Exodus 19:10-1510And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. 12And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 13There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. 14And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. (Exodus 19:10‑15)
THE PEOPLE of Israel had all answered together and said to Moses, “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.” They really had undertaken what the Lord Jesus undertook in Psalms 40:7,87Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:7‑8), when He said, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” But what a difference! The Lord Jesus was the real and living Servant of God, that glorious One, who was the brightness of that glory and had every title to be there. He came in perfect love and willingness to do the will of God. He went forth from God. But how different the people of Israel who were sinners and had to be kept at a distance from God by a barrier, even when they were seeking by their own works to earn a title to be in His presence.
What God proposed to Israel was a perfectly righteous thing. For from the time that Adam and Eve fell, He has presented grace as the only hope for a sinner. But man would continually take the place of self-righteousness, and think he could still work out his own salvation; therefore, God’s law put him thoroughly to the test.
May we profit by the lesson God would teach His people Israel, and learn to cast our souls upon the grace and mercies of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8,98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8‑9).
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.”
Moses did go down from the mount and sanctified the people. They did wash their clothes, but they were soon to learn how futile were their efforts at best. For though they might wash their clothes ever so clean, so that no human eye could detect any defilement, still there was the question always on their consciences, “Could they so cleanse themselves as to be able to bear the inspection of a holy God?” The fact is man cannot cleanse himself for God, and this is one of the great lessons of Scripture. Job says, “If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.” chapters 9:30,31. Again, the Lord Himself has said, speaking to Israel, “Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me.” Jeremiah 2:2222For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God. (Jeremiah 2:22).
God gave Israel this commandment to teach them their ruin and guilty condition, for, in spite of their “sanctifying” and “washing,” they were terrified at the voice of God and could not draw near to Him. Washing one’s clothes speaks of changing one’s ways and associations. And how often this is the experience of a sinner. He tries to improve himself, or turn over a new leaf, and seek the favor of God in this way, but he soon discovers that the only effect of all his efforts is to bring to light his own sinfulness. One might strive to live a clean, honest life, and in this way weave a robe of self-righteousness around himself, but the moment he gets into the presence of God, he finds his robe of righteousness nothing but filthy rags. The only thing that can cleanse every spot and stain and make us fit for the presence of God’s holiness is the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son. (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7); Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5).)
ML-12/28/1969