We Were There

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses summons all of Israel. In verses 2-4, he tells the people:

The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb (Mt. Sinai). It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to face out of the fire the mountain.

After this, he recites the Ten Commandments.

It appears that Moses is reminding the people that they were present at Sinai when God made this great covenant with them. He tells them that they were at the mountain that day and that they stood face to face with the fire. He is telling them that they were there the day that God handed them the law and the day the people of Israel renewed their covenant with the Lord, but the truth is they weren’t. This is not the same people that were present at Sinai but a new generation. Why does Moses tell them this?

Moses is not literally telling the people that they were present at Sinai when the Ten Commandments were given to them. He is, however, reminding them that the covenant that was made between God and the people of Israel is not just for their fathers; it was also made with them. In their acceptance and participation of this covenant, they are drawn back to Mt. Sinai. They stand with Moses as he faced the burning bush; they stand among the crowd as they receive the law. They are circumcised into the same faith of Abraham just as their fathers were.

Today, as the New Israel, it is important to remind ourselves that we were once among those who scoffed at Jesus and cried, “Crucify him,” but in our acceptance of Christ, in our baptism, and in our participation of communion, we are drawn back to the cross. We sit with the twelve in the upper room as Jesus breaks the bread and passes the cup saying, “This is my body...this is my blood...do this in remembrance of me.” We stand alongside the crowd, with Mary, as Jesus suffers on the cross, taking on the sins of the world, facing death head on, and coming out alive on the other side having conquered sin and death. May we be reminded that, by grace through faith, we too take part in God’s new covenant.

-Matt