THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
In the temple of the Jews there was the wondrous Holy of Holies. They also had something fearsome, what took place on Mount Sinai: fire, cloud, darkness, and tempest.
For it is said that on Sinai God was revealed in fire, tempest, and darkness (Deut 5:22). Nothing of this kind occurred at the institution of the new covenant. It was given by Christ in His simple discourse.
See how the Apostle again makes a comparison between them, fittingly placing all this afterward. After setting before them many proofs, and already explaining the difference between the two covenants, he finally turns easily to this point after what was said above.
Read more (574 words)
What then does he say? You have not come to a mountain (cf. Ex 19:20; Deut 9:19). That was fearful, he says, so fearful that it was impossible even to hear, and not even a beast dared approach.
Yet this is still not such as what follows. What is Sinai compared with heaven? What is tangible fire compared with the intangible God? "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29).
That what then took place on the mountain was truly fearful is clear from the words they spoke: "They said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us, lest we die'" (Ex 20:19).
So terrible was the vision, the Apostle says, that even Moses said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling." Is it surprising that the people, as Scripture says, felt such fear?
Even Moses himself, who entered the darkness where God was, said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling."
That was fearful, but this is far more wondrous and glorious. Here there is neither darkness, nor cloud, nor tempest, as there was there.
Why, then, did God appear in fire at that time? This, it seems to me, signifies the obscurity of the old covenant, and the dimness and veiled character of the Law.
On the other hand, it shows that the Lawgiver must be fearful and terrible to transgressors.
Why were there trumpet sounds? This was fitting, because a king, as it were, was present there. So it will be at the Second Coming. "The trumpet will sound," says the Apostle, "and we shall all be raised" (1 Cor 15:52).
The resurrection of all will be accomplished by the power of God. The voice of the trumpet means nothing other than that all must rise.
Then, on Sinai, everything was sensible: both sights and sounds. What follows is wholly spiritual and invisible. Fire signifies that God is "a fire," the Apostle says, "a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29).
The cloud, darkness, and smoke again express nothing but what is fearful. Thus Isaiah also says, "The house was filled with smoke" (Is 6:4).
And why the tempest? The human race was careless, and therefore it had to be awakened. Certainly there was no man so careless that he would not lift up his thoughts on high when this was happening and the Law was being given.
"Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice" (Ex 19:19), because the voice of God had to be heard. Since God wished to give the Law through Moses, He makes him worthy of belief.
The Jews did not see Moses because of the cloud, and they did not hear him because of his slowness of speech. What then happened? God Himself answered him "by a voice."
He was, as it were, speaking to the people and making the ordinances of the Law intelligible to them.
But let us return to what was said above. "You have not come to a mountain that may be touched and that burns with fire, nor to darkness and gloom and tempest, nor to the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words. Those who heard begged that no further word should be spoken to them."
Therefore they themselves were the cause of God's appearing to them in a sensible manner. What did they say? "You speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us" (Ex 20:19).