Exodus Chapters 18 and 19

Introduction
Exodus is about God making himself known as Yahweh, the covenant God of the Israelite people. This is a new revelation of God’s character since the time of the patriarchs. Similarly, in the New Testament God reveals himself as Jesus, still the covenant God, but of all believing people that we call the Church.

Throughout the Bible, God is gradually revealing more and more of himself and his purposes. It might be helpful to think of this process by considering how an artist creates a watercolour. The painting begins with a pencil sketch, then the big, lighter background colours are applied, then the intermediate, darker washes and finally the details are painted to bring the image into clear focus.

We have spent a couple of sessions studying the wilderness experience that believers undergo and where they must learn to trust God for their practical, daily provision. Now, at the start of chapter 18 the book of Exodus enters a new phase that heralds the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.

The Israelites have come to Mt. Sinai because in chapter 3:12 God had said to Moses ay Mt. Sinai, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." Moses has now obeyed God’s command to to bring the Israelites to worship him on this mountain. The significance of their arrival is that it is the sign of proof that Yahweh (the redeeming God of Moses) is God (the creator God of Abraham).

The giving of the Law proper start at chapter 20 but first we have two chapters that set the scene. They are not 'nothing' chapters sandwiched between two great sections of teaching. The Holy Spirit inspired them for a reason, and that’s our purpose here, to discover what they have to say.

Contents
I do not intend to go into much detail about the content of these two chapters and must ask you to acquaint yourselves with text. However, to help us here is an extremely simple outline of the different sections to be found in each chapter and and idea of the important themes. As to the highpoints of each chapter I would suggest 18:13-26 and 19:4-6 stand out in particular. The second of these passages is as fine a description of the character of God in the Old Testament as is to be found.

Outline of the section...

Major themes...

Relationship
Notice that right at the start of this section is a reminder of the importance of relationship. Having been parted, Moses is reunited with his wife, children and father-in-law. This is no accident, and gives us a major clue as to the significance of what we are witnessing.

Indeed, relationship establishes itself as a theme right the way through chapter 18. We see that three things are filling Moses' time:
1. Spiritual guidance (verse 15) – Moses is acting as priest between God and the Israelites.
2. Legal disputes (verse 16) – Moses is the nation's judge in civil proceedings.
3. Law-giving (verse 16) – Moses is making God’s laws known. He’s like a one man parliament.

The significance of these activities is this. They both create a framework in which people can relate to one another and also to God, and in addition, they deal with the break down of relationships in one way or another.

Moses does these things out of a good motive. The job needs doing and is a good, right and proper job, but Jethro’s assessment of Moses' action is that it is "not good" (18:17). He gives three reasons:
· You will "wear yourself out" (verse 18)
· You cannot do it alone – physically impossible (verse 18)
· It’s ultimately not helpful to the people (verse 23)

Jethros’ solution involves creating a hierarchical structure of delegation and social organisation, giving Moses a manageable workload and allowing people the access to justice and spiritual guidance that they need (v23) It is an object lesson in time management, the art of delegation and organisational structure. Moses, seeing the sense of it, graciously accepts the advice and acts on it.

Let's stop and draw some lessons from this.
· We cannot be lone ranger Christians, taking everything on ourselves.
· We are expected to give God all but not expected to reach burn out.
· We must share responsibility, and learn to involve others and delegate tasks. God delegates responsibility (to Moses, to Christians) and so should we.
· Christian communities need structure and organisation.
· Relationships prosper in an ordered environment just as on the sports field where boundaries and rules help us to enjoy the game. A free-for-all is not fun at all, however good the first couple of crazy moments might seem.

Law and Order
This is preparing us for chapter 20 and the giving of the Ten Commandments in a very real way which I hope you see now. The prospering of our relationship with God, both as a believing community and as individuals, will depend on an ordered environment that is established through the giving of moral laws. These moral laws will then be expressed in practical statutes. People talk about "law and order". Order is the whole point of law-giving. Human beings can only flourish in an ordered world. God, as creator, knows this only too well and he will insist on order for his special people.

Remember that in Genesis chapter 1 the very first thing that God did was to bring order out of chaos. We cannot live successfully in chaotic environments. We are made in God’s image to be part of God’s ordering process. Remember too that Adam’s first job was to give names to all living things - to order them. To live with God amongst us and under his law is to accept Adam’s job.

Chapter 19
According to Numbers 10:11, which says the Israelites left the mountain in the second month of the second year, we can assume that the Israelites were at Mt. Sinai for 11 months. When Moses huffs and puffs up the mountain and down again several times in just a few verses in our current passage, this is not saying that he was the most physically strong and able-bodied octogenarian that ever lived! Even he would take a while to travel.

Privilege and Responsibility
The Israelite nation has not only been brought to the mountain, but also to God (verse 4). Notice the use of 'I, me, my, mine' in verses 4-6. God did not save them from Egypt for their own sakes, but for himself. That was his purpose. God’s people are set apart from he world. They have become a privileged people, to be God’s 'treasured possession' (v5).

Privilege has a bedfellow called responsibility (verse 5) which is to obey God’s voice and keep his covenant. Verse 6 explains that this means them being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. There is work involved. The New Testament Christian must take notice of this. We are to be a 'royal priesthood' according to Peter in 1 Peter 2:9, so we too have responsibilities that result from the privilege of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

Solid relationship starts with an attitude of commitment that expresses itself in action. Marriage is a good example: When we marry we commit to observing limits on our behaviour, and we determine to meet certain responsibilities. God’s people are entering a marriage – that’s how the Bible often pictures it. Here, God is asking his bride, "If you want the privileges, are you prepared to shoulder your responsibilities?"

The Law will help them to be a holy nation that God wants them to be because it expresses their responsibilities. Careful observance of it will reveal their heart towards God and show that they are prepared to live under God’s rule instead of trying to usurp it as mankind is naturally inclined to do. Also, law creates the right order of relationship - God, others, me.

In verse 8, Israel accept the betrothal invitation with a statement of intent and in response (verse 9) God says he will appear to Moses in such a way that the people can hear and see (verse 11) his presence. He says he will do so three days hence.

Preparation
In the meantime the people are to consecrate themselves, that is to wash away their sin, or we might say, to repent. It is preparing a way to meet God, like John’s baptism. They are not to touch the mountain. This indicates that there are limits of behaviour again! Bringing order into their lives. It’s also a matter of reverence for the person of God who is holy and one must not approach God without reverence for his person. Notice that the penalty for failing to observe this is death (v 13). This is a serious business.

Are we taking our relationship with God seriously enough to treat God with the respect he deserves and to moderate our behaviour to please him?

God revealed
In verses 16 to 20 God arrives. As he did in this same place to Moses in the burning bush, so now he reveals himself in a theophany, meaning a physical manifestation, where the thunder and lightning, the cloud and trumpet remind us of Revelation 4 and God’s presence there. This is not just the God of salvation but the God of judgement too. Sin is a serious issue and will be dealt with by him.

And so the scene is set for the expression of God's character and our responsibilities in the great moral imperatives of chapter 20. They will define what it is to be holy and what it is to be sinful. They will draw a dividing line between what brings salvation and what brings condemnation in judgement. To our horror we will discover that there is only one person who ever lived who stood squarely on the side of salvation. The rest of us stand condemned until rescued by that one perfect person - Jesus Christ. He is to be our place our worship.