SUMMARY
Israel prepares to receive instruction from God and is given its vocation in the world.
ANALYSIS
Once again the context for these verses is being brought out of Egypt: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (19:4). A facile appropriation of this text leads to presumption. The logic might go like this: The whole world is God’s, and we are God’s special possession; therefore we have been designated to run the world. But the text moves in a different direction. God fought for Israel (14:14, 25), but Israel is not appointed as God’s warriors. The assigned vocation is that of being a priestly kingdom and a holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine More nation. These designations open Israel to a vocation of service. Their set-apartness is for the sake of something other than themselves.
Christians will not be able to read this text without hearing 1 Peter 2:9. The latter does not counteract or contravene Exodus 19. Just as it was astounding and beyond imagination that God would choose the people without righteousness (Deuteronomy 9) and without power-a slave people (Deuteronomy 7)-so it is astounding that God calls people out of darkness into light. Part of the astonishment is that humans ought not seek to limit God’s capacity to be astonishing. Being a priestly kingdom and a holy nation is not how Israel would be characterized based on the preceding murmuring episodes, but that is God’s designation for them. When the Holy One later speaks from the cloud on the mountain in the midst of thunder and lightning, Israel will be terrified. The Holy One might break out in their midst and consume them, but to be a holy nation implies that the Holy One is in their midst. Israel will find this a hard tightrope to walk. In this respect the later details in the instructions for the tabernacleThe tabernacle, a word meaning "tent," was a portable worship place for the Hebrew people after they left Egypt. It was said to contain the ark of the covenant. The plans for the tabernacle are dictated by God in Exodus 26. More are not at all surprising.
