Exodus 19:4

_AND MOSES WENT UP UNTO GOD, AND THE LORD CALLED UNTO HIM OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN, SAYING, THUS SHALT THOU SAY TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB, AND TELL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL;_ Moses went up unto God - the Shechinah, within the cloud (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18). From the encampment in Er Rehab, the point of his departure, Moses would probably go through the Wady Lejah or Wady Shuweib; then climbing the side of the mount by a winding ascent, perhaps the route usually taken in the present day in scaling it, he would arrive at the broad platform in front of the highest Peak of Sinai. It is a wide, open space, entirely secluded from view; and while in that elevated solitude, he was summoned by the voice of Yahweh to receive the pattern of that theocracy which was now to be established in Israel. It appears that in

4._Ye have seen. _With the view of gently inviting the people to obedience, He first recalls to their recollection the blessing of their deliverance, and then promises that the blessings of the future would be not inferior, if they on their part honored their deliverer with the piety and gratitude which belong to Him. He recounts the two parts of His loving-kindness, first that He had exerted His tremendous power against the Egyptians, and secondly, that He had marvelously brought His redeemed people through the sea, and the mighty wilderness, as through the clouds and the air; for this was an instance of His inestimable grace, that He had made war against a most powerful king, had afflicted a most flourishing nation, and had devastated a land remarkable for its extreme fertility, in order to succor a body of despised slaves. For there was no dignity in them, who first of all were strang...

1-8 Moses was called up the mountain, and was employed as the messenger of this covenant. The Maker and first Mover of the covenant, is God himself. This blessed charter was granted out of God's own free grace. The covenant here mentioned was the national covenant, by which the Israelites were a people under the government of Jehovah. It was a type of the new covenant made with true believers in Christ Jesus; but, like other types, it was only a shadow of good things to come. As a nation they broke this covenant; therefore the Lord declared that he would make a new covenant with Israel, writing his law, not upon tables of stone, but in their hearts, Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:7. The covenant spoken of in these places as ready to vanish away, is the national covenant with Israel, which they forfeited by their si...

Verse Exodus 19:4. HOW _I BARE YOU ON EAGLES' WINGS_] Mr. Bruce contends that the word נשר _nesher_ does not mean the bird we term _eagle_; but a bird which the Arabs, from its _kind_ and _merciful_ disposition, call _rachama_, which is noted for its care of its young, and its carrying them upon its back. See his Travels, vol. vii., pl. 33. It is not unlikely that from this part of the sacred history the heathens borrowed their fable of the _eagle_ _being a bird sacred to Jupiter_, and which was employed to carry the souls of departed heroes, kings, c., into the celestial regions. The Romans have struck several medals with this device, which may be seen in different cabinets, among which are the following: one of _Faustina_, daughter of _Antoninus Pius_, on the reverse of which she is represented ascending to heaven on the back of a...

ON EAGLES’ WINGS - Both in the law Deuteronomy 32:11 and in the Gospel Matthew 23:37, the Church is compared to fledgelings which the mother cherishes and protects under her wings: but in the law that mother is an eagle, in the Gospels “a hen”; thus shadowing forth the diversity of administration under each covenant: the one of power, which God manifested when He brought His people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and led them into the promised land; the other of grace, when Christ came in humility and took the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. Compare also Revelation 12:14....

EXPOSITION THE FIRST COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND ISRAEL. AS Moses, having reached the foot of Sinai, was proceeding to ascend the mountain, where he looked to have special revelations from God, God called to him out of the mountain, and required a positive engagement on the part of the people, before he would condescend to enter into further direct relations with them. If, through gratitude for what had been done for them in the deliverance from Egypt, and since, they would solemnly engage to obey God and keep the covenant that he should make with them (Exodus 19:5), then a fresh revelation should be made, and fresh engagements entered into; but not otherwise. Moses communicated the message to the people through the alders, and rece

YE HAVE SEEN WHAT I DID TO THE EGYPTIANS,.... The plagues he brought upon them in Egypt, and the destruction of them at the Red sea; these things they were eyewitnesses of, and needed no other proof or evidence to convince and assure them of them, and therefore must be under obligation to attend to what he was about to recommend unto them, for which reason this is observed: AND [HOW] I BARE YOU ON EAGLES' WINGS; that is, as on eagles' wings, the note of similitude being wanting, but to be supplied; for it cannot be thought that they were literally bore on eagles' wings; but as that creature is reported to be very affectionate to its young, and careful of it, and, as is said, only to one; for, having more, it will cast away all but one, and reserve that, which it carefully nourishes; and being swift of flight, and strong of wing, it will in a remarkable manner take its young upon it, and...

EXODUS 19. AWFUL REVELATION OF GOD IN FIRE AND CLOUD. Exodus 19:1 a P, Exodus 19:2 b - Exodus 19:3 a E, Exodus 19:3 b - Exodus 19:6 Rd, Exodus 19:7 a E, Exodus 19:11 b - Exodus 19:13 J, Exodus 19:14 E,...

I BARE YOU, &c. Compare Deuteronomy 32:11; Deuteronomy 32:12....

DISCOURSE: 91 MOSES’ MESSAGE TO THE ISRAELITES Exodus 19:3. _And Moses went up unto God: and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shall thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 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 mitt 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 an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel._ WE cannot but admire God’s condescension in noticing our fallen race. When we see him renewing to them his acts of kindness after repeated instances of ingratitude, we are yet more amazed: but when we behold him entering into covenant with the most rebel