Reading in Exodus 19-20 this week, I was struck by the hope and trepidation represented by the Sinai covenant. It comes in the context of the overarching reality set in motion in Genesis 3, which is that man is separated from God by sin. How magnificent that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has come seemingly out of nowhere to rescue the Hebrews from slavery! Now, He desires to make a covenant with them that they might mediate His presence in the world. He wants to be in their presence. Astounding.
And yet, there are immediate signs that this will be problematic. Even before the commandments begin to fall, there is an obvious world of difference between the character of this God and that of the people. They are warned not even to touch His holy mountain lest they be put to death (19:12-13; 24). Even to gather around the mountain they had to consecrate themselves and wash their clothes.
When Yahweh’s actual presence descended on the mountain in fire and smoke, the people trembled in fear (19:16). Shortly, He began to give the Ten Words, or commandments, to Moses. The reader, who has the context of Genesis and early Exodus in mind, can see an issue. Most of these laws have long ago been broken in extraordinary fashion by significant figures in the family line. Consider just a few:
Exo 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.
Gen. 31:19, 34: Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
… Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them.
Exo 20:7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Gen. 27:19–20: Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.”
Exo 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Gen. 9:20–22, 25: Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. …he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
Exo 20:13 You shall not murder.
Gen. 4:8: Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Exo 20:15 You shall not steal.
See the contexts of Gen 27 AND 31 above.
Ex. 20:16: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Gen. 12:10–13: Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” Cf. Gen 20; 26:6-11
The final verses of Exodus 20 indicate that the awesome visual and audible spectacle was on Sinai intended to put the godly fear of Yahweh into the people “that you may not sin” (20:20). It didn’t work, as the following narrative shows (Exo 32).
The Genesis and Exodus storyline contains a growing tension arising from man’s inability to be a faithful covenant partner. On the one hand, as the covenant at Sinai is being cut, there is great hope—“we are set apart unto Yahweh, and He unto us!” On the other hand, the unsettling reality, “There is absolutely no way we can keep this covenant!”
Moses himself wouldn’t even prove to be a faithful covenant partner. Rather, his sinful anger would prevent him from entering the promised land (Num 20:11-12). In fact, God Himself proves to be the only faithful covenant partner to the covenants of the Old Testament.
How then can man stand in a right covenantal relationship with God?
We need God Himself to stand in our place.
This is what happens in the New Covenant. God Himself plays the role of BOTH faithful partners. God the Father sent God the Son to fulfill all righteousness and to atone for all the sins of those who would repent and trust in Him (Isa 53:5-6).
2 Corinthians 5:21 explains the great exchange: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Christ’s resurrection from the dead proved His right to give life and righteousness to all He chooses.
Therefore, the author of Hebrews shows us that Christ has brought us to a better mountain than Sinai—the heavenly Jerusalem, where we stand without fear:
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Heb. 12:18–24).
As we approach Holy Week, let’s consider the great treasure that is ours in Christ’s incarnation—His life, death, and resurrection. Because He lived, died, and rose, we live in joyful reconciliation to the Father, looking with great anticipation to the fullness of His presence in the eternal New Jerusalem.
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