God Chooses a People for Himself: The Covenant at Sinai

Introduction

Have you ever felt like the God of the Old Testament is somehow different from the God of the New Testament? As if the Old Testament showed us God 1.0, and the New Testament a more modern God 2.0? Yet there is only one God, and he does not change. Mélanie Ehrismann opens Exodus 19:1-8, that pivotal moment when Israel arrives at the foot of Sinai and the God who saves becomes the God who binds himself in covenant. Through three movements (what God has done, what God asks, what God promises), we discover the heart of the Old Testament and, more broadly, God's whole plan for the world.

Message Outline

1. The setting: Israel at the foot of Sinai

• On the third month after leaving Egypt, on that very day, the Israelites arrive at the wilderness of Sinai and camp in front of the mountain.
• Most theologians describe this episode as the summit of the book of Exodus: the people will stay there for almost a year.
• Half of the Pentateuch (the end of Exodus, all of Leviticus, part of Numbers), unfolds at the foot of this mountain.
• In Exodus 19, the God who saves, whom we saw at work in Egypt, becomes the God who binds himself and makes a covenant with his people.

2. What God has done: grace comes first

• "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself" (Exodus 19:4).
• God freed his people from slavery by humiliating Pharaoh and his gods and drowning his army in the sea.
• The image of eagles' wings describes a God who is both fierce against evil and tender like a bird gathering its young (see also Deuteronomy 32:11).
• The purpose of the exodus is not only freedom from slavery: it is closeness to God. Salvation is not an end in itself.

3. What God promises: an identity and a mission

• "You shall be my own possession from among all peoples": the term evokes a king's royal treasure, his most precious possession.
• What gives Israel its worth is neither its greatness nor its merit, but the love God has for it (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).
• "A kingdom of priests": every member of the people is called to enter God's presence and to be a mediator for the nations.
• "A holy nation": a people set apart, marked by the presence of the living God, reflecting his character in justice and mercy.

4. What God asks: obedience as a response

• "If you will indeed listen to my voice, and keep my covenant…": the condition doesn't reverse the order of salvation, it honors it.
• The Israelites are already redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb before God gives the law. Obedience comes after, as the most natural response to grace.
• Obedience is the only way to become, in practice, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: you can't represent God while being unfaithful to him.
• The law isn't given to the people so they can save themselves, but so they can keep enjoying the salvation they've already received.

5. A threefold grace fulfilled in Christ

• A few chapters later, Israel prostitutes itself by worshiping a golden calf. Our sin leaves us unable to respond rightly to God's grace.
• Yet despite our unfaithfulness, God remains faithful. Where we disobeyed, Jesus obeyed all the way to the cross.
• First grace: the God of the universe chose to bind himself in covenant with humanity, with you.
• Second grace: he sent his only Son to fulfill our part of the covenant conditions.
• Third grace: at Pentecost, he sent his Spirit, who lives in us, transforms us, and writes the Father's will on our hearts.

Key Takeaways

• There is only one God, yesterday, today, and forever, the Old Testament reveals who he truly is.
• The sequence in Exodus 19 · what God has done, what God asks, what God promises, gives the theological order of the whole Bible: salvation by grace, obedience as response, blessing as promise.
• You don't earn your worth: it's the love God has for you that makes you precious in his eyes.
• The Church is the New Israel (Jews and Gentiles alike): a royal priesthood, a holy nation, called to reveal God to the world.
• Our unfaithfulness doesn't break the covenant: Jesus sealed it in our place, and his Spirit accomplishes in us what the law alone could never produce.

Personal Application

1. What have you seen God do concretely in your life that shows he's the God who saves and carries you on eagles' wings?
2. Where do you tend to reverse the order of the sequence, trying to obey in order to be loved, rather than obeying because you're already loved?
3. When you feel weighed down by your struggles, your stress, or your sin, how can you remind yourself that you are God's treasured possession?
4. Practically, how can your life be a "mediating" presence this week, a channel of God's blessing for those around you?
5. Where do you need to let God's Spirit write the Father's will on your heart, instead of relying on your own strength?

Verses Cited

• Exodus 19:1-8
• Exodus 19:4-6
• Deuteronomy 32:11
• Deuteronomy 7:7-8
• 1 Peter 2:9-10

Further reading

• How to Train Future Leaders
• Training a Volunteer Quickly: The Method
• Measuring Church Health: Beyond the Numbers

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New Testament?

No. There is only one God, and he does not change. The Old Testament doesn't present a "God 1.0" later replaced by a gentler "God 2.0": it reveals the same God, his character, his plans, and his purpose for the world. Exodus 19 already shows a God of grace who saves before he asks anything at all.

What does it mean to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" today?

Peter picks up this expression to describe the Church (1 Peter 2:9-10). It means every believer has the privilege of entering God's presence and is called to be a mediator: a channel of God's blessing for the world. To be "holy" is to belong to God and to reflect his character through a way of life marked by justice and mercy.

Why does God attach a condition ("if you will indeed listen…")?

This condition doesn't mean you have to obey in order to be saved. The Israelites are already redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb before God gives the law. Obedience isn't the cause of salvation: it's the natural response to grace already received, and the only way to actually live out the covenant and the calling God gives his people.