai is about law zion is about grace now we see it so plainly in this chapter mount sinai is a powerful revelation of god the great i am but god gave us an even greater revelation of himself not in a flaming mountain not in an earthquake not in a great storm he gave us an even greater revelation of who he is in the person and work of jesus christ god's only son that's the contrast he is the ultimate revelation of himself now let me draw this to a conclusion there are many of you you live your life with god as if you lived at mount sinai instead about mount zion now listen sinai it's a good visiting spot it's good for us to tour by there and learn everything we need to learn from sinai and there's a lot we need to learn from mount sinai no doubt about it but ladies and gentlemen our life with god is lived at mount zion not with moses but with jesus christ oh yes we learned something from sinai absolutely we learned that we have to listen to the word of the lord we learn that we have to be set apart we learn that we have to be cleansed we learn that we have to restrain the flesh we learn that we have to respect god's boundary we learn that we come to a holy god and we learn that god reveals himself most perfectly after the third day we learn all of that but we come to jesus christ to that one who changes our life by the transforming power of a new life that he puts within us my conclusion here is especially focused to those of you who live a law focused performance-oriented life with god i just want you to see maybe you've been living far too long at mount sinai it's time for you to come to zion it's time for you to come and to put your focus brand new upon who jesus is and what he did for you on the cross how we bled for you there how we poured out his life for you there that he put upon himself the guilt and the shame that your sin and my sin deserve that's the power of our new life i could do a good preacher thing here now and try to lay a lot of sinai on you try to frighten you into living your life with god special effects would be very helpful in that smoke and you know trembling and all the rest of it no no no why don't we come to zion and come in utter submission to jesus christ and tell him that we're so grateful for what he's done on our behalf and ask him to put the power of a new life within us he is our life father that's my prayer for this blessed congregation i pray father that each and every person would be so impressed by who you are and how you revealed yourself at mount sinai we're impressed by it lord we learn by it but father i pray that each and every person here would live their life in light of zion in light of who jesus is and the great work that he did for us on the cross we receive it lord we recognize what your word says that the law came by moses but grace and truth by jesus christ we put a new focus upon him a new receiving of him by faith in our hearts and to gratitude that you open your arms wide to us in jesus and say come we pray this in jesus name amen

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 3,145

Rating: 4.8461537 out of 5

Keywords: David guzik, guzik, enduring word, exodus 19, exodus, i am revealed, god, presence, mount sinai, israel, people of israel, moses, covenant, trumpet, thunder, lightning

Id: JaparuhHzTQ

Length: 35min 14sec (2114 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 21 2020