(16) On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud sound of the shofar. All the people trembled who were in the camp. (17) Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain. (18) Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for Adonai had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of an oven, and the whole mountain trembled intensely. (19) The sound of the shofar grew louder and louder. Moses would speak and God would answer him with a sound/ voice/aloud. (20) And Adonai came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and Adonai called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Study Questions on Exod 19
**Background: About a month and a half after leaving Egypt, the Israelites entered the Sinai desert where they would soon encounter God. We pick up the story a few days after they camp near Mount Sinai, and Moses has already received instructions about preparing the people for this theophany.**
1. The text first says in verse 16 that there was a shofar blowing at Mount Sinai? It doesn't say who was blowing it. What do you think is the answer to that question? Why do you think that? (Be sure to take verse 19 into account.)
2. The second part of verse 19 ("Moses would speak and God would answer him with a sound/voice/aloud") is pretty mysterious. There are a few possible ways to translate it. In your opinion, how did God answer Moses? Why doesn't it just say "God would answer him"?
3. If one important meaning of the shofar is based on this biblical passage, then what are we expressing, what might we be trying to say, when we blow the shofar? What could the message be for God? What could the message be for ourselves? Write whatever makes sense to you.