Exodus - Lesson 17

Dr. Carmen Imes 
Exodus 
OT605-17 
Sinai Theophany
Lesson Transcript

Earlier in this course, we talked about how the deliverance of Moses is a mirror to the deliverance that God is going to affect for the entire nation of Israel. And that becomes really clear in this session, because do you remember when Moses left Egypt, crossed the wilderness, showed up at Mount Sinai, and God appeared to him there, that it resulted in a God commissions Moses to go back to Egypt and carry out his work. So we've now come with the people of Israel out of Egypt, and they've crossed the Red Sea, and now crossed the wilderness, and now we're in chapter 19, which is where they arrive at Sinai.

So what we would expect to see here is a divine theophany that God is going to appear to them in a visible way, be visibly manifest in some way, that he is going to commission them to do some work for him. And so that's what we come here expecting if we're noticing the symmetry between Moses' story and the story of the whole nation. And that's exactly what we get.

We'll see in a moment how glorious God's presence was for them on the mountain, but let's just pick up with the story at the beginning of chapter 19, verse 1. On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt, on that very day, they came to the desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. It's a kind of elongated way of saying that they arrived.

The narrator's slowing things down and restating it because this is important. This arrival matters. This is not just any other campsite.

This is a place where God is going to meet them in a powerful way, in a way that goes beyond just the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. They're going to find out more about who God is here than they have up to this point, and they're also going to find out more about who they are. So Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God, and Yahweh calls to him from the mountain and says, this is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel.

And then we get my favorite passage in the entire Old Testament, and we'll spend some time on it. He says, you yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession.

Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. We knew back in Egypt that God's plan was for them to serve him when they came out and met him at the mountain.

They were coming out to worship. We knew they were going to be sacrificing and having a festival. Beyond that, it wasn't clear what God would want from them.

What kind of a master is Yahweh? How will he compare with Pharaoh? And here's where we see a dramatic difference. God has gently carried them across the desert. It says on eagle's wings.

Eagles is how most translations render this word. The word more properly means vulture, but vulture is not a word that brings up warm fuzzies for most English speakers. So the translators appropriately use eagles.

But the kind of vulture that this is talking about here is one with an incredible wingspan, like wider than my arms. And it would carry its young on its back when they were just learning how to fly. And so this is a beautiful metaphor for the way that God has brought them through the wilderness and up to the mountain.

It's three months since they've left Egypt. And as you may recall, they started a new calendar the moment they stepped foot out of Egypt. God said, all right, today is the first day of a new calendar for you.

So now time is being reckoned in relation to his work of deliverance. And he tells them, we're entering into covenant. If you obey me and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations, you're going to be my treasured possession.

That phrase, treasured possession, is a really special one. It is not simply a warm fuzzy term. This is not a, this is not the kind of word that you would drum up if you were trying to think of something nice to say to your special someone.

This is actually a technical term that's used in treaty contexts. So let's drill down on what does it mean to be God's treasured possession? The Hebrew word is segala, which is easy to say, segala. And it's, it's used sometimes concretely to talk about the personal treasury of a king.

So First Chronicles 29.3 and Ecclesiastes 2.8 both use it in this sense. That is, a king is, of course, wealthy, but most of what he has belongs to the nation. But if the king sets aside his most special things, or he's putting aside funds for some special project, that's his segala.

That's what it means literally, but it's often used metaphorically. So this word segala occurs only eight times in the Hebrew Bible. Two, only two of the eight times is it literal, and the other six are metaphorical.

And in the times it's used metaphorically, it always talks about a covenant partner with special responsibility to represent the sovereign. And this is true, not just in Israel, but in other neighboring nations, there are cousin words in Ugaritic and in Akkadian that use the word in the same two ways. And so the basic idea is this.

If I'm a king of a nation, and I have lots of power, but I'm going away for a time to go do business in some foreign land, when I'm gone, I want to leave someone in charge who can carry out my will and who I know will remain loyal to me. So while I'm away, I choose my most trusted representative, and I call that person my segala. Now usually this would be in a situation where a king would have a treaty with many smaller kingdoms, so it wouldn't even just be a member of his own court, but it would be as the king is going away, he's picking a treaty partner who he can trust more than all the other treaty partners to represent his interests, and he appoints that treaty partner as his segala to represent him.

So when God says to Israel at Sinai, you will be my treasured possession, again he's not just trying to be nice, he's not just trying to say, I really like you, he's appointing them to a task, the task of representing him among the nations. And then he acknowledges several times, the whole earth is mine, out of all the nations, like God could choose anybody from anywhere, but he's choosing the descendants of Abraham to be for him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is unusual.

Egypt did not have this concept. There were priests in Egypt, but the whole kingdom wasn't considered to be all priests. What does that even mean to have a whole kingdom where everyone, at least collectively, functions in a priestly way? This is something unique and never before seen in the ancient Near East.

He says as an entire nation they are holy or set apart, consecrated to God. So this is before we get any laws, this is before we have the full revelation of God's glory on the mountain, the very first thing God wants them to know is you are my segala and you'll be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is the moment of commissioning that we were expecting when we got to Sinai based on how God interacted with Moses when he when he arrived there in chapter three.

So who is Yahweh's treasured possession? Can we be more specific about this? Now usually in the Old Testament, Israel is described as the treasured possession because of this covenant at Sinai. So the other passages that describe the treasured possession is a description of Israel. We can see, well let's look at a couple of these.

Deuteronomy 7-6 is a great example and it's significant because Deuteronomy is the the final words of Moses to the people of Israel before he dies. It's his prophetic sermon before he dies and in this sermon he's talking to the next generation. So in Exodus 19, Moses was speaking to the people who came out of Egypt as slaves and God set them free.

But now in Deuteronomy chapter 7, he's talking to their children because that entire generation has died in the wilderness and now these are the ones who are going to go into the land. And it would be really easy to assume that, well my parents had a special relationship with God and my grandparents did but I don't know about me. I don't know if I'm special to Yahweh.

But it's very clear in Moses' address that that they have been chosen to be God's segila. So chapter 7 verse 6 says, you are a people holy to Yahweh your God. Yahweh has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his segila.

So this is a significant time to reiterate that. He says it again in chapter 14 verse 2, you are a people holy to Yahweh your God out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. Yahweh has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

We see it again in chapter 26 verse 18 and then in psalm 135. So in these occurrences it's talking about the whole nation of Israel. Later generations are still God's segila.

There's one exception to this in the Old Testament. There's one time when the word is used differently with a different referent and that's in the book of Malachi. So Malachi, as you're aware is the last book in the Old Testament in our Bibles.

In a Hebrew Bible it's not the last book because the writings come after the prophets but it's the last of the prophets. And at the end of Malachi chapter 3 verse 17, God is speaking about a time to come after God has brought cleansing and judgment and cleansing for those who've been rebellious to him. There's this sort of regathering of people who are loyal to Yahweh.

So chapter 3 verse 16 says, then those who feared Yahweh, which would be a small group in ancient Israel, there were many people who did not fear Yahweh. Those who feared Yahweh talked with each other and Yahweh listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared Yahweh and honored his name.

On the day when I act, says Yahweh Almighty, they shall be my treasured possession, my segillah. I will spare them just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

So Malachi 3.17 envisions a future day in which Yahweh will select a new segillah. And it's not going to be the whole nation of Israel. It's going to be those who fear God within the nation of Israel, those who are faithful to him.

So that act of that new acquisition prompted the Greek translators of the Septuagint to choose a slightly different phrase than they normally do to translate the word segillah. So normally, the word segillah comes over into Greek as periousios. But here, the Greek translators chose the word peripoiesis, which is related.

It's even sounds a little similar and looks a little similar, but it's not quite the same word. It's a similar concept of being treasured, but it emphasizes the act of acquisition of that treasure, the getting of the treasure, rather than just having it, because this is something God will yet do in the future. So why am I telling you this? Well, because this becomes really significant for those of us who are not Jewish, who are Gentile followers of Jesus.

When we get to the New Testament, Peter writes a letter to a mixed group of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus. And in his letter, 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10, he says this. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. This is a beautiful moment because you've probably noticed it.

Peter is applying covenant titles from Sinai, royal priesthood, kingdom of priests, holy nation, and segala. He's applying these titles to a mixed audience of Jews and Gentiles. He's looking at the church that follows Jesus and seeing the church as the fulfillment of Malachi 3.17, God's acquisition of a new segala.

And we can tell that because he uses that second word peripoiesis instead of the word that's always used elsewhere to render the word segala. This is the moment Malachi talked about. It's the moment when followers of Jesus are acquired as God's treasured possession.

This is really important because it has implications for our vocation as followers of Jesus. If we are included in the Sinai covenant by following Jesus, then what's happening at Sinai matters to us because it's our commissioning as well. When we flip back to Exodus and we see how God is interacting with the people at Sinai and what he's telling them to do, suddenly it becomes not just a piece of ancient history, but the story of our own community, the community of faith that we've joined by faith in Jesus.

The designation as treasured possession is not just a nice thing to say, but it's a job to do that they're being invited into. And because of Peter's letter, we know that we too are invited into this mission of representing God among the nations, of carrying on his work on his behalf. This is a very different kind of master than Pharaoh.

And so in order to represent him well, we're going to have to find out what he is like so that we can mirror his character to the world. So we expected when we got to Sinai that we would have a commissioning and a theophany. So I want to read together with you the dramatic demonstration of God's presence that they encounter at Sinai.

Verse seven of Exodus 19 says, So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words Yahweh had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together. This is important.

We will do everything Yahweh has said. This is not being imposed on them against their will. They are willingly signing on to this new commission as God's treasured possession, his representatives among the nation.

So Moses brought their answer back to Yahweh. He does lots of trips up and down the mountain in these chapters. Yahweh said to Moses, I'm going to come to you in a dense cloud so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.

Then Moses told Yahweh what the people had said. And Yahweh said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day Yahweh will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. They are to be stoned or shot with arrows.

Not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live. Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.

After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them and they washed their clothes. And then he said to the people, prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.

On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning with a thick cloud over the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God.

And they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on it in a fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace or a kiln.

And the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. Yahweh descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain.

So Moses went up and Yahweh said to him, go down and warn the people so they don't force their way through to see Yahweh and many of them perish. Even the priests who approach Yahweh must consecrate themselves or Yahweh will break out against them. Moses said to Yahweh, the people cannot come up Mount Sinai because you yourself warned us, put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.

Yahweh replied, go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to Yahweh or he will break out against them. So Moses went down to the people and told them.

So we see in this text, Moses going up and down the mountain to deliver messages between the people and God. He speaks God's word to the people and he speaks the people's words to God. He's a mediator and he's been appointed to this role.

And so part of the point of these strict boundaries around the mountain is to set Moses apart so that the people can see there's something different about him and we need to listen to what he says. He has access to God in a way that the rest of us do not. So there's fire in the form of lightning, thunder and lightning and smoke and trembling and it's a very dramatic physical manifestation of the presence of God.

There's no mistaking that there is something supernatural going on on this mountain and Moses keeps going up to where the danger is and approaching God and God allows him to do that and then he can turn around and bring God's word to the people and show them what he expects. There is some debate. You might be aware that I've had a debate.

If you listen to the Bible Project podcast, Tim Mackey and I have had a discussion on there about Exodus 19 and following and the question of whether the people were really supposed to eventually go up the mountain or not. After the law is given, the people express their fear about going up the mountain and they say we're not we're not going to do this. This is chapter 20 verse 18 when the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke they trembled with fear they stayed at a distance and said to Moses speak to us yourself and we'll listen but don't have God speak to us or we'll die and Moses said to the people don't be afraid God has come to test you so the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.

So the people remained at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. So in my conversation with Tim Mackey, he was suggesting that they really should have been willing to go up the mountain once the trumpet blew. They should have gone up to meet with God and they missed out on proximity to God.

My friend Mike Kibbe has argued in his dissertation that it's actually it shows the proper fear of God that the people don't go up. They recognize they're in no state to approach the presence of God and they recognize that it's the right thing to stay at the bottom and have Moses mediate for them and that that actually solves or resolves, fulfills the purpose of this whole scene where God is telling Moses to mediate for the people. So back to chapter 19 verse 9 it says the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you and so by by holding back from going up the mountain and showing a proper fear of God the Israelites are in a better position to trust Moses as their mediator.

It's not as though we can never ever approach God but these people have not gone through the cleansing of the sacrifices that will come once the tabernacle is built. Leviticus prepares them to come into the presence of God but they're not prepared yet and so it's important for them to keep their distance. So I still although I'm not 100% on this I still lean towards that it was the right thing for them not to approach that God was testing them by saying okay come on up and it was right for them to say no we are not ready to be in your presence.

It showed that they had a proper fear of God's presence but you're welcome to find the Bible Project podcast conversations about that. There's a the conversation with me on Exodus 19 but then there's a follow-up Q&A on Exodus that Tim and John do in which they follow up after reading Mike Kibbe's dissertation and some other resources that we talked about and it's a it's a really fun deep dive into the theology of these chapters and I really respect Tim's conclusions on that as well.