Exodus:19

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* Verse 1-8 - Moses was called up the mountain , and was employed as the messenger of this covenant . The Maker and first Mover of the covenant , is God himself . This blessed charter was granted out of God 's own free grace . The covenant here mentioned was the national covenant , by which the Israelites were a people under the government of Jehovah . It was a type of the new covenant made with true believers in Christ Jesus ; but , like other types , it was only a shadow of good things to come . As a nation they broke this covenant ; therefore the Lord declared that he would make a new covenant with Israel , writing his law , not upon tables of stone , but in their hearts , Jeremiah strkjv @31:33 . Hebrews strkjv @8:7-10 . The covenant spoken of in these places as ready to vanish away , is the national covenant with Israel , which they forfeited by their sins . Unless we carefully attend to this , we shall fall into mistakes while reading the Old Testament . We must not suppose that the nation of the Jews were under the covenant of works , which knows nothing of repentance , faith in a Mediator , forgiveness of sins , or grace ; nor yet that the whole nation of Israel bore the character , and possessed the privileges of true believers , as being actually sharers in the covenant of grace . They were all under a dispensation of mercy ; they had outward privileges and advantages for salvation ; but , like professing Christians , most rested therein , and went no further . Israel consented to the conditions . They answered as one man , All that the Lord hath spoken we will do . Oh that there had been such a heart in them ! Moses , as a mediator , returned the words of the people to God . Thus Christ , the Mediator , as a Prophet , reveals God 's will to us , his precepts and promises ; and then , as a Priest , offers up to God our spiritual sacrifices , not only of prayer and praise , but of devout affections , and pious resolutions , the work of his own Spirit in us . * Verse 9-15 - The solemn manner in which the law was delivered , was to impress the people with a right sense of the Divine majesty . Also to convince them of their own guilt , and to show that they could not stand in judgment before God by their own obedience . In the law , the sinner discovers what he ought to be , what he is , and what he wants . There he learns the nature , necessity , and glory of redemption , and of being made holy . Having been taught to flee to Christ , and to love him , the law is the rule of his obedience and faith . * Verse 16-25 - Never was there such a sermon preached , before or since , as this which was preached to the church in the wilderness . It might be supposed that the terrors would have checked presumption and curiosity in the people ; but the hard heart of an unawakened sinner can trifle with the most terrible threatenings and judgments . In drawing near to God , we must never forget his holiness and greatness , nor our own meanness and pollution . We cannot stand in judgment before him according to his righteous law . The convinced transgressor asks , What must I do to be saved ? and he hears the voice , Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ , and thou shalt be saved . The Holy Ghost , who made the law to convince of sin , now takes of the things of Christ , and shows them to us . In the gospel we read , Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law , being made a curse for us . We have redemption through his blood , even the forgiveness of sins . Through him we are justified from all things , from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses . But the Divine law is binding as a rule of life . The Son of God came down from heaven , and suffered poverty , shame , agony , and death , not only to redeem us from its curse , but to bind us more closely to keep its commands . **** Matthew Henry 's Commentary ****

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