Moses On The Mountain With The Lord - Part 4 Series

Moses on the Mountain with the Lord - Part 4

Exodus 20:18-22:24

Sermon by Rick Crandall

McClendon Baptist Church - June 23, 2010

BACKGROUND & INTRODUCTION

*The LORD Jehovah, God of the Old Testament was God the Son, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Tonight we continue looking at the Old Testament appearances of Christ. We are studying these appearances because the Lord is here with us right now, so each of these appearances has something to say to us.

*Nobody in the Old Testament had more meetings with the Lord than Moses. And tonight we will look at Moses’ fourth meeting on the mountain with the Lord.

*We begin in Exodus 20. The Lord had come down upon the top of Mount Sinai. And in vs. 1-17 the Lord spoke the 10 Commandments, not just to Moses, but to all the people. This was an incredible miracle, even more so, when you consider that there were between 2 and 3 million people in the camp that day. We know this because God’s Word tells us that the soldiers alone numbered 600,000!

*To put this in perspective, the current population of Louisiana is only 4.4 million people. God openly spoke to millions at one time. Naturally, they were terrified, so vs. 18&19 say:

18. Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

19. Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’’

*With this background in mind, let’s look at the beginning of Moses’ fourth meeting with the Lord. Listen to vs. 20-26:

20. And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin."

21. So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

22. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ’You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

23. You shall not make anything to be with Me -- gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.

24. An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.

25. And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.

26. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

*Over the next 3 chapters, God will give Moses many specific details of the law. Then Exodus 24:3 tells us that: “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has said we will do.’”

*What does the Lord have to say to us in the commands He gave to Moses?

1. First: God cares about our devotion to Him.

*Starting in vs. 22:

22. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: `You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

23. You shall not make anything to be with Me -- gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.

24. An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.

25. And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.

*Almost 500 years later the Lord would give elaborate plans for Solomon to build the first Temple in Jerusalem. But God knows how quickly our hearts are turned to the idol of achievement and self-reliance. And here God wanted to prevent the people from putting their faith in idols or any man-made things.

*God doesn’t want us to be impressed with ourselves.

-He wants our worship to be fully devoted to Him.

*Then in vs. 26 the Lord said: “Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.” Men walking up steps in loose robes could have accidently exposed themselves.