Commentary on Exodus 19:2-8a

Exodus 19 marks a pivotal transition between the first two sections of the book of Exodus: It both encapsulates the logic of the book as a whole and explains the connection between these sections. God’s words to Moses reinforce how God’s actions leading up to this point have shown the Israelites who God is. As a response to what God has done, God explains what the Israelites now need to do to live as God’s people.

The narrative structure of the book of Exodus falls into three sections:

• God shows God’s power to the Israelites by rescuing them from Egypt (Exodus 1–18),
• God instructs the Israelites how to live as God’s people (Exodus 19–24), and
• God instructs the Israelites to build the Tabernacle so God can dwell in their midst (Exodus 25–40).

Setting: Back at Mount Sinai, and sign fulfilled

The very setting of this scene underscores God’s faithfulness. In Exodus 19:2, the Israelites first arrive at Mount Sinai, but this marks an important return for Moses. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush on this very mountain, God gave Moses a sign to dispel his doubts about his ability to lead God’s people. In Exodus 3:12, God promises Moses, “I will be with you. And this is the sign for you that I Myself have sent you. When you bring the people out from Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”¹

Thus, Moses’s return to Mount Sinai begins the fulfillment of this promise, and when Moses instructs the Israelites to offer sacrifices in Exodus 24:5, they worship God and clearly complete this sign. Because this mountain was part of God’s sign, the setting of Exodus 19 draws attention to God’s faithfulness even before God speaks.

“You yourselves saw …” (Exodus 19:4)

Upon returning to this mountain, Moses seeks God’s guidance, and God gives him a message for the Israelites. God’s message begins by reminding them of what God has already done for them: “You yourselves saw what I did to Egypt.” God has just dramatically rescued them from the power and oppression of Pharaoh, and God asserts this as the foundation of the covenant God is about to make with them. Exodus has frequently emphasized how the purpose of God’s mighty acts has been to show the Israelites and the Egyptians who God is. For example, in Exodus 10:1–2, God tells Moses that God has bested Pharaoh so that the Israelites can tell their children through the generations and “know that I am the LORD.”²

God poignantly describes the deliverance from Egypt with imagery from the natural world: “I bore you on the wings of eagles.” While the nuance of this phrase is notoriously obscure, it points to God’s agency and the Israelites’ dramatic change of circumstance.

God concludes this invitation to remember with the primary result of God’s action: “I brought you to Me.” Since God remembered the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Exodus 2:23–25, the covenant has motivated God’s actions.³ The Israelites are far from the land of Canaan and not experiencing blessings at the hand of Pharaoh, so God acts to change their situation.⁴ God does not free the Israelites so they can do whatever they want; instead God brings the Israelites to God so they can be God’s people and participate in this covenant.

“And now …” (Exodus 19:5)

Very significantly, God shows the Israelites God’s power and commitment to the covenant before God instructs them how to live as God’s people. God makes the first move. After God has demonstrated why they would want to be God’s people, God instructs them how to live as God’s people. In Exodus 19:5, God’s speech continues with “and now,” which underscores how God’s instructions build on what God has already done for the Israelites. God then describes what the Israelites need to do to be God’s treasure among all the peoples of the earth: “If you will truly heed My voice and keep My covenant …”

Living according to God’s teaching will make the Israelites God’s covenant people. God’s speech here explains why God is about to give the Israelites ten commandments and further teaching. God’s teaching is essential for the Israelites to know how to continue as God’s people.

“A kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6)

If the Israelites follow God’s teachings, they will become “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This pivotal description anticipates why God will instruct the Israelites to build the Tabernacle in that latter part of Exodus and why instructions for sacrifices will follow in Leviticus. Just as the second section of Exodus builds on the first, there is also a close relationship between the second and third sections.

God instructs the Israelites to build the Tabernacle in the third section of Exodus because God wants to dwell in the midst of the people. God dwelling in the midst of the Israelites is the culmination of all God has done in memory of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Tabernacle comes after God’s teaching because the Israelites need to live as God’s people for God to dwell in their midst.

While God’s teaching shows the Israelites how to live as God’s people, the people also struggle to follow all God’s instructions—perhaps most notably with the golden calf (Exodus 32–34). Because the Israelites struggle to live as God’s people, they will need a way to repair their relationship with God when they fail to live according to God’s teachings. God graciously provides a mechanism for this repair: the sacrificial system described in Leviticus.

Though the formal monarchy will begin much later (1 Samuel 9), the Israelites will be a “kingdom of priests” because the priests will play a vital role in offering sacrifices and repairing the covenant relationship when the Israelites stray from God’s teaching. They will be a “holy nation” because Leviticus portrays holiness as living as God’s people.

“We shall do” (Exodus 19:8)

After Moses takes God’s message to the leaders, all the Israelites commit to following God’s instructions: “Everything that the LORD has spoken we shall do.” All together as a people, the Israelites accept God’s logic and pledge to follow God’s teaching to live as God’s people.⁵ They have seen what God did for them in Egypt, and they are ready to learn how to participate in the covenant God is making with them.

Notes

1. Unless otherwise indicated, all biblical quotations are from Robert Alter’s translation, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, vol. 1, The Five Books of Moses (New York: W. W. Norton, 2019).
2. See also Exodus 7:5, 17; 8:10; 9:14–16; 11:9; 14:4, 18, 31.
3. See also Exodus 6:2–8.
4. See God’s promises in the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis 12:1–9; 15; 17; 22:15–19; 26:1–5, 23–24; 28:13–15; 35:1–15; et cetera.
5. See also Exodus 24:3, 7.