Exodus 19 · The Lantern

Israel at Mount Sinai

In the third month after the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, on this day, they came to the wilderness of Sinai.

And they set out from Rephidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

And Moses went up to God. And the LORD called to him from the mountain: “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel:

‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt — and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

And now, if you will surely listen to my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples — for all the earth is mine.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

And all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Look, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe in you forever.” And Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people, and consecrate them today and tomorrow; and let them wash their garments,

and be ready for the third day — for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people.

And you shall set a boundary for the people all around: ‘Watch yourselves — do not go up onto the mountain or touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

No hand shall touch him — for he shall surely be stoned, or surely shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up on the mountain.”

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

But if any is an evil and savage beast and altogether incapable of taking in the subject matter of contemplation and theology, let him not hurtfully and malignantly lurk in his den among the woods, to catch hold of some dogma or saying by a sudden spring and to tear sound doctrine to pieces by his misrepresentations.

And here is shown how a prelate should behave: being perfect in both action and contemplation, he must accept the laws. Where? On the Mountain of Contemplation, with Moses, so that he may act with propriety and industry, and not as a beast, for a beast cannot go up into the Mountain: a beast that touches the Mountain must be stoned.

And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and he consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.

And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

The LORD Visits Sinai

And it happened on the third day, when morning came, that there was thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and a very strong sound of a horn — and all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Yet the third day is always made fitting for sacred mysteries. For when the people had gone out of Egypt, on the third day it offers sacrifice to God, and on the third day it is purified; and the resurrection of the Lord is on the third day; and many other mysteries are enclosed within this day.

The law then was obviously given on the third day of the third month. Now count the days from the fourteenth of the first month, when the pasch was kept, to the third day of the third month. You will have seventeen of the first month, thirty of the second, three of the third, which makes fifty.

When Abraham offered his son Isaac, he was a type of God the Father, while Isaac prefigured our Lord and Savior. The fact that he arrived at the place of sacrifice on the third day is shown to represent the mystery of the Trinity. That the third day should be accepted in the sense of a promise or mystery of the Trinity is found frequently in the sacred books.

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain.

And Mount Sinai was all in smoke, because the LORD had come down on it in fire; and its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

And the sound of the horn grew stronger and stronger. Moses would speak, and God would answer him in the thunder.

And the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, or they will break through to the LORD to see — and many of them will fall.

And even the priests who come near to the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”

And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai — for you yourself warned us: ‘Set a boundary around the mountain and consecrate it.’”

And the LORD said to him, “Go, get down; and you shall come up, you and Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them.”

And Moses went down to the people and said this to them.

Exodus19

Israel at Mount Sinai

The LORD Visits Sinai