In the fellowship with the Lord we also begin to know the holiness of God (19:10-24). Exodus 19 shows the seriousness of honoring God’s holiness. We must sanctify ourselves because God Himself is holy, and the place where He dwells is a holy place. In Exodus 19 Mount Sinai was a holy mountain because God had descended upon it. Because the mountain was holy, a boundary was set which the children of Israel were not permitted to cross. In verse 21 the Lord said unto Moses, “Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto Jehovah to gaze, and many of them perish” (Heb.). Moses answered, “The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it” (v. 23). To this, the Lord replied, “Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee” (v. 24). Only Moses and Aaron were privileged to cross the border. To be sure, they knew that their God was a holy God. Elsewhere the Lord charges the people, “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). Because God is holy, the people had to sanctify themselves. To serve a holy God they had to be a holy people.
We should not take this word about God’s holiness as a mere doctrine. If you consider your experience, you will see that in fellowship with the Lord you are first grateful to Him for His mercy and grace. Then you come to realize the need of holiness. In God’s presence we must be holy. If we would remain in fellowship with Him, we must sanctify ourselves and everything related to us. We must not cross the border of God’s holiness. This is a very important lesson found in Exodus 19.
Because this chapter presents the details of fellowship with God, I appreciate it very much. I can testify that what it records corresponds to my experience. After I know the Lord’s grace, I sense the need of holiness, of sanctification. Sanctification is the experiential aspect of holiness. When God’s holiness becomes our experience, that is sanctification. We need to be separated from the world unto God. This is to honor the boundary of God’s holiness. However, we all can testify that we lose the fellowship with God whenever we violate the boundary of His holiness. Only when we maintain holiness will our fellowship with God continue.
In fellowship with God we become God’s personal possession and peculiar treasure (19:5). The Hebrew expression in verse 5 has a double meaning; it means both personal possession and peculiar treasure. For example, a sister may possess a very precious ring. That ring is her personal possession and also her peculiar treasure. She would not trade it for anything. Likewise, when God’s redeemed people were brought into God’s presence, they became His personal possession and peculiar treasure. Oh, we can become God’s personal possession! We can become so dear and precious to Him that we become His peculiar treasure. This shows what intimate affection exists in our fellowship with God. Our fellowship with the Lord must reach the point that we enjoy such intimate affection with Him and He with us that God would say that we are His peculiar treasure, His personal possession. How intimate, dear, and precious! When we enter into such fellowship with God, He considers us as such a treasure and possession.
According to 19:6, the children of Israel were to be unto the Lord a kingdom of priests. As we stay in the Lord’s presence, we become a kingdom of priests to Him. What is portrayed concerning this in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. We, the believers, are a kingdom of priests unto God (Rev. 1:6). As priests, we live in God’s presence, enjoying Him as our portion, even as He enjoys us as His treasure. This is a mutual enjoyment. If such a thing could exist in Old Testament times, how much more should it be our experience in the New Testament age! What is depicted in the Old Testament is merely a picture; in the New Testament we have the reality. Praise the Lord that we are God’s peculiar treasure and priests enjoying Him as everything to us!
Eventually, we become a holy nation (19:6). The mutual enjoyment between God and His people separates them unto Himself. Nothing so separates us unto God as this mutual enjoyment. When God enjoys us as His peculiar treasure and we enjoy Him as everything to us, we are absolutely separated from everything other than God unto God Himself. As a result, we become a holy nation.
Exodus 19 is a precious chapter. Yes, it does speak of thunder, cloud, and smoke. If we do not care for the holiness of God, we shall experience these things. However, Moses and Aaron were not afraid of the thunder. They realized that the thunder, cloud, and smoke were not for them. Their portion was God’s presence with His speaking and enjoyment. We need not be afraid of God, for He treasures us as His personal possession. We are priests unto Him and a holy nation. What need have we to be afraid?
What a tremendous difference there is between Exodus 1 and Exodus 19! In chapter one God’s people were in Egypt under the tyranny of Pharaoh. But in chapter nineteen they are at the mountain of God, having become God’s peculiar treasure. Here they enjoy God to the uttermost and they are separated unto Him. Although we thank the Lord for this picture, we thank Him all the more that we today may enjoy the reality, the fulfillment.