After the Israelites were set free from the bondage of Egypt, they traveled for two months in the desert and then reached the foot of Mount Sinai. They had experienced one demonstration of God’’s grace after another during those two months, and this is the message that God gave to Moses to deliver to them:
“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’” (Exodus 19:3-6)1
Notice that God wanted them near: “I brought you to Myself.” What covenant did He want them to “keep”? The covenant of GRACE that God made with Himself on behalf of Abraham and his descendants. The covenant of faith for righteousness. Notice the word “IF you will.., then you will be a special treasure…” What is the IF about? It’s about believing. If they had only believed in the faithfulness of God, they could have continued in the Abrahamic Covenant. Instead they made this statement:
“All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” (Exodus 19:8)
That actually sounds commendable, doesn’t it? In fact, I would agree wholeheartedly with the truth that we should do everything the Lord says to do. So what is the problem with the Israelites’ response? If we look into the meaning of their promise, “we will do,” we see that it was actually a promise of faithfulness according to their OWN ability, not the faithfulness of God to keep His covenant with them. The phrase “we will do” means “to make, to produce by LABOR.”2 In other words, they were saying, “Whatever You tell us to do, God, we can do it. Whatever is required of us, we are certainly fully capable of performing.” They may have come out of Egypt, but Egypt wasn’t out of them.
Just two chapters before in the test of the manna, they proved that they did not trust the faithfulness of God. They had failed the test of believing that He would take care of them like He had when He delivered them through the Red Sea and as He had blessed their father Abraham everywhere he went.
I have often wondered how SHOULD they have responded? I believe they should have said something like this: “Yes, keep on carrying us on eagle’s wings! We want to be near You! We want to be under the covenant You made with our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All that the Lord has spoken, we BELIEVE! We put all our hope and trust in You!”
The people boasted with confidence, not in God’s ability, but in their own. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, they bought into the lie that they could be like God independent of Him. By that one statement “All that the Lord has commanded, we will DO,” everything changed.
Do you want God to carry you on eagle’s wings? All you have to do is let go. You are a king in His kingdom. You are a priest in His sanctuary. You are a special treasure of immeasurable value, and He will surely take good care of you. Trust Him, and obey His voice. He won’t lead you down a path of destruction. He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
(from pages 219-220 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
2H6213 (`asah), Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H6213&t=KJV, accessed 7-5-14 “
