As we come to the 19th chapter of Exodus and Israel’s arrival at Mount Sinai, they will remain there until the 10th chapter of the book of Numbers, some 11 months or 57 chapters of scripture devoted to their time at the mountain.
So it will be good for us to get a solid picture of their first encounter with God. Sooner or later, every Christian will ponder their life. Usually, it is after some powerful experience. We will say to ourselves, “What is this Christian life all about, why did He save me?” Then there is the companion question, “What does God want from me?” It is here on our journey through the book of Exodus that we have come to those questions. The difference here in our text is that it is not the Israelites that ask the questions; it is the Lord that answers them.
Israel was not a nation; it was Egypt’s workforce. All of that was changed in a moment of time, as Israel was set free. Freedom, is what nations, movements, and people long for. When people describe freedom these days, they do so with a selfish twist, “The ability to do what you want when you want!” Folks, that’s not freedom, it’s anarchy.
It is interesting to me that God describes freedom in terms of a covenant, if you will, a marriage between Himself and the nation. How odd when so many think of marriage not as freedom but rather restriction? Pay close attention, God won the heart of Israel, and it is in God’s heart for us that we will experience ultimate freedom.