(a) How did Moses prepare the Israelites for the covenant with God? (b) Why was this preparation necessary?

Answer Details

(a) How Moses prepared the Israelites for the covenant with God (Exodus 19)

• When Israel came to the wilderness of Sinai and encamped before the mountain, Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain.
• God gave Moses a message for the people, reminding them how He had borne them on eagles' wings out of Egypt, and promising that if they obeyed His voice and kept His covenant, they would be His own possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
• Moses came down, summoned the elders and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded, and the people answered together, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do."
• The Lord told Moses to consecrate the people, that they should wash their garments and be ready by the third day, for on that day the Lord would come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
• Moses set bounds around the mountain and warned the people not to go up or touch its border, on pain of death, whether man or beast.
• He also charged them to abstain from their wives and to keep themselves pure until the appointed day.
• On the third day there were thunders, lightnings, a thick cloud, a loud trumpet blast and smoke, and the whole mountain quaked as the Lord descended in fire, and Moses brought the people out to meet God.

(b) Why the preparation was necessary

• To underline the holiness of God, before whom sinful people cannot come carelessly; consecration and cleansing were required to approach Him.
• To secure the reverence and obedience of the people, so that they would treat the encounter and the covenant with fear and seriousness.
• To protect the people from the danger of God's awesome presence, since to touch the mountain or approach unprepared meant death.
• To prepare their hearts and minds to receive and commit themselves to the covenant and its laws.