Jehovah God led the children of Israel through the wilderness with the heavenly and spiritual provision. When the children of Israel came to the wilderness, God fed them with the manna sent from heaven (Exo. 16:14-35), supplied them with the living water from the cleft rock (Exo. 17:5-6), and bore them as on eagles’ wings (Exo. 19:4) that they might journey through the wilderness. The manna sent from heaven is a type of Christ as the heavenly food to God’s people (John 6:51) that they might become heavenly people. The living water from the cleft rock is a type of Christ becoming the Spirit (1 Cor. 10:4) to quench the thirst of God’s people for their satisfaction. The eagles’ wings signify the grace of God by which they went out of Egypt and journeyed through the wilderness. Therefore, it was by the supply of grace, by the provision of the heavenly food and the spiritual living water, that Jehovah God brought the children of Israel through the wilderness.
After the fall of Adam, God revealed the way of His redemption to man, showing him that he could not be justified by God by his own works and that only by offering the sacrifices with the shedding of blood could he be acceptable to God (Gen. 4:3-4). God revealed this way of redemption again to the children of Israel in the matter of their keeping the Passover. God also promised Abraham that his seed, that is, Christ, would be a blessing to the nations of the earth (Gen. 22:18). This is the grace of God’s promise. God told the children of Israel to build an altar for the offering of sacrifices and to build the tabernacle (Exo. 20:24; 25:8) that this grace might be fulfilled in type. Hence, through the tabernacle and the offerings, both of which typify Christ, they were blessed to enjoy God as their eternal portion. Through the tabernacle God could speak to them, lead them, and dwell among them (Exo. 29:42, 45; Lev. 1:1; Num. 1:1). Therefore, it was according to the way of His redemption and the promise of His grace that Jehovah God led and dwelt among the children of Israel.
When the children of Israel came to the foot of Mount Sinai, they had already kept the Passover, slain the lamb, put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, and eaten the meat of the lamb with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This is an indication that the children of Israel, having been redeemed by God, were no longer under God’s judgment.
The children of Israel had also been delivered out of Egypt by the power of God. They had crossed the Red Sea and had been rescued from the tyranny and slavery of Pharaoh. Moreover, Pharaoh and his pursuing army had been drowned and buried in the Red Sea by the mighty hand of God. Thus, the children of Israel had been delivered out of Egypt.
The children of Israel had been brought through the wilderness by God’s grace. They had received the supply of God’s grace, as signified by the tree that changed the bitter water into sweet (Exo. 15:23-25), by the twelve springs of water at Elim (Exo. 15:27), by the manna that came down from heaven (Exo. 16:14-15, 31-32, 35), by the living water that flowed out of the cleft rock (Exo. 17:6), and by the pillars of cloud and of fire (Exo. 13:21). Thus they had passed through the wilderness and arrived at Mount Sinai.
The children of Israel had kept the Passover and had been redeemed by God, they had been rescued out of Egypt by God’s power, and they had been brought through the wilderness by God’s grace. However, because of their blindness, they knew neither the grace of God nor themselves, thinking that they were able to keep God’s commands by themselves. Therefore, at Mount Sinai God made a covenant with those who did not know themselves, the fifth covenant that He made with man.
All the way to Mount Sinai the children of Israel truly enjoyed God’s redemption, His powerful deliverance, and the leading of His grace. Therefore, God called to Moses from the mountain, saying, “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” (Exo. 19:4-6). When they heard these words of grace, they should have asked God to continue to deal with them in grace and to take care of them in everything. However, they neither knew the grace of God nor respected or trusted in the grace of God.