And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
Even those set apart to draw near to God must consecrate themselves and be made holy before approaching Him, or His presence will break out against them in judgment and destroy them. The command was given when God came down on Mount Sinai amid fire and thunder and thick cloud and quaking, with angels attending Him, so that all the camp trembled before His unveiled majesty. Moses was sent back down to bound the mountain and forbid people and priests from breaking through to look upon God, for the ground where He stood was holy and could not be approached carelessly. This strict guarding of His holiness was the direct preparation for speaking the Ten Commandments, to impress reverence for God and the binding authority of His law.
Sinai Setting and Warning
Soon after the encampment at Sinai Moses alone climbed the steep path to meet God in the cloud marking His presence, when Israel was to be taken into a close and peculiar relation to be incorporated as a church and a nation under God's government. Through Moses God offered that obedience and covenant-keeping would make them a treasure above all people and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and the elders answered that they would do all the Lord had spoken, entering a solemn covenant to accept Him as ruler and becoming in a special sense subjects of His authority. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai before the mighty host of Israel to give His law with wonderful promises if they would observe His commandments. This followed their deliverance from Egyptian slavery to give them a knowledge of God they had never had and evidence that He was God, so that they would believe and know that He is the only true and living God.
He descended in awful grandeur in fire amid thunders and lightnings and thick cloud and smoke and quaking and earthquake and a trumpet voice exceeding loud so that all in the camp trembled. A glorious retinue of angels attended the divine Majesty appearing as flames of fire, the smoke ascended as from a furnace and the whole mount quaked greatly. He drew near in thick cloud and thick darkness shielding the people from His glory so they could hear Him without being destroyed. Moses brought the people to the lower part of the mount, spoke and was answered by a voice, was called to the top, and was then sent down. He was not permitted to enter within the cloud of glory but only to draw near and enter the surrounding darkness, standing between the people and the Lord.
The verse was part of the charge to set bounds around the mount and sanctify it and forbid breaking through to gaze upon the Lord lest many perish, because God was in the mount and would not bear iniquity. Moses answered that the people could not come up because the mount was bounded and sanctified, and God answered that Moses and Aaron alone should come up while priests and people must not break through. This was a renewed warning that the mountain was holy and its bounds had to be respected before He revealed His law. Even the priests who come near to the Lord must sanctify, consecrate, and set themselves apart, because coming near to God requires consecration, reverence, and obedience to His commands. His holy presence is dangerous to approach carelessly or without preparation and the required holiness, lest He break forth upon them in judgment and they perish.
Law and Holy Living
This solemn guarding of God's holiness was the immediate preparation for the giving of the Ten Commandments and the revealing of His law to Israel. Even the priests who came near to the Lord had to sanctify and consecrate themselves, because His holy presence was dangerous to approach carelessly or without preparation. When He descended in fire amid thunder and lightning and thick cloud and smoke and earthquake and an exceeding loud trumpet voice, Moses was charged to go down and keep the people from breaking through the bounds to gaze, lest many perish. Moses answered that the people could not come up because the mount was bounded and sanctified, and the answer came that Moses and Aaron alone should come up while priests and people must not break through, and all this was to impress upon Israel reverence for God and the authority of His law amid the cloud that shielded them from His glory.
The verse belongs to instruction given at Sinai that people are to obey as a divine standard teaching obedience and sanctification. The Lord is the only true God and demands obedience to His Word, and these laws guard against injustice and guide people in their dealings with one another. Christ gave this preparatory instruction for the people to receive God's law, which grounds teaching on God's requirements including observance of the seventh day and the command to keep the Sabbath holy. The nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Exodus are of great importance and should often be repeated with their instruction sacredly observed. At a time when Satan uses every device to draw people away from truth and righteousness, all who would stand on the Lord's side keep holy the memorial of creation, the seventh day appointed as rest after the six days of creation work, blessed and sanctified.
Even those set apart to draw near to God must consecrate themselves and be made holy before approaching Him, or His presence will break out against them in judgment and destroy them. The command was given when God came down on Mount Sinai amid fire and thunder and thick cloud and quaking, with angels attending Him, so that all the camp trembled before His unveiled majesty. Moses was sent back down to bound the mountain and forbid people and priests from breaking through to look upon God, for the ground where He stood was holy and could not be approached carelessly. This strict guarding of His holiness was the direct preparation for speaking the Ten Commandments, to impress reverence for God and the binding authority of His law.
Sinai Setting and Warning
Soon after the encampment at Sinai Moses alone climbed the steep path to meet God in the cloud marking His presence, when Israel was to be taken into a close and peculiar relation to be incorporated as a church and a nation under God's government. Through Moses God offered that obedience and covenant-keeping would make them a treasure above all people and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and the elders answered that they would do all the Lord had spoken, entering a solemn covenant to accept Him as ruler and becoming in a special sense subjects of His authority. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai before the mighty host of Israel to give His law with wonderful promises if they would observe His commandments. This followed their deliverance from Egyptian slavery to give them a knowledge of God they had never had and evidence that He was God, so that they would believe and know that He is the only true and living God.
He descended in awful grandeur in fire amid thunders and lightnings and thick cloud and smoke and quaking and earthquake and a trumpet voice exceeding loud so that all in the camp trembled. A glorious retinue of angels attended the divine Majesty appearing as flames of fire, the smoke ascended as from a furnace and the whole mount quaked greatly. He drew near in thick cloud and thick darkness shielding the people from His glory so they could hear Him without being destroyed. Moses brought the people to the lower part of the mount, spoke and was answered by a voice, was called to the top, and was then sent down. He was not permitted to enter within the cloud of glory but only to draw near and enter the surrounding darkness, standing between the people and the Lord.
The verse was part of the charge to set bounds around the mount and sanctify it and forbid breaking through to gaze upon the Lord lest many perish, because God was in the mount and would not bear iniquity. Moses answered that the people could not come up because the mount was bounded and sanctified, and God answered that Moses and Aaron alone should come up while priests and people must not break through. This was a renewed warning that the mountain was holy and its bounds had to be respected before He revealed His law. Even the priests who come near to the Lord must sanctify, consecrate, and set themselves apart, because coming near to God requires consecration, reverence, and obedience to His commands. His holy presence is dangerous to approach carelessly or without preparation and the required holiness, lest He break forth upon them in judgment and they perish.
Law and Holy Living
This solemn guarding of God's holiness was the immediate preparation for the giving of the Ten Commandments and the revealing of His law to Israel. Even the priests who came near to the Lord had to sanctify and consecrate themselves, because His holy presence was dangerous to approach carelessly or without preparation. When He descended in fire amid thunder and lightning and thick cloud and smoke and earthquake and an exceeding loud trumpet voice, Moses was charged to go down and keep the people from breaking through the bounds to gaze, lest many perish. Moses answered that the people could not come up because the mount was bounded and sanctified, and the answer came that Moses and Aaron alone should come up while priests and people must not break through, and all this was to impress upon Israel reverence for God and the authority of His law amid the cloud that shielded them from His glory.
The verse belongs to instruction given at Sinai that people are to obey as a divine standard teaching obedience and sanctification. The Lord is the only true God and demands obedience to His Word, and these laws guard against injustice and guide people in their dealings with one another. Christ gave this preparatory instruction for the people to receive God's law, which grounds teaching on God's requirements including observance of the seventh day and the command to keep the Sabbath holy. The nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Exodus are of great importance and should often be repeated with their instruction sacredly observed. At a time when Satan uses every device to draw people away from truth and righteousness, all who would stand on the Lord's side keep holy the memorial of creation, the seventh day appointed as rest after the six days of creation work, blessed and sanctified.