22 And let the priests who come near to the Lord make themselves holy, for fear that the Lord may come on them suddenly.
And he sent some of the young men of the children of Israel to make burned offerings and peace-offerings of oxen to the Lord.
If now you will truly give ear to my voice and keep my agreement, you will be my special property out of all the peoples: for all the earth is mine:
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their vessels and put fire in them and perfume, burning strange fire before the Lord, which he had not given them orders to do. And fire came out from before the Lord, burning them up and causing their destruction before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord said, I will be holy in the eyes of all those who come near to me, and I will be honoured before all the people. And Aaron said nothing.
And when they came to Nacon's grain-floor, Uzzah put his hand on the ark of God to keep it safe in its place, for the oxen were out of control. And the wrath of the Lord, burning against Uzzah, sent destruction on him because he had put his hand on the ark, and death came to him there by the ark of God. And David was angry because of the Lord's outburst of wrath against Uzzah: and he gave that place the name Perez-uzzah, which is its name to this day.
And when they came to the grain-floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to keep the ark in its place, for the oxen were slipping. And the wrath of the Lord, burning against Uzza, sent destruction on him because he had put his hand on the ark, and death came to him there before God. And David was angry because of the Lord's outburst of wrath against Uzza, and he gave that place the name Perez-uzza, to this day.
For because you did not take it at the first, the Lord our God sent punishment on us, because we did not get directions from him in the right way.
It was not possible to keep it at that time, because not enough priests had made themselves holy, and the people had not come together in Jerusalem.
For a great number of the people from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not made themselves clean, but they took the Passover meal, though not in the right way. For Hezekiah had made prayer for them, saying, May the good Lord have mercy on everyone Who, with all his heart, is turned to God the Lord, the God of his fathers, even if he has not been made clean after the rules of the holy place.
Away! away! go out from there, touching no unclean thing; go out from among her; be clean, you who take up the vessels of the Lord.
And straight away she went down at his feet, and her life went from her: and the young men came in and saw her dead, and they took her out and put her in the earth with her husband.
For this cause a number of you are feeble and ill, and a number are dead. But if we were true judges of ourselves, punishment would not come on us. But if punishment does come, it is sent by the Lord, so that we may be safe when the world is judged.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 19
Commentary on Exodus 19 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 19
This chapter introduces the solemnity of the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, which was one of the most striking appearances of the divine glory that ever was in this lower world. We have here,
Exd 19:1-8
Here is,
Exd 19:9-15
Here,
Exd 19:16-25
Now, at length, comes that memorable day, that terrible day of the Lord, that day of judgment, in which Israel heard the voice of the Lord God speaking to them out of the midst of the fire, and lived, Deu. 4:33. Never was there such a sermon preached, before nor since, as this which was here preached to the church in the wilderness. For,