Exo 19:8 | KingComments | STEP | When Moses comes back, he sets the words of God before the people. He thus places them on their conscience. Without hesitation the people agree with the conditions ( ). They promise to do what the LORD has said. They will repeat this promise two more times ( ). We may be tempted to welcome their response. Their answer, however, bears witness to an overestimation of their own abilities. It shows that in recent months they have not yet got to know their own rebellious heart. The LORD knows that. Therefore, from now on the tone of the book changes. What should have become the celebration of a feast of the meeting with God ( ), becomes an event to which thunder and lightning, anxiety and fear are connected. There is a distance between God and the people. There is a reluctance to approach God. The people have said that they will do all that the LORD has commanded; therefore He will make His commandments known to them.

‏ Exodus 19:8

The Answer of the People

When Moses comes back, he sets the words of God before the people. He thus places them on their conscience. Without hesitation the people agree with the conditions (Exo 19:8). They promise to do what the LORD has said. They will repeat this promise two more times (Exo 24:3 ; 7). We may be tempted to welcome their response. Their answer, however, bears witness to an overestimation of their own abilities. It shows that in recent months they have not yet got to know their own rebellious heart. The LORD knows that.

Therefore, from now on the tone of the book changes. What should have become the celebration of a feast of the meeting with God (Exo 5:1), becomes an event to which thunder and lightning, anxiety and fear are connected. There is a distance between God and the people. There is a reluctance to approach God. The people have said that they will do all that the LORD has commanded; therefore He will make His commandments known to them.