The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 115

or rip;hteousness &nd truth. It is an Intensity of nature, a fi:re of zeal or jealousy, directed to the maintenance of these interests. Hence the re1p1irement that in pre- parnt ion for their meeting witt-. him at tho mount, the people shoul,\ "sanctify" thcm- 6elvos for two whole days (ver.. 10). The s11nctification enjoined wn.s mainly ext,m1al -tho washing of clothes, etc.; but this, in itself a sym 'Joi of the nee,! of heart purity, was doubtless to be attended with mental and spiritual preparatious. lloliness is to be studied by us in all our approaches to God. The unholy will not bo spurned by God, if they come to him in penitence, relying on his grace in Christ; but his end in receiving them is that he may make them holy, an,! holiness is the condition of subsequent fellowship (Hom. vi.; 2 Cor. v. 15; Eµh. i. 4; vi. 25-27; 1 '1.'hess. iv. 3; 'fitus ii. 11-15; Heb. xii. 14; 1 John i. 6, 7). 2. 1'he principle which gUO/T'da the Divine honour. Thus Martensen defines it-- "Holiness is the principle that guards the eternal distinction between Creator and creature, between God and man, in the union effected between them: it preserves the Divine dignity and majesty from being infringed upon." Hence the command to :ofoses to set bounds to the mountain, that the people might be kept back (vers. 12, 13). So stringently was this to be enforced, that if a man, or even a beast, should tonch the Lllountain, the trespasser was to be put to death. 'l.'he statement--"When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount" (ver. 13), is probably to be read in the light of ver. 17. The lesson taught is that of reverential awe of God. Even when we have the fullest confidence in approaching God as a Father, we ought not to allow ourselves to forget the infinite distance which still exists between him and us. Ow service is to be" with reverence and godly fear" (Heb. xii. 28). II. Gov's DEBOENT ON SINAI (vers. 16-19). God's descent on Mount Sinai was in fire (ver. 18), and with great terribleness. The scene, as described in these verses, is ,mfficiently awful. The adjuncts of the descent were-1. A. thick cloud upon the mount. 2. Thunders and lightnings. 3, The voice of a trumpet exceeding loud. 4. A. fire "burning unto the midst of heaven" (Deut. iv. 11). 5. Smoke as of a furnace-the result of the action of the fire. 6. The mountain quaking. This awfulness and terror are the more remarkable when we remember--(!) That what we have here is not God the Judge, arraigning before him trembling and convicted siW1ers, to pronounce on them sentence of doom; but a God of grace, summoning to his presence a people whom he loves, and has redeemed, and has just declared to be to him a peculiar treasure, above all people. (2) That the design of this manifestation is to give to Israel a law which shall be the bond of a covenant between him and them, and by which it is intended that they shall order their lives. The facts to be explained are-(1) That the pheno- mena alluded to are all of an alarming nature, and (2) That most of them have a sym- boUcal significance, whioh enhances the impression of terror. The fire, e.g., is the symbol of holiness. 'l'he thick cloud suggests mystery. lt tells also of how God must veil his glory from man, if man is not to be consumed by it. The smoke speaks of wrath ( Deut. xxix. 20). To the question thus raised, Why all this awfulness and terror? the fol- lowing answers may be made :-1. Law is the revelation of God's holiness. It is the expression of the demand of holiness. This is the one thing it has to do, to declare what are the requirements of holiness, and to enunciate these requirements in the form of commands to be obeyed. But in order that law may serve its ends, it must be given in its proper character as law with all the adjuncts of authority and majesty which right- fully belong to it, and without dilution or weakening of any kind. Ti.me enough, after the law has been given, and the constitution is firmly settled on its bases, to say how grace is to deal with such as fall short of the standard of its requirements. And, a.s formerly remarked, a revelation of law, at some period or other in the history of God's dealings with mankind, was plainly necessary-(!) That the full requirements of God's holiness should be made known. Nothing was to be gained by the establishment of a :mnstitution in which the requirements of holiness should be glozed over, veiled, treatc,l as non-existent, kept out of view. Sooner or later they IIlUSt be brought to light. 'l.'he relations of God with men could never be placed upon a satisfactory footing, till the fullest recognition had been accorded to them. If the breach between heaven ,u1,l earth is to be healed-healed thoroughly-it is not to be by ignoring the cla.ims of holiness, but by recognising them to the utmost, and then "devising rue,rns" whereb~-. in consistoncy with those claims, God's "blmishcd" may ,till not be " expcllc,l frc•Ul ] '..'() THE BOOK OF RXODlJS. [r-n. xrx. 9-25.