Localities shaped to suit God's moral purposes.
It is scarcely possible to read the descriptions of the Sinaitic localities by modern travellers, who pointedly note their exact adaptation to the scenes transacted among them, without the feeling stealing upon us, that God, in the countless ages during which he was shaping and ordering the earth to be a fitting habitation for man was also arranging it in such sort as would best conduce to the exhibition upon it of those supernatural occurrences, which in his counsels were to constitute turning-points in the moral history of man. Take for instance Jerusalem: are we to suppose that the valleys were furrowed and the rocky platform upraised by the elements acting mechanically, as chance might direct, or not rather that God lovingly shaped, age after age, the mountain where he was about to set his name, and which was to be "the joy of the whole earth"? (Psalms 48:2.) Rome again, with its seven hills: was not this remarkable formation brought into existence to constitute the site for that capital which was to be, first and last, the pivot of the world's secular history; for five hundred years the seat of an almost universal empire; for a thousand the western ecclesiastical centre; and having in the future possibilities which the wisest forecast can only dimly indicate, but which transcend those of any other existing city. And, if in these cases Providence contrived and shaped the geographic features with a view to the future history, must it not have been the same at Sinai? Must not that vast granite cluster have been upreared in the place it holds by a series of throes which shook all the regions of the east, in order that from it the law might be given in such a way as to impress men deeply? Must not the plain Er-Rahah have been washed by floods into its present level surface to furnish a convenient place from which the multitudinous host of Israel might at once see and hear? Must not the entire Sinaitic region have been so modelled, that here should be the adytum—here and here alone in the entire district, should be the natural "inmost sanctuary"—penetrale—"holy of holies"—the centre of attraction—the fit spot for supernatural events, on which the future of mankind was to hinge for fourteen centuries? To us it seems, that God did not so much select for his supernatural communications with man the fittest of existing localities, as design the localities themselves with a view to the communications, shaping them to suit his moral purposes.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Arrival and encampment at Sinai.
We come now to the consideration of what, next to the exodus, is the greatest event in Israel's history—the ratification at Sinai of the nation's covenant with God, preceded by the giving of the law. We cannot attach too great importance to these Divine acts. The covenant at Sinai placed Israel in a totally unique relation to Jehovah. It conferred on that people an honour the like of which no nation on earth ever had, or ever has since, enjoyed. It gave rise to an economy, the express design of which was to prepare the way for Christ—to shut men up under a conviction of the hopelessness of attaining righteousness by the law, to the faith that should afterwards be revealed (Galatians 3:23). This covenant, as befitted the majesty of God, dealing with a sinful people, was to be ordained "in the hand of a mediator" (Galatians 3:19). Moses, accordingly, is seen in these verses entering on his mediatorial functions. Once, a second, and a third time, in the course of this single chapter, he is seen ascending the mount, to meet with God (Exodus 19:3, Exodus 19:8, Exodus 19:20); and once, a second, and a third time, he is sent back from its awful recesses with a message to the people. Exodus 19:1, Exodus 19:2 relate the arrival at Sinai.
I. THE NOTE OF TIME.—"In the third month," etc. (Exodus 19:1). That is, about six weeks—forty or fifty days—after leaving Egypt. This was close on the date of Pentecost, afterwards traditionally observed as the anniversary of the giving of the law. It was probably with allusion to this fact that, in the new economy, the day of Pentecost was chosen for the gift of the Spirit to the Church (Acts 2:1-47.). Thus was fulfilled the prophecy—"Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah … I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:31-33). "Sinai, then, was the Pentecost of the old dispensation. And, conversely, Pentecost is the Sinai of the new." (Gibson.)
II. THE PLACE OF ENCAMPMENT.—"The wilderness of Sinai … before the mount" (Exodus 19:1, Exodus 19:2). A fitter theatre for the awful revelation about to be given could scarcely be imagined. The heart of the desert, it was—
1. A place of absolute solitude. The people were absolutely alone with God—withdrawn from everything which could distract their thoughts from him and from his message. Owen observes—"When God deals with men by the law, he will let them see nothing but himself and their own consciences … For the most part, when the law is preached to sinners, they have innumerable diversions and reliefs at hand to shield them from its terror and efficacy.… They have other things to do than to attend to the voice of the law; at least, it is not yet necessary that they should so do. But when God will bring them to the mount, as he will here or hereafter, all these pretexts will vanish and disappear" (on Hebrews 12:18). For the thorough awakening of conscience, we must get a man alone—must, in some way or other, sever him from his ordinary surroundings.
2. A place of great sublimity. Travellers dwell with awe on its bare, desolate grandeur—on "the lengthened approach" to the mount, "as to some natural sanctuary." The mind, amidst such grandeur, is irresistibly drawn upwards. It is brought into the condition most fit for the reception of thoughts of the everlasting and sublime. How suitable was such a place for the promulgation of that moral law which Kant said affected him with such indescribable awe every time he thought of it! Every circumstance was present which could lend body, vastness, volume, impressiveness, and reduplicated sublimity to the terrors of the revelation. The "sound of the trumpet and the voice of words" would reverberate with strange power amid those rocky heights, and along the echoing valleys. The sternness of the environment was itself a commentary on the law's sanctities.
3. A place of barrenness. "It was a barren and fruitless desert, where there was little water or food, and, answerably thereunto, the law in a state of sin, would bring forth no fruit, nothing acceptable to God, nor useful to the souls of men." (Owen.) So entirely has the spirit of this scene—of this awful desert solitude—passed into the revelation connected with it, that the two can no longer be dissociated. Sinai, unconsciously to ourselves, acts upon us to this hour, in every contact of our minds with the truths of the law.
III. THE DESIGN OF THE STAY. Israel abode at Sinai for eleven months. During this period the nation enjoyed a season of rest, received the law, ratified its covenant with God, constructed a sanctuary, and was otherwise equipped and organised. It was a time of repose, of retired communion with God, of receptivity. Such times are very needful in the spiritual life.
1. Needful for all. The Christian toiler needs seasons of rest (Mark 6:31). His truest rest will be found in communion with God and study of his will. By-and-by the call will come, summoning him to renewed activity—"Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount," etc. (Deuteronomy 1:6).
2. Specially needful in the stage of spiritual history immediately succeeding conversion. Young converts will do well to ponder the example of Paul, who, after God had revealed his Son in him, and before entering on his work as an apostle, "went into Arabia," perhaps revisiting this very spot (Galatians 1:17). They are all the better for some such season of solitary communion with God as is represented by Israel's stay at Sinai. They need repose of mind. Like the Israelites, they have a covenant to ratify with God. Like the Israelites, they stand greatly in need of instruction. They need time for lengthened study of the Divine will. They need equipment and preparation for the trials they are afterwards to encounter. Their coming, it is true, is rather figured as a coming to Mount Sion, than as a coming to Mount Sinai (Hebrews 12:22); but none the less has Sinai important lessons which it will be for their interest not to overlook. The Christian who does not frequently in spirit visit Sinai will not readily understand his privileges at Sion. The following words of Dr. Candlish express important truth:—"Individually, by a separate process in each mind, a distinct spiritual change in every soul, God effects the rescue of his people. There cannot, therefore, be any general gathering together, in a literal sense, such as there was at Sinai. But practically, in a real though spiritual sense, every converted soul has to pass through an analogous spiritual crisis. It is a momentous crisis, as regards both the exodus and the pilgrimage; the escape he has made and the way he has to go. It is, in fact, the settlement, once for all, of the terms upon which he is henceforth to be with his God as his Sovereign Lord. It is his being confronted and brought face to face with God, in a new state and character, as redeemed by his grace, and ready for his work." ("Fatherhood of God.")—J.O.