3. He must order the people to attend upon the summons that should be given; (v. 13.) "When the trumpet soundeth long, then let them take their places at the foot of the mount, and so sit down at God's feet," as it is explained, Deut. 33. 3. Never was so great a congregation called together, and preached to, at once, as this was here. No one man's voice could have reached so many, but the voice of God did.
16. And it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20. And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 21. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. 22. And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. 23. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 24. And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down; and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. 25. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.
Now, at length, is come that memorable day, that terrible day of the Lord, that day of judgment, in which Israel heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire, and lived, Deut. 4. 33. Never was there such a sermon preached, before or since, as this which was here preached to the church in the wilderness. For,
I. The Preacher was God himself; (v. 18.) The Lord descended in fire, and, (v. 20.) The Lord came down upon mount Sinai. The Shechinah, or Glory of the Lord, appeared in the sight of all the people; he shined forth from mount Paran, with ten thousands of his saints, (Deut. 33. 2.) that is, attended, as the Divine Majesty always is, with a multitude ofthe holy angels, who were both to grace the solemnity, and to assist it. Hence the law is said to be given by the disposition of angels, Acts, 7.53.
II. The pulpit (or throne rather) was mount Sinai hung with a thick cloud, (v. 16.) covered with smoke, (v. 18.) and made to quake greatly. Now it was that the earth trembled at the presence of the Lord, and the mountains skipped like rams; (Ps, 114. 4, 7.) that Sinai itself, the rough and rocky, melted from before the Lord God of Israel, Judg. 5, 5. Now it was that the mountains saw him, and trembled, (Hab. 3. 10.) and were witnesses against a hard-hearted unmoved people, whom nothing would influence.
III. The congregation was called together by the sound of a trumpet, exceeding loud, (v. 16.) and waxing louder and louder, v. 19. This was done by the ministry of the angels, and we read of trumpets sounded by angels, Rev. 8. 6. It was the sound of the trumpet that made all the people tremble, as those who knew their own guilt, and that they had reason to expect that the sound of this trumpet should have been to them the alarm of war.
IV. Moses brought the hearers to the place of meeting, v. 17. He that had led them out ofthe bondage of Egypt, now led them to receive the law from God's mouth. Public persons are then public blessings, when they lay put themselves in their places to promote the public worship of God. Moses, at the head of an assembly worshipping God, was as truly great, as Moses at the head of an army in the field.
V. The introductions to the service were thunders and lightnings, v. 16. These were designed to strike an awe upon the people, and to raise and engage their attention. Were they asleep? The thunders would waken them. Were they looking another way? The lightnings would engage them to turn their faces toward him that spake to them. Thunder and lightning have natural causes, but the scripture directs us in a particular manner to take notice of the power of God, and his terror, in them. Thunder is the voice of God, and lightning the fire of God, proper to engage the senses of sight and hearing, those senses by which we receive so much of our information.
VI. Moses is God's minister, who is spoken to, to command silence, and keep the congregation in order; (v. 19.) Moses spake. Some think that it was now that he said, I exceedingly fear and quake; (Heb. 12. 21.) but God stilled his fear by his distinguishing favour to him, in calling him up to the top of the mount, (v. 20.) by which also he tried his faith and courage. No sooner was Moses got up a little way toward the top of the mount, than he was sent down again to keep the people from breaking through to gaze, v. 21. Even the priests or princes, the heads of the houses of their fathers, who officiated for their respective families, and therefore are said to come near to the Lord at other times, must now keep their distance, and conduct themselves with a great deal of caution. Moses pleads that they needed not to have any further orders given them, effectual care was taken already to prevent any intrusions, v. 23. But God, who knew their wilfulness and presumption, and what was now in the hearts of some of them, hastens him down with this in charge, that neither the priests nor the people should offer to force the lines which were set, to come up unto the Lord, but Moses and Aaron only, the men whom God delighted to honour. Observe, 1. What it was that God forbade them—breaking through to gaze; enough was provided to awaken their consciences, but they were not allowed to gratify their vain curiosity. They might see, but not gaze. Some of them, probably, were desirous to see some similitude, that they might know how to make an image of God, which he took care to prevent, for they saw no manner of similitude, Deut. 4. 15. Note, In divine things, we must not covet to know more than God would have us know; and he has allowed us as much as is good
