"And the LORD came down on mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.” (v.20)
Three months after going out of the land of Egypt, the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sinai, where the Lord calls Moses up to the mountain so that He might give to Moses and the children of Israel His law. But first, the Lord called to Moses to tell the sons of Israel to consider what they had seen, what the Lord had done to the Egyptians, and that if they obeyed His voice and kept His covenant then they would be His possession among all the peoples, and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (vv.1-6).
Moses then came down from the mountain and told the elders the words which the Lord had commanded him, and all of the people answered and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoke we will do!' Then Moses brought back this word to the Lord (vv.7-8). The Lord then tells Moses that He is going to come down to them and speak with them on the third day, and the people are to consecrate themselves and wash their garments, then when He comes down and talks with them they shall not come up on the mountain or touch on the border of it, or they shall be put to death by stoning or shot through, and Moses is supposed to set bounds for the people all around the mountain to keep the people from going up to the Lord (vv.9-15).
Finally, the Lord tells Moses that when the trumpet blasts for a long time that the people are supposed to come up to the mountain. Not to go up the mountain or touch it, but to come to it and remain outside the boundary. Then, on the third day, there was thunder and lightning flashes, a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet, and the people trembled; Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and there before it they saw it all in smoke and quaking violently, and finally God called Moses up to the top of the mountain and then after he came up told him to go down and warn the people and even the priests about not breaking through to the Lord because they would perish in the process; so Moses went down and told the people what the Lord had told him (vv.16-25).
Some interesting symbolism here, for just as God came down and Moses went up, so Jesus will come down and the church will go up to meet Him in the air.
The Truth: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
