The people of God

About three months after leaving Egypt, Moses and the Israelites reached Mount Sinai – the very place where God had met Moses some time earlier, and spoken to him from the burning bush. In that encounter, God had told Moses that he would go and lead God’s people out of Egypt, and that once they had been delivered from Egypt they would come and “worship God at this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12) Once they arrived at Mount Sinai, Exodus 19:3 tells us that, “Moses went up to God” on the mountain, where God spoke to him and said several powerful things concerning his people.

The first thing God told Moses was that if His people would obey his voice and keep his covenant, then among all the peoples on the earth, they would be God’s “treasured possession.” This phrase is a translation of a Hebrew word that comes from a root meaning, “to shut up, or hide away” and refers to the common practice of hiding our most valuable possessions in a safe place such as a safe. God was declaring that He would hide his people in his safe, because they were his most valuable possession. God used this same phrase several more times in scripture to refer to his people.

The next thing God told Moses was that His people would be “a kingdom of priests.” This phrase refers to the fact that when God set up the tabernacle, and later the temple, it was Holy, and only the priests had access to it. The laymen could come as far as the outer court of the temple, but only the priests could proceed into the inner courts and chambers.

Since the temple was understood to be the place where God dwelled among his people, the priests were in a sense privileged to get closer to God that the common man could. By referring to His people as a “kingdom of priests,” God was declaring that of all the people on earth, His people would be the ones closest to Him, and that every one of them would have access to his presence.

The next thing God told Moses was that His people were a “holy nation.” The Hebrew word translated “holy” means sacred, or set apart exclusively for divine purposes. This word comes from a root that means clean or pure. By using this phrase to describe His people, God was declaring that, out of all the peoples on earth, he had washed them, and set them apart for exclusively for his own pleasure and purposes.

“That’s great,” you might say, “but I’m not Jewish, so what does it have to do with me?” Everything! 1^st Peter 2:9 quotes this passage and applies it to Christians:

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.

According to this passage, Christians the world over are both a “people” and a “nation.” But we are not just any people, we are a “people belonging to God” – meaning, of all the people on earth, we are his treasured possession. And, we are a “royal priesthood” – a kingdom in which every citizen is a priest having both direct access to God, as well as the priestly duty of helping to bring others to him.

If this passage doesn’t do wonders for your self-image, I don’t know what will! As you go through your day today, meditate on these things. Remind yourself of who you are – you are a royal priest, one of God’s holy people, and his special treasure!