On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
Parallel Translations
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On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
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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.
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And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a horn exceeding loud; and all the people that were in the camp trembled.
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to Exodus 19:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hebrews 12:18-19 For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm, the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which those who heard it begged that not one more word should be spoken to them,
- Psalms 18:11-14 He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. Yahweh also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them.
- Hebrews 12:21 So fearful was the appearance that Moses said, “I am terrified and trembling.”
- Revelation 4:1 After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.”
- Psalms 77:18 The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
- Revelation 4:5 Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
- Revelation 8:5 The angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, then threw it on the earth. Thunders, sounds, lightnings, and an earthquake followed.
- Revelation 11:19 God’s temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.
- Exodus 9:23 Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder and hail; and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 19:9 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh.
- Exodus 20:18 All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.
- Job 38:25 Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunder storm,
- Psalms 50:3 Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
- Exodus 9:28-29 Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s.
- Exodus 40:34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tabernacle.
- Job 37:1-5 “Yes, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place. Hear, oh, hear the noise of his voice, the sound that goes out of his mouth. He sends it out under the whole sky, and his lightning to the ends of the earth. After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of his majesty. He doesn’t hold back anything when his voice is heard. God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can’t comprehend.
- Psalms 29:3-11 Yahweh’s voice is on the waters. The God of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters. Yahweh’s voice is powerful. Yahweh’s voice is full of majesty. Yahweh’s voice breaks the cedars. Yes, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young, wild ox. Yahweh’s voice strikes with flashes of lightning. Yahweh’s voice shakes the wilderness. Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. Yahweh’s voice makes the deer calve, and strips the forests bare. In his temple everything says, “Glory!” Yahweh sat enthroned at the Flood. Yes, Yahweh sits as King forever. Yahweh will give strength to his people. Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
- Psalms 97:4 His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles.
- Jeremiah 5:22 Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? Though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail. Though they roar, they still can’t pass over it.’
- Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet
- 1 Samuel 12:17-18 Isn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh, that he may send thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in Yahweh’s sight, in asking for a king.” So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.
- 2 Chronicles 5:14 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for Yahweh’s glory filled God’s house.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 19:16 And it came to pass on the…
Exo 19:16 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.
Ver. 16. There were thunders and lightnings.] The law was delivered in this terrible manner; partly to procure reverence to the doctrine of it, and partly to set forth the nature and office of it; which is to terrify and thunder struck offenders.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain thunders and lightnings were sent partly as evidences and…
The
thunders and lightnings were sent partly as evidences and tokens both of God’s glorious presence, and of the anger of God, and the dreadful punishments due to the transgressors of the law now to be delivered; and partly as means to humble, and awaken, and convince, and terrify proud and secure sinners, that they might more reverently attend to the words and commands of God, more willingly yield obedience to them, and be more afraid of the violation of them.
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A thick cloud was both a fit mean for the production and reception of the thunders and lightnings, and a signification as well of the invisible and unconceivable nature of God, as of the obscurity of the legal dispensation in regard of its types and shadows, & c., 2Co 3:13,18; 4:6.
The trumpet was a fit instrument, both for the promulgation of God’s law, and for the signification of that war that is between God and sinners.
All the people, Moses himself not excepted, as appears from Heb 12:21.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Now, at length, comes that memorable day, that terrible…
Now, at length, comes that memorable day, that terrible day of the Lord, that day of judgment, in which Israel heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire, and lived, Deu 4:33. Never was there such a sermon preached, before nor since, as this which was here preached to the church in the wilderness. For,
I. The preacher was God himself (Exo 19:18): The Lord descended in fire, and (Exo 19:20), The Lord came down upon mount Sinai. The shechinah, or glory of the Lord, appeared in the sight of all the people; he shone forth from mount Paran with ten thousands of his saints (Deu 33:2), that is, attended, as the divine Majesty always is, by a multitude of the holy angels, who were both to grace the solemnity and to assist at it. Hence the law is said to be given by the disposition of angels, Act 7:53.
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II. The pulpit (or throne rather) was mount Sinai, hung with a thick cloud (Exo 19:16), covered with smoke (Exo 19:18), and made to quake greatly. Now it was that the earth trembled at the presence of the Lord, and the mountains skipped like rams (Psa 114:4, Psa 114:7), that Sinai itself, though rough and rocky, melted from before the Lord God of Israel, Jdg 5:5. Now it was that the mountains saw him, and trembled (Hab 3:10), and were witnesses against a hard-hearted unmoved people, whom nothing would influence.
III. The congregation was called together by the sound of a trumpet, exceedingly loud (Exo 19:16), and waxing louder and louder, Exo 19:19. This was done by the ministry of the angels, and we read of trumpets sounded by angels, Rev 8:6. It was the sound of the trumpet that made all the people tremble, as those who knew their own guilt, and who had reason to expect that the sound of this trumpet was to them the alarm of war.
IV. Moses brought the hearers to the place of meeting, Exo 19:17. He that had led them out of the bondage of Egypt now led them to receive the law from God's mouth. Public persons are indeed public blessings when they lay out themselves in their places to promote the public worship of God. Moses, at the head of an assembly worshipping God, was as truly great as Moses at the head of an army in the field.
V. The introductions to the service were thunders and lightnings, Exo 19:16. These were designed to strike an awe upon the people, and to raise and engage their attention. Were they asleep? The thunders would awaken them. Were they looking another way? The lightnings would engage them to turn their faces towards him that spoke to them. Thunder and lightning have natural causes, but the scripture directs us in a particular manner to take notice of the power of God, and his terror, in them. Thunder is the voice of God, and lightning the fire of God, proper to engage the senses of sight and hearing, those senses by which we receive so much of our information.
VI. Moses is God's minister, who is spoken to, to command silence, and keep the congregation in order: Moses spoke, Exo 19:19. Some think it was now that he said, I exceedingly fear and quake (Heb 12:21); but God stilled his fear by his distinguishing favour to him, in calling him up to the top of the mount (Exo 19:20), by which also he tried his faith and courage. No sooner had Moses got up a little way towards the top of the mount than he was sent down again to keep the people from breaking through to gaze, Exo 19:21. Even the priests or princes, the heads of the houses of their fathers, who officiated for their respective families, and therefore are said to come near to the Lord at other times, must now keep their distance, and conduct themselves with a great deal of caution. Moses pleads that they needed not to have any further orders given them, effectual care being taken already to prevent any intrusions, Exo 19:23. But God, who knew their wilfulness and presumption, and what was now in the hearts of some of them, hastens him down with this in charge, that neither the priests nor the people should offer to force the lines that were set, to come up unto the Lord, but Moses and Aaron on, the men whom God delighted to honour. Observe, 1. What it was that God forbade them - breaking through to gaze; enough was provided to awaken their consciences, but they were not allowed to gratify their vain curiosity. They might see, but not gaze. Some of them, probably, were desirous to see some similitude, that they might know how to make an image of God, which he took care to prevent, for they saw no manner of similitude, Deu 4:5. Note, In divine things we must not covet to know more than God would have us know; and he has allowed us as much as is good for us. A desire of forbidden knowledge was the ruin of our first parents. Those that would be wise above what is written, and intrude into those things which they have not seen, need this admonition, that they break not through to gaze. 2. Under what penalty it was forbidden: Lest the Lord break forth upon them (Exo 19:22-24), and many of them perish. Note, (1.) The restraints and warnings of the divine law are all intended for our good, and to keep us out of that danger into which we should otherwise, by our own folly, run ourselves. (2.) It is at our peril if we break the bounds that God has set us, and intrude upon that which he has not allowed us; the Bethshemites and Uzzah paid dearly for their presumption. And, even when we are called to approach God, we must remember that he is in heaven and we upon earth, and therefore it behoves us to exercise reverence and godly fear.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it came to pass on the third day…
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, The sixth of the month, according to the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi; on which day, as the Jews generally say (t), the law was given, and which, they also observe, was a sabbath day: yea, they are sometimes so very particular as to fix the hour of the day, and say (u), it was the sixth hour of the day, or twelve o'clock at noon, that Israel received the decalogue, and at the ninth hour, at three o'clock in the afternoon, returned to their stations:
there were thunders, and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount; which were to awaken the attention of the people to what they were to hear and receive, and to strike their minds with an awe of the divine Being; and to add to the solemnity of the day, and the service of it; and to signify the obscurity and terror of the legal dispensation, and the wrath and curse that the transgressors the law might expect, even an horrible tempest of divine vengeance, see Heb 12:18.
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and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; or, "exceeding strong" (w); being blown by the mighty angels, and by ten thousand them, with whom the Lord now descended:
so that all the people that was in the camp trembled, at the sound of it, it was so loud and terrible, and it so pierced their ears and their hearts: a different effect the Gospel trumpet the jubilee trumpet, the joyful sound of love, grace, and mercy, has upon sensible sinners, and on true believers: the law with its curses terrifies, the Gospel with its blessings comforts.
(t) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 86. 2. & Yoma, fol. 4. 2. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 5. p. 18. (u) Pirke Eliezer, c. 46. (w) "fortis valde", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Ainsworth.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Now at length is come that memorable day, in…
Now at length is come that memorable day, in which Israel heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire and lived, Deut. iv, 33. Never was there such a sermon preached before or since, as this, which was here preached to the church in the wilderness. For, the preacher was God himself, ver. 17, The Lord descended in fire; and ver. 18. The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai. The Shechinah, or glory of the Lord, appeared in the sight of all the people; he shined forth from mount Paran with ten thousand of his saints, attended with a multitude of the holy angels. Hence the law is said to be given by the disposition of angels, Acts vii, 53. He spake from Mount Sinai, hung with a thick cloud, ver. 16, covered with smoke, ver. 18, and made to quake greatly. Now it was that the earth trembled at the presence of the Lord, and the mountains skipped like rams, Psalm cxiv, 4, 7, that Sinai itself, though rough and rocky, melted from before the Lord God of Israel, Jude v, 5. The congregation was called together by the sound of a trumpet exceeding loud, ver. 16, and waxing louder and louder, ver. 19. This was done by the ministry of the angels, and made all the people tremble. The introductions to the service were thunders and lightnings, ver. 16. These have natural causes; but the scripture directs us in a particular manner to take notice of the power of God, and his terror in them. Thunder is the voice of God, and lightning the fire of God, proper to engage both the learning senses of seeing and hearing.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud…
Verse 16. Thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud - and the voice of the trumpet] The thunders, lightnings, c., announced the coming, as they proclaimed the majesty, of God. Of the thunders and lightnings, and the deep, dark, dismal, electric cloud, from which the thunders and lightnings proceeded, we can form a tolerable apprehension but of the loud, longsounding trumpet, we can scarcely form a conjecture. Such were the appearances and the noise that all the people in the camp trembled, and Moses himself was constrained to say, "I exceedingly fear and quake," Heb 12:21. Probably the sound of the trumpet was something similar to that which shall be blown by the angel when he sweareth, by Him that liveth for ever, There shall be time no longer!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 19:16. Now at length is come that memorable…
Exo 19:16. Now at length is come that memorable day, in which Israel heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire and lived, Deu 4:33. Never was there such a sermon preached before or since, as this, which was here preached to the church in the wilderness. For the preacher was God himself, Exo 19:18. The Lord descended in fire; and, Exo 19:20, The Lord came down upon mount Sinai.
The Shechinah, or glory of the Lord, appeared in the sight of all the people; he shined forth from mount Paran with ten thousands of his saints, attended with a multitude of the holy angels. Hence the law is said to be given by the disposition of angels, Act 7:53. He spake from mount Sinai, hung with a thick cloud, (Exo 19:16,) covered with smoke, (Exo 19:18,) and made to quake greatly. Now it was that the earth trembled at the presence of the Lord, and the mountains skipped like rams, (Psa 114:4-7,) that Sinai itself, though rough and rocky, melted from before the Lord God of Israel, Jdg 5:5. The congregation was called together by the sound of a trumpet exceeding loud, (Exo 19:16,) and waxing louder and louder, Exo 19:19. This was done by the ministry of angels, and made all the people tremble. The introductions to the service were thunders and lightnings, Exo 19:16. These have natural causes; but the Scripture directs us in a particular manner to take notice of the power of God, and his terror in them. Thunder is the voice of God, and lightning the fire of God, proper to engage both the learning senses of seeing and hearing.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain on the third day in the morning, that there…
on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, &c.--The descent of God was signalized by every object imagination can conceive connected with the ideas of grandeur and of awe. But all was in keeping with the character of the law about to be proclaimed. As the mountain burned with fire, God was exhibited as a consuming fire to the transgressors of His law. The thunder and lightning, more awful amid the deep stillness of the region and reverberating with terrific peals among the mountains, would rouse the universal attention; a thick cloud was an apt emblem of the dark and shadowy dispensation (compare Mat 17:5).
the voice of a trumpet--This gave the scene the character of a miraculous transaction, in which other elements than those of nature were at work, and some other than material trumpet was blown by other means than human breath.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, Exo_19:16-20.
THE SINAITIC THEOPHANY, Exo_19:16-20.
16. The third day in the morning — The Scripture furnishes no certain data from which to determine the day of the week, or of the month, on which this theophany took place. Rabbinical and other speculations and conjectures on the subject are of no value. But there are some noticeable analogies between these three days and those intervening between the death and resurrection of our Lord, especially the preparations and ardent expectations among the more believing disciples, and the earthquake and lightning-like appearance of the angel that rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. The one third day heralded the sublimest proclamation of law ever known to man, the other the grandest monumental fact of Christianity — the revelation and pledge of immortality.
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Thunders — Hebrews, voices. The thunders and lightnings and thick (heavy) cloud upon the mount, the smoke and the fire and the quaking of the mountain, (Exo_19:18,) were adapted to impress upon the thousands of Israel profoundest convictions of the majesty and might of Jehovah. A sublimer picture than that here given is not to be found among all the writings of men. Whether the voice (or sound) of the trumpet exceeding loud was produced by natural or supernatural agency is difficult to determine, and yet the mention of it in connexion with the other supernatural occurrences here and in Exo_19:19, and in Exo_20:18, rather implies that it also was produced by supernatural means. In all these passages it is noticeable that the word trumpet (Hebrews, shophar) occurs, not yobel, as in Exo_19:13 above. To the imagery furnished by this sublime theophany the apostle alludes in 1Th_4:6.
The reader should compare the corresponding description in Deuteronomy 4, especially Deu_4:11-12; Deu_4:15; Deu_4:33; Deu_4:36. Kalisch observes: “The whole description of the fiery appearance of God in lightning and thunder and clouds, and the smoke of Sinai, and the terrible sound of the trumpet, is so majestically sublime and grand that it could only issue from a mind which, overwhelmed by the omnipotence and grandeur and majesty of God, exhausts the whole scanty store of human language to utter but a faint expression of the agitated sentiments of his soul.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. thick] dense; lit. heavy (cf. on Exo_8:24). Not…
16. thick] dense; lit. heavy (cf. on Exo_8:24). Not the word used in v. 9.
a trumpet] Heb. shôphâr (so v. 19, Exo_20:18), properly a horn—used especially (cf. the note on Amo_2:2 in the Camb. Bible) to give a signal or summons in war (Jdg_3:27), or to announce or accompany an important public event (1Ki_1:34; 2Sa_6:15). Not the yôbçl of v. 13b.
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16–19. On the third day the theophany takes place; and the people are brought forth by Moses to the foot of the mountain to meet God.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16-20) Thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud.—Compare with…
(16-20) Thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud.—Compare with this description that of Deut. (Deu_4:11-12), which is fuller in some respects:—“Ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.” The phenomena accumulated to impress the people seem to have been loud thunder, fierce flashes of lightning, a fire that streamed up from the mountain to the middle of the sky, dense volumes of smoke producing an awful and weird darkness, a trembling of the mountain as by a continuous earthquake, a sound like the blare of a trumpet loud and prolonged, and then finally a clear penetrating voice. So awful a manifestation has never been made at any other place or time, nor will be until the consummation of all things. To regard it as a mere “storm of thunder and lightning,” or as “an earthquake with volcanic eruptions,” is to miss altogether the meaning of the author, and to empty his narrative of all its natural significance.
The voice of the trumpet.—Heb., a voice of a trumpet. The trumpet’s blare is the signal of a herald calling attention to a proclamation about to be made. At the last day the coming of Christ is to be announced by “the trump of God” (1Th_4:16). In the Apocalypse angels are often represented as sounding with trumpets (Rev_8:7-8; Rev_8:10; Rev_8:12; Rev_9:1; Rev_9:14, &c.) when some great event is about to occur.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 16-20. THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD UPON SINAI. All…
Vers. 16-20. THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD UPON SINAI. All was ready. The fence had been made (ver. 23); the people had purified themselves at least so far as externals went. The third day was come there was a breathless hush of expectation. Then suddenly, in the morning, the presence manifested itself. "There were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud" (ver. 16); "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" (ver. 18) Or, as the scene is elsewhere (Deu_4:11, Deu_4:12) described by Moses came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice." The phenomena were not a mere "storm of thunder and lightning, whereof Moses took advantage to persuade the people that they had heard God"s voice not "an earthquake with volcanic eruptions not even these two combined but a real theophany, in which amid the phenomena of storm and tempest, and fire and smoke, and thick darkness, and hearings of the ground as by an earthquake shock, first the loud blast of a trumpet sounded long commanding attention, and then a clear penetrating voice, like that of a man, made itself heard in distinctly articulated words, audible to the whole multitude, and recognised by them as superhuman as "the voice of God". (Deu_4:33) It is in vain to seek to minimise, and to rationalise the scene, and tone it down into something not supernatural. The only honest course is either to accept it as a plain record of plain (albeit miraculous) facts, or to reject it altogether as the fiction of a romancer.
There were thunders. Literally, "voices," as in Exo_9:23; but there can be no doubt that "thunder" is meant. A thick cloud.
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Compare above, ver. 9, and the comment ad loc. The voice of the trumpet. Literally, "a trumpet"s voice." The word used for "trumpet" is not the same as in ver. 13; but the variation does not seem to have any importance.
Vers. 16-20. God"s various modes of manifesting himself.
It has been well said that "when God reveals himself it is in a manner suitable to the occasion." No revelation that he has made of himself has ever been so terrible in its material accompaniments as that at Sinai; and no occasion can ever be conceived of as more needing the employment of solemn, startling, and impressive circumstances. Here was a people gross of heart, delighting in flesh-pots, debased by slavery, careless of freedom, immoral, inclined to idolatry, which had to be elevated into God"s living witness among the nations, the depositary of his truth, the teacher of the rest of mankind for ages. Given the object of impressing such a nation permanently with the conviction that it had received a Divine revelation, and that very dreadful consequences would follow the neglect of it, and the need of the thunders and other terrors of Sinai becomes manifest. At other times and in other places God has pursued quite different methods. To Elijah he revealed himself in the "still small voice;" to Isaiah and St. John in visions; to the apostles generally in the solemn teaching of his Son; to St. Paul in ecstasies, wherein he heard unspeakable words. The contrast between the day of the giving of the law on Sinai and the day of Pentecost has often been noticed.
When God of old came down from Heaven, In power and wrath he came; Before his feet the clouds were riven, Half darkness and half flame.
But when he came the second time, He came in power and love: Softer than gale at morning prime, Hovered his holy Dove.
The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost and the coming of Jesus were, both of them, gentle and peaceful Epiphanies, suited to the time when God, having educated the world for four thousand years or more, was about to seek to win men to himself by the preaching of "good tidings of the gospel of love. The clouds and terrors of Sinai would here have been out of place unsuitable anachronisms. In complete harmony with the two occasions were at Bethlehem, the retired village, the humble stable, the angels singing of peace on earth, the lone shepherds watching their flocks at night in Jerusalem the voiceless wind, "mighty" yet subdued, the lambent light playing round the heads of holy men, the unseen inward influence shed into their hearts at the same time, impalpable to sense, but with power to revolutionise the world. And as God reveals himself to his Church in manifold ways, each fitting the occasion, so does he reveal himself to individuals. Now he comes clothed in his terrors. He visits with calamity or with sickness, or with that awful dread which from time to time comes over the soul, that it is lost, hopelessly lost, alienated from God for ever. Anon, he shows himself in gentler guise he whispers hope, he instils faith, he awakens love. In every case he studies the needs of the individual, and adapts his revelation of himself to them. Now he calls by his preachers, now he warns by the "still small voice" of conscience; now he wakes men out of sleep by a sudden danger or a sudden deliverance; anon, he startles them out of a self-complacency worse than sleep by withdrawing himself and allowing them to fall. It is for man to take advantage of every Divine manifestation, to listen when God speaks, to obey when he calls, to make the use of each occasion which it was intended to have, to "receive God"s revelations of himself in his own way.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR Vers. 16-19. Sinai and Sion.
In studying these verses we cannot but be reminded of the picture drawn by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews of the contrast in respect of Church state and privilege between believers of the Old and believers of the New Testament dispensations. "Ye are not come," he says, "unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," etc. (Heb_12:18-25) Briefly stated, what is set forth here is the contrast of legal with Gospel privilege. The writer is addressing Jews, who were in danger of apostatising from Christ. He seeks to dissuade them from going back to Judaism by showing them the vast superiority of the privileges which they enjoyed as Christians to those enjoyed under the law. We, who are Christians, and axe in no temptation to return to Judaism, approach the subject from a different side. But the verses are still of use as showing us, by contrast, the greatness of our privilege. We have,
1. the negative side of Christian privilege what we are delivered from, "Ye are not come," etc.;
2. The positive side of Christian privilege what we have come to, "Ye are come unto Mount Sion," etc. It will better suit our present purpose to view the contrast along different lines.
I THE CONTRAST IS THE MOUNTAINS. Sinai and Sion.
1. Sinai. Sinai, the mountain of law, stands as the proper representative of the old economy. The Israelites, as seen above, were under a peculiar constitution. Bound to God by a covenant of law, they yet enjoyed many of the benefits of a state of grace. Sinai, however, was the proper representation of their economy. Divest that economy of all that it derived from the new and better covenant which has since superseded it, and it would have been a Sinai economy pure and simple. The law said, Do this and thou shalt live; and if the Israelite did not do it, it could award no blessing to him, could only condemn. This was the formal constitution. As placed under law, the people, in their approaches to God, were constantly coming anew to the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire.
2. Sion. The first thing which strikes us here is
(1) That there was this contrast between Sinai and Sion within Israel itself. Sinai and Sion were, so to speak, the two poles round which the whole national and religious life of Israel revolved. As Sinai, the mountain of the law, represents their position under law, so the grace element in their economy comes to light in Mount Sion. As on Sinai, God descended in awful smoke and flame, so on Sion he dwelt in peace in the midst of Israel, giving forth his oracles, receiving his people"s worship, and dispensing mercy and favour from between the cherubim, above the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat. God came down for a season only on Sinai; on Sion, he was said to dwell. (Psa_132:13, Psa_132:14) He appeared in terror on Mount Sinai; but Sion displayed the milder glories of his character. Sion was the place of salvation. (Psa_14:7; Isa_46:13, etc.) In Sion God ruled; from it he sent forth strength and help; from it was to go forth the Gospel law. (Psa_20:2 Psa_110:2; Isa_2:2, Isa_2:3) Yet Sion, under that economy, was only the type of something better. Grace at that time was only very imperfectly revealed; it was hidden under types and forms of law; it has now been made fully manifest, and the old covenant has been superseded by a better and enduring one.
(2) Sinai and Sion as representing the contrast between the two dispensations. Sion has not ceased to exist, it has only, so to speak, gone up higher. Its special seat is now in heaven. There is the throne of God; there, the capital or head-quarters of that great spiritual commonwealth, here denominated "the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," and elsewhere, "the Jerusalem that is above," "New Jerusalem," in plain terms, the Church or kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. This heavenly Sion alone perfectly realises. rod fulfils the idea embodied in the earthly one. Do we ask why the Church or kingdom of God, as respects its state of privilege, is in this text figured as on a mountain as a city set on Mount Sion? The answer is
1. Because the special seat of God"s holy abode in the midst of his Churchis now literally in heaven, i.e. , spiritually removed from, and exalted above the earth.
2. Because the kingdom of God is spiritually the highest thing on earth founded on the highest order of ideas, on those principles of righteousness and justice which dominate all others.
3. Because it is, in point of fact, the central, commanding, controllingpower in history.
4. Because entrance into it, and growth in its spirit and power, involves aspiritual rise is a true moral ascent. These facts evince the propriety of this figurative representation.
II THE CONTRAST IN THE ACCESSORIES. Each mountain, in the passage in Hebrews, is made the centre of a scene. We have, accordingly, two groups of attendant circumstances, the details of which are placed studiously in contrast. The series of manifestations at Sinai has already engaged our attention, and we need not dwell upon them further. In contrast to Sinai is placed the picture of the convocation at Mount Sion. The picture is ideal; but the features in it are severally real, and the whole are needed to set forth Christian privilege in its completeness.
1. The mount is represented as crowned by "the city of the living God, theheavenly Jerusalem the city denoting that great spiritual polity into which believers are admitted, and in which they have rights of citizenship, but which, like every other polity, has an existence of its own, irrespective of the individuals who at any time compose its membership. The civitas endures, though the elves come and go. The ideas suggested are order, beauty, symmetry. God has founded this city. God defends it. It has salvation for walls and bulwarks. The capital of this great "City of God" is heaven; but believers, even on earth, are enfranchised members of it, and, spiritually, have come to it. (Eph_2:19; Php_3:20)
2. Crowding the mount, thronging its sides, and hovering above, behind,around, is "an innumerable company of angels." Cf. 2Ki_6:17, where the servant of Elisha saw the mountain "full" of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha; or Dan_7:10, where thousand thousands minister to the Ancient of Days, and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before him; or Rev_5:11, where the number of the angels round about the throne was "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." The truths figured are these two
(1) That the angelic hosts stand in a relation of ministry to the Church and kingdom of God; (Heb_1:14) and
(2) That they take a deep interest in its fortunes. (Eph_3:10 1Pe_1:12) Their bright forms, crowding the mount, add augustness, splendour, and beauty to the scene.
1. The mount is further occupied by "the general assembly and Church ofthe first-born, which are written in heaven this designation including the whole body of Christian believers both those on earth and those in heaven; the Church catholic, spiritual, invisible. "The whole family in heaven and earth Church, above, below." But why called "firstborn"? "They are partakers with Christ in all the privileges of that right of primogeniture, which properly and essentially belongs to him alone." (Candlish.) The truth figured here is, that in Christ we are admitted to the "communion of saints." "I believe in the holy Catholic Church I believe in the communion of saints." Yet how little, sometimes, does this great privilege mean to us!
2. Another part of the assembly on the mount is denoted by the words spirits of just men made perfect." These are the holy and good of the former dispensation, now admitted to equality of privilege and blessedness with Christians (cf. Heb_11:40)
3. God himself sits enthroned in the midst of all." Theexpression reminds us of the writer"s design, which is not consolatory, but admonitory. It is still the holy God with whom we have to do, the Judge (Rom_2:6 1Pe_1:17) as well as Father; one who will punish disobedience to his voice now with even greater severity than he did of old. (Heb_12:25, Heb_12:29) The God of Sinai and the God of Sion are after all the same God. What, then, makes the difference between Sinai and Sion? The answer is
4. "Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling."It is Christ"s presence in the scene which has changed all the surroundings. To all these things, if we are indeed in Christ, we come. How?
(1) By coming to Jesus himself. To come to Jesus, as has been well said, is to come to all else that is here described. We may or may not realise our privileges; but they are there. We are members of the spiritual commonwealth, enjoy the ministry of angels, are part of the invisible Church, have rights of the first-born, etc.
(2) In the realisation of spiritual privilege (cf. 1Co_2:12)
(3) In the use of our rights.
(4) We shall "come" more perfectly at death. Hence
III THE CONTRAST IN PRIVILEGE.
1. In the character of the privilege. In Israel"s case, the privilege was of so awful a kind, that the sense of privilege was well-nigh swallowed up in the terror which the scene inspired. How different with believers! Their approach to this spiritual mount is solemnising indeed, yet joyful. They have boldness in drawing nigh by the blood of Christ.
2. In the degree of the privilege. The Israelites were not permitted to ascend, or even to come near the mount. Bounds were erected to keep them back. Did they so much as touch it, they would perish. How cliff, refit the privilege of Christians, who not only ascend this spiritual Mount Sion, but are enrolled as citizens in its heavenly city, and have boldness to enter the holiest of all in their approaches to the throne of grace. J.O. (Heb_4:14-16 Heb_10:19-23)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain To meet with God.
Exo_19:16-25
To meet with God.
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Lessons
1. Upon Churches preparation, and sanctification God is ready to appear to them.
2. God will keep His day, His third day of appearance to His people.
3. In Gods appearance for covenant-making He giveth the discovery of Himself as He pleaseth.
4. Terrible signals God useth sometimes to declare His majesty to men (Psa_18:9).
5. The law given by Moses differs from Christs in darkness and deadliness (Heb_12:1-29.).
6. Suitable affections unto terrible appearances of God may be from nature and grace (Exo_19:16). It might be a spirit of bondage in some, but of free grace in others. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Gods terrors in the law are not to drive men from Him, but to bring them humbly to Him.
2. God hath appointed a Mediator to bring souls unto Him. They come not of themselves.
3. Upon the Mediators conduct souls may be bold to approach the terrors of the Lord.
4. Sinners must keep their standing appointed by the Mediator to find grace in the sight of God (Exo_19:17). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Great is the condescension of Jehovah unto men in giving law and covenant to them.
2. In Gods humbling Himself He keeps His distance and place above men.
3. In giving His law to men God calleth the Mediator to be by Him.
4. God withholds no discovery from His Church but that which would be deadly to them (Exo_19:21).
5. Among the congregation God hath appointed some to office for ministering to Him.
6. Such persons must be sanctified in their special place according to Gods will.
7. The more holy the persons and office are, the more deadly is their transgression.
8. Threatenings of death are primarily in grace to give life to souls (Exo_19:22). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. God seeth need for His ministers testifying and pressing on people His will when men do not.
2. The Mediators descent to men hinders not His ascent to God again for their good.
3. None but mediators must come so near to God as He appoints them.
4. Such as do, though under pretence of holiness, must perish (Exo_19:24).
5. The Mediator, as He must, so is He willing to be with Gods people at the law-giving.
6. It is Mediators work to teach all to souls that may fit them to a due reception of Gods covenant (Exo_19:25). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
God on Mount Sinai
I. The greatness of God. All powers of nature under His control.
II. The nearness of God (see 4:7-12).
III. The mysteriousness of God (see Psa_97:2).
IV. The holiness of God (see chap. 15:11; Isa_6:1-2; Rev_4:8; 1Pe_1:16).
V. The sovereignty and mercy of God (see Deu_5:24). (W. Forsyth.)
The highest ministry
(Exo_19:17):--The essence of religion is to realize the presence of God. Therefore we should hail as our highest benefactor the man who does for us as Moses did for Israel. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God.
I. In the operations of nature. Poets have sung of the sublimities and beauties of nature, and philosophers explain her secrets; but he does the noblest work who brings us face to face with natures God.
II. The events of providence. Many writers have done well in history and fiction, and have depicted with wondrous skill the varieties of character and incident, and the strange vicissitudes of human life; but he does best who shows us that there is a providence in the affairs of men, and that the Lord our God ruleth over all in righteousness and love.
III. The ordinances of the gospel. Preachers may be learned and eloquent, but it is only as they manifest Gods law to the conscience and Gods love to the heart that they do us real good. Prayer and praise are proper duties, but unless in them we rise to God they are meaningless and vain. (W. Forsyth.)
Vain curiosity
(Exo_19:21):--
I. It pries into secrets.
II. Breaks through boundaries.
III. Sacrifices reverence and self-respect.
IV. Recklessly rushes into danger.
V. Multiplies confusions and perils. Remember Eve, Uzziah. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
To meet with God.--
Coming to church to meet God
The people stood at the nether part of the mount; they listened with this very end in view: they came out of the camp to meet God, as God had commanded they should do. When you come up to the house of God keep this in view. There is, in the present day, as there was in the days of the apostle, such a thing as having itching ears, looking to man, instead of an humble and reverent desire to meet God. Brethren, be much in prayer; and when you leave your closets to attend public worship, say, I am now going to meet with God. As you enter His house, reflect, This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven; oh that I may meet my Saviour; oh that His love may be shed abroad in my heart; oh that I may understand more of Gods plan for the salvation of sinners; oh that I may get my heart warmed by close communion with my God, and have my soul lifted up above the cares and pleasures of this sinful world! Were all our congregations to assemble thus, oh what a savour, and unction, and blessing we should experience! (George Breay, B. A.)
Communion with God
The windows of Somerset House that face the Strand are all double-cased, so as to deaden the roar of the traffic outside. It would be impossible to do mental work unless some such system were adopted. There is but one way to be in the world and not of it; it is to be shut in with God, away from the din of its cares, temptations, and strifes. Outside, confusion, hurly-burly; inside, quiet, peace, under the shadow of the Almighty.
Communion with God
When we think of Moses coming so near to Jehovah in His majesty, wielding the terrific agencies of flood and storm and fire, of darkness and lightning and the voice of trumpet exceeding loud--Mount Sinai rocking beneath His feet, and Moses alone drawing near the Awful Presence and talking with God face to face there--what shall we say of the possibilities of communion between man and his Maker? Whatever speculations we may have as to the means and methods by which the thought of God was borne to the mind of Moses, and the thought of Moses to the mind of God, the great fact of communion of mind with mind--thought meeting thought--of command from the superior party, received and obeyed by the inferior--is on the outer face of the whole history and admits of no question. God can speak to man so that man shall know the voice to be His, and comprehend perfectly its significance. Relations of obedience, confidence, and love on the part of man toward his Maker, are established, and God meets them with appropriate manifestations of His favour. (H. Cowles, D. D.)
Moses and Aaron united in the mount
The association of Aaron with Moses in the mount intimates evangelical instruction. It was the design of God, not only to declare the condemnation of sin, but to point out the way of justification and life. Their ministry united, the people cannot perish. It was in the presence of both that the words of the covenant were pronounced, showing that the functions of each were concerned in that dispensation. Moses would declare the law to the people; Aaron make reconciliation for sin. Infinitely glorious the surety of the everlasting covenant, our Divine Redeemer, of whom Moses in his prophetical office, and Aaron in his priestly, were but imperfect types. In Him was every qualification to mediate, and every right, that none need despair of redemption who trust in Him. (W. Seaton.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Terrifying Events of the Third Day
The Terrifying Events of the Third Day
v. 16. 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. There were all the signs of an unusual, supernatural thunder-shower. The darkness indicated that the holy God is unapproachable, yeiling Himself from mortals even when He discloses Himself, for it is impossible for sinners to look upon His open glory. And the voice of the trumpet (was) exceeding loud, so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. The blasts of the horn, terrifying in themselves, became doubly so since their source was the divine presence on the mountain, where the Lord had now come down with His holy angels to make known His holy will, Deu 33:2; Act 7:53; Gal 3:19. No wonder the people heard the sound only with great fear and trembling.
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v. 17. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God, all of them were to be assembled before Him as His holy congregation; and they stood at the nether part of the mount, at its foot.
v. 18. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, the entire mountain being enveloped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, of a great smelter, and the whole mount quaked greatly. The nearer the people came to the mountain, the more impressively was the scene enrolled before their eyes, and the greater their terror became.
v. 19. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, gained in intensity or strength, Moses spake from the foot of the mountain, asking God for His commands, and God answered him by a voice, an articulate sound which could be understood.
v. 20. 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, in order to speak to Him alone.
v. 21. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, testify before or upon them, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. To go beyond the fence and encroach upon the territory set aside for the Lord’s revelation was courting death.
v. 22. And let the priests also which come near to the Lord, those who had till then had charge of the priestly functions among the people, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them, strike them down and utterly destroy them.
v. 23. 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. The fence had proved its value as a barrier in preventing the people from ascending the mount.
v. 24. 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, strike them down in His anger.
v. 25. And Moses went down to the people and spake unto them. The entire story reminds us of the fact that we believers of the New Testament are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire,. . but unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God,. . and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel, Heb 12:18-24.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 All the people ... trembled
All the people ... trembled
"All the people ... shook with fear"
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Yahweh descended
"Yahweh came down"
like the smoke of a furnace
This shows that it was a very large amount of smoke. AT: "like the smoke from a very large fire"
furnace
an oven that can be made extremely hot (See: Translate Unknowns)
translationWords
Sinai
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 19:16-25 The final phase of preparation involved phenomena that…
19:16-25 The final phase of preparation involved phenomena that moved the people toward acceptance of the covenant. Some of the experiences were visual: lightning and a cloud (19:16), smoke and fire (19:18). The people also heard thunder, a ram’s horn, and the voice of God (19:16, 19), and the whole mountain shook violently (19:18). In the Bible, such phenomena are often associated with a theophany, which is a visible manifestation of God’s holy presence.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.