Mount Sinai: Israel's Encounter with God

Mount Sinai is the place where God revealed Himself to Israel in an awesome manner and where He gave them the law. Exodus 19:18-20 describes the scene: "Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in fire." This overwhelming event sealed the covenant between God and His people, founding the nation upon the word of the Lord. Far from being a mere historical narrative, Sinai reveals the fearful holiness of the God who makes Himself known. The mountain smoked, trembled, and resounded with the sound of the trumpet, so that the people, gripped with fear, kept their distance while Moses ascended to meet with God (Exodus 19:20-23). This mediation of Moses, who stood between the holy God and the guilty people, already foreshadowed the perfect Mediator to come. Galatians 4:24-25 uses Sinai as an allegory of the law, in contrast to the heavenly Jerusalem that figures grace. Hebrews 12:18-24 sets Mount Sinai over against Mount Zion: while Sinai inspired terror before the holiness of God, Mount Zion, represented by Christ, invites us to approach the throne of grace with confidence. These verses teach that the law of Sinai, by revealing the perfect demand of God, prepared the way of the gospel. Sinai shows our need of a mediator; Jesus is that perfect Mediator of the new covenant.