Exodus 19:9

_AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, LO, I COME UNTO THEE IN A THICK CLOUD, THAT THE PEOPLE MAY HEAR WHEN I SPEAK WITH THEE, AND BELIEVE THEE FOR EVER. AND MOSES TOLD THE WORDS OF THE PEOPLE UNTO THE LORD._ Lo, I come ... in a thick cloud ... The deepest impressions are made on the mind through the medium of the senses; and so He who knew what was in man signalized His descent at the inauguration of the ancient church by all the sensible tokens of august Majesty that were fitted to produce the conviction that He is the great and terrible God. The whole multitude must have anticipated the event with feelings of intense solemnity and awe. The extraoradinary preparations enjoined, the ablutions and rigid abstinence they were required to observe, the barriers erected all round the base of the mount, and the stern penalties annexed to the breach of any of the conditions, all tended to create an ea...

9._And the Lord said unto Moses. _God here proclaims, that by a manifest symbol of His glory, He will make it evident that the Law proceeded not from Moses, but that he merely delivered faithfully what he received from heaven; for God was so covered with the cloud, as with a veil that He still upraised their minds as by a certain sign of His presence. On this was the authority of Moses founded, that the Israelites knew God to be the author of the doctrine, of which he was the minister. And this is especially worth remarking, because we gather from hence that there is no other mode of proving a doctrine, except by the assurance that it comes not from elsewhere, but from God alone; and thus is every mortal brought down to his level, lest any one, however excellent in wisdom, should dare to advance his own imaginations. For if the mightiest of prophets, Moses, obtained credit in the Church...

9-15 The solemn manner in which the law was delivered, was to impress the people with a right sense of the Divine majesty. Also to convince them of their own guilt, and to show that they could not stand in judgment before God by their own obedience. In the law, the sinner discovers what he ought to be, what he is, and what he wants. There he learns the nature, necessity, and glory of redemption, and of being made holy. Having been taught to flee to Christ, and to love him, the law is the rule of his obedience and faith....

Verse Exodus 19:9. _A THICK CLOUD_] This is interpreted by Exodus 19:18: _And Mount Sinai was altogether on a_ SMOKE-_and the_ SMOKE _thereof_ _ascended as the_ SMOKE _of a furnace_; his usual appearance was in the cloudy pillar, which we may suppose was generally _clear_ and _luminous_. _THAT THE PEOPLE MAY HEAR_] Exodus 15:9, Exodus 15:9. The Jews consider this as the fullest evidence their fathers had of the Divine mission of Moses; themselves were permitted to see this awfully glorious sight, and to hear God himself speak out of the thick darkness:

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

AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... As the Targum of Jonathan, on the third day; though Jarchi says the fourth; which seems not so well to agree with his words on the preceding verse, since it seems to be at the same time that Moses returned the words of the people to the Lord, that he said what follows to him: LO, I COME UNTO THEE IN A THICK CLOUD; which was different from the pillar of cloud in which he went before the people, and now stood in it on the top of the mount; for he speaks not now of his present appearance to Moses, but of his appearance on the mount three days after; wherefore the Septuagint version wrongly renders it, "in a pillar of cloud": there were appearances of the divine Majesty in a cloud frequently afterwards, both in the Old and New Testament, see Exodus 40:34 and so Christ, the mighty Angel, is said to be clothed with a cloud,...

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,...

THE LORD SAID. See note on Exodus 3:7, and p. note on Exodus 6:10. LO. Figure of speech _Asterismos._ App-6. SPEAK... BELIEVE. Compare Romans 10:17. "Faith cometh by hearing"....

I COME UNTO THEE IN A THICK CLOUD— This _thick cloud,_ as appears from Exodus 19:16, &c. implies all those awful demonstrations which accompanied the Divine Presence; and, in this view, the reason here subjoined for God's coming in this _thick cloud,_ is manifest: that the people, hearing the Almighty converse with Moses from the midst of these alarming terrors, might be fully convinced of the Divine Presence and intercourse with Moses; and, consequently, believe, and receive as sacred, what he delivered to them from GOD....

THE TEXT OF EXODUS TRANSLATION 19 IN THE THIRD MONTH AFTER THE CHILDREN OF IS-RA-EL WERE GONE FORTH OUT OF THE LAND OF E-GYPT, THE SAME DAY CAME THEY INTO THE WILDERNESS OF SI-NAI. (2) AND WHEN THEY WERE DEPARTED FROM REPH-I-DIM, AND WERE COME TO THE WILDERNESS OF SI-NAI, THEY ENCAMPED IN THE WILDERNESS; AND THERE IS-RA-EL ENCAMPED BEFORE THE MOUNT. (3) AND MO-SES WENT UP UNTO GOD, AND JE-HO-VAH CALLED UNTO HIM OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN, SAYING, THUS SHALT THOU SAY TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB, AND TELL THE CHILDREN OF IS-RA-EL: (4) YE HAVE SEEN WHAT I DID UNTO THE E-GYP-TIANS, AND HOW I BARE YOU ON EAGLES-' WINGS, AND BROUGHT YOU UNTO MYSELF. (5) NOW THEREFORE, IF YE WILL OBEY MY VOICE INDEED, AND KEEP MY COVENANT, THEN YE SHALL BE MINE OWN POSSESSION FROM AMONG ALL PEOPLES: FOR ALL THE EARTH IS MINE: (6) AND YE SHALL BE UNTO ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, AND A HOLY NATION. THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH THO...