We have now arrived at a most momentous point in Israel's history. We
are called to behold them standing at the foot of "the mount that
might be touched, and that burned with fire." The fair millennial
scene which opened before us in the preceding chapter has passed away.
It was but a brief moment of sunshine in which a very vivid picture of
the kingdom was afforded; but the sunshine was speedily followed by
the heavy clouds which gathered around that "palpable mount," where
Israel, in a spirit of dark and senseless legality, abandoned
Jehovah's covenant of pure grace for man's covenant of works.
Disastrous movement! A movement fraught with the most dismal results.
Hitherto, as we have seen, no enemy could stand before Israel,--no
obstacle was suffered to interrupt their onward and victorious march.
Pharaoh's hosts were overthrown, Amalek and his people were
discomfited with the edge of the sword: all was victory, because God
was acting on behalf of His people, in pursuance of His promise to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In the opening verses of the chapter now before us, the Lord
recapitulates His actings toward Israel in the following touching and
beautiful language: "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and
tell the children of Israel: Ye have seen what I did unto the
Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto
Myself. Now, therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all
people; for all the earth is Mine. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation." (Ver. 3-6.) Observe, it is "_My voice_"
and "_My covenant_." What was the utterance of that "voice"? and what
did that "covenant" involve? Had Jehovah's voice made itself heard for
the purpose of laying down the rules and regulations of a severe and
unbending lawgiver? By no means. It had spoken to demand freedom for
the captive, to provide a refuge from the sword of the destroyer, to
make a way for the ransomed to pass over, to bring down bread from
heaven, to draw forth water out of the flinty rock;--such had been
the gracious and intelligible utterances of Jehovah's "voice" up to
the moment at which "Israel camped before the mount."
And as to His "covenant," it was one of unmingled grace. It proposed
no condition, it made no demands, it put no yoke on the neck, no
burden on the shoulder. When "the God of glory appeared unto Abraham,"
in Ur of the Chaldees, He certainly did not address him in such words
as, Thou shalt do this, and Thou shalt not do that. Ah, no; such
language was not according to the heart of God. It suits Him far
better to place "a fair mitre" upon a sinner's head than to "put a
yoke upon his neck." His word to Abraham was, "I WILL GIVE." The land
of Canaan was not to be purchased by man's doings, but to be given by
God's grace. Thus it stood; and in the opening of the book of Exodus,
we see God coming down in grace to make good His promise to Abraham's
seed. The condition in which He found that seed made no difference,
inasmuch as the blood of the lamb furnished Him with a perfectly
righteous ground on which to make good His promise. He evidently had
not promised the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed on the ground of
aught that He foresaw in them, for this would have totally destroyed
the real nature of a promise,--it would have made it a compact and not
a promise; "but God gave it to Abraham by promise," and not by
compact. (Read Gal. iii.)
Hence, in the opening of this nineteenth chapter, the people are
reminded of the grace in which Jehovah had hitherto dealt with them;
and they are also assured of what they should yet be, provided they
continued to hearken to Mercy's heavenly "voice," and to abide in the
"covenant" of free and absolute grace. "Ye shall be a peculiar
treasure unto Me above all people." How could they be this? Was it by
stumbling up the ladder of self-righteousness and legalism? Would they
be "a peculiar treasure" when blasted by the curses of a broken law--a
law which they had broken before ever they received it? Surely not.
How, then, were they to be this "peculiar treasure"? By standing in
that position in which Jehovah surveyed them when he compelled the
covetous prophet to exclaim, "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and
thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as
gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord
hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the
water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and
his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.
God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath, as it were, the strength
of an unicorn." (Numb. xxiv. 5-8.)
However, Israel was not disposed to occupy this blessed position.
Instead of rejoicing in God's "holy promise," they undertook to make
the most presumptuous vow that moral lips could utter. "All the people
answered together, and said, '_All that the Lord hath spoken, we will
do_.'" (Chap. xix. 8.) This was bold language. They did not even say,
We hope to do, or We will endeavor to do. This would have expressed a
measure of self-distrust. But no; they took the most absolute
ground.--"We will do." Nor was this the language of a few vain
self-confident spirits who presumed to single themselves out from the
whole congregation. No; "_all_ the people answered _together_." They
were unanimous in the abandonment of the "holy promise"--the "holy
covenant."
And now, observe the result. The moment Israel uttered their "singular
vow," the moment they undertook to "do," there was a total alteration
in the aspect of things. "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Lo, I come
unto thee _in a thick cloud_.... And thou shalt set bounds unto the
people, round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not
up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the
mount shall be surely put to death.'" This was a very marked change.
The One who had just said, "I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought
you unto Myself," now envelopes Himself "in a thick cloud," and says,
"Set bounds unto the people, round about." The sweet accents of grace
and mercy are exchanged for the "thunderings and lightnings" of the
fiery mount. Man had presumed to talk of his miserable doings in the
presence of God's magnificent grace. Israel had said, "We will do,"
and they must be put at a distance in order that it may be fully seen
what they are able to do. God takes the place of moral distance; and
the people are but too well disposed to have it so, for they are
filled with fear and trembling; and no marvel, for the sight was
"terrible,"--"so terrible, that Moses said, 'I exceedingly fear and
quake.'" Who could endure the sight of that "devouring fire," which
was the apt expression of divine holiness? "The Lord came from Sinai,
and rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Paran, and He
came with ten thousand of His saints; from His right hand went a fiery
law for them." (Deut. xxxiii. 2.) The term "fiery," as applied to the
law, is expressive of its holiness,--"Our God is a consuming
fire"--perfectly intolerant of evil, in thought, word, and deed.
Thus, then, Israel made a fatal mistake in saying, "We will do." It
was taking upon themselves a vow which they were not able, even were
they willing, to pay; and we know who has said, "Better that thou
shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay." It is of
the very essence of a vow that it assumes the competency to fulfill;
and where is man's competency? As well might a bankrupt draw a check
on the bank, as a helpless sinner make a vow. A man who makes a vow
denies the truth as to his nature and condition. He is ruined, what
can he do? He is utterly without strength, and can neither will nor do
any thing good. Did Israel keep their vow? Did they do "all that the
Lord commanded?" Witness the golden calf, the broken tables, the
desecrated Sabbath, the despised and neglected ordinances, the stoned
messengers, the rejected and crucified Christ, the resisted Spirit.
Such are the overwhelming evidences of man's dishonored vows. Thus
must it ever be when fallen humanity undertakes to vow.
Christian reader, do you not rejoice in the fact that your eternal
salvation rests not on your poor shadowy vows and resolutions, but on
"the one offering of Jesus Christ once"? Oh, yes, "this is our joy,
which ne'er can fail." Christ has taken all our vows upon Himself, and
gloriously discharged them forever. His resurrection-life flows
through His members and produces in them results which legal vows and
legal claims never could effect. He is our life, and He is our
righteousness. May His name be precious to our hearts. May His cause
ever command our energies. May it be our meat and our drink to spend
and be spent in His dear service.
I cannot close this chapter without noticing, in connection, a passage
in the book of Deuteronomy which may present a difficulty to some
minds. It has direct reference to the subject on which we have been
dwelling. "And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake
unto me; and the Lord said unto me, 'I have heard the voice of the
words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: _they have
well said all that they have spoken_.'" (Deut. v. 28.) From this
passage it might seem as though the Lord approved of their making a
vow; but if my reader will take the trouble of reading the entire
context, from verse twenty-four to twenty-seven, he will see at once
that it has nothing whatever to say to the vow, but that it contains
the expression of their terror at the consequences of their vow. They
were not able to endure that which was commanded. "If" said they, "we
hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For
who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou
near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou
unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will
hear it and do it." It was the confession of their own inability to
encounter Jehovah in that awful aspect which their proud legality had
led Him to assume. It is impossible that the Lord could ever commend
an abandonment of free and changeless grace for a sandy foundation of
"works of law."