Exo 19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.
In one sense, all that went before was meant to bring them to this place. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of what God said in Exodus 3:12: this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Moses, led by God, went up on the mountain to meet with God. God gave a message to Israel through Moses, a message regarding His purpose and destiny for Israel. This destiny was based on what God already did for them in the great deliverance from Egypt. “On eagles wings” – God didn’t deliver Israel so they could live apart from God, but so they could be God’s people. Before God called Israel to keep His law, He commanded them to “keep My covenant.” The covenant was greater than the law itself. The covenant God made with Israel involved law, sacrifice, and the choice to obey and be blessed or to disobey and be cursed.
God intended for Israel to be a special treasure unto Him. He wanted them to be a people with a unique place in God’s great plan, a people of great value and concern to God. It wasn’t as if God ignored the rest of the world (for all the earth is mine), but that He was determined to use Israel to reach the earth. The Apostle Paul also wanted Christians to know how great a treasure they were to God; he prayed they would know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. God intended for Israel to be a kingdom of priests, where every believer could come before God themselves, and as a group they represented God to the nations. God intended for Israel to be a holy nation, a nation and people set apart from the rest of the world, the particular possession of God, fit for His purposes.
Peter reminds us we are a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). As God’s people, we must be set apart, thinking and doing differently than the flow of the world in general. (Guzik)
Note the response of the people; “All that the Lord has spoken we will do”. How many times do we sincerely say the same and fail so miserably? How many times is our hearts and minds pricked by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word and we are moved to commit to obedience, faith, trust, and reliance, only to fail at that which we committed to? I venture to say that we, like the Israelites, commit in our minds but our hearts are free to roam the pleasures and temptations of the world.
We will not grow and mature until we have a desire deep within us to know the sinfulness of sin, the holiness of God, and the grace and mercy God has offered. The shallowness of commitment is tied to the heart’s desire. “Where the heart is so is the commitment”. How many days, weeks, months, and years do we waste chasing after what this world has to offer and neglecting things of God and honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do?????
