Exodus 20:18

_AND ALL THE PEOPLE SAW THE THUNDERINGS, AND THE LIGHTNINGS, AND THE NOISE OF THE TRUMPET, AND THE MOUNTAIN SMOKING: AND WHEN THE PEOPLE SAW IT, THEY REMOVED, AND STOOD AFAR OFF._ And all the people saw the thunderings ... Some have maintained that only Moses and the elders were present at the giving of the law. But this opinion is contrary to the whole tenor of the narrative, and is expressly contradicted by the statement in this verse, that not the leaders and representatives only, but "all the people" were before the mount, on an area sufficiently extensive to accommodate two million people-the plain es-Sebayeh, previously described, being three miles long and one and three-quarters broad (Drew's 'Scripture Lands'). "Saw the thunderings." Verbs that belong to the human senses are often put for one another, and particularly those denoting sight, as most of the mental impressions are p...

18-21 This law, which is so extensive that we cannot measure it, so spiritual that we cannot evade it, and so reasonable that we cannot find fault with it, will be the rule of the future judgment of God, as it is for the present conduct of man. If tried by this rule, we shall find our lives have been passed in transgressions. And with this holy law and an awful judgment before us, who can despise the gospel of Christ? And the knowledge of the law shows our need of repentance. In every believer's heart sin is dethroned and crucified, the law of God is written, and the image of God renewed. The Holy Spirit enables him to hate sin and flee from it, to love and keep this law in sincerity and truth; nor will he cease to repent....

Verse Exodus 20:18. _AND ALL THE PEOPLE SAW THE THUNDERINGS, C._] They had witnessed all these awful things before, (see Exodus 19:16), but _here_ they seem to have been repeated probably at the end of each command, there was a peal of thunder, a blast of the trumpet, and a gleam of lightning, to impress their hearts the more deeply with a due sense of the Divine Majesty, of the holiness of the law which was now delivered, and of the fearful consequences of disobedience. This had the desired effect; the people were impressed with a deep religious fear and a terror of God's judgments; acknowledged themselves perfectly satisfied with the discoveries God had made of himself; and requested that Moses might be constituted the _mediator_ between God and them, as they were not able to bear these tre...

Compare Deuteronomy 5:22. Aaron Exodus 19:24 on this occasion accompanied Moses in drawing near to the thick darkness. Exodus 20:22 to Exodus 23:33 is a series of laws which we may identify with what was written by Moses in the book called the book of the covenant, and read by him in the audience of the people Exodus 24:7. The document cannot be regarded as a strictly systematic whole. Portions of it were probably traditional rules handed down from the patr

EXPOSITION WITHDRAWAL OF THE PEOPLE, AND NEARER APPROACH OF MOSES TO GOD. The effect produced upon the people by the accumulated terrors of Sinai—"the thunderings and the lightnings, the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking"—the cloud, and the voice out of the cloud—was an awful and terrible fear. They could not bear the manifestation of the near presence of God; and therefore "they removed and stood afar off." It seemed to them as if, on hearing the voice of God, speaking out of the thick darkness, they must die (Exodus 20:19). Moses, upon their expressing these feelings, comforted them with an assurance that God had shown his terrors, not for their injury, but to p

AND ALL THE PEOPLE SAW THE THUNDERINGS, AND THE LIGHTNINGS,.... That is, they heard the one, and saw the other; they heard the dreadful volleys of thunder, and saw the amazing flashes of lightning, which were like lamps and torches, as the word used signifies; by a communication of senses, one sense is put for another, and the sense of sight being the principal, as Ben Melech observes, it is put for the rest, and so in the following. It is an observation of Austin's o that to "see" is used of all of the five senses, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling: AND THE NOISE THE TRUMPET, AND THE MOUNTAIN SMOKING: they the sound of the trumpet, which made them tremble and saw the mountain all in a smoke, which made it look very terrible. Though the words may be rendered, as they are by some, "they perceived the thunders", c. p had a sensible perception of them with their eyes ears, wh...

AFAR OFF For contrast between law and grace, Compare (Ephesians 2:13); (Luke 1:10) with (Hebrews 10:19)....

CHAPTER 20 THE COVENANT REVEALED _ 1. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1)_ 2. Jehovah's gracious provision (Exodus 20:18) This law covenant is now stated. It was given three times. First orally here, when God spake all these words. Then in Exodus 31 Moses received the tables of stone, “written with the finger of God,” the same finger which later wrote on earth in the sand (John 8). The first tables were broken and Moses was commanded to hew two tables of stone upon which Jehovah again wrote the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:1). This law was given to Israel exclu

EXODUS 20:18 E. ALARM OF THE PEOPLE. This resumes Exodus 19:17 or Exodus 19:19), and describes how the frightened people (read in Exodus 20:18_ b_ and the people were afraid and trembled) asked that Moses and not God should speak to them. Then Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was (Exodus 20:21). This idea, afterwards much developed by the mystics, is reflected in the windowless Holy of Holies in the Temple (_cf._ 1 Kings 6:16;...

III. AN AWE STRUCK PEOPLE. 18. THUNDERINGS AND LIGHTNINGS. The portentous sound of the trumpet and the thunder which had ushered in the day, and which continued to be heard while the people were assembled at the base of the mountain, probably ceased while the words of the law were pronounced in an articulate voice by Jehovah, but were again resumed, and perhaps with increased intensity, as soon as the delivery of the decalogue was completed.--_ Bush._ By this terrible display of his glory, God desired to inspire them with the true fear of himself, that they might not sin through distrust, disobedience, or resistance to his guidance and commands.--_ Keil._...