Introduction:
A. I like the story told of the male school teacher who had back surgery over the summer and began the school year wearing a solid plastic cast around the upper part of his body.
1. It fit under his shirt and was not noticeable at all.
2. On the first day of school, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in the school.
3. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then busied himself with desk work.
4. When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took the desk stapler, in full view of the students, and stapled the tie to his chest.
5. Needless to say, he had no disciple problems that year.
B. There is a healthy fear and respect that all of us need to have for those who are in authority over us and that is especially true with respect to God.
1. Take a look at this cartoon – the sign in front of this church building says: “Welcome – Putting the Fear of God in folks since 1874.”
a. How do you react to that? Do you think that is a bad thing or a good thing?
b. It is important to strive for a balance by emphasizing God’s love and grace, on the one hand, and God’s holiness, justice and wrath, on the other.
2. Therefore, this billboard is an appropriate one: “Fear God – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (a truth often repeated in Scripture – especially Proverbs – 1:7).
3. I’m afraid that we are often far too casual in our approach to God.
4. I’m afraid that many contemporary conceptions of God are far too shallow and small – God is not our buddy, pal, or bell-boy.
5. Our God is holy and is exalted above all.
a. He is the only wise God, the Creator, the sovereign Lord and Master.
b. He tells us what to do, and we have no safe option but to obey.
c. There is no alternative, no multiple choice.
d. We have but one directive, and that is to do His will.
6. A shallow view of God leads to a shallow life.
a. Treat God superficially and flippantly and we become superficial and flippant.
b. Often our obedience to God might as well depend on the flip of a coin – heads we do, tails we don’t.
c. If I feel like it, great. If I don’t, well…He’s a God of grace, right; and certainly He will understand and go easy on us, right?
C. Frankly, we do not find such accommodating nonsense in Scripture – certainly not in a passage like Exodus 19.
1. So let’s take a look at Moses’ meeting with God and see what we might need to learn about our own meeting with God.
I. The Story
A. Exodus 19 opens in the shadow of Mt. Sinai.
1. The Israelites have been in the desert for about 3 months and they now have arrived at the mountain, which happens to be the same place where Moses’ whole adventure began.
2. It was there and then that God made the promise: “And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Ex. 3:12)
3. And so they have arrived, just as God had promised.
B. Chances are that few of us have ever been or ever will be at Mt. Sinai.
1. So let’s try to get an appreciation for this amazing and majestic sight.
2. Mt. Sinai is a series of solid granite peaks that soar into the desert sky at the base of the Sinai Peninsula.
3. In a book about Mt. Sinai called God’s Wilderness, there is a photo with this caption: “The awe-inspiring granite peaks at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula seem to form a gigantic fist of God proclaiming: ‘Here! Here!’ ”
4. The book adds, “Israeli scholars, who explored the Peninsula in the brief period of Israeli occupation, came to experience a holiness pervading Sinai’s mountains.”
5. The Israelites gathered as a people, approximately 2 million strong, to hear God’s voice in the shadow of these peaks that reach no less than 8 thousand feet heavenward.
C. As you recall from our lesson a couple of weeks ago, the Israelites did a lot of grumbling and complaining as they made their move toward this place.
1. There is always a need to prepare ourselves before entering into God’s presence.
2. Let’s notice the four prerequisites God required of His people before they could meet with Him.
D. The first prerequisite was a willingness to obey.
1. The Bible says: 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Ex. 19:3-6)
2. God wanted to be sure that His words did not fall on deaf ears, so He required His people to display a willingness to obey.
3. Many of us have likely assumed that Moses climbed the mountain once, got everything, then came back down with the stone tablets tucked under his arm, but that was not the case.
4. But a careful study of Exodus shows that he actually made 7 trips up and down.
5. On his first journey up the mountain, God said, “I want to be sure the people are willing to obey.”
a. So Moses came back down the mountain.
b. The Bible says: 7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD. (Ex. 19:7-8)
E. The second prerequisite was a commitment to listen to God and Moses.
1. The Bible says: 9 The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said.
2. God was laying the ground work for communication with the people through Moses.
3. They had to be ready to hear and obey.
F. The third prerequisite was a consecration of themselves.
1. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people”…14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.” (Ex. 19:10-11; 14-15)
2. Their clean garments were to reflect clean hearts.
3. Abstaining from sex was not an issue of holiness, but was an issue of devotion and focus.
4. God wanted the people’s full attention on Him and on what He was about to tell them.
G. The final prerequisite was a respect for God’s boundaries and presence.
1. God said: “12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain.” (Ex. 12-13)
2. God made it very clear that not everyone could come up the mountain, but only those who were authorized to do so.
a. So deep and profound was to be this respect for God’s holy presence that no one was even to touch the mountain.
3. This was God’s mountain and it was He who set the rules.
4. I find it very interesting that those who did not respect God’s boundaries would lose their lives, but notice how they were to lose their lives.
5. I’m surprised that God did not intend to kill anyone directly, but rather puts the responsibility back on His people to enforce His boundaries.
6. God expects us to respect and enforce the boundaries He has put in place.
H. So the story continues: 16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
20 The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 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. 22 Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”
23 Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”
24 The LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them.”
25 So Moses went down to the people and told them. (Ex. 19:16-25)
1. Can you imagine being there and seeing these awesome sights and sounds? Thunder, lightning, a loud trumpet blast, the trembling ground and smoke.
2. Would you have been tempted to go beyond the boundaries and touch the mountain? Not Me.
3. Yet it appears that the people were tempted to do so and God forced Moses to go back down the mountain and warn the people once again.
4. Look at Exodus 20:18-21: 18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
5. A healthy fear of God will do much to deter us from sin.
6. Tragically, human kind has never been obedient to God for very long.
J. The story continues: 12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.”
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Ex. 24:12-18)
1. Basically from Exodus 20 all the way through Exodus 31 God gave Moses the 10 Commandments and the rest of the Law.
2. Moses was gone for 40 days, and came down the mountain to find God’s people basically breaking all 10 of the 10 Commandments.
3. What a disappointment and disaster! But that’s another story for another time.
4. But let’s marvel for a moment at the fact that God has given us His written words.
a. God has given us His Word that we might know Him, and that we might know His mind, and that we might be blessed by obeying His will.
b. God didn’t want to remain aloof high up on a mountain.
c. God wanted to make Himself accessible and available to us, because He wants a relationship with us.
5. Do we take for granted the fact that we have God’s word so available to us?
6. Back before the collapse of the Soviet Union, a Christian Publisher was allowed to attend the Moscow Book Fair.
a. The authorities had granted reluctant permission to hand out a limited number of Russian language New Testaments.
b. A long line of people formed hoping to receive a copy.
c. When the supply of Bibles was exhausted, one desperately disappointed man asked if he might have one of the empty boxes that had once held those New Testaments.
d. The Christian Publisher’s representative said, “But there’s nothing in the box, the Bibles are all gone!”
e. With tears in his eyes, the Russian man replied, “Then I at least want the box.”
f. He so desired to have a Bible that he treasured even the cardboard box that had held it.
7. May our eyes be opened to the astounding privilege that is ours to hold the written Word of God and study it for ourselves!
II. The Application
A. Today’s study of the Israelites and Moses’ meeting with the Lord suggests three principles that we can apply to our own walk of faith.
1. I must confess that I found this study to be very convicting to me, because I personally have allowed my own spiritual disciplines to become far too sporadic and inconsistent.
2. So I needed a lesson like this as much as anyone to get my priorities back in line.
3. I talked with someone this week about busyness and its effects on spiritual things and they said, “Do you know what ‘busy’ stands for? Being Under Satan’s Yoke.”
4. We might want to give that some consideration.
B. The first principle we can gather from today’s story is that meeting with God should be a priority.
1. It is both a privilege and a necessity that we meet with the Lord.
2. Meeting with the Lord involves worshiping with the body, but also involves our private walk with God.
3. God expects us to do our best to gather consistently with our brothers and sisters, both for our good and for theirs.
4. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us that we should not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but we should spur one another on toward love and good works.
5. But beyond the times when we gather together for group worship or Bible study or fellowship, we need a daily time alone with God.
6. The more consistent that can be, the better.
a. That usually means that we need a specific time and place for our meeting with God.
b. We are free to choose that time and place that works best for us, but we must make sure we develop that time and place.
c. Expect that Satan will do everything he can to keep you from that time and place, because he knows the power and benefit that comes from regularly meeting with God.
7. So what is your time and place? If you don’t have one, may God convict you, and help you make a time and place.
C. The second principle we can gather from today’s story is that we need to prepare ourselves as we meet with God.
1. There is a consecration that needs to take place as we approach our meeting with the Lord.
2. This consecration includes a repenting and confessing of our sins.
a. We need to approach God with clean hearts, and minds and lives.
3. This consecration includes a willingness to hear and obey the Lord.
a. We should not fool ourselves and play games with God, we must be ready to obey and submit to God and His will.
4. This consecration also includes a focusing of our minds on spiritual things.
a. I find that reading or singing hymns and spiritual choruses are the best way to begin to focus my mind and heart on the Lord.
b. You might want to have a hymnal available to prepare you as you begin your time with God, or you might find having a Christian CD going in the background is helpful.
D. The final principle we can gather from today’s story is that we need to listen to God through His Word.
1. God has given us His Book and when we meet with God, it is to His Book that we must look.
2. I wouldn’t suggest flipping randomly from page to page or verse to verse.
3. I would suggest starting at the beginning of a book of the Bible and working our way through it slowly and systematically.
4. There are times when a certain subject is on your mind, and a concordance can help you find verses that discuss that topic, but the Bible is best read and studied as a whole, in context.
5. Feel free to read the word aloud. Read it thoughtfully and prayerfully. Personalize it. Sing it.
6. It might help you to write down the main idea you have learned from your daily reading, so that you can think about it the rest of the day.
E. God wants to have a relationship with us.
1. God wants to meet with us individually and collectively.
2. God wants to mold us and strengthen us.
3. But we must make ourselves available to God.
4. We have to make it a priority to meet with the Lord.
5. We must consecrate ourselves and come ready to learn and obey.
F. May we never treat God casually.
1. May we always approach God with the proper reverence and fear, for as the Hebrew writer said: our God is a consuming fire.
2. Let me leave this question with you: Will you make a renewed commitment to give more consistent attention to the things that will help you draw near to God?
Resources:
Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication, by Charles Swindoll, Word Publishing, 1999
Forcing Ourselves on God, Sermon by Jeff Strite, SermonCentral.com
