Exodus 19:7, commentary and pictures

Moses came down from Sinai to the camp and called for the elders first, laying before them all that the Lord had commanded him so they as representatives could set it before the whole congregation.
The message recalled how God had delivered Israel from Egypt and borne them to Himself, and offered that if they would obey His voice and keep His covenant they would be His peculiar treasure above all people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
With upraised hand all the people answered together that they would do all the Lord had spoken, and Moses carried their answer back to the Lord.
By that solemn pledge Israel was taken into close relation to God as His chosen and peculiar people, incorporated as a church and nation under His government, yet the promises and acceptance were conditional on faithfulness and perfect obedience.
The covenant was ordained by God to be perpetual and sacred to a thousand generations, and the same words and pledge belong just as truly to God's people now in the last days.

Moses and the Elders

Moses came down from Sinai to the camp and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all the words the Lord had commanded him. The elders were thus the first recipients of the message, receiving through Moses what he was to deliver before the people gave their united answer to do all the Lord had spoken. That laying of the words before the elders was the presenting of God's covenant to the people as part of Israel's charter in the third month after leaving Egypt. Through their leaders the message was made known to the people, and Moses reported the people's answer back to the Lord.

The elders stood as the people's representatives and leaders, hearing the covenant message from Moses so that it could be set before the whole people. What was laid before them was to be received by the entire people, congregation and assembly, who then pledged together to obey. By that conveying of God's covenant instructions through the elders and the people's answering together, the terms by which Israel was received as God's chosen and special people were presented. Keeping that covenant was their privilege, and obedience would bring a fuller understanding of duty.

Moses acted in faithful obedience in carrying the message, calling the elders and presenting all that God had commanded him to speak. He brought to them God's instruction after He had delivered Israel from Egypt and set out what He would continue to do for them, presenting it for the people to hear and observe. Those teachings were instruction for their good and to honor His name, calling Israel to become God's peculiar and denominated people and preparing them to answer and take their stand. The instruction remains relevant for teaching congregations, to be conveyed plainly and read and taught as given rather than replaced by human arguments.

Covenant Terms Offered

Moses laid before the elders all of God's covenant words so they could be set before the whole people, words that first recalled how He had delivered Israel from Egypt and borne them on eagles' wings and brought them to Himself. Those same words set out what He would continue to do for them after that deliverance. The offer presented was conditional: if they would obey His voice and keep His covenant they would be His peculiar treasure above all people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. It was God's formal offer to make Israel His treasured people, laid before the leaders and through them before the nation, calling Israel to become His peculiar people. The terms included the call to obey God and the instruction behind His requirements, preparing the way for the giving of the Ten Commandments.

The heart of the terms was obeying His voice and keeping His covenant, pledging to obey all His commandments. Moses delivered all the words the Lord commanded him to the elders as the people's representatives, so the message could be received, heard and observed by the whole people. That instruction was given for their good and to honor His name, with receiving God's mercies and blessings calling for appreciating and following all His instruction. Acceptance with God depended on faithfully fulfilling their agreement to obey, for the commandments of the law given at Sinai are instruction from God and the highest education, calling people to obedience.

Israel's Solemn Covenant

Moses laid the covenant terms before the leaders, and by the united answer of all the people that they would do all the Lord had spoken, the children of Israel dedicated themselves to God as a nation that would obey Him. After Moses spoke these words the whole people answered together that all the Lord had spoken they would do, and with upraised hand made a solemn covenant with the Lord, becoming His denominated people pledged to obey all His commandments. Moses reported their answer to the Lord, conveying the people's response back to God after presenting the terms by which Israel was received as His chosen people.

Through this solemn covenant Israel was pledged to be true to God and was designated His peculiar people, set apart as a special people pledged to be true to Him. Their acceptance pledged the people to take God as their ruler, by which Israel was taken into a close and peculiar relation to God, incorporated as a church and a nation under His government, and made in a special sense the subjects of His authority. This covenant commitment marked Israel as God's special, chosen and peculiar people, and presenting the words to the elders prepared the people to answer God together and take their stand. The people had consented to be God's special people, and they were to remain obedient to the words spoken at Sinai.

Keeping God's covenant is their privilege, and obedience brings a fuller understanding of their duty. The covenant was ordained by God and initiated by Him, not proposed by human beings. Their acceptance with Him depends on faithfully fulfilling their agreement to obey His voice and keep His covenant, whose promises were conditional on faithfulness and perfect obedience.

The people's united answer, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do, returned by Moses to the Lord, makes this a perpetual covenant between God and His people to be held sacred to a thousand generations. The elders and people pledged to do all that the Lord had spoken, a promise they later broke by turning to idolatry, and their later self-importance showed that they could not be trusted to keep those conditions. While Moses was away receiving further instructions, they should have remembered and taught their children the solemn covenant. That covenant, made under the terrors of Sinai where God spoke His law in glory and majesty and requiring obedience and vindication of God's honor in keeping His holy law, should have been used to meet the people's demand for gods to go before them with indignation and horror at their proposition, to remind them of what they had promised, and to prevent their apostasy.

Law Proclaimed at Sinai

Exodus 19:7 stands within God's patient and tender preparation of Israel to receive His law at Sinai. He brought the people to the mountain and drew near in a thick cloud, so they could hear His voice speaking with Moses without being destroyed by the sight of His glory. That approach made Moses' laying of the commanded words before the elders the opening step toward the people's hearing God speak with Moses and believing Moses forever.

The mountain setting itself was part of the teaching, for Israel was surrounded by God's created works and set apart from human-made displays of pride. There they learned their own insignificance before the Almighty and the majesty and sacredness of His law. The Lord manifested Himself in awful grandeur in giving the law, and the impression of that scene was never forgotten by those who beheld it.

The chapter recounts the Lord coming down upon Mount Sinai, giving Israel His law with wonderful promises if they would keep His commandments. That laying of the covenant offer before the leaders prepared the way for God to speak with Moses in the thick cloud and then to give the Ten Commandments. The instruction given in Exodus 19 and 20 is therefore of great importance, to be often repeated and sacredly observed, with the Lord demanding obedience to His Word as the only true God. It was made known to preserve the people from idolatry and total apostasy, pressing obedience to the commandments, including the truth that after working creation in six days God appointed the seventh day as rest, blessed it and sanctified it.

Covenant Claim Today

The same words Jehovah spoke to ancient Israel are spoken just as truly to His people now. The pledge of the people to do all that God had spoken is a pledge His people are to make in the last days, and their acceptance with Him depends on faithfully keeping their agreement with Him. His covenant includes all who obey Him.

God must bring each person to Himself before He can work through them in preparing a people to stand in the day of the Lord. It is therefore each person's individual duty to draw near to understand what God means and to do whatever He commands. Receiving those words requires sanctification because God is coming near, standing as a separate and distinct people free from all worldly influences as His peculiar people and keeping His commandments. There is promise of life if they are kept, and entrance into the kingdom of God where the law of God continues to be observed.

God's covenant word is to be read before congregations and taught plainly as given, for the teachings given through Moses at Sinai were instruction for the people to obey and remain relevant for teaching congregations. In the Sabbath question the Lord's word on keeping the seventh day is to be read and taught as given rather than replaced by human arguments, exalting a plain Thus saith the Lord as proof that He set apart the seventh day. There is to be no controversy with those determined to enact Sunday laws, so that the burden of responsibility rests on those who reject it and their controversy is with God and not with men. After working creation in six days He appointed the seventh day as a day of rest, blessed it and sanctified it, and all who would stand on the Lord's side when every device is used to draw people away from truth and righteousness must keep holy the memorial of creation. The instruction given in Exodus 19 and 20 is of great importance and should be often repeated and sacredly observed, for the Lord is the only true God and demands that His people be obedient to His Word.

The pledge is proved when His people come into a hard place. Instead of murmuring, complaining, and fretting against the Lord, they should in simplicity kneel and ask the God of Israel for help, as He gave them water to show His great kindness, and the Lord would be pleased with that. As God dealt with ancient Israel at Sinai, when He promised blessing on condition of obedience to His commandments and declared He would come in a thick cloud so the people would hear and believe forever, so He will deal with those today who despise the Word of the Lord and refuse to humble their proud hearts before His wisdom and righteousness.