21 and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish.
21 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.
21 God said to Moses, "Go down. Warn the people not to break through the barricades to get a look at God lest many of them die.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish.
21 Then the Lord told Moses, "Go back down and warn the people not to break through the boundaries to see the Lord, or they will die.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 19:21
Commentary on Exodus 19:16-25
(Read Exodus 19:16-25)
Never was there such a sermon preached, before or since, as this which was preached to the church in the wilderness. It might be supposed that the terrors would have checked presumption and curiosity in the people; but the hard heart of an unawakened sinner can trifle with the most terrible threatenings and judgments. In drawing near to God, we must never forget his holiness and greatness, nor our own meanness and pollution. We cannot stand in judgment before him according to his righteous law. The convinced transgressor asks, What must I do to be saved? and he hears the voice, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. The Holy Ghost, who made the law to convince of sin, now takes of the things of Christ, and shows them to us. In the gospel we read, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. We have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Through him we are justified from all things, from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. But the Divine law is binding as a rule of life. The Son of God came down from heaven, and suffered poverty, shame, agony, and death, not only to redeem us from its curse, but to bind us more closely to keep its commands.