5) The Covenant at Mount Sinai
Israel, God’s First Born
God’s declaration that Israel is His "firstborn son" resonates deeply with the promises made to Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. The Abrahamic Covenant included the promise that Abraham would be the father of a great nation, through whom all nations of the earth would be blessed. The designation of Israel as God's firstborn in Exodus 4:22 emphasizes the special status and chosen nature of Abraham's descendants. This reflects their central role in God's redemptive plan, an idea that is initially seeded through God’s promises to Abraham.
Exodus 4:22 is a pivotal verse that plays a crucial role in shaping the theological identity of Israel and its mission as described in the Abrahamic Covenant. The verse reads:
"Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son.'" (Exodus 4:22)
In ancient Near Eastern culture, the firstborn son typically had special responsibilities and privileges. This included a leadership role within the family and a double portion of the inheritance, which was not just a sign of favor but also a mandate to care for the family, including the responsibility for the welfare of younger siblings and the management of family resources.
Applying this to Israel, being called God’s "firstborn son" places them in a position of both privilege and great responsibility. They are to uphold and embody God's standards—His laws, justice, mercy, and faithfulness—and to administer these values in their lives and in their interactions with other nations. Recognizing Israel as the chosen people is not a matter of exclusivity, but of responsibility.
Israel’s Calling and Exodus
In the ancient Near East, most cultures, including the Egyptians, were polytheistic, worshiping multiple gods associated with various aspects of nature and human life. In stark contrast, the God of the Israelites, demanded exclusive worship, rejecting the polytheistic practices surrounding them. This is articulated in the Ten Commandments, where the first commandment explicitly states, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3).
The God of Israel’s claim to be the God above all gods is a declaration of His supremacy and uniqueness. This is not just about being supreme within a pantheon but negating the very existence or power of other gods. In Deuteronomy 10:17, it is said, "For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome." This underscores a fundamental theological assertion of His identity and authority, distinguishing Him from the gods of surrounding nations.
The plagues in Egypt, as described in the book of Exodus, serve multiple purposes. On one level, they are signs of God’s power aimed at compelling Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery. On another level, they are direct challenges to the Egyptian gods, each plague symbolically debunking the gods’ powers.
Water Turned to Blood (Exodus 7:14-24) - Hapi, the god of the Nile, who was believed to control the waters and fertility of the region; Osiris, whose bloodstream was mythologically linked to the Nile. The Nile was the lifeline of Egypt, and turning it to blood rendered it lifeless and undrinkable, undermining the gods associated with fertility and water.
Frogs (Exodus 8:1-15)- Heqet, the frog-headed goddess of fertility, water, and renewal. Frogs were considered sacred and their sudden, destructive multiplication would have been seen as a perversion of Heqet's powers.
Gnats or Lice (Exodus 8:16-19) - Geb, the god of the earth. The dust of the earth becoming lice attacked the god of the soil and the earth directly, turning a source of blessing into a curse.
Flies (Exodus 8:20-32) - Khepri, the god of creation, movement of the Sun, and rebirth, often depicted as a scarab beetle. The plague of flies (or beetles) would have represented a chaotic perversion of Khepri’s aspect as a protector from disease and misfortune.
Livestock Diseased (Exodus 9:1-7)- Hathor, goddess with a cow's head, associated with motherhood; Apis, the bull deity, symbol of fertility and strength. The death of livestock struck at deities connected with provision and health, showcasing Yahweh's control over animal life and fertility.
Boils (Exodus 9:8-12) - Isis, goddess of medicine and peace; Sekhmet, goddess of war and disease. The boils that afflicted the Egyptians challenged the healing powers of Isis and the destructive powers of Sekhmet.
Hail (Exodus 9:13-35) Nut, the sky goddess; Set, god of storms and disorder. The severe weather demonstrated Yahweh’s dominion over the sky and weather, realms typically ruled by Nut and influenced by Set.
Locusts (Exodus 10:1-20) - Osiris, god of vegetation and fertility. The locusts devouring all crops and greenery directly attacked Osiris’s domain, ruining the source of Egypt’s sustenance and economic stability.
Darkness (Exodus 10:21-29) - Ra, the sun god, one of the most important and powerful of Egyptian deities. Darkness enveloping the land was a profound affront to Ra’s power, blotting out the sun and plunging Egypt, symbolically and physically, into chaos.
Death of the Firstborn (Exodus 11:1-10; 12:29-30)- Pharaoh himself, considered a god, and the protector of the people; also challenges the protective powers of all Egyptian deities. The death of every firstborn, from the royal household to livestock, represented a direct strike against Pharaoh's divine status and his supposed divine protective abilities, undermining the foundational security of the entire Egyptian pantheon.
A Suzerain Treaty
The covenant at Sinai, detailed primarily in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, bears strong similarities to a suzerain-vassal treaty.
Moses serves as a crucial mediator of the covenant at Sinai, bridging the divine and human realms. His role is essential in conveying God’s laws and commands to the Israelites and representing the people's concerns and responses to God.
Moses ascends Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments directly from God (Exodus 19:20, 24:12-18). This act alone sets Moses apart as the mediator, as he alone is called to enter God's presence on the mountain, while the people must remain at a distance.
Exodus 19-24 tells the story of the covenant made at Mount Sinai. Israel’s obligations to the covenant are spelled out very clearly in several places in the Torah. In Exodus 19, Israel arrives at the base of Mount Sinai, and God calls Moses up to the mountain. God speaks to Moses and tells him to convey a message to the people:
“While Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6, ESV Bible)
In Exodus 20:2, just before the Ten Commandments are given, God introduces Himself as "the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." This acts as both a preamble and a part of a historical prologue, identifying the suzerain (God) and recalling the liberation from Egypt, which sets the stage for the obligations that follow:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, (Exodus 20:2-5, ESV Bible)
Israel is obligated to obey God and keep the terms of the covenant. What are the terms? The laws of Torah. The laws given at Sinai, starting with the Ten Commandments and extending through the various civil, moral, and ceremonial laws detailed throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, serve as the stipulations of the covenant. These laws dictate how Israel is to live as God’s people, covering every aspect of life from worship to social justice.
Moses writes down all the words of the LORD (Exodus 24:4) and later, these laws are to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant (Deuteronomy 31:26):
And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” (Exodus 24:4-7, ESV Bible)
Moreover, these laws were to be read publicly every seven years to remind the Israelites of their covenant obligations (Deuteronomy 31:10-13).
The covenant itself is not the laws. The covenant is the agreement to keep those laws:
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:1, ESV Bible)
“But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:15, ESV Bible)
“If” they will do these things (stipulations of the covenant)… all is contingent on Israel’s faithfulness and obedience. The blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience are outlined in detail in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. These chapters vividly describe the prosperity that would come with obedience and the disaster that would follow disobedience.
While God Himself is the primary witness to the covenant, the ceremony at Sinai is witnessed by the assembled nation of Israel. Later texts suggest that heaven and earth are also invoked as witnesses to the covenant (Deuteronomy 30:19):
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, (Deuteronomy 30:19, ESV Bible)
The sign of the covenant is the Sabbath:
And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” (Exodus 31:12-17, ESV Bible)
After the six days of creating, God rested, the first ever recorded Sabbath. At Mount Sinai, God makes keeping the Sabbath obligatory for Israel, and He established it as a perpetual sign of His covenant with Israel.
Just like the Abrahamic covenant, the Sinai covenant is ongoing. Covenants do not conflict with each other but work together and build on top of one another. When Israel breaks the covenant at Sinai, it did not end God’s relationship with Israel. In their disobedience God fell back upon and continued to keep covenants He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Leviticus 26, it tells us that this is how the Sinai covenant is supposed to work:
“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, iI will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. (Leviticus 26:40-46, ESV Bible)
The Torah tells us that when the Sinai covenant is breached, God will still redeem His people and keep His covenant with them on the basis of the covenant He made with Abraham.
Many of the blessings associated with the Sinai Covenant are conditional, based on Israel's obedience to God's laws. Texts like Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 outline blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, suggesting that the continuation and benefits of the covenant are contingent upon Israel's compliance with the covenant's terms.
Deuteronomy 28 lists blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. At the end of Chapter 29 it mentions how when they disobey the curses will come upon them. They will be uprooted from the land and will experience fury and wrath. Chapter 30 says “and when all these things come upon you…”If they return to God, and obey his voice, then God will restore their fortunes.
In several passages, the commandments are described with language that suggests perpetuity. For example, Exodus 27:21 and 30:21 describe certain priestly duties and rituals as "a statute forever to their generations" on behalf of the Israelites.
Exodus 40:15 also describes the priestly anointing as lasting "for their generations" and is referred to as "an everlasting priesthood."
While most of the prophetic references to the law lament Israel's failures to uphold it, the prophets also envision a time of restoration where the law is once again central to a reconstituted Israelite society. For instance, Ezekiel 37:24-28 speaks of a restored Israel following God's ordinances and decrees forever.
Jeremiah 32:40 describes a future covenant renewal with an emphasis on an everlasting covenant: "I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me."
Jeremiah 31:31-34, which introduces the idea of a "new covenant," does not explicitly say that the Sinai Covenant will be abolished; rather, it emphasizes a transformation in how the law is understood and internalized ("I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts"). This suggests not the nullification of the law but a deeper, more intrinsic adherence to it.
The Hebrew Scriptures support a view of the Sinai Covenant as enduring in its foundational aspects, with an expectation of continual observance. The covenant's promises of protection and blessing, while linked to compliance, are framed within a narrative that anticipates an unbroken, perpetual commitment between God and Israel. This perspective holds that the covenant, though challenged by Israel's historical failures, is never fully abrogated but is meant to be perpetually relevant and binding.