Old Testament - Exodus 19 - 4/19/2022

4/19/2022 – Exodus 19

I love the synopsis of this chapter: “The Lord covenants to make Israel a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation—People sanctify themselves—The Lord appears on Sinai amid fire and smoke and earthquakes.”

It has been three months since the Israelites had been miraculously saved from the Egyptians. They camped at the base of Mount Sinai and “Moses went up unto God…and the Lord called unto him” (v 3) He then reminded them “ Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself” (v 4) And then comes v 5, where the Lord assures us that He loves to reward our behavior: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenants, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people…”

There is a very interesting paragraph in the book ‘Old Testament Word Studies by Wilson, p 305’: “Today the word peculiar is used to mean something different and unusual….The original word in both Hebrew and Greek, however means ‘property, wealth, private property, which is laid up or reserved; something exceedingly prized and diligently preserved.” 

In v 6 the Lord tells Moses to explain to the Israelites that they are to be a “kingdom of priests, and an holy nation”. His promise was that If they obeyed the Lord’s voice and kept their covenants with Him, then they would be His treasured possession and His holy people. That same promise extends to us today!

 

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