Exodus 19:1-24:18 Summary

Two months after leaving Egypt the Israelites set up camp at the bottom of Mount Sinai. The Lord told Moses that the Israelites would be his kingdom of priests, his holy people. The Israelites prepared themselves for three days, after which God appeared to them in fire, smoke, lightning and thunder (19). God gave them a series of ten commandments about other gods, idols, the use of the Lord’s name, sabbath observance, respect for parents, murder, adultery, theft, false testimony, and property. The people were very afraid and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen, but don’t let God speak to us directly, or we will die.” So Moses approached the dark cloud of God’s presence. The Lord gave him instructions about using altars for sacrifices (20); slave ownership; dealing with violence in the community (21); rectifying property disputes; religious purity; care for the most vulnerable; honouring God through sacred offerings (22); being committed to honesty; observing sabbath days and years; and celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering. Then the Lord promised Moses that an angel would be sent ahead of him to protect the Israelites and enable them to utterly destroy the peoples of the land they were about to enter so long as the Israelites worshiped the Lord alone and made no treaties with those peoples (23). Moses relayed all the Lord’s instructions to the people and they agreed to obey them. The covenant between the Israelites and the Lord was confirmed through sacrifices, and Moses splattered the blood from the sacrifices over the people. Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders climbed Mount Sinai and ate a covenant meal in the Lord’s presence. Moses then instructed everyone but Joshua to stay put as he climbed higher on the mountain to meet with God, and Moses stayed on top of the mountain for forty days and forty nights (24).