Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Exodus
Book: Exodus
Chapter: 19
Overview:
The people come to
Sinai,
God's message to them, and their
answer.
(1-8) The people directed to prepare to hear the
Law.
(9-15) The presence of
God On Sinai.
(16-25)
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, Jer 31:33; Heb 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.
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.
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.