Here Comes the Sun

The Talmud in Mesechet Shabbos tells us that as the Jewish nation stood at Mt Sinai God held up the mountain over their heads like a barrel and told them, "If you accept the Torah, good, and if not, this will be your burial place." How are we meant to understand this incident?
In Meseches Avoda Zara the story continues. The Talmud tells us that in Messianic times the nations of the world will come to God with a complaint. They will argue that as He never held a mountain over their heads, they were not given the same opportunities as the Jewish Nation. In response God will offer them the Mitzvah of Suakkah, and, after all the Gentiles have built Sukkahs on their roofs God will cause the Sun to burn very strongly until sitting in the Sukkah is uncomfortable. As the Mitzva of Sukka does not apply in uncomfortable situations they will leave their Sukkos and on the way out the door, kick the Sukkah. Why, of all the Mitzvos, does God choose to give them Sukkah? Furthermore, is it equitable to make it so hot as to make them uncomfortable? The whole issue began because they felt they were treated unfairly, how does this even the playing field?
I would like to suggest that the holding up of the mountain over their heads is a metaphor to describe the fact that at the time of the giving of the Torah the entire setting at Mt Sinai created a reality in which anyone present could no longer deny the existence of God. They lost their free will to choose to believe or not and for all intents and purposes the situation forced them to accept the Torah. The splendor of God's light proved too much for them to be able to handle. Our Sages teach us that after each of the first two Statements at Mt Sinai the souls of those present left their bodies and rushed to reconnect with God. The third time they asked Moshe to please be their intermediary as they feared dying again if God spoke. As they had not yet been given the Torah they lacked the Mitzvos which serve as the vehicles through which man can receive and utilize the Light of God. Standing before His light in an unprotected state  was not something they could experience and survive.
In future times when the Nations will argue that they never had a mountain held over their heads God will offer them a similar opportunity.  He will even give them a head start by offering them some protection, the Sukkah. A Sukkah serves to protect those inside from the light outside, and at the same time it serves as a vessel to contain as much light as possible. Then God began to shine His light and after a while it proved to be too much for them. Unlike at Mt Sinai where the people stood there twice in the light until their souls left their bodies, and even after that they didn't run away but asked to find a way to receive the light without it killing them, in this case the people will just run out and kick the Sukkah.
As a side note I was thinking that this may offer some insight into why, unlike the other holidays, there are no specific Mitzvos for people to perform on Shavuos. Mitzvos are vessels to contain the light of God. Just like at Mt Sinai the people lacked any such vessels, so too on the holiday commemorating the events at Mt Sinai we are meant to attend with no vessels and receive God's Torah once again.