On Eagles’ Wings: The Encounter at Sinai

 In Blog
mt-sinai

“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” (Exodus 19:4, NKJV)

There are several key places in the Bible in which God reveals Himself in a personal and powerful way to His people as a whole – marking the course for generations to come and defining who they are to be as a people. One of those formative encounters for the Jewish community (and by extension the Christian community as well) took place at Mount Sinai, in the wilderness between Egypt and the Promised Land.

Led by Moses, one of the most prominent figures in Israel’s history, the people of Israel had just been delivered by God from the tyranny of 400 years of enslavement in Egypt. On the other side of the dramatic Red Sea crossing, God continued to work miracles on their behalf, such as when He provided manna from heaven to sustain the Israelites in the wilderness, despite the complaining of the people when they faced hardships on the journey.

Exodus 19 records the historic moment in time when Israel was encamped at Sinai, just as Moses was about to receive the Ten Commandments that would form the basis of God’s covenant with His people as a nation. The place where they had stopped – in the midst of a massive desert – was to become known throughout the following centuries as the foundation for Judeo-Christian civilization.

In verse 3, Moses went up the mountain and prepared to meet with God on behalf of the people. In verses 4 to 6, the pivotal summary message that Moses received for the people of Israel was declared by God:

“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

Remarkably, God declares that He has personally carried His people “on eagles’ wings” and prepared them for this moment when He would reveal His purpose to them. From this encounter, there are several major elements of the initiation of God’s covenant that we can see taking place.

1. History was made by the voice of God coming to the people of Israel.

From the days of Abraham, God had demonstrated that He had purposed to make Abraham’s descendants a vast group of people, comparable in appearance to the number of the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5). Although He had spoken clearly to the man Abraham, now His intention was to speak clearly to the people as a whole to prepare them to walk in relationship with Him as their God.

God’s voice coming to His people distinguished Him from the gods made of silver and gold in the other nations, who “have mouths but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear” (Psalm 115:5-6). The God of Israel was and is a living being, the omnipotent Creator of all things.

As is still the case today, to be among those who would serve God requires being able to hear His voice and follow His commandments, so that we may have a relationship with Him. This is the very thing that was taking place as the sound of God’s voice thundered from the mountain and Moses received the commandments for the people.

2. Israel’s call as a people was revealed as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

In later chapters of Exodus and Leviticus, we can see that God enacted a priesthood in Israel to minister in His presence on behalf of the nation of people. This was the sacred calling of the tribe of Levi, in which they as a tribe were to be devoted to preserving the daily worship in the tabernacle in the wilderness and later in the temple in Jerusalem.

In the same way that the Levitical priests fulfilled this role in relationship to the people of Israel as a whole, so the entire nation of Israel would be a priesthood before God in relationship to the whole world. They were to be a nation of priests who by their holy calling were to open the way for the blessings of God to come to all the nations, for as God said to them from Sinai, “all the earth is Mine.”

From the very beginning, Israel’s special relationship with God was not to be an end in itself; it was to be a catalyst for other nations to also enter into relationship with the God of Israel.

3. The character of God in his dealings with Israel was displayed before the entire world, to reveal the type of God that He is.

In the language that God uses to address His people, we see a powerful tenderness and care, demonstrated in His favor bestowed on them: “… how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” God was setting apart this people for Himself – showing that His might and His power would find the greatest expression in His utter commitment of love for a people. He wanted this people to be close to Him so that He could demonstrate His covenant faithfulness towards them.

In addition, His heart can be seen in what He commanded Israel to do: to establish a nation with values of morality and truth that have served as a foundation for the Judeo-Christian society that we live in today. The type of covenant that He was establishing with Israel, both through the Scriptures that have been preserved and also through God’s personal interactions with Israel, was for all the nations to witness – to know that He is a faithful God who continually keeps His Word, without fault or betrayal.

From the encounter at Sinai, the mission of the people of Israel before this awe-inspiring God was clear. They were to be His earthly representatives as a holy nation, and their presence in the earth was to shine as a “light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6), so that God’s salvation would reach to the ends of the earth.

Today as people of faith from many nations, let us remember and give thanks for the God of Israel and His covenants with His people – for by His covenant faithfulness we have been invited into relationship with God and into the proclamation of His character throughout the world, for His glory!

Watch this edition of “Bishop and the Rabbi” where Bishop Robert Stearns and Rabbi Brad Hirschfield discuss the Torah portion “Yitro” which includes the Exodus 19 account of the Children of Israel on Mt. Sinai.

Recent Posts
The Goodness of God in a Rapidly Changing WorldBlog
The Encounter at Sinai Part 2Blog

ABOUT US

Eagles’ Wings. and our affiliates (“we,” “us” or “Eagle’s Wings”) is focused on (1) Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, (2)Renewing the importance of spiritual community and (3)fostering understanding across cultural divides, through social media, mailings, email, conferences, speaking engagements and related forms of media and other presentations.

We care about protecting the personal information of our customers and visitors who use our websites, products or services (collectively, our “Users”). This privacy policy provides details about how your personal information is collected, shared and used by us. To learn more about Eagle’s Wings, visit: https://eagleswings.org. If you have any questions about this privacy policy or the practices described herein, you may contact [email protected] or PO Box 450, Clarence, New York 14031.

For the purposes of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, Eagles’ Wings, and each of its departments for which you have interacted with for a product or service are the data controller.

INFORMATION COVERED BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy policy covers personal information, including any information we collect, use and share from you, as described further below. This privacy policy applies to all websites of Eagles’ Wings our products and services, and our mobile applications (collectively, the “Services”). This privacy policy does not cover how our Users may use or share data that they collect using our services.

When you engage with us through service or product purchase, your personal information will be collected, used, and shared consistent with the provisions of this privacy policy as well as the following addendums related to particular products and services offered by Eagles’ Wings, which are a part of this privacy policy.

For the purposes of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, these are data processors:

INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM YOU

In the course of your use of the Services, we obtain the following information about you as described below. We collect this data for the purposes described in “How We Use Your Information”.

SIGNING UP FOR SERVICES; USER INFORMATION

USE OF SERVICES, WEBSITE VISITS AND SUPPORT

We store this data we collect in a variety of places within our infrastructure, including system log files, back-end databases, and analytics systems.

SOCIAL MEDIA

OTHER SOURCES

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We have a legitimate interest in running a successful and efficient organization and in providing you with Services and useful content, and we use the information we collect, both on its own and combined with any other information we collect about you, for the following purposes:

We also use the information we receive in aggregated and anonymized formats to produce reports on trends and statistics, such as mobile search trends, email open rates by industry, campaign best practices or the number of users that have been exposed to, or clicked on, our websites or evaluated or purchased our products and services.

Payment information that you provide to us, including credit card data, will only be used to facilitate payment for our products and services.

SHARING OF INFORMATION

As further described below, we will only share certain personal information with:

SHARING WITHIN Eagles’ Wings

We share personal information with other members of the organization to allow communication with you on offers of interest.  If you are located in a jurisdiction where such sharing requires your permission, we will only do so with your consent.

SHARING WITH THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS AND VENDORS

When we share personal information with certain third-party vendors, including marketing, data services and advertising partners, that information includes your name, email address and other information enabling partners to:

If you are located in a jurisdiction where such sharing requires your permission, we will only do so with your consent. Please note that if you access our services through a tool that hides your location, such as through a virtual private network, you may not receive our request for permission because we were not able to identify you as being located in a jurisdiction where your permission is required.

AUTHORIZED USERS

All users authorized by you to have access to your account can view personal information stored in the account. A primary account holder can view personal information saved in subaccounts to which they have authorized access. We share information about authorized users only for legitimate purposes consistent with this privacy policy, including servicing your account and marketing products and services to you.

LEGAL PROCESS

Lastly, if legally required to do so, or if we have a good faith belief that such disclosure is reasonably necessary, we may disclose your personal information to courts of law, law enforcement authorities and other relevant third parties, such as internet service providers, to conduct an investigation, respond to a third party or law enforcement subpoena or court order, bring legal action, prevent harm to others or pursue other relief when you or a third party are or may be:

This disclosure can include transferring your information to the U.S. and other countries outside the European Economic Area. To the extent we are legally permitted to do so, it is our policy to notify you in the event that we are required to provide your personal information to third parties.

SECURITY

The transmission of information via the internet, email or text message is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your information transmitted through the Services or over email; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will take appropriate technical and organizational measures to safeguard your personal information against loss, theft and unauthorized use, access or modification. When we collect financial account information, such as credit card numbers, we protect its transmission through the use of encryption such as the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol.

TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES AND ONLINE ADVERTISING

We may use cookies, web beacons, pixels, tags, scripts and other similar technologies in the course of our digital engagement. Information about the technologies we use, why we use them (for example, in connection with online advertising), and how you can control them can be found in our Cookie Policy.

CHOICE/OPT-OUT

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FROM US

EMAIL

You always have the opportunity to opt out of our marketing communications with you or change your preferences by following a link in the footer of all non-transactional email messages from us or by emailing us at [email protected]. Some communications from us are considered transactional or service communications (for example, important account notifications and billing information), and your account(s) for Eagle’s Wings products and services are provided to you upon the condition that you receive these communications from us. You must cancel your account(s) for Eagle’s Wings products and services, as applicable, if you do not wish to receive any transactional or service communications. To cancel your Eagle’s Wings account(s), please follow the instructions found in the terms of service for the applicable Eagles Wings services. You may still receive marketing communications from us even after you cancel your account unless you also opt-out of our marketing communications, as described above.

PHONE

We may contact you by telephone, with your consent where applicable, for marketing purposes (including by automatic dialer and/or prerecorded message). If you do not want to receive marketing calls, please contact [email protected]. You do not need to agree to receive automated marketing phone calls or texts from us to use the Services.

COOKIES

For information about how to manage and opt out from cookies, please visit our Cookie Policy.

INFORMATION FROM THIRD PARTIES

To manage the information we receive about you from a social networking site or other third parties (if applicable), you will need to follow the instructions from that party for updating your information and changing your privacy settings, where available. The information we collect is covered by this privacy policy and the information the third party collects is subject to such third party’s privacy practices. Privacy choices you have made on any third party site will not apply to our use of the information we have collected directly through our Services.

UNAUTHORIZED ACCOUNTS                                                                                                             

If an account or profile was created without your knowledge or authorization, please contact [email protected] to request removal of the account or profile.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We retain your personal information to provide services to you and as otherwise necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We will retain your personal information for no more than seven years following the later of (i) the date on which you terminate your use of the Services or (ii) May 25, 2018, unless we are otherwise required by law or regulation to retain your personal information for longer.

YOUR RIGHTS

Where the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, applies, in certain circumstances and subject to data processing agreements, you have rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you. We set out below an outline of those rights and how to exercise those rights. Please note that we will require you to verify your identity before responding to any requests to exercise your rights by providing details only known to the account holder. Please note that for each of the rights below we may have valid legal reasons to refuse your request, in such instances we will let you know if that is the case.

ACCESS

You have the right to know whether we process personal information about you, and if we do, to access data we hold about you and certain information about how we use it and who we share it with.

PORTABILITY

You have the right to receive a subset of the personal information you provide us if we process it on the legal bases of our contract with you or with your consent in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and a right to request that we transfer such personal information to another party. If you wish for us to transfer the personal information to another party, please ensure you detail that party and note that we can only do so where it is technically feasible. We are not responsible for the security of the personal information or its processing once received by the third party.

CORRECTION

You have the right to require us to correct any personal information held about you that is inaccurate and have incomplete data completed. Where you request correction, please explain in detail why you believe the personal information we hold about you to be inaccurate or incomplete so that we can assess whether a correction is required. Please note that while we assess whether the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you may exercise your right to restrict our processing of the applicable data as described below.

ERASURE

You may request that we erase the personal information we hold about you in the following circumstances:

Please provide as much detail as possible on your reasons for the request to assist us in determining whether you have a valid basis for erasure.

RESTRICTION OF PROCESSING TO STORAGE ONLY

You have a right to require us to stop processing the personal information we hold about you other than for storage purposes in the following circumstances:

You have objected to us processing personal information we hold about you on the basis of our legitimate interest and you wish us to stop processing the personal information while we determine whether there is an overriding interest in us retaining such personal information.

OBJECTION

You have the right to object to our processing of data about you and we will consider your request. Please provide us with detail as to your reasoning so that we can assess whether there is a compelling overriding interest in us continuing to process such data or we need to process it in relation to legal claims.

You also have the right, at any time, to object to our processing of data about you in order to send you marketing, including where we build profiles for such purposes and we will stop processing the data for that purpose.

WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT

Where you have provided your consent to us processing your personal data, you can withdraw your consent at any time by emailing [email protected].

THIRD PARTY LINKS & INFORMATION COLLECTION AND USE BY OUR USERS

Some of our Services provide links to other websites. Because we do not control the information policies or practices of these third-party sites, you should review their privacy policies to learn about how they collect and use personal information.

You may also log in to some of our Services using sign-in services such as, but not limited to, Facebook Connect or an Open ID provider. These services will authenticate your identity and provide you with the option to share certain personal information with us, such as your name and email address to pre-populate our sign up form. For example, if you take advantage of certain of our social media features, such as the Facebook Like button, and widgets, such as the “Share This” button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site, the applicable social networking sites may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our websites, and may set a cookie to enable it to function properly.

DATA TRANSFER

In order for us to provide the Services to you, your personal information will be transferred to, and stored at/processed in the United States.

You can contact the Eagles’ Wings [email protected] for further information

COMPLAINTS

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how we process your personal information, please contact our office and we will try to deal with your request.

Eagles’ Wings
PO Box 450
Clarence, New York 14031

Telephone: (716) – 759 –1058
Fax: (716) 759– 01731

[email protected]

NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. If we decide to change this privacy policy in any material way, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on www.eagleswings.org or the website of the Eagles’ Wings’ product or service you use prior to the change becoming effective. In all cases, your continued use of any Services constitutes acceptance to any such changes.