Good morning. It seems everybody enjoyed the New Year's Eve festivities. So if they miss this, they can always hear the recording later. All right, what I want to do today in our look at covenant theology and specifically the Mosaic Covenant is really hone in on the key passage for the Mosaic Covenant. Now, a lot of people will just simply think, and there's legitimate reason for this, will simply look to Exodus 20 as the key place to start. Why is that? You've got the terms of the covenant. You've got the Ten Commandments. You've got the preamble to the Ten Commandments. I mean, and so it does make sense that you would, why people would look to Exodus 20. But the truth of the matter is you should really go to Exodus 19. And that's where I wanna look today. We're gonna look at Exodus 19. really the first six verses. And a lot of what I talk about today is going to be pulled out of a paper that I had to do in seminary for this. So it looks like I've got all these massive notes. It's just because I printed my paper and highlighted a few things to make it easier to go with. Now, what I want to do is start with my own translation of these first six verses, it'll be, it's not that different. It's not like you're gonna hear anything profound, but it won't match the ESV or other translations as word for word or verbatim the whole way through. All right, so this might sound a bit wooden, and that's okay, but On the third month of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the wilderness of Sinai. And they set out from Rephidim and they came to the wilderness of Sinai and they encamped in the wilderness. And Israel encamped there in front of the mountain. And Moses had gone up to God and the Lord called to him from the mountain saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and declare to the sons of Israel, you yourselves saw what I did to Egypt and I carried you upon eagle's wings and I brought you to myself. And now if you surely listen to my voice and you keep my covenant, Then you shall be to me a peculiar treasure from all the peoples because all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the sons of Israel. All right. So what we're seeing here is a major break in the book of Exodus. And even the very grammatical structure of verse one, how it begins, gives us an indication that this is actually a major section break. We don't really see that in English. There is a Hebrew grammatical marker to show continuance. And actually you see that grammatical marker pretty frequently for instance in Genesis 1. And God said, and God said, and God said, showing that continuity. But here what we've got is a completely different grammatical structure in the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew that helps the reader to recognize that this is indeed a major break, a major shift in direction as to how this goes. So that matters, that's not a small thing. Even the text here gives us a very loose and brief history, which is interesting, you think about that. You know, God, here in Exodus 19, you've got this simple and brief history of what's going on. But from the perspective of the nation of Israel, it was kind of like this just happened. Because how long had it been? Text tells us, that should, you know, go look. How long had it been? How long? Two months. Yeah, basically. We're now in the third month, same day, in fact, is the way it's described, since the exodus. Now, a lot happened in there. There was some grumbling and complaining mixed in. Imagine that. They just witnessed this great and monumentous event known as the Exodus, with the parting of the waters and crossing, destruction of the armies of Egypt, and all along the way they're complaining. Pretty sad, but We all have to be careful that we're not too quick to judge because we tend to do that ourselves. We're good complainers, especially in our Western cultures. All right. And we're Presbyterians. That was a pun, by the way. Complaints, you know, formal discipline related matters, blah, blah, blah. Okay, so just briefly, just remember some of the things. After the Israelites were led out of the Red Sea, God provides for them after their complaints. He made the bitter waters of Mara sweet. He provided them manna when they complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And then he gave them quail too. That's gonna be part of it as well. Now, also not just sustenance, he provided protection. The Amalekites came. Remember the story, what happened when the Amalekites came? What did they have to do in order to win? What had to happen for them? Yep, there we go. Moses had to hold his hands up as if he was giving a nonstop benediction. He just held his hands up, and as long as he held his hands up, Joshua and the Israelites were victorious. But of course, his arms got tired, and so Aaron and Hur had to come and help keep his arms propped up. And so that's all of this, and actually even just right before we get to chapter 19, you have Jethro coming, and Jethro sees that Moses is overwhelmed, so he gives some suggestions on some ways to streamline stuff, and that Moses only has to deal with the hard cases. So that's where we come. So as I indicated, verse one, the very structure of the Hebrew indicates that the verse is serving as a major thematic break. And really verse one helps provide a simple synopsis of the whole thing. On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. That's your summary statement. That's how it all begins. It's like a newspaper article. Every time you open up a newspaper article, and whether it's a real newspaper or online, same thing happens. It always begins, the article itself, always begins with a one-sentence synopsis of the whole thing. And then the rest of the article are just the details. That's what's happening here. They've come to Sinai, this matters. Everything else that follows is a summary of the details. You see that in Genesis 1.1. I'm kind of on the opinion that Genesis 1.1 is that summary statement and the rest of chapter one is the details. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. There it is, there's your summary statement. The rest is all the details. Following so far? Yeah, not too much. No, not a big fan of the gap theory. Maybe. So you end up with all of the details. I mentioned new phase. Now this phase, some see possibility that this section, this new section that begins here in chapter 19, ends at the end of chapter 31, because the very next thing in chapter 32 is the golden calf. And I understand why they say that, but I don't think that's really the case. If you're talking about they've come to Sinai, that's the whole of their time at Sinai. They stayed at Sinai for another year. That ends in Numbers chapter 10, verse 10. So really, since it is a summary statement in verse one of the Israelites coming to Sinai, we have to view everything that follows as being a part of that summary until they leave. That's Numbers 10, verse 10. That's not insignificant to our interpretation of the entirety of the law. I think that matters, particularly when we're talking, when we get to it, we'll spend a week or 10, who knows, talking about the modern view of republication because they hinge so much on Leviticus 18.5. But you have to understand that in the context of being at Sinai. Now, I keep harping on that because it matters. It's not insignificant. As you move to verse two, for instance, couple of things for emphasis. Twice Moses says they camped in the wilderness and before the mountain. And twice he mentioned that they came to the wilderness of Sinai. You know, when you're writing everything out by hand, and you kind of want to save your ink, save your paper, save your poor hand, you generally avoid excess repetition. I mean, I know that's what I would do, just get to the point, because my hand hurts. What's that? I have. But that's kind of the point. I think of myself as a very lazy writer when I'm writing by hand. Shortcuts and abbreviations just to save, you know, all of that. You know, the Pentateuch, that's not a short writing. By hand. Write it all out someday. See, nobody's gonna do that. but to emphasize it twice in the same verse, both things. He's really driving home this point. Now, this matters because it actually, you need to think back in Exodus chapter three with the burning bush. One of the things that God said to Moses, I will be with you and this shall be a sign for you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people of Egypt, people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. So part of the reason for that emphasis is to indicate there's fulfillment that is happening here. God said to Moses at the burning bush, this will be the sign for the people, you'll serve me on this mountain. Well, guess what? We're at that point. The arrival at the mountain is itself the very sign that God had truly sent Moses to bring them out. So that's why the repetition. Now as you move to verse three, there's a shift, a bit of a shift as it were, to just Moses and the Lord. And it's that too is reminiscent of chapter three, when Moses went to horror, he sees What is this strange thing I'm seeing? And it's funny, this will be DeMille with Charlton Heston, Ten Commandments. When Moses spots the burning bush from down below, he says exactly what the King James Version has. So it is interesting. I shall go see, I don't know the exact words, but I did look it up. It's identical to the King James. So good for Cecil B. DeMille, right? Despite all the other little theatrical additions. What's that? Yeah, he did get that right. All right. There are a couple of things, and these are subtle things. You look in this verse and you think back on Exodus 3, and you can turn back there for yourself to look yourself, but I'll just focus here and refer to it. Moses went up to the mountain, the Lord God called him out of the mountain, and then you have what he says. In chapter three, the burning bush was sort of like that attention grabber, and it's a theophany to be sure. But it was like, that's what Moses noticed. And that's why he went up. Moses doesn't seem to need any of that anymore. Now it's just, here's the voice. Here's the voice of the Lord. Another thing to note with respect to the, I'm being very pedantic in detail. The word voice, it could be translated sound, voice, either one. It usually refers to the actual sound. the noise that's coming out, but not infrequently, it refers to the content of what's being said. And I do think that's the case here, that the focus here is on the content and not just merely that God is speaking. It is what He says. And notice who it is that's saying it. You look at verse three carefully. We take this for granted. While Moses went up to God, and then new sentence in the English, the Lord called him out of the mountain. What do you notice? All caps. The Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh, That too should make us think back to Exodus three and the burning bush. What did Moses say? Like when he was told to go, what's your name? Who do I say sent me? And that's where God revealed himself the fullest expression of what Jehovah means. I am that I am. the covenant-keeping God. Well, now that same covenant-keeping God is going to speak. And you think of all that entails, the covenant-keeping God, the covenant made with Abraham, the covenant announced to Moses, which Moses told the people, here we are. He's kept the covenant. So far, so good? Roy? I want to emphasize that point that you just made about the covenant-keeping God. He said, whom shall I say is sent? And he gives that name. And the pagans come along and say, they never heard that before, because guess what? Later on, he says, you've not known me by this name before. Right. But what they're now seeing That's revelatory. Their history, their experience, vindicates the name Jehovah as the covenant-keeping God. And they know it was that now in a way that they've never known before because they didn't have the experience that they're going to have in the redemption from Egypt. So, you know, the bottom line is the covenant-keeping Lord They now experientially know that name. They know that name, not just because they heard about it, not even just because they heard about it from Moses before they went out, they know it experientially. And this hearkens, what we're seeing here in chapter 19 is in part a fulfillment of what God said at Horeb, at this spot, maybe not the exact same spot, but at the mountain in chapter three. This will be a sign that you will lead them to this mountain and serve me. Well, here they are. Roy? Yeah, the verse I was referring to They're seeing it, they've experienced it, even in their complaining, they experienced it. Not that their complaint was the experience, it was God graciously giving, despite their complaints, that experience. Israel will be in the midst of a fire, but they will not be consumed. Egypt, however, will be consumed. Our God is consumed in fire, as the author of Hebrews tells us. Well, if that's true, why are we not consumed? His grace. Grace. And the bush says that. That's my language. The bush is a picture of Israel slash the church. not consumed, but the glory of the Lord in its midst. All right, so you also have here the voice of the Lord. There's no theophany except for the voice and Moses is given a command. God speaks to Moses by giving him a command. He instructs Moses to bring a message to Israel. Now, God does not speak directly to Israel. Moses is the one who does this. What's that make Moses? A priest, yeah. Mediator, which priest falls under, but also prophet, prophet and priest. So Moses is serving as the mediator between God and his people. That too is an outworking of a gracious covenant. That highlights the reality that the Israelites as sinners cannot approach a holy God. And even the Israelites, they recognize this further down in Exodus. You go Moses, you act as mediator. They knew that. And so Moses then shows us how he is a type of Christ, because we as sinners have no right, no ability, no hope of approaching a holy God except by means of a mediator. Comment? When they do approach the mountain later, That's correct. And he says this part, but no further. And it was so important that they understood that, that even if the animals approach, the animals needed to be stoned. That's how serious we need to take it. And that ought to, you know, that really ought to instill within us a holy and reverent approach in coming as God's people into his presence. In other words, to serve and worship Him. This laissez-faire attitude. Oh, Christ freed us from all that nonsense. It's the same God. And while Christ has given us, which we'll talk about in a minute, certainly greater access in the Israel. There they are at the feet of the mountain, but they can go no further. Christ gives us greater access. something that Israel could not have. We shouldn't look at that as something to take for granted, but do everything we can to uphold the sense and the understanding of a reverent approach to God. That's my soapbox. Okay. All right. I mean, even Stephen in his sermon, Acts 7, speaks of Moses acting as a mediator and trying to point to the reality that this is ultimately looking at Christ. But here's an interesting statement that Stephen makes. This is in Acts 7, verse 38. This is what Stephen said, speaking of Moses. This is the one who was in the congregation, in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai and with our fathers. He received living oracles given to us. Us. Now, Stephen is speaking as a messenger of Christ. It's not beyond the pale, there's legitimate reason to think that Stephen could very well have been Hellenistic. Don't know for certain. But the fact that he could be Hellenistic, maybe even Greek, don't know for certain. And he says, given to us. indicates that the message given to Moses from God here in chapter 19 following is not just for Israel. That's the key. It's not just for Israel. God's word to Moses was not just for the Israelites at that time, but Stephen applies it to the New Testament church. It's amazing what you can get out of just a couple of words to give to us. But you also have the author of Hebrews in chapter 12 setting up the contrast between Israel at Horeb, at Sinai versus the church. Hebrews 12 verse 18, for you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them, for they could not endure the order that was given. If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear, but you have come, you, this is the church now, and they may have been Hebrews, but it's the church. You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 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, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. It points to something greater for us. So much greater is the redemption that we have in Christ. That's the point of the author of Hebrews. The Exodus account and this account here at Sinai is a foreshadow to Melzion by Christ, the mediator of a new and better covenant. That's what we're seeing. This is a foreshadow of something better. And you understand that as you and I gather each Lord's second into the presence of God, lifted by the Spirit, by faith, Even that's a foreshadow of what's to come. So even though we're in the new covenant, it's not even itself fully consummated. Already, not yet, that's the language that we use. Verse four comes back to Israel. Moses will tell them they witnessed firsthand. And in fact, the ESV actually, I think the ESV does, my own translation that I read earlier. Yeah, ESV does this by saying you yourselves, because the Hebrew there is emphatic. We might highlight the you or underline it or boldface type it. You are witness to these things. God doesn't recount everything that he did to bring about their deliverance. They don't need that. It was fresh in their memories or should have been. How quickly they forgot though. This remembrance though, becomes the motivation for their own covenant faithfulness. So God reminds them in verse four, notice the language, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant. So what God did in his actions in redeeming them out of bondage in Egypt provides a basis and a grounding for their own covenant faithfulness. Are you starting to see why this passage is so critical to understand the Mosaic Covenant? Notice they were redeemed. You need to remember that redemption as motivation for your covenant obligations. Notice God does not just simply say, you need to do it because I'm God. He could have, but he reminds them of his grace and his love and his care and his redeeming and freeing them. I can remember, you know, I used to watch Brady Bunch a lot as a kid. I mean, in the afternoons, there was one stretch, it was on three times in the afternoon. Needless to say, I saw them many, many times. But I can remember one episode where Bobby, the youngest brother, saved Peter's life. It was not that big of a deal. And Peter's like, well, I'll be your slave now out of gratitude. And Bobby just took all kinds of advantage of that. You know, you can imagine. And of course, you know, there's, and of course the wise mom and dad, they solved it and it was all done. But you understand when somebody does something momentous for you, you almost have this natural inclination to want to in some way show some kind of gratitude. Even we as sinners understand that kind of a concept. And God appeals to that simple sense. Yeah, he's God, that should be enough. But he appeals to them on what he did for them. And just remember Israel, look at all that I did. That should motivate them to covenant faithfulness. Now bring that to us. Look what God has done for us in Christ. How would we then not want to obey and serve him? Roy? This last week I ran across something I hadn't thought about before with regards to the Sabbath. Something to the effect that Israel could not keep the Sabbath And in particular, the case was being made for how they could not keep the Sabbath in Egypt. Now they were able to do so. And I'm wondering about that aspect as well. Redemption not only gives us reason to thank God, but it also equips us to thank God. That's correct. And you think about the Exodus, part of what God through Moses said to Pharaoh was, let my people go that they may worship me. And it ties into what you just said. Let them go so that they may worship me. As you're bound in slavery, you can't serve God properly. Now, that bondage in Egypt is a type, though it is real, real bondage, real slavery, is a type and picture of our bondage to sin. You cannot serve God if you're bound in your sin. That's what redemption in part does for us. It frees us that we may worship him rightly. serve him rightly. And Moses makes that very point to Pharaoh. Yeah. Why shall he go? This is why. This is why. So this remembrance is to be motivation for covenant faithfulness. So you need to remember, this is why, You know, I generally, you know, I went two weeks with incarnation sermons. I mean, that's shocking. But I understand why there tends to be this emphasis in Advent season, you're looking at four weeks. I think that's a bit overkill. But there should be that idea at least, that sense that the birth of Christ as well as the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ are constantly put before us so that we are moved to regard God as gracious and in gratitude be faithful to his commands. Why do you think Paul says? I try not to know anything but Christ crucified. That's the center of it all. We say this over and over again to motivate us to covenant faithfulness to him. That's the key. And so at the end of the, you know, there's another aspect to this as well. The language of bearing on eagle's wings, you see that in a couple of different places. You even see that kind of language in Revelation. But the idea of a swift rescue. Now, you think, well, it wasn't that swift, because you had 10 plagues, and that took some time, and they had to gather stuff. But now compare that to the 400 years of bondage. Yeah, it was swift. When you've got a problem, many times it takes longer to fix the problem and all the ramifications and consequences. 400 years in Egypt and slaves. The time it took in comparison to rescue them, who else but God could do that? And he did so with power and with might. And so all of this points to the reality of a gracious principle at work in the establishment of the covenant. That's the thing to remember. that even O. Palmer Robertson in his chapter on the Mosaic Covenant, he brings out the point right from the beginning that though there is law, though there is a major, massive legal sense to the Mosaic Covenant, we cannot leave out the reality that it really is under covenant. God's gracious dealings with his people. Previous covenants had obligations. What we're seeing now is obligations that are simply codified into a national type of thing. Conrad? In the covenant of worse, there is no self-defender versus to not need it yet. In that sense, there's no mediator or substitute. Correct, but there's a law given. Even Abraham, he finds favor with God, he's called first and then he's told what he wants to do. So it's a reversal. Yeah, and that's the structure of Exodus itself. Redemption, law. So the whole structure is, that we're seeing, is a reality that as we think about redemption, we think about God's commands, God has freed his people. but now what their freedom entails is free to serve God. That's what it's all about. It's not free to do whatever you want. I would encourage you to look at the chapter of Christian liberty in the Westminster Confession. That's the emphasis. We've got Christian liberty now, we can do whatever we want. No. Your Christian liberty entails the facts that God freed you from the bondage of sin so that you are now free to serve him. That's what it's really about. And if we take the whole idea of redemptive history of unfolding, and if the author of Hebrews is trying to bring out, we should also be saying, if that's true in the Old Testament, how much more in the New? Christ freed us so that we may serve Him, not just do whatever we want. People really just don't understand Christian liberty, but that's a different discussion. Now, the preamble to the Ten Commandments, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, says, in essence, the same thing as what you're seeing in chapter 19, verse four. It's just that in chapter 20, you begin to see the legal formality, the legal codification of what God had already said here in chapter 19. As a result, and the rest of chapter, this little section of chapter 19, as a result of God's grace, verse five, now therefore, If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples for all the earth is mine. Just remarkable. All the earth belongs to God. But Israel is going to be a special treasure. He redeemed them. Again, bring the statement out. How much more with Christ? That's why Peter uses the language straight out of these verses. To the church, you're a holy nation, a royal priesthood. How much more with Christ? All right, so. I've kind of started the stage. We'll probably look at more of the aspects of codification and covenant signs even within Moses in the coming weeks. And then we will definitely tackle this question of republication as well as its kissing cousin that is definitely connected the modern view of two kingdoms theology. You really can't have one without the other, by the way. They're always connected. So that's it, we're out of time. Just remember God's covenant faithfulness. God in Christ freed you to worship him today. That's awesome. So let's close in prayer. Our great God and Father in heaven, how we thank you that you are the covenant Lord, the one who is faithful and true. Lord, may we remember, even as we see at Sinai through the words that you gave to Moses, that you redeemed them that they might serve you. May we recognize how much more in Christ we are redeemed and set free from the bondage of sin that we may truly serve you. Father God, may that thought fill our hearts with joy and with anticipation as we are about to be ushered into your presence, a pathway that was purchased by Christ and his shed blood. Father, we rejoice and we praise you and give you thanks for your love towards your people. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.