Sinai, Part 1 - Class Notes

Introduction

  • Israel’s bondage in Exodus continues the Genesis pattern: God’s people see, take, and fail to listen. From Eden to the patriarchs, misdirected desire illustrated through seeing what seemed good and taking, fractures relationships and ultimately brings the family into Egypt.
  • Question: what examples of this pattern can you recall from our previous lessons?
  • Israel’s descent is both humanly caused and divinely foreknown, setting the stage for God’s decisive act of redemption. The exodus shifts Israel’s identity from serving Pharaoh to serving God at Sinai.

Enslavement

  • Read: Genesis 15:12–14; Exodus 1:11–12 (CSB recommended)
  • God foretells Israel’s enslavement and oppression (ʿābad, ʿānâ), words that echo Eden and Hagar’s story. In Eden, ʿābad meant worshipful service; in Egypt it becomes coerced labor.
    • In Genesis 2:15, humanity was tasked to work/serve (ʿābad) in the garden of Eden.
    • In Genesis 16:5, Sarah oppressed (ʿānâ) Hagar, whose name means “the immigrant/alien”.
  • Israel’s bondage fulfills God’s oracle and reveals human brokenness, highlighting the need for a deliverer to restore access to God’s presence.
  • Reflection question: what does the shift in “serve” (ʿābad) reveal about the development of humanity’s purpose?

God’s Chosen Deliverer

  • Moses and Jesus, as God’s chosen deliverers, go through the exodus pattern ahead of God’s people, opening the way for them to follow.
  • Read: Exodus 1:22–2:3; Matthew 2:13–16
  • Moses is placed in the waters of the Nile among the reeds in a basket (tevah, “ark”), foreshadowing Israel’s exodus through the Sea of Reeds. Jesus is likewise preserved from Herod, the greater deliverer who will lead a new exodus.
  • Read: Exodus 3:1–6; Matthew 17:1–6
  • Moses ascends Horeb (later Sinai), encounters God in the burning bush (seneh, sounding like Sinai), and receives his commission. Jesus is revealed in glory on the mountain, affirmed as ultimate true mediator who brings God’s presence to his people.
  • Read: Exodus 4:24–26; Matthew 26:26–29
  • Moses’s life is spared through the covenant blood of circumcision, anticipating Israel’s Passover deliverance. Jesus fulfills the pattern as the Passover Lamb whose blood secures salvation and inaugurates the new covenant, leading his people to Zion.

Passover Old and New

  • Read: Exodus 11:4–10; 12:1–7, 12–13
  • The tenth sign shows that Israel is not spared automatically. Every household stands under judgment unless covered by the blood of the lamb, the only means of rescue.
  • The final plague reveals a deeper conflict: Pharaoh as the son of Re (the chief Egyptian sun god, regarded as creator and king of the gods) versus Israel as God’s firstborn son. The Lord passes through Egypt in judgment, yet he passes over homes marked by blood and does not permit the destroyer to enter.
  • Passover becomes the center of Israel’s identity, with God resetting their calendar around redemption.
  • Read: 1 Corinthians 5:7; Luke 22:7–8, 20
  • Christ is “our Passover lamb,” and the Lord’s Supper is instituted in the Passover setting. The Supper is the New Passover: by Christ’s blood we are redeemed, formed into a holy community, and gathered to worship.
  • Reflection question: how does seeing the Lord’s Supper as the New Passover shape the way we come before God in worship?

Through the Waters

  • Read: Exodus 14:10–13a
  • Like Abraham’s journey from the land of the Philistines to Moriah, Israel’s journey from Egypt to Sinai will transform their fear of the nations into fear of Yahweh. Their longing for Egypt reveals the pull of former enslavement, but rescue will direct their hearts toward God.
  • Read: Exodus 14:19-21
  • Question: when you hear about the darkness giving way to light and the waters being divided, what earlier moment in Scripture comes to mind?
  • Israel’s passage unfolds in evening, night, and morning, echoing Genesis 1 and framing the crossing as new creation. The Lord divides light from darkness, sends a strong east wind (rûaḥ) to part the waters, and brings Israel onto dry land while Egypt is swallowed by chaos.
  • Read: Ezekiel 29:3; Isaiah 51:9–10
  • Egypt is portrayed as a rebellious sea dragon, opposed to God’s purposes. The crossing is God’s victory over the forces that threaten his people, establishing a path to Zion.
  • Read: Exodus 15:1–2
  • Rescue through the waters inspires the redeemed to sing to Yahweh, declaring that no other power can save as He does.
  • Read: 1 Corinthians 10:2; 1 Peter 3:20-21
  • The New Testament interprets passages through the waters as a type of baptism: passing through death, leaving the old life behind, and rising into a new identity formed for worship.
  • The crossing is new creation, victory over chaos, baptism into new life, and the beginning of Israel’s ascent.
  • Reflection question: how does Israel’s passage through the waters toward God’s mountain to worship shape the way you think about baptism?

The Way to Sinai

  • Read: Exodus 16:2–4; 17:1–3
  • Israel’s journey to the mountain exposes a heart still shaped by Egypt. Hunger and thirst lead them to grumble, test God, and long for the life of enslavement they left behind.
  • Read: Matthew 4:1–7
  • Jesus succeeds where Israel fails. After his baptism in his own wilderness testing, he trusts the Father’s word, refuses to demand proof of God’s care, and embodies the faithful way that leads toward God’s presence.
  • The road to Sinai forms the heart. God leads his redeemed people toward the mountain to teach them trust, reshape their desires, and prepare them to worship in his presence.
  • Reflection question: what competing claims on our hearts draw us away from worship of Yahweh on Mount Zion?

Revelation on the Mountain

  • Read: Exodus 19:1–8
  • Israel arrives at Sinai seven weeks after the exodus, a symbolic moment of completion and readiness to draw near. God reminds them of his rescue and calls them into covenant. He designates Israel as his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. The people respond, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do,” setting the pattern of worship: God speaks, his people respond with allegiance.
  • Reflection question: how does Israel’s response shape the way we approach gathered worship today?
  • Read: Exodus 19:12–13; 19:16–18
  • Boundaries mark the holiness of the mountain. Only Moses may ascend while the people remain at a distance, highlighting the need for a mediator. God descends in fire and thunder as Moses ascends at his call, and the mountain becomes the meeting place of heaven and earth.

A New People

  • Read: Exodus 20:1-2, 18-20
  • The Ten Words (what 34:28 literally says) echo God’s creation speeches, forming a holy community loyal to Yahweh that rejects oppression. Hearing God’s word from the mountain transforms their fear of Egypt into fear of Yahweh.
  • Exodus 20:22–23:33 sets out the terms of Israel’s relationship with Yahweh, showing that loyal worship at the mountain expresses itself in love for others away from the mountain, and that this life of obedience is the path into God’s land.

Sinai and Zion

  • Read or summarize: Hebrews 12:18–24
  • At Sinai, only Moses ascended; at Zion, all may draw near through Jesus. The covenant pattern—God gathers, speaks, forms, and feeds his people—finds fulfillment in Christ. Christian worship echoes Sinai: word proclaimed and covenant renewed.

Covenant on the Mountain

  • Read: Exodus 24:3–8; Hebrews 8:8–12; Matthew 26:28
  • Moses builds an altar and twelve pillars, offering burnt and peace offerings that signify surrender, reconciliation, and restored fellowship. He proclaims God’s words, and the people respond with one voice, pledging obedience.
  • Moses then consecrates the people by sprinkling blood on the altar and on them, declaring, “See, the blood of the covenant.” Jesus echoes this at the Last Supper: “my blood of the covenant.” Hebrews 8, quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34, shows this is the new covenant promised, now fulfilled in Christ.
  • His blood, poured out for forgiveness, secures covenant relationship and calls for faithfulness.
  • Reflection question: how does the cup as the new covenant blood deepen your view of the Lord’s Supper?

Ascending the Mountain

  • Read: Exodus 24:9–11
  • Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders ascend partway, while Moses alone reaches the summit. This three tiered structure anticipates the tabernacle’s design and emphasizes Moses as mediator.
  • The elders behold God’s throne room: a pavement of sapphire, “like the heavens for clearness.” Sinai is portrayed as the earthly throne room where heaven and earth meet.

Conclusion

  • Israel was spared only by the lamb’s blood, and Christ fulfills this as our Passover Lamb. In worship we come not by our own merit but by the blood of Jesus, which covers us and binds us to God in covenant.
  • Israel passed through the sea as a new creation, leaving Egypt behind. The New Testament reads this as baptism, death to the old life and rising into new identity.
  • At Sinai God gathered his people, spoke his word, and formed them into a holy nation. At Zion all may draw near through Jesus, the true mediator. Every worship service is a covenant renewal. God speaks, we respond, and together we ascend to his presence in Christ.

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