Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I’m sure you’ve experienced receiving an invitation from someone you held in high esteem. Perhaps it was an invitation to join them for coffee, or at an event, or maybe they wanted your opinion or even your help. How did you feel about the invitation and what did you do?
In your wildest imagination, can you imagine hearing the audible voice of Almighty God inviting you to come and meet with Him, in a particular place, at a particular time? Would you go? How would you prepare? What if you were courageous enough to go and you discovered it was a private meeting… just you and God!! What would you do then, my friends?
Yesterday we were with Moses in that type of an encounter with God. We don’t know how long it lasted, but I suspect at least a full day or two, maybe longer, for Moses’ written record of what God told him in that encounter fills three chapters of the Bible… Exodus 21, 22 & 23! Because of the significance of what God was saying to Moses, and God’s intention that Moses would communicate it clearly, completely, and if necessary frequently, to the 1 million Hebrews he had led out of Egypt about 100 days before, I suspect God spoke slowly, pausing often for Moses to be sure he understood!
I wonder if we can fully grasp what was happening here? God had met Moses once before on this mountain, but that time Moses was a sheep herder, shocked to see a burning bush not being consumed, and then shocked even more when that bush called his name and identified itself as the voice of God! That encounter, recorded in Exodus 3, changed Moses’ life for the rest of his life! That encounter concluded with God commissioning Moses to return back to Egypt and confront the Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, with God’s messages and God’s power as seen in the plagues that ravaged Egypt. Finally Pharaoh conceded and released these 1 million Hebrew slaves, and Moses led them out of Egypt, through God’s miraculous Red Sea ‘water tunnel’, and following a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, Moses led them here to Mount Sinai. That trip took about 3 months, and they had experienced God’s miraculous provision of food and water along the way several times. (Exodus 19:1) It was incredible!
Now here at Mount Sinai, Moses was very anxious to climb back up this mountain, perhaps looking to see if he could find that bush again, but instead God spoke directly to Moses, without any burning bush. God instructed Moses to bring the people out of their tents, have them gather around the base of the mountain for an encounter with God! (Exodus 19:3) And God promised He would speak directly to the people, explaining to them WHY he had delivered them from slavery, and what relationship He wanted to have with these people. That encounter is recorded for us in Exodus 19, and it was almost beyond description, it was so terrifying, so awesome.
The mountain appeared like a volcano with fire and smoke. It shook like an earthquake and there was a loud sound like a trumpet blast, and then a big, booming voice… the Voice of God spoke to the people! Yes, the people heard God’s audible voice speaking to them, and He spoke what we know as the “10 Commandments”. (Exodus 20) These powerful declarations from God redefined life for these people. Stunned, the people asked Moses to be their representative with God rather than they having any more direct contact with God! The people backed away from the mountain and they sent Moses up that mountain to meet with God. (Exodus 20:18-21)
Finally, as God appears to be nearing completion of this long message of lifestyle instructions for His people, I think Moses is probably a bit relieved this prolonged conversation seems to be coming to an end. I can only imagine what this personal, audible, conversation with God was like, especially as Moses knew he was responsible to relay every word he had heard to 1 million people! This long message from God was a long list of lifestyle expectations God had for His people. God wanted them to live totally different from how they had lived as slaves in Egypt! I imagine Moses was working on a logistics plan for how he would explain all this to the Elders, and they in turn would explain it to the clan leaders, and then to their families. How long would that take, and how often would it all have to be repeated before the people would finally understand and actually start living as God had described? If you are a parent or grandparent you understand the huge feeling of responsibility to teach your kids and grandkids how to live right, in an honorable way. It’s not just a one time conversation is it?
I wonder if as God concluded what Moses wrote in Exodus 23, Moses got up off that big rock where he was sitting, about to head down the mountain, but then was shocked to hear God tell him that as soon as Moses finished relaying all these instructions to the people, he was to prepare to come right back up the mountain to meet with God again, and this time the meeting with God would be even more prolonged and even more significant!! Moses records his invitation this way: “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship God at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with Moses.” (Ex. 24:1)
I wonder if Moses put up his hand and said something like this: “Almighty God, Sir, I need to catch my breath. My mind is spinning. Do You realize how overwhelming this conversation has been for me and how difficult a task it’s going to be for me to explain all this to 1 million people? I need some time… maybe lots of time. First I have to work back through all You’ve told me so I understand it. Then I need to figure out how to explain it accurately and carefully to the elders. I wonder if I should develop some type of test, to be sure they understand it properly, before they then go and teach all the clan leaders? And then should I test them before they go to the extended families to teach everyone else. I mean, Sir, every statement You have made to me is radical. No one on earth lives like this, and somehow I’m supposed to teach all this to these people fairly quickly? Oh my. I think this will take some time…Sir.” Now my friends, we have no record of Moses saying anything like that, but don’t you imagine if it was you or me we would have said something like that to God?
I’m glad God didn’t put a time limit on this. But God did make it clear to Moses that He had much, much, more He wanted to teach Moses, and that Moses was responsible to then teach the people, because you see my friends, God was wanting a TOTAL transformation in these people! He wanted them to see themselves not as worthless, ignorant slaves, but God had said to them: “Now, if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all the nations you will be MY treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5,6) Learning to see themselves that way, learning to live that way would take lots of instruction from God, and lots of practice! That would not come easy or quickly or naturally! And that’s why God gave Moses 3 entire chapters of instructions for these people.
So finally, Moses got up off that rock, turned around in that cloud, where he had been meeting with God for probably several days, and began walking down the mountain, very carefully. I suspect Moses paused as he looked down at 1 million people in the tent city below. How in the world was he going to communicate to them all he had heard? How could he help the people understand how awesome and majestic God is? What could Moses do to help them understand how much God wanted them to live like a holy people, God’s people? What about you and me, my friends? How well do you understand God’s desire for you and me to live holy lives, that are honoring to Him? How well are we integrating into our lives God’s value, God’s priorities, God’s commandments, God’s instructions for living holy lives?
Step by careful step, Moses hiked down the mountain. He gathered the elders together and I can hear him rising to his feet and saying something like this: ‘Elders of Israel. You cannot begin to imagine what I have experienced up on that mountain, in the cloud with God. Yes, I was in that cloud with God!! I didn’t see Him, but I sure heard Him, and He had a lot to say to me, that He has asked me to relay to you. Now pay close attention, because God is then expecting that you will relay it to your families and to the clan leaders and their families. These words are the beginning of our understanding of what it means to be a people of God, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. God expects us to listen, then understand, and finally to live every one of these instructions, everyday! And to teach our children and grandchildren so they will understand and live them everyday… so when the day comes that you and I are gone from this earth, our descendants will live like God’s people, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. So…are you ready? Here’s what God told me to tell you. . .’
How long did it take Moses to report it all? How often did Moses have to stop because an elder raised his hand asking for explanation? Finally Moses had repeated all God had told him, and he sat down to let them think about the sheer magnitude, the significance of these powerful statements, these expectations from God if they were to be God’s people, a holy nation. And the record says: When Moses told the people all the Lord’s words… they responded with one voice: ‘Everything the LORD has said we will do.’ So Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.” (Exodus 24:3,4) This was history in the making!
Never before had a man brought to a group of leaders the very words of God, describing an entirely new lifestyle which was expected of a people of God, a holy nation! I’d like us to pause right here, with Moses and the elders as they reflect on what they had heard, what they had said in response, and what it would mean for them, their families and their descendants. Life would never be the same for them, if they really did seek to live in obedience to God’s principles, God’s laws, as a people of God, a holy nation. As you reflect my friends, may I ask… are you living as one of God’s people, according to God’s laws? Are you living a holy life as part of a holy nation, the people of God? If you sense the Holy Spirit showing you some areas of your life which are not holy, what would God like to help you do about that?
And here’s a song to help us consider what it means to live as a holy people of God:
Today’s Scripture is Exodus 24:1-4.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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