Exodus
Chapter 19
"Journey to
Sinai." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location
In
the prior insert chapter eighteen we
were able to broaden our outlook to
see that our God is able to provide
for His people, and in providing the
miracles for those two million people;
He can surely take care of you and
your family.
Exodus 19:1 "In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai." It took the children of Israel three months from the day of Passover, when the death angel passed over the homes of the Israelites, and killed the firstborn throughout Egypt. The children of Israel had seen many miracles by the hand of God, protecting them and leading them through the Red sea, across the wilderness of Sure, and now they are entering into the wilderness of Sinai. "Sinai" means "the bush of Yah". So set your calendar to exactly when this third month is by our calendar. First of all the year of God's solar calendar started the moment of the Spring Vernal Equinox, and that is the start of God's solar year. God instructed the People to take the lamb on the tenth day, and the Passover meal was the evening of the fourteenth day. So we are talking about three months following that Passover day or the fifteenth day of the year, when the children of Israel departed out of the land of Egypt. This third month marks forty six days following their departure out of Egypt. So in three more days God is going to do something very special for His People; the People will receive the Law of God. When you take the forty six days, add one day for Passover day, and three more days gives us fifty days. Fifty in the Greek term is "Pentecost". So the Law will be given to us on Pentecost day; and this documents that it will be done. Pentecost day marks the day that the Holy Spirit came to dwell with and in man, as recorded in Act 2. In our lifetime, it is also the day that Mt. Saint Helens blew in the State of Washington, and the smoke ascended from the earth and completely circled the earth to announce the bench mark that this was an important day. This was the fiftieth day after Passover, the day that our Lord was crucified on the cross for our sins. Exodus 19:2 "For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai,, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount." "Rephidim" was the resting place where Moses struck the rock, and water came forth, from the seventeenth chapter. It is also where the Israelites fought against the Amalekites, and by Moses lifting his arms, God gave the victory to Joshua and the children of Israel. So the children of Israel are finally setting up camp before Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:3 "And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children;" God used the name "Jacob" when he is talking to all of the twelve tribes combined, before the split came dividing the tribes into two separate nations or houses. So this is the message from God to all the People of the children of Israel. It also starts the first of Moses' six trips up the mountain to receive the Laws, Statutes and Ordinances of God for the People, before it is all complete. There are two sets of three trips each that are marked off by the two great events; the first set in the giving of the Law, and the setting up of the Tabernacle. In the second set of three, Moses received the first and second sets of the tables; which gave the the special expansion of the law. Exodus 19:4 "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself." God compares Himself to a great eagle, for an eagle will even carry it lame young on its wing to safety. The eagle looks after its own and is there when that little one is in trouble, to protect it from the enemy. The eagle uses its natural ways to give its protection, just as God will do to protect you when you are in need of help. This love and protection is detailed in the Song of Moses, which is given in Deuteronomy 32:1-43. When you are God's inheritance, it means that you belong to him, just like your son or daughter belongs to you, and is part of you, and your responsibility. Deuteronomy 32:9 - 12; "For the Lord's portion is His People; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance," [9] "He found him in a desert land, And in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye." [10] "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, Fluttereth over her young, Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, Beareth them on her wings:" [11] "So the Lord alone did lead him, And there was no strange God with him." [12] This is part of the "song of Moses" talked about in Revelation 15:3 that the elect, those that overcome "the mark of the beast" will sing as we enter into the Millennium age at the sounding of the seventh trump. The elect and those sealed with the truth of God's Word in their minds know that our heavenly Father will protect each of us no matter where we are, or what the circumstances, when we are in His will. God protects you if you love Him. You don't need any other God when you are under the protective wing of our Heavenly Father. He protects you like you would protect the pupil of your eye, for there is a very special relationship between you and God when you put your faith and trust in Him. God takes care of His own. Exodus 19:5 "Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine." Did you notice the condition that is required before you can become a "peculiar treasure unto God"? "If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure..." If you don't fulfill that condition, then God will not place you above all people, and you will not be a peculiar treasure to God. "God's covenant" is His contract or Testament that He has given for you and I to follow. Friend, Our heavenly Father owns and controls everything on the face of this earth, and those things that are happening today are fulfilling the plan of God, and God has warned us exactly as to what would take place in these end times. However, if you have discarded the majority of that Covenant or Testament of God, called our Bible, then how can you indeed hear God's voice speaking to you, for He speaks to us though His Word? How can you keep His covenant when you are biblically ignorant of His Word, and the laws, commandments and statutes that He has given us? Even though God is speaking to Moses and the children of Israel thirty five hundred years ago as they camped at the foot of mount Sinai, that message is just as true today as it was then. If you obey My voice, and keep My covenant; read my Word [all of it], and follow the instructions therein: Then I will place you above all the other peoples on the face of the earth. Today this is on a personal level and the terms of the agreement between God and you is based on how well you obey Him. Sure we all fall short, but that is why we have repentance through the blood of Jesus Christ, when we bring our faults to him in repentance. That is the victory that we have in Jesus. Exodus 19:6 "And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.' These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." God is telling Moses to go down the mountain and tell the children of Israel that when they hear My voice and keep My covenant, they they shall be to god a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. The Children of Israel will be a priest nation because of the priesthood of Melchisedec; which is to say the coming Christ that will come from this particular family. Jesus was born in the lineage of Israel, and of the lineage of both Judah and Levi. Hebrews 7:15, 17 "And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another Priest," [15] "Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." [16] "For He testifieth, "Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." [17] If the children of Israel follow the commandments and laws given by God they would be a blessed nation. After the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, this holy nation, kingdom of priests is the body of Christ; each individual that by faith and belief in the only begotten Son of God, comes under the blood of Jesus Christ through repentance. Then you, no matter what your race, become part of that peculiar people, set aside over all the other people of the earth. In these end times, that old house of Judah has formed into that tiny nation of modern day Israel. We know also that those ten tribes that formed as the "house of Israel", also formed as many nation in these end times. Hosea talked about it in Hosea 1:10. Hosea 1:10 "Yet the number of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, `Ye are not My People,' there is shall be said unto them, `Ye are the sons of the Living God." Hosea was talking about a time in the far distant future to his time, when the number of people of the house of Israel would be as the sand of the sea, uncountable. People would be ignorant to who they were or where they came from. Then while they were living in those lands, where they had taken up many other names, like French, Italian, American, English and so on, Claiming to be Gentile, not Israel nor of God's inheritance; These Israelites of the old house of Israel, would be called "the sons of the Living God." Jesus Christ is the Living God, and those sons of the Living God are called Christians. That old house of Israel of the ten tribes that migrated through the Caucasus mountains are the Christian nations of today. Hosea 1:11 "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel." This hasn't happened yet, the day of Jezreel is the day of the Lord. That time is when the seventh trump is sounded, and the two houses, Israel and Judah are joined back as one nation. The house of Judah today denies that Jesus Christ is the one true Living God, whereas the nations of the old house of Israel, claim to be sons of the Living God, or Christians. Judah today will not allow the word of God to be given to their people by their law, but at the return of Christ, they will see their error and appoint Jesus Christ as their head. God had an overall purpose for the Christian nations for they are the greatest superpowers on the face of the earth, blessed far above all the other nations of the earth. Christ is the king of the just, the elect, and Jesus Christ is the king of these peculiar treasured people. Christ came through the lineage of these children of Israel. Exodus 19:7 "And Moses came and called for the elders of the People, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him." Moses heard the Word of the Lord, and called all the elders of the People, and told them exactly what the Lord had commanded him to do. Moses was obedient to his calling. No Moses was not a good speaker, but his brother Aaron was, and when Moses had trouble communicating, Aaron was there to help him. However Moses could get the job done. Exodus 19:8 "And all the People answered together, and said, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." And Moses returned the words of the People unto the Lord. " At this moment in time, all the children of Israel were of the same mind and agreed to follow the commandments and instructions of the law. However as we read on, many of them will turn their backs to the Lord and his instructions, and create their heathen god, and follow into idolatry. But at this point in time they did have good intensions. Exodus 19:9 "And the Lord said unto Moses, "Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the People may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever." And Moses told the words of the People unto the Lord." God told Moses that He was going to make such a rumble and cause such a noise that the People will hear Me when I speak to them. They will hear My voice and believe in what You say for ever. When God speaks and People hear His voice, there are no doubts as to who is speaking. Exodus 19:10 "And the Lord said unto Moses, "Go unto the People, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes," There are two days talked about in this verse, that day and the day following. This is the time of preparation for the fiftieth day, the day of Pentecost. Exodus 19:11 "And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the People upon mount Sinai." Be ready for that third day, for the third day here is the fiftieth day after the Passover. It is the day that the Lord will come down in the sight of all the People, as they gaze upon mount Sinai. The word "Pentecost" in the Greek means "fiftieth". God will be there for all the people to see and hear. Pentecost is a very special day, for it was forty days after the resurrection Jesus walked with his disciples and then Christ ascended into heaven, then ten more days to the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell those that by faith receive the Lord. Exodus 19:12 "And thou shalt set bounds unto the People round about, saying, `Take heed to yourselves, that go not into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:" God made it very clear that the People were not to set foot on mount Sinai, and that they set borders around it for the People to stay clear of that area. Even though the people had cleaned themselves us real good for the past two day, they still were not clean enough to stand in the presence of God. Exodus 19:13 "There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through: whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount." This is speaking of the events of Pentecost day, fifty days following the day of Passover, and on that day in the time of the end, Joel tells us in Joel 2:28 that sons and daughters would speak and witness in His name. Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:" [28] "And also upon the servants and upon the hand maids in those days will I pour out My Spirit." [29] This should open your mind to see that God's Spirit is alive, and working through His elect. This is talking about the time of the end, the coming of the Lord. "Prophesying" is teaching the truth from God's Word, and making those events of the end times make sense to those with spiritual eyes to see. Joel 2:30 "And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke." It was on this day of Pentecost in 1981 that the mount Saint Helens in the state of Washington erupted to send its darkening cover around the earth; we saw the fire and the pillars of smoke that covered our Christian nation. Joel 2:31 "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Exodus 19:14 "And Moses went down from the mount unto the People, and sanctified the People; and they washed their clothes." The people were getting themselves fit to be in the presence of God from the location that God designated: Out side that border area of mount Sinai. Exodus 19:15 "And he said unto the People, "Be ready against the third: come not at your wives." On the day of Pentecost, it was to be a solemn time, and your mind is to be set on the things of God only. It is not a time to focus on family matters, but on His Word only. The husbands were not to touch each other during this solemn time. Exodus 19:16 "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightning's, and a thick cloud upon the mount. And the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the People that was in the camp trembled." Wake Up, this is it! This is the day of Pentecost, and God came to the People, and it was an awesome thing. God spoke to the People and they knew that God was in their midst. Exodus 19:17 "And Moses brought forth the People out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount." Moses brought the people out of the camp, and to another part of mount Sinai, for Moses wanted the People to speak directly to God. He wanted the People to witness what it was like standing in the presence of Almighty God. Moses wanted the People to see where the advice that he was receiving for the People came from. Now God is finally shaking the earth and the elements of the earth, and letting His presence be known. The People will be shook over what they are seeing. Exodus 19:18 "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." God is a consuming fire, but here mount Sinai bellowed and erupted its smoke and fire, and the ground shook. Does this remind you of that great shaking of Pentecost day in 1981, when all the way to the Midwest the ground was covered with ash from mount Saint Helens. Those that were in the immediate area died on that day, and that is why God warned the people to keep their distance here at mount Sinai. God knew the effects that would follow and He was protecting the people. Our of the smoke of that eruption a face appeared in the forming smoke that was published in the Seattle paper; and out of the smoke of the eruption of mount Sinai, the People witnessed the face and voice of the Almighty Father. Acts 2:1 "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Remember that Jesus appeared to His followers on the fortieth day and told them to wait in Jerusalem, so they waited the ten days until Pentecost day. Acts 2:2 "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." This mighty rushing wind was the Spirit of God, the Pneuma in the Greek, Strong's dictionary records it in #4151. There was no doubt to anyone there what was happening, whether the Spirit of God was there, for it filled the house and all of the hundred and fifty that were in that room. It is important that we know what happened on Pentecost day, for on that date was when the Holy Spirit came to dwell with man. When the Holy Spirit spoke there was no confusion in the room, no need of an interpreter, and no need for somebody to let you know that it was the Holy Spirit. But this is how it appeared, or sounded. Acts 2:3 "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them." "Cloven" in Strong's Greek dictionary is #1266, "Diamerizo, to partition thoroughly (lit. in distribution), cloven divide, part." Cloven is going out in every direction, just like a uncontrolled fire that consumes everything in it's path. Hebrews 12:29; "For our God is a consuming fire." God's Spirit and glory is this fire of His Holy Spirit. Acts 2:4 "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost [Spirit], and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." The translators put the "Ghost", an unknown spirit, here, for the manuscripts use Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was speaking through the people, men and women alike, and Joel 2:28-32 told us what was said. Acts 2:5 "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." The Words that those apostles spoke was not from their mind, but from what the Spirit of God gave them utterance to speak. What we are to see in this chapter is not to talk down on anyone's beliefs or intelligence, we are studying to understand what is written in God's Holy Word. So those people, Jews, were in Jerusalem for one purpose and that was for the Pentecost feast, that we are reading of here in Exodus 19. It was the Holy Spirit that spoke through these apostles and disciples and they were speaking to the public at large in Jerusalem. These men were all devout spiritual men of their faith, and they were there from every nation and tongue on the face of the earth. Acts 2:6 "Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language." There was a good reason that everyone was so confounded over what they were hearing, for they all know that these hundred and fifty followers of Jesus were mostly Galileans, and yet when they heard what they said, it came out in the language of their own home town. There was no need of a translator, none, for if there were ten men from ten different nations all standing together, they all heard at the same time, the message in their own native tongue. Acts 2:7 "And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, "Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?" Acts 2:8 "And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" There was no need for translation from the mind of a man, because what each man heard was even in the dialect of his own neighborhood back home. Friend, when the Holy Spirit speaks in these end times in our generation, there will be no confusion, no need of one man saying what another man said for it will be clear to everyone that hears what is said. The Holy Spirit unction's, and speaks in all the languages of the world at the same time, and no man can copy that. If you hear a man speaking clearly and making sense from the Word of God, that is the Holy Spirit speaking, and if it is nothing but utterances of confusion and strange sounding noises, that is not the cloven tongue of the Holy Spirit. It is good to be offended if you are in error with regards to the Word of God. Remember that it was for this Pentecost day that they came together. Peter had to explain to the people in verse sixteen exactly what they were witnessing, and He referred them back to the Prophet Joel. This was a type of what would happen in the time of the end, when Satan would be here on earth, and the Holy Spirit would be speaking those that would be called up to be witnesses, to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through them, as recorded in Mark 13:9 - 11. Mark 13:11 "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit." Peter was referring to this time Jesus spoke of that would take place in the time of the end, when this same cloven tongue would be used by the Holy Spirit, just as it was used here in Acts on the day of Pentecost. So if you want to know what those tongues were saying on the day of Pentecost, you have to go to the book of Joel:2:28-32. Read it. It isn't confusing. That was the miracle that took place on that day. Acts 2:17 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, `I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" As Peter continues he is quoting directly from Joel 2:28-32. The last generation lives in the last days, and it is the one that is the generation of the Fig Tree that began in 1948, when the Jews went back to establish their nation in Palestine and later Jerusalem. You are living in that generation, and the things of the Scripture dealing with the time of the end are what is going on all around you. Friend, God is going to use men and women in our generation to preach and teach, and this will be hard on many preachers that think only they can preach. Your denomination may not allow women behind their pulpit, but God has other plans for the ladies with the truth in their minds. When God's Spirit moves through the minds of the ladies, they shall prophecy. Exodus 19:19 "And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice." This is at mount Sinai, and God's People are here to hear God speak to them. This is the first Pentecost day, that will be remembered for all times in this earth age. Both this first Pentecost day, and the Pentecost day when the Holy Spirit came to indwell man, are reference points to another Pentecost day in the time of the end when all flesh on the face of the earth will hear the Spirit of God. Acts 2:19 "And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and sighs in the earth benearth; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:" [19] "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:" [20] So what happens here? The seventh trump sounds and Jesus Christ returns to this earth. It is the false Christ that will be here when the cloven tongue is spoken through his elect, for after that moment in time, this earth age of men and women in their flesh bodies is over and done with. Act 2:21 "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' " There only problem here is that most of the people at this end time will be following the wrong Christ, the false Christ Satan, as he sits in Jerusalem claiming himself to be God, with the world believing it. If you call on the wrong lord, you are with Satan. Jesus is the only name that a person can be saved by. You have to have the true doctrine of the Word, or you will chase after the false christ. Your doctrine had better be the entire Word of God. Exodus 19:20 "And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up." Here goes Moses back up on the mount to receive more of the Word from God. Moses went up the first trip to get the warning to get the people ready for the Pentecost, the seeing and hearing from God Himself. So this is Moses' second trip up the mountain. Exodus 19:21 "And the Lord said unto Moses, "Go down, charge the People, lest they break through unto the Lord to gave, and many of them perish." When Moses reached the top of the mount, God now told him to go back down and warn the people to stay away from the mount. Exodus 19:22 "And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them." Get those priests and preachers to get their act together, and stop fooling around: Sanctify yourself, get yourself cleaned up also. If you are a reverend, you had better be right with and in God's Word, or you are in serious trouble before the Lord. God starts his judgment at the pulpit, with the priests and preachers. Exodus 19:23 "And Moses said unto the Lord, "The People cannot come up to mount Sinai: for Thou chargedst us, saying, `Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.' " Moses has been up the hill for the third time, and now he is getting a little upset with the Lord for making him go down again with the same message: "Sanctify yourself, get right before the Lord, get yourself cleaned up to face the Lord." Moses is an old man of over eighty years old, and the trips up the mountain must be wearing him out. You see God know our people, and they get very lazy at times, and like to take their shortcuts. He know just how careless our people are in following His instructions. Stop and look around you today. Most Christians have discarded the book of Revelation as to mixed up to understand, and many even think that the old testament is over and done with. they have set up their little prayers of faith, and all they require is that you say the prayer, and give your tithe, and that makes you religious and spiritual. God sees right into the heart and mind of us, and He know exactly the true nature of His people. This is a warning to us, just as it was a warning to the children of Israel camped at the foot of mount Sinai about 1491 B.C., about to receive the Law and commandments of His People to follow. God was serious about warning the people of the danger coming upon not following His instructions. Exodus 19:24 "And the Lord said unto him, "Away, get thee down, and thou hast come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest He break forth upon them." Moses wanted to sit and argue with God, and God is getting a little short with Moses; telling him to get down there and warn the People; and bring Aaron when you come up here again. Exodus 19:25 "So Moses went down unto the People, and spake unto them." Our heavenly Father always gives us a double witness, and several warning before the danger is allowed to happen. You can count on His Word. If you search the Scripture for the truth, the Spirit will reveal the truth to where there will be not confusion. If you get to far away from the Word, He will send His correction to get you back on the path.
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