Adventistische Schriften über: "Are there indications that the encounter of the people of Israel at Sinai in the second book of Moses was also a judgment?"

The encounter at Sinai bore clear characteristics of a judgment, as the terrors and the majestic divine presence on the mountain were meant to symbolize the scenes of the future world judgment. Moreover, the law itself was a “service of condemnation,” showing sinners their guilt and announcing death as the consequence of transgression. In the concrete situation of the apostasy through the golden calf, an immediate punitive judgment was also carried out to preserve the nation from total corruption.

The terrors of Sinai as a depiction of judgment

»The terrors of Sinai were to present the scenes of judgment to the people. The sound of a trumpet called Israel together to encounter God. The voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God will call both the living and the dead from all the earth to the presence of their Judge. ... When the divine presence was revealed on Sinai, the glory of the Lord was like consuming fire in the eyes of all Israel. But when Christ comes in glory with His holy angels, the whole earth will be set ablaze by the terrible light of His presence.«

1 - Ellen Gould White, Patriarchs and Prophets (PP 339.1)

Copy quote text only Find similar quotes

The law as judgment over the sinner

»God’s law, given in dreadful majesty from Sinai, was the pronouncement of condemnation for the sinner. The transgressor died without mercy. The proclamation of this law and its repetition on the holy mountain was so holy and so glorious that a glory was reflected on Moses’ face that the people could not behold without pain... It is the task of the law to condemn, but there is no power in the law to forgive.«

2 - Ellen Gould White, Bible Echo and Signs of the Times (BEcho August 4, 1902, par. 2)

Copy quote text only Find similar quotes

Necessity of the punitive judgment during the apostasy at Sinai

»Love, no less than justice, required that a judgment be carried out for this sin. God is both the protector and the ruler of His people. He removes those who are determined to rebel so that they do not lead others to ruin. ... So it was also with the apostasy at Sinai. Had the punishment not swiftly followed the transgression, the same results would have occurred again. The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah.«

3 - Ellen Gould White, Patriarchs and Prophets (PP 325.3)

Copy quote text only Find similar quotes

The law from Sinai as a standard in the final judgment

»This holy law, God’s righteousness, proclaimed under thunder and flames from Sinai as a guide for life, is now revealed to humanity as the rule of judgment. The hand opens the tablets, and one sees the provisions of the Decalogue, as if drawn with a fiery feather. ... Now they are judged by the law they despised.«

4 - Ellen Gould White, The Great Controversy (1888 ed.) (GC88 639.1)

Copy quote text only Find similar quotes