Exodus 19:4-25

Steve Schwetz: We've all heard of the Ten Commandments, but did you know God originally gave His people a choice between the law and grace? Welcome to Through the Bible. This time, Dr. J. Vernon McGee tells us about how when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He bore them on eagles' wings. In other words, He delivered them by grace. But instead of being content to live under that grace, they wanted to live by law. I'm Steve Schwetz, your host on this five-year journey through God's entire Word. While you grab your Bible, Greg Harris, Through the Bible's president, and I have a couple of letters from our home groups in India.
Greg Harris: That's right. Today we're going to be talking about a language called Bhojpuri, which is spoken in parts of India as well as parts of Nepal. And as always, these home group responses are very moving.
Steve Schwetz: Yep, absolutely. This first one is from a local pastor who says, "By the grace of God, I have been faithfully serving a small church. While the journey has always been guided by God's hand, a significant milestone in our ministry came with the introduction of the media player that you provided." By the way, they're referencing these media players that we hand out for the radio home groups. This resource has greatly impacted not only my personal walk with Christ but also the spiritual growth of my congregation and family. Upon introducing these teachings to our church, I was met with great enthusiasm. It helped members dive deeper into the Word of God, and they learned how to apply biblical principles in practical everyday ways. The transformation has been truly remarkable. Unless you've been to this part of the world or any place like in Africa and seen this transformation happen, see a pastor who's a lay guy, not trained in seminary, who gets a hold of one of these media players and then they distribute them to their churches, you see people come alive with an understanding of the Gospel and the understanding of the Bible. It challenges the pastor. It's almost like when you play a sport like golf with somebody that's better than you, you end up playing better. These pastors get better because their congregations understand the Bible better because of Through the Bible, and they're listening as well. It's this virtuous cycle that the Lord created through exposing people to God's Word, and you have an opportunity to be a part of that with Through the Bible. I hope you're excited as we are when we read these letters. Now let me continue. "Members have embraced the study tool wholeheartedly, sharing it with their families and neighbors, sparking a great thirst for the Word of God throughout our community. This renewed interest in Scripture has drawn many closer to Christ. My own family has been blessed by this journey. Through consistent engagement, we have grown in our understanding of God's purpose and calling for our lives. I am sincerely grateful to your team for equipping us with such a valuable and effective resource."
Greg Harris: Yeah, and on top of all the wonderful things that are in that letter, think about human nature being what it is. You would think that a pastor would feel it threatening to be, "Why are you bringing this teaching into my church?" And yet we encounter these pastors—you and I have encountered them personally in many different countries—where they are beyond thankful. They are overjoyed saying, "This is transforming my own ministry," like you said, as a pastor, "it's upping my game, so to speak, and also it's changing our church." And we have time for a really short letter, but powerful. A couple named Joy and John wrote, "This is a very helpful study for our church. We are growing together in God's Word, and our community is better for it."
Steve Schwetz: And that's the second reference to community. And when the Gospel comes to a community, when people grow in their understanding of the Word of God, it changes community. Greg, let me pray for us as we begin. Heavenly Father, I pray that You would continue to use Your Word to change believers and to conform them to the image of Christ, and that that would have an impact in every community in which they live. May You be glorified in the teaching that we're going to hear even now today on this program. In Jesus' name, amen. Turn to Exodus 19 as we make our way through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now friends, as we come back today to this 19th chapter of the book of Exodus, we got down really last time to verse four: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." Now the children of Israel now come up to Mount Sinai. They've left the land of Egypt. God delivered them, and He has brought them now to Mount Sinai. And they're going to have to make a decision here at Mount Sinai. God says, "You've seen how I bore you on eagles' wings." As we said last time, eagles' wings are a symbol of deity, and they set forth here the salvation by the grace of God. And we're going to see that they also set forth discipline by the grace of God. That's when we get over to Deuteronomy. But here we see it's salvation. God says, "I've brought you on eagles' wings." Well, how did He do it? First of all, He found them helpless and hopeless in the slavery of Egypt, and He delivered them. He redeemed them by blood. And that night when the death angel passed over, and there was the death of the firstborn in the houses where there was not the blood, why that ended the plagues, and that night the children of Israel marched out. Then they came to the Red Sea, and even then they were not out of the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh could have well-slaughtered them just like animals, and that's what he would have done had not God intervened again. And God brought them across the Red Sea by power, mighty power. Only the power of God could do that. And you see here He's bearing them on eagles' wings. He's carrying them that way. And then they've come out now of slavery to freedom. They've come out of the brickyards to go to the promised land. From Egypt now to Sinai. From death to life. From Egyptian darkness to heaven's light. From the helplessness under the slave master to the very heart of God. All the way from defeat to victory. And now He's brought them to Mount Sinai. And on the way over, we've seen seven experiences that they've had. Now those seven experiences are very meaningful, as we've seen for us today. We've seen how He met their need. These are experiences you and I'll have and how God meets our need today, how He provides for us. God gave them manna. God gave them water from the rock. God sweetened the bitter waters at Marah. And that long three days' wilderness march without any water. And then God delivered them from Amalek. The victory was won through prayer. You can't overcome the flesh, friends, by effort. I'm sure you've learned now. This is something you turn over to the Holy Spirit and learn to walk by the Spirit. The victory's on the hilltop, never down by fighting. And I'm sure many of us have learned that. And then we do not today serve God through worldly wisdom. We hear so much about the Lord's will, the Lord's will. I noticed recently in a church where they were having a series of meetings, and every service had to do how you can find the Lord's will, how you can find the Lord's will. And I came to the conclusion from some of the subjects that a great deal of worldly wisdom was being used to find out God's will for your life. I don't think you find it out that way, my friend. This idea today that we are to do the expedient, and we're to use certain methods, and that type of thing—that just doesn't happen to be God's way of doing it. Oh, God bore them on eagles' wings, and that's the way He bears us today. That's by His marvelous grace, and we walk by faith. That's the thing that God is saying to them here. He wants now to have them make a decision though. He says, "You've seen what I've done already." And now in verse five, He says, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all, for all the earth is mine." And His question is going to be: are you willing to keep the commandments that God will give to you? And we'll see in a minute their reaction to that. And they're going to exchange grace for law. A great many people do that today. But you and I live in a day when God saves by grace, and He doesn't save by law. And what a contrast there is between law and grace. What a difference it is. The law demands; grace gives. The law says do; grace says believe. The law exacts; grace bestows. The law says work; grace says rest. The law threatens, pronouncing a curse; grace entreats, announcing a blessing. The law says do, and thou shalt live; grace says live, and thou shalt do. The law condemns the best man, and grace saves the worst man. The law reveals the character of God, and it also reveals the weakness of man. Paul says, "Now we know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth might be stopped, the whole world come guilty before God." God never gave the law to save at all. Somebody says, then why was the law given? And as many of you have heard me say before, no one was ever saved by keeping the law. You couldn't mention a one. Moses here was a murderer, friends. He was no lawkeeper at all. And he's going to get very angry, we're going to see, and lose his temper and smite that rock twice when he shouldn't even have smitten it once. This is something that we need to note very carefully: that the law was given, friends, for a very definite reason. Paul says in Galatians 3:19, "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added not because of but for the sake of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made." You see, the law was given to reveal that we were sinners, and it was just given temporarily till the seed should come, and that seed is Christ. And Paul goes on to say in verse 24, "Wherefore the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Now the schoolmaster here is not a schoolteacher. It is a slave that took the little child that was born into a home of a Roman patrician or a well-to-do Roman citizen. And he took the little child, clothed it—that is, in the sense he dressed him every morning, washed him, blew his nose when it needed it. And then there came a day when the little fellow grew old enough to go to school. So the schoolmaster's the one who led him to school. And the word is *paidagogos*, which means to take the little one by the hand and lead him to the school. Now the law, friends, is our schoolmaster, our *paidagogos*. He's the one that takes us by the hand as little children, brings us to the cross, and says, "Little fellow, you need a Savior. You need to be saved. You're a sinner." Now the law is just that. And these people are given the opportunity. And now notice the reaction of these people to all of this in verse six: "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." You see, God's original intention for Israel was that they were to be a kingdom of priests, that all of the tribes would have been priests. But because of their failure to go in at Kadesh Barnea, and their failure here at the giving of the law—and they've made the golden calf—why, He only chose one tribe. But His ultimate goal, and in the millennium you'll find that the entire nation of Israel will arrive at that original purpose of God: that they are going to be a nation of priests here on this earth. That'll be long after the church is removed and will be in heaven with the Lord Jesus in the New Jerusalem. Now He says here, "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." Now verse seven: "And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him." Now listen to these people. What self-confidence they had. Verse eight: "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord." Now this is going to be the beginning of this dispensation of law that came in at Mount Sinai when God gave the law to these people. And it goes all the way from Mount Sinai to Calvary. All the way from the Exodus to the cross. All the way from one mountain to another mountain. It is the revelation now that a people under ideal conditions are not able to keep the law. But will you listen to them? Verse eight: "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." Now, my friend, they haven't even heard what He's going to say. God says, "Would you like to have my commandment? Would you like now to be under law?" They said, "Why, bring it on. We'll keep it." And that's the attitude of a great many people today: that you can please God, that natural man can please God. And, friends, it's been demonstrated for 1500 years. These people under law made a failure. They made a terrible failure. They were not able to keep the law. And it's impossible for the natural man to. And that's exactly what Paul is saying in Romans 8, the reason God has us on a different plane altogether: that we can never please God. The law was given to control that old nature, and it doesn't because the old nature is a communist. You can't control it. It is a revolutionary. And will you listen to what he says in Romans 8:6: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Now you and I have an old nature, and that nature is at enmity against God. It can never be obedient unto God. Have you made that discovery in your own life? Have you found out that you're a failure at meeting God's standard? And thank God He has another arrangement. And the self-confidence of people today who tell me that they keep the law—there is nothing that makes a hypocrite out of a person than to walk around and say today, "I keep the law," when you know you don't measure up to God's standard at all. All right, now let's look at it. God's going to give them the law. They say, "Bring it on." What self-confidence. What arrogance, if you please, and what awful, unspeakable blindness and ignorance this is. And yet there are multitudes today after God's already demonstrated that man could not be saved under law. He gave that dispensation. It's been tried out, and it's been tried out under ideal conditions, more ideal, by the way, than today. Now verse nine of this 19th chapter of Exodus: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord." There are those that think that the giving of the law was a very beautiful thing. Many years ago in Georgia, I had a lady that came up to me. She was a very cultured, refined southern lady, and she said to me, "Mr. McGee, don't you think the giving of the law was such a beautiful and lovely thing?" And I think I shocked her. I said, "I don't see anything beautiful in it. It's a frightful and terrifying thing." All right, let's look at this now because here's the giving of the law, and you tell me whether you see anything beautiful in it or not. Listen, verse 10: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai." This is a tremendous scene, you say. Well, wait a minute. We're not through. Will you listen to this: "And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death." Now does that sound beautiful to you, my friend? Why, they were told not even to get near the mount, and not to touch it; they'd be smitten dead. That's not beautiful; that's awful. Now verse 13: "There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes." "And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled." My friends, this is not a circus parade that's going by. This is the giving of the law, and this is terrifying, and the people trembled because it was a frightful experience. Listen, I'm not through reading. Verse 17: "And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." Do you want to tell me you think that the giving of the law is beautiful? My friend, it was a terrifying thing that took place. Now we are told that when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. "And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish." You see, a great many thought they might see something. Well, they'll not see anything; they're only going to hear a voice because it's still true today: no man hath seen God at any time. Now will you notice verse 22: "And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them." Now you have here in chapter 20 the giving of the law. And actually the Ten Commandments is not all of it by any means. We have first of all here the Ten Commandments, and with it is the order for the altar in chapter 20. And remember they both go together. There must be an altar for a sacrifice to be offered. Because you see the law reveals, and there must be the shedding of blood for sin. And just as you have in your bathroom a mirror, and that represents the law, and underneath is a basin—now you don't wash yourself with the mirror. The mirror reveals, but you wash yourself with the basin. And today there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that flow lose all their guilty stain. Now we have here in chapter 20 the Ten Commandments and then instructions about the altar. That's important. But that doesn't end the law. You have then in chapters 21 and 24 what is called social legislation. Now we're living in a day when a great deal of attention is being given to what is known as social legislation. We're just finding out how important that is, especially in this complicated age. But God took care of this long time ago. And that won't end it because with the law, we'll have instructions for the making of a tabernacle. And that's the very center of the life of Israel. That tabernacle will be right in the center of the camp. And then you have in the next book, the book of Leviticus, the service of the tabernacle. And all of that's part of the law. Now when you get to Deuteronomy, you'll find out that you have not the repetition—although it looks like it—but it's not. What it is, is the interpretation of the law after 40 years' experience with it. And that means that Exodus now, beginning here with chapter 20 all the way through the book of Leviticus and Numbers—for they are on the wilderness march there—and Deuteronomy, that's all the Mosaic system. That's the law. There are those today that like to say they're under law and that you must keep the law. And what they mean is just the Ten Commandments. But friends, that was really a small part of it. Well, we're going to see next time the giving of the Ten Commandments. May God richly bless you, my beloved.
Steve Schwetz: Well, there's more to come in this great study of Exodus, so keep hopping aboard the Bible bus. And in the meantime, if you want to find a resource that'll maybe deepen your own study of God's Word, well, get our app or visit ttb.org. Or if we can help you find something, just call 1-800-65-BIBLE. I'm Steve Schwetz, and of course, I'll save you a seat next time. Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Our journey on the Bible bus today is supported by the prayers and gifts of fellow passengers as we travel through the Bible. To help you in your study, visit TTB.org/library for free downloads and other materials. May God bless you as you study His Word. This is Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Join us again tomorrow as the Bible Bus pulls up to your stop on Through the Bible. This program has been brought to you by Thru the Bible and made possible by our friends who support us through prayer and financial gifts. For more information, visit our website at TTB.org. And as Dr. McGee always says, may God richly bless you, my beloved. Stay on the Bible Bus. Our journey on the Bible bus today is supported by the prayers and gifts of fellow passengers as we travel through the Bible.