Brought to Himself
The delivered people receive a covenant calling and a way of life
Begin by reading Exodus 19:1–8 and 20:1–17.
What kind of freedom has God given His people?
Between Abraham’s household and the gathering at Sinai, Genesis follows later generations of his family. His grandson Jacob, also called Israel, settles in Egypt with his household. Their descendants grow into a people and are eventually enslaved. Exodus records the LORD delivering them through Moses.
Now they camp before Mount Sinai. They have been brought out of bondage, and God speaks about the life into which He has brought them.
Deliverance brings them into relationship
The LORD begins by recalling what they have witnessed: His action against Egypt and His care in carrying them out. He describes the destination of that care:
“And brought you unto myself.” — Exodus 19:4
Their freedom has a relational purpose. They have been delivered to belong to the One who rescued them.
This changes how we hear the instruction that follows. It comes from their Deliverer. The people are learning how to live before the LORD who has already acted for them.
A family formed by His care must now attend to His voice. Freedom from the power that oppressed them opens into a responsibility to live faithfully with Him.
A treasured people with a holy calling
The LORD speaks of obeying His voice and keeping His covenant. A covenant is a binding relationship or commitment. He describes the people as His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.
The KJV phrase peculiar treasure means a special or treasured possession. Holy means set apart for God. A priest serves in relation to God and worship; the description gives the whole people a calling associated with His service.
The LORD also says that all the earth is His. Their treasured place does not make the rest of creation someone else’s domain. Their calling is held within His wider rule.
Notice the identity and the response together. They are to belong to Him in a distinctive way, listening and keeping the covenant. Their shared life is to reflect the One whose people they are.
Moses brings these words before the elders, and the people answer together that they will do what the LORD has spoken.
At this point, we hear their commitment. The following accounts will show how they live with it. We should allow that distinction to remain: a spoken willingness begins a response that must reach actual conduct.
The commandments begin with the Deliverer
Exodus 20 opens with God identifying Himself as the LORD who brought them out of Egypt and bondage. Then come the commandments.
Read that opening before reading the prohibitions. The instructions belong to a people whose history includes His rescue and whose life is now to be ordered in relationship with Him.
They must have no other gods before Him, make no images to bow down to or serve, and refrain from taking His name in vain. These commands concern their allegiance, worship, and treatment of His name.
The passage also speaks of His mercy toward those who love Him and keep His commandments. Love and faithful response are already present within this covenant instruction.
A shared life before God requires a shared recognition of who He is. Worship directed elsewhere would fracture the very belonging described at Sinai.
Rest reaches the whole household
The Sabbath command names the seventh day as holy unto the LORD. Six days are given for work; the seventh is for rest.
Look closely at who is included. The instruction names sons, daughters, servants, livestock, and the stranger within the gates. Stranger here refers to a resident foreigner living among them.
The rest reaches beyond the person who controls the household’s work. Those under that person’s authority are included in the cessation of labour.
The command recalls God’s creation and His rest on the seventh day. We can now look back to Genesis and recognise a connection between the Creator’s pattern and the life of His people.
Here, rest has a practical place within shared life. It is possible for a person to enjoy rest while continually demanding work from others. This instruction brings the household together within the day set apart to the LORD.
We have not yet followed every biblical promise concerning rest. At Sinai, we can observe this much: God’s instruction makes room for a community to cease its work together before Him.
The neighbour is protected by the instruction
The commandments also reach the life of the people with one another. They are to honour father and mother. They must not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet what belongs to their neighbour.
The KJV says Thou shalt not kill in verse 13; the command prohibits murder. Covet means to desire another person’s belongings or spouse in a way that seeks what is theirs.
Consider the relationships and responsibilities these commands bring into view: parents, marriage, human life, possessions, truthful testimony, and desire for what belongs to someone else.
These are places where shared life can be wounded. Violence removes a life. Adultery breaks marital faithfulness. Theft takes what is another’s. False witness can damage a person through a distorted account. Coveting reaches the desire from which wrongful taking may grow.
The covenant instruction speaks into the family’s life at those points. Belonging to the LORD must shape how they treat the people beside them.
A way of life within belonging
We can look back to the earlier readings. The garden showed how distrust disrupted communion. Cain’s action showed a brother harmed and responsibility denied. Abraham’s household was to learn righteousness and justice.
At Sinai, the delivered people receive a calling and instruction that reach their worship, work, rest, relationships, words, and desires.
The commands have a moral shape, but their setting gives them a covenant purpose. This is the way of life required of a people brought to the LORD Himself. Their treatment of one another belongs within their faithfulness to Him.
A shared place cannot preserve harmony while people destroy the relationships within it. God’s instruction addresses the conduct that makes shared life unsafe and unfaithful.
For our reflection, the question becomes more than whether we approve of these commands. Are we willing to let belonging to God govern the responsibilities and relationships through which our lives touch others?
Search the passages yourself
- What does the LORD recall before describing Israel’s calling?
- What does being brought to Him add to your understanding of deliverance?
- Which descriptions of the people appear in Exodus 19:5–6, and what response is named?
- Who is included in the Sabbath command, and what reason is given for it?
- Which relationships are protected by the commands concerning life, marriage, possessions, testimony, and desire?
Continue reading: Leviticus 19:1–18,33–34. Notice how the call to holiness reaches daily dealings, justice, correction, love of neighbour, and the treatment of the stranger.
Scripture quotations: King James Version.