Day 61 – Israel, God’s Special People

• One of my favourite websites is www.rainymood.com.  If you like, why not try playing it in the background as you do today’s study. I find it super-relaxing, with the sound of heavy rainfall and distant thunderclaps. Maybe, when you listen to it, you’ll not find it peaceful at all though! For some people, thunderclaps are scary. That’s certainly the case in today’s passage in Exodus. The thunderclaps and lightning from the mountain sent the Israelites trembling – and not because they didn’t understand what thunder and lightning was. They knew that in this specific situation, the thunder and thick cloud indicated God’s presence and was there to remind people that Moses had spoken to the true and living God. It would have been terrifying.
• The events we read about today are still relatively soon after the escape from Egypt – probably only a couple of days. Bear that in mind as we read about the events at Mount Sinai over the next day or so, as it will help you to consider the “newness” of the relationship the recently-freed slaves are having with God.
• What were the directions that God gave to the people through Moses? What promises were associated with these directions?
• Why couldn’t the people touch the mountain?
• Think about what it might have been like to be Moses in today’s passage in Exodus. Would you have wanted to go up the mountain? How might you have felt the night before, or as you started your walk, or when you were at the top?
• Exodus 19:15 doesn’t indicate there was anything wrong with women. It was probably that as part of their cleansing process they were simply required to abstain from sex.
• You might remember that God said that the Israelites would “serve God on this mountain”. Moses was told that by God through the burning bush in Exodus 3:12. Well, promised given and promised delivered! Here they were, doing just that.
• At this point in time, Israel is described as a “holy nation”. It is set apart for God. They are the receivers of special spiritual blessings that other nations will not get. The passage in Deuteronomy reminds them that there wasn’t anything special about them that meant they received this blessing – it was just God’s grace to them through the promises He gave to Abraham. With this amazing gift, they have a responsibility, however, to live according to God’s holy law – which we’ll see them receiving tomorrow.

The following notes might be helpful to think about to understanding why we read the New Testament passage today. Try and think about them carefully, but this is not particularly easy stuff, so don’t worry if you don’t fully understand.

In the New Testament passage, Peter refers to the Exodus passage when describing the global church. Look especially at 1 Peter 2:9. The Israelites were a “chosen race” and so are we as Christians. If you are a Christian, you can’t boast about this as something you’ve done – God has elected (or chosen) that you should be. It’s about God’s grace, not human choice.

Peter describes the church as the “new Israel”. We are now the “royal priesthood” and the “holy nation”. We’re now the ones called to proclaim God because of what He has done for us – he has summoned us from darkness and brought us into his marvellous light, through the death of His Son on the cross. We were once lost, but now we’re found. We were once enemies of God but now we are friends. We were once without mercy, but now we have received it. We were once slaves, and now we are free.

What wonderful news that is. So the Israelites – and now us – are called to behave in a way that honours God. Why? The answer is in 1 Peter 2:12: so that others may see your good deeds and come to glorify God themselves.