Verses 7-15
The reaction of the Israelites to God’s promises was understandably positive, and God approved it (Deuteronomy 5:27-28). They wanted what God offered them. However, they overestimated their own ability to keep the covenant, and they underestimated God’s standards for them. This twin error is traceable to a failure to appreciate their own sinfulness and God’s holiness. The Mosaic Law would teach them to appreciate both more realistically (cf. Deuteronomy 5:29).
God designed the procedures He specified in Exodus 19:10-15 to help the people realize the difference between their holy God and their sinful selves. Notice that God separated Himself from the Israelites spatially and temporally.
The temporary prohibition against normal sexual relations (Exodus 19:15) seems intended to impress the importance of this occasion on the Israelites and to help them concentrate on it. We should not infer from this command that normal sexual relations are sinful (cf. Genesis 1:28; Genesis 9:1; Genesis 9:7). Abstention was for ritual cleanness, not moral cleanness.
Be the first to react on this!
