And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish.
God repeats the prohibition with greater vehemence because He knows He deals with the rebellious, and one warning will not curb them. Since we are no better, do not marvel that He spurs us often with many exhortations and redoubled threats. Our proper place is to learn humbly what He teaches, not to press forward with anxious curiosity beyond what He wills to reveal.
AI summary
God Himself was the preacher that day, descending in fire with ten thousand holy angels attending His majesty. The mountain shook and smoked as His throne; the trumpet grew louder and louder, calling the guilty to assemble, a sound of war to those who knew their sin.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 19:16-25
The people's curiosity about God's form, their desire to see some likeness and fashion an image of it, is precisely what the Lord forbids. He knows their minds are vain and prone to idolatry, so He charges Moses strictly: transgress these bounds and perish, as the men of Bethshemesh perished for looking into the ark.
AI summary