Only One Mediator

Let us open our Bibles to Exodus 19. Now this is a major and supremely significant chapter of the Book of Exodus, not only for Israel, but for us today as it contains some eternal truths about the character of our God who never changes for He is perfect.

His methods may change as He adapts them to circumstances, but He is the same then, today and forever. One thing we are going to see throughout and repeatedly in this text is that understanding God’s ways is impossible without seeing our need for a mediator. Those who say that they themselves can go directly to God must read this chapter.

 

He, the Lord was surrounded by fire and smoke and the whole mountain where He was quaked violently. Accompanying that was an ever-increasing volume of the shofar (trumpet) blast. Moses did his best, but we are told that he, like all of Israel, was trembling (Heb. 12:21) at the sound and sight of His coming. You cannot have a fearful mediator, and this is when the question arises; since I cannot approach the Lord, who will be my perfect Mediator or am I lost forever?

 

Moses was a great man but in his confessed inability throughout the Torah to lead man to God, he himself would tell us that no man could be so powerful and so holy to do this job. So, we know to look forward to one even greater than Moses, one who would be that perfect mediator.

 

And this is only the beginning, for after Exodus 19, the Ten Commandments are given and then the laws, up to chapter 23, flow out. These laws put the bar so high and the wall of separation so thick between man and his God, that in the end the reader feels so powerless, so helpless and God remains far away and unreachable. It is then when we can understand that the only solution is that God Himself becomes our mediator. This is what the Torah brings us to grasp. Indeed, this is what He eventually did. What this section of Exodus does is prepare us to meet Yeshua and truly appreciate who He is and what He does, for He is the Messiah who reconciles us to the Father. Behind every verse, He is there to save.

 

Only He can bring each and every one of us, if we desire, to the other side of this fiery and loud wall of partition, to a great and wonderful God who is consistently so considerate and does everything in His power to bring as many as possible to a saving knowledge of His Son.

 

Let us begin by getting an overview of this highly powerful chapter. Three months after God redeemed Israel from Egypt, at Passover and through the blood of the lamb, He now makes a covenant with the nation. This is the moment of Israel’s election where He is about to tell us why He chose this nation.

So, in the first eight verses, the Lord asks them if they would agree to this. In vs.8 they agreed and responded with, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” This was only an agreement in principle, this was the steppingstone to the contract. No details were yet known or given. It was only once they concurred, that at this point, God decides to come. In preparation for His coming, He gives them three days to prepare themselves by way of some high demands found in vs.9-15.

 

For instance, during this time, they were specifically warned not to come too close to the mountain where He was to come down. Verse 12 alerts them that should they even touch the mountain, they would surely be put to death. That in itself was enough for Israel to seriously rethink the offer, for nothing was yet signed. The people however, still held on to it. Then, beginning in vs.16 until the end of the chapter, the Lord comes down on Mount Sinai and wow, it is so powerful. This is when the whole mountain was in smoke with burning fire. It was so hot, it says, that it was like the fire of a furnace. With it, there was flashing lightning, a crashing thunder and the sound of the shofar which grew louder and louder. It was so powerfully overwhelming that Israel called to Moses saying, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” Exodus 20:19

We see that they understood the need for a mediator and despite this wonderful show of force, they held on to their promise to do all that the Lord had spoken for right after the whole section of the law, they again confirmed and said in Exodus 24:3, All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!

They did not refuse, nor did they run away, and thank God for this remnant. For throughout history, and through so much suffering, persecution and death, Israel did fulfill her mission in bringing us the Word of God and our Savior.

 

Many may be surprised by those who stand for and defend this nation. So much negativity surrounds them, but within this nation there was always a core remnant. These are people who carried out this wonderful mission, beginning with Abraham and then through an arduous 2000-year history, we are bought to the 12 disciples. We are then propelled forward in time to the 144,000 who will show up very soon on this planet. We then include the remnant in the Millennium, and finally we have the presence of the Jewish nation in the Eternal State.

Israel did, is doing and will do her work. So, in the end, Israel accepted, and we are so blessed today for it.

This, by the way is very much Paul’s argument from the Book of Romans. As there was so much antisemitism rising in the churches then, as it is today, the first thing Paul does is defend Israel.  See what he says in Romans 3:2, Then what advantage has the Jew?

Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. The divine oracles of God are what is contained in our Bibles, and this is the first blessing we all received from Israel. They did a great job in keeping it, and maintaining its original script received from the Lord. Even though the majority of Jewish people did not obey God, that does not change anything.

 

Click Here for the Teaching on Exodus -2024, Sermon 19: All the Words God has Spoken, We Will Do!