Exodus 19: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

Synopsis:

The Israelites come to Mount Sinai. Moses goes up the mountain to speak to God. God offers a covenant. If you obey me, you shall be my kingdom. Moses goes back down the hill and asks the people if they agree. They do. So Moses goes back up to tell God the good news.  He tells Moses to go back down and get the people ready because He plans to appear to them in a cloud so that they will experience God themselves and believe Moses forever when he says he has spoken to God. The Israelites need to clean up first. Oh – and they need to make sure that no one comes up the mountain to actually see God because he will kill them immediately if they do. The only people allowed up are Moses and Aaron.  So, Moses returns and tells the people to get ready. On the appointed day the mountain trembles and there is smoke and fire. Moses spoke to God and God replaced by a voice.  God calls Moses back up the mountain and tells him once again to make sure no one comes near him. So Moses went back down to remind people to stay where they are and keep their distance.

In other words

Moses becomes a messenger boy for God and is made to go up and down mount Sinai several times.

What I think really happened:

The people doubt the existence of God so Moses and Aaron plan a show to make people think they hear God speaking, but it is literally a smoke, fire and mirror’s trick. That is why so much attention is paid to keep people from actually getting close enough to see God.

My favorite bit:

That Moses had to go up and down the mountain several times.  Seems like God could have been more efficient in his communication.

Moral Lesson:

Exercise is good for you (Exodus 19)