The Calling of Isra’el
19: 3-9
The calling of Isra’el DIG: What is the segulah and how does it relate to the wedding of Isra’el to ADONAI? What does God expect from the leadership of Isra’el? What does He promise will result? What right does the LORD have to dictate the terms of this Covenant?
REFLECT: What barriers has Yeshua set aside so that we can draw near to God with confidence (see Hebrews 10:19-23)? What does Peter urge us to do to become a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, belonging to God (First Peter 2:9)?
This territory was not new to Moses. He had lived nearby with his father-in-law for forty years and it was here that he had met ADONAI at the burning bush. Notice how Moses seemed eager to seek another interview with God on the same holy ground. He went up to the mountain, but did not yet climb it. Then Moshe went up to meet with God at Mount Sinai, and ADONAI called to him from the mountain. It is interesting that God instantly responded to Moshe and He is also eager to respond to us. When we come near to God, He will come near to us (James 4:8).346
God Himself was responsible for Isra’el’s redemption. And He wanted them to remember what He had done in destroying Egypt and bringing them to Himself. This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Isra’el, “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (19:3-4). The expression, eagles’ wings, is a Hebrew idiom that means a successful escape after being pursued. You can find it in Deuteronomy 32:11 and Revelation 12:14, with the same meaning. So on the way from Egypt to Mount Sinai, ADONAI had carried them on eagles’ wings by grace. He sweetened the bitter waters of Marah, He gave them manna and quail when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty, and He delivered them from the Amalekites.
Not only were the Israelites to remember what the LORD had done for them, but also that memory was to motivate them to obey.347 He promised: If you obey Me fully and keep My Covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Even though all the earth is God’s, yet Isra’el was His private cherished treasure above all other peoples if they would obey. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (19:5-6). The whole concept of a chosen people arises from these statements. God did not merely give the Torah to save Isra’el. He gave the Torah so that they might know how to live for Him and be His treasured possession.348
There’s going to be a wedding! The engagement (Exodus 6:7a) and the separation of the bride (Exodus 5:1), have already taken place. Now we have the segulah. Exodus presents a very moving scene where the Groom (YHVH) took His would-be bride to a beautifully secluded spot and spoke kind and tender words to her, telling her how much He loved her. One of the words He calls her in English is treasured possession (19:5), but the Hebrew word is segulah. It is a very picturesque word. In ancient times it was used in Canaanite literature to describe what a king would think concerning the possessions he may have gained when he conquered another people. He would have many new valuable objects, but only a few choice ones would he classify as segulot (plural of segulah). These, he considered the most prized possessions which he treated with special care and kept under special protection. Thus, Exodus 19:5 states the King of kings possesses all of the earth, but only Isra’el does He consider to be His special, loved and treasured possession – His segulah.349
Not only wold Isra’el be God’s treasured possession, but she would also be for Him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Ha’Shem’s representative, as it were, for and to other Gentile nations (19:6). Summarizing what the Eternal One was telling Isra’el, His bride, we see that not only would Isra’el enjoy the unique status of being God’s treasured possession, but she would also have both the privilege and responsibility to “show-and-tell” the Gentile nations of the world who ADONAI really was. In short, Isra’el was/is to be a nation among the other nations serving as a perpetual witness and testimony of the one true God. How much this would actually happen is the object of much debate. But the fact of her calling is certain.
Imagine how it would have been if, on the night of your wedding engagement, your potential spouse told you in lovingly enduring terms exactly what God’s plans for your marriage would be – glorious, meaningful, and praiseworthy plant! This is exactly what the LORD was telling Isra’el. He described, in most definite terms, what their marriage would be like. Since the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was the One who formulated this marriage, in one way or another, these plans would ultimately be carried out with Isar’el.
So Moses descended from the mountain. He went back to the camp of Isra’el and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words ADONAI had commanded him to speak (19:7). They were free to either accept or reject God’s offer, and although the specific terms of the covenant had not yet been spelled out to them, the people at Sinai agreed to obey them. The people all responded together, saying: We will do everything ADONAI has said. So Moses brought their answer back to God (19:8). How little Isra’el understood their own frailty and proneness to sin when they so readily and almost flippantly consented to the condition of obedience. Within a few weeks they had broken every one of commandment in the Torah, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9).350
They said, “Bring it on. We’ll keep the Torah,” even before they even knew what it was. Then they demonstrated for fifteen hundred years that they could not keep it. This is the attitude of a great many people today. They think the natural man, with his old nature can please God. But the natural man cannot keep the commandments of YHVH and he fails miserably in the attempt. You and I have that same old nature and it is at war with God. It can never be obedient to God and can never please Him. Have you discovered that in your own life? Have you found that you are a failure at meeting God’s standards? Well, there is good news. Therefore the Torah became our guardian to lead us to Messiah, so that we might be made right based on trusting (Galatians 3:24 TLV).
ADONAI said to Moshe His prophet: I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear Me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you. The physical manifestation of God’s presence was for the benefit of the weak Israelites. The people, since leaving Egypt, had been walking by sight and not by faith. They needed physical, visual assurances. As a result, then, of the Sh’khinah glory, the people will believe in, trust in, and have faith in Moshe. In other words, when the people heard ADONAI speaking to Moshe, there would be no doubt that Moses needed to be believed when He spoke. Then Moses told God what the people had said (19:9).
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