On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”
Comment: We all tend to forget things. Are ‘Israelis’ and ‘Jews’ synonyms? The answer is ‘NO’. Israelis are the descendants of Israel (the name which God gave Jacob). The word ‘Jew” comes from Judah one of the sons of Israel – thus if looking at it truthfully all Jews are Israelis but most Israelis are not Jews. All the people leaving Egypt were Israelis a few of them approximately one twelfth were Jews. So God is here calling Moses to talk to all the Israelis in the world (a few may have left for foreign lands but as they were slaves unlikely to be many). Not at this time, but if we know the history as revealed in the Bible the Jews were the ones who tended to stick more faithfully to their promises. This may seem irrelevant to today’s reading but after King David died it becomes very relevant because the Jews in Judah remained ‘faithful’ to the law given through Moses whereas the remained of the Israelis became Samaritans who followed a different ‘law’.
The mass of released Israeli slaves are but a few days out of slavery, but they are free from their Egyptian rulers. They are almost fairly described as a un-unified grumbling rabble, who need to become committed and taught why God has released them and what God’s plan for them is! In this passage we see them in the geographical Sinai wilderness and in the wilderness of lack of direction and instruction. That is about to change. God speaks to Moses and says that He will speak to the people and tells Moses to challenge them, by saying ‘if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ All the people in unison said “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” Did this answer come from the mouth only or did it begin in the heart?
Prayer: When I make promises to You, O God, help me to fulfill them even the bits in small writing which I didn’t bother to read!
As I read it! 