NOTES for Exo 19:1-25

Today's reading is entirely devoted to the theme of the Covenant. Modern readers usually first notice the natural phenomena that accompanied the theophany at Sinai on the day the Covenant was made (vv. 9, 17-19). Behind these biblical testimonies it is not hard to see historical reality: traces of ancient volcanic activity have been found at Sinai, and ancient people everywhere associated natural phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions with a manifestation of the presence or action of higher powers.

Yet something else is more important here: the essence and meaning of the Covenant of which God speaks to Moses (vv. 4-6). The words about a "kingdom of priests" are not always clear to modern readers, but the New Testament context, where Christians and the Church as a whole are usually called "saints," clarifies much here. Still, it would be more precise in this case to speak not of holiness in the modern sense of the word, which often suggests perfection and even sinlessness, but of holiness in its traditional biblical meaning, that is, of being consecrated, of the new quality acquired by the life of a person who has truly come into contact with that presence of God which accompanied the Jewish people throughout their historical path and then appeared so vividly in the Church of Christ.

Contact with it really changes a person. After such an encounter he becomes different, acquiring the new quality conveyed by the biblical idea of being "consecrated" or "holy." And this new quality acquired by a person allows him to have a deeper relationship with God. Without it one cannot enter the Kingdom of God, which is why the Church, as part of the Kingdom, as the Body of Christ, contains the fullness of holiness. One can say that, to a certain degree, human nature itself changes, becoming better suited to communion with God.

Of course, such changes are not irreversible; more than that, they depend entirely on a person's relationship with God, being an inseparable part of that relationship, and if the relationship is broken, this new quality will also disappear. But God wants His relationship with His people to be as stable and strong as possible, to be what the Covenant presupposes, and He is ready to do everything to attain this goal. Yet attaining it depends not only on God, but also on the human person.

The people prepare for the conclusion of the union-covenant with God for more than one day. The main requirement here is to be purified. For what purpose, one might ask? After all, the matter concerns commandments: they will be given to the people as the condition for entering a union with God and as the condition for preserving that union afterward. There will, of course, also be a sacrifice that sanctifies the union being concluded, and one must prepare for it.

Before taking part in a sacrifice it was customary to perform rites of purification, but is the sacrifice the only issue? The people cannot go up the mountain where God is. Physically, because the mountain is smoking. The text is clearly speaking of a volcanic eruption; traces of ancient volcanism on Sinai are known. And spiritually? Is the eruption the only thing preventing the people from going up the mountain? God says directly that the issue is not physical causes, but impurity, and impurity is a matter of a person's inner state.

The problem here is not a volcanic eruption, but unreadiness to meet God. Such unreadiness, in one degree or another, is characteristic of each of us, because we are all fallen people, and sin spares no one. Here, at Sinai, the people will have to stand face to face with God. Of course, there are no sinless people in the fallen world, and no purification rituals by themselves deliver anyone from sin; if they did, the coming of Christ would not be salvation for us.

Something else is important: readiness for spiritual work. "Do not go near women" is said not because such contact defiles, although many in those days may have thought exactly that, but because the ordinary rhythm of family life relaxes a person. Here, by the mountain where God is, one must not relax. This is a kind of military camp, only not for ordinary war, but for resistance to one's own human nature, which will hinder the meeting. The people, incidentally, still turn out not to be ready for it, although the instruction about women, judging by the story, was carried out exactly.

It is then that the first and main division appears, or rather reveals itself, among the people of God: the division between those who are ready to go toward God and those who are not ready. This division will later determine the whole history of the people of God, at least in what concerns its spiritual life. Later it will become the division between those who are ready to follow God and those who would prefer to leave that to others.

The Lord's words at the making of the covenant with Israel are addressed also to us, His people. "You have seen how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself," says the Lord. He says this to each of us. He called each of us to Himself, into His Church. Each of us has seen the action of His love in his life. Do we remember this? Or does it seem to us that by visiting God's temple we are doing Him a favor? He brought us into the Church in His arms... Let us be grateful for His love.

What is the purpose of the existence of God's people? God Himself answers this question quite unambiguously: to be "a kingdom of priests and a consecrated ("holy") nation." Sometimes these words were understood literally, historically. Thus, the priestly version of the history of God's people reflected in the Books of Chronicles assumed that the chief meaning of the Jewish people's existence was the creation of their own state, and the chief meaning of the state and its rulers was the construction, and then the maintenance, of the Jerusalem Temple and the priestly corporation connected with it. But is that all there is to it? Of course, the existence of the Temple, especially after it remained the only place on earth where Yahwistic sacrifices were possible, was extremely important.

But is that what God is speaking about when He calls His people "a kingdom of priests"? And what, in that case, does "a consecrated nation" mean? A people who come to the Temple to perform the prescribed sacrifices in order to be consecrated? And what about the rest? Those who, in the Second Temple period, for example, lived in diaspora communities and had no opportunity to visit Jerusalem even once a year? Did all these people really stop being part of God's people only because they had no physical possibility of reaching the Temple?

Of course not. In those days the Synagogue already understood that the whole Jewish people, as God's people, formed one spiritual whole, consecrated through the Temple and preserving that consecration through the Torah. And from God's people the rest of the world is also consecrated: this is why one people consecrated by God exists in the world, so that the whole world may be consecrated through it. That is how the question of the consecration of God's people and of the rest of the world was resolved in pre-Christian times. With the coming of Christ, however, a new people of God appears, whose boundaries only partly coincide with the boundaries of the former, pre-Christian people, because this new people is consecrated by the Messiah Himself, who opens to it the Kingdom that He brought into the world.

The former people, however, of course does not disappear: the covenant has been made; what has been consecrated is consecrated. And how to unite the two peoples into one is known, surely, only to the One who consecrated them both. We, in all probability, will learn this only at the end of time, when the world is transformed completely and the Kingdom is revealed in all its fullness.

What is the meaning of the existence of the people of God? God Himself answers to this question quite clearly: to be "a kingdom of priests and an holy nation". Sometimes these words were literally, historically understood. So, the ecclesiastical version of the history of the people of God, reflected in the Book of Chronicles, supposed that the main sense of the existence of the Jewish nation was the establishment of their own State, and the main sense of the existence of the State and its leaders was the building, and then the maintenance of the Temple of Jerusalem and connected with it the ecclesiastical corporation. But is it only in that the problem? Of course, the existence of the Temple, particularly after there was only one place on earth, where were possible the yahvistes sacrifices, was very important. But is it of this that God speaks, calling His nation “a kingdom of priests”? And what means in this case "an holy nation "? The people, who come to the Temple for the fulfillment of the sacrifices necessary in order to be sanctified? And the others?

Those who in the era of the Second Temple, lived for example in the communities of the Diaspora, without having the possibility of visiting Jerusalem once a year? Did all these people cease being part of God’s people only because they had no physical possibility of coming to the Temple? No, of course. For, in those days there was already in the Synagogue an understanding of the fact that all Jewish people, as people of God, are a single spiritual entity, which is sanctified thanks to the Temple and saves this sanctification thanks to the Torah. And from the people of God, all is sanctified the whole remaining world: that’s why exists in the world one nation sanctified by God, so that the whole world is sanctified through this nation.

This is how the problem with the sanctification of the people of God and all the rest of the world in the pre-Christian era was solved. And with the coming of Christ there is a new nation of God, the borders of which coincide only partially with the borders of the former pre- Christian nation: because, this new nation is sanctified by the very Messiah, by opening to this nation the Kingdom, which He brought into the world. However the former people disappear of course nowhere: the covenant is concluded, what is sanctified, is sanctified. And how to connect the two nations into one, knows, probably, only the One who sanctified them. We are probably going to know about it only at the end of time, when the world will be transformed completely, and the Kingdom will be revealed in its entirety.

What is the meaning of the existence of the people of God? God Himself answers to this question quite clearly: to be "a kingdom of priests and an holy nation". Sometimes these words were literally, historically understood. So, the ecclesiastical version of the history of the people of God, reflected in the Book of Chronicles, supposed that the main sense of the existence of the Jewish nation was the establishment of their own State, and the main sense of the existence of the State and its leaders was the building, and then the maintenance of the Temple of Jerusalem and connected with it the ecclesiastical corporation. But is it only in that the problem? Of course, the existence of the Temple, particularly after there was only one place on earth, where were possible the yahvistes sacrifices, was very important. But is it of this that God speaks, calling His nation “a kingdom of priests”? And what means in this case "an holy nation "? The people, who come to the Temple for the fulfillment of the sacrifices necessary in order to be sanctified? And the others?

Those who in the era of the Second Temple, lived for example in the communities of the Diaspora, without having the possibility of visiting Jerusalem once a year? Did all these people cease being part of God’s people only because they had no physical possibility of coming to the Temple? No, of course. For, in those days there was already in the Synagogue an understanding of the fact that all Jewish people, as people of God, are a single spiritual entity, which is sanctified thanks to the Temple and saves this sanctification thanks to the Torah. And from the people of God, all is sanctified the whole remaining world: that’s why exists in the world one nation sanctified by God, so that the whole world is sanctified through this nation.

This is how the problem with the sanctification of the people of God and all the rest of the world in the pre-Christian era was solved. And with the coming of Christ there is a new nation of God, the borders of which coincide only partially with the borders of the former pre- Christian nation: because, this new nation is sanctified by the very Messiah, by opening to this nation the Kingdom, which He brought into the world. However the former people disappear of course nowhere: the covenant is concluded, what is sanctified, is sanctified. And how to connect the two nations into one, knows, probably, only the One who sanctified them. We are probably going to know about it only at the end of time, when the world will be transformed completely, and the Kingdom will be revealed in its entirety.