Exodus 19:7-8 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.… The subject of this paragraph (vers. 7-24) is God's revelation of Himself, — the call to receive it, the manner in which it was made. I. WHEN GOD REVEALS HIMSELF MAN IS SUMMONED TO ATTEND. This is uniformly God's method. First the call, then the revelation. "Hear, O Israel," then, "the Lord thy God is one Lord." "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him," then the New Testament dispensation. Moses was a type of the ministry of the Son of Man, and an example to Christian ministers in the manner in which he summoned men to God. He spoke — 1. Authoritatively. 2. Clearly. 3. Completely. 4. Successfully. 5. Moses spoke for the people to God.So does Christ combine our poor prayers with the mighty eloquence of His intercession. II. WHEN GOD REVEALS HIMSELF, MAN MUST BE PREPARED FOR THE REVELATION (ver. 10-15). 1. Man must attend to the herald who proclaims God's coming. 2. Man must be prepared by personal sanctification. 3. Man must be prepared by a ready acquiescence in all that God commands. 4. Man must be prepared at the appointed time. "Be ready against the third day."(1) God has now appointed times in which He promises to reveal Himself to men. The Lord's day. All times of duty and religious privilege. Let no man be unprepared, or plead excuses, or make other engagements. (2) God has now appointed times which He has not chosen to reveal. Death, judgment. We "know not the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh." Hence the wisdom of immediate and constant preparation. "Watch and pray." III. WHEN GOD REVEALS HIMSELF IT IS IN A MANNER SUITED TO THE OCCASION. It was necessary that He should speak to men who for years had been surrounded by idolatrous associations, and who had become debased by years of servitude, in a most solemn, startling, and impressive form. God has other methods than those employed here. Abraham, Elijah. Bethlehem, Pentecost, Patmos, etc. So in each individual ease. Learn then — 1. To listen when God speaks. Faith has a faculty not only of sight, but of hearing. 2. When God calls obey that call, and be prepared for the public revelation which that call precedes. "God now commandeth everyman to repent" (2 Corinthians 7:1). 3. Receive God's revelation of Himself in His own way, (J. W. Burn.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. |
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