We have been looking at experiencing God’s glory, and our last study of Scripture was with the Israelites as God’s glory – visible in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night – led them out of Egypt to the Red Sea, and then delivered them from Pharaoh and his mighty army. We talked about that together, and were awed – perhaps even a bit frightened – by the overwhelming nature of the glory of God. And that might cause us to shrink back, to be apprehensive, about the idea of us today experiencing God’s glory. That would be a terrible mistake.
Ex 19: The Beginning of the Covenant
As the story continues throughout Exodus, the cloud and the fire lead the people for two months (Ex 19:1) across the desert to Mount Sinai, where the God of the Universe enters a covenant with His people – they promise to always obey everything the Lord commands (Ex 19:7), and God says to Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. 11 Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch. 12 Mark off a boundary all around the mountain. Warn the people, ‘Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death. 13 No hand may touch the person or animal that crosses the boundary; instead, stone them or shoot them with arrows. They must be put to death.’ However, when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, then the people may go up on the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down to the people. He consecrated them for worship, and they washed their clothes. 15 He told them, “Get ready for the third day, and until then abstain from having sexual intercourse.”
Now, just before I read this next part, I want you to imagine yourself there. Imagine that you are one of the Israelites. Just over two months ago you were a slave in Egypt and some strange things started to happen. You have heard about this God that your ancient ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew and experienced, but all you have ever known is whips across your back and mud beneath your fingernails as you make bricks. Then some guy named Moses shows up, strange plagues happen, some weird stuff, and suddenly you are leaving Egypt following a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and then Pharaoh’s army is chasing you down and this cloud protects you and then destroys the entire army. And you are free. You walk across the desert for a couple months and come to the base of the mountain, and are asked to make a decision to follow this God that you see in the cloud and the fire, this God that delivered you from slavery, and you have stood and said “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”. You heard Moses’ command, and you have spent two days getting ready. Now it is the morning of the third day, you wake up and join the rest of your kin prepared to meet and enter a covenant with this God. Imagine you are standing there…
16 On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. 17 Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply. 20 The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain.”
How might you feel? (invite response). Now, in the face of all of this, keep this fact firmly in mind: this God of thunder and lighting and fire and smoke has said He is for you. He is your God, and wants you to be His people. Now keep that fact right next to this awesome display of power. Now how do you feel?
So Moses climbs the mountain at the end of chapter 19, and God gives him the 10 commandments along with a host of other instructions, those are all recorded for us in Ex 20-23. Chapter 23 ends with this: “20 “See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you. 21 Pay close attention to him, and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative, and he will not forgive your rebellion. 22 But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you. 23 For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely. 24 You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.
25 “You must serve only the Lord your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water, and I will protect you from illness. 26 There will be no miscarriages or infertility in your land, and I will give you long, full lives.
27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and create panic among all the people whose lands you invade. I will make all your enemies turn and run.”
Here is the point I am hoping we catch – the God who reveals Himself in His glory is not terrifying to His own people. Now, we have to keep ourselves in the right ancient mindset here in order to hear properly, and not get caught up in the mindset that God is for His people and just wants to destroy everyone else – this is rather dangerous and completely wrong and we see how destructive that attitude is to the Kingdom of God where it exists today. In the light of Jesus, we now see all the peoples of the world as people God wants to invite into His Kingdom, not destroy. Got it?! Good, then back to the main point: God’s incredible power and revelation of His glory is not intended to terrify His people. “I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.”
Sin?
Ok, but what about sin. This covenant that God makes with His people is, to vastly oversimplify, one where God says He will do all this for His people in return for their obedience. So what happens when they – we – disobey? That is a great question, and I think it is at the root of our continuing fear of God’s revelation of His glory to us today. And so we will return to that thought in just a moment, but first I want to read you chapter 24, because it is really quite amazing…
Ex 24 – the beauty of the Covenant ceremony
Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. 2 Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”
3 Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”
4 Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.”
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.” 13 So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out, and Moses climbed up the mountain of God.
14 Moses told the elders, “Stay here and wait for us until we come back. Aaron and Hur are here with you. If anyone has a dispute while I am gone, consult with them.”
15 Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it. 16 And the glory of the Lord settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. 17 To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. 18 Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
The “high” doesn’t last…
What an incredible chapter, agreed? Again if we try to imagine ourselves there, what an awesome experience. What a “mountain top” encounter with this amazing God of power. The 70 elders ate a covenant meal with God!
But tragically, the “high” doesn’t last, and this returns us to the theme of sin. This next part of the story is familiar – Moses is gone for such a long time that the people start to worry and wonder, so they take off their gold and give it to Aaron. Ex 32: “4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”
6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”
God gets so angry that He says to Moses, “10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”
But Moses intercedes for the people, just like Jesus now intercedes for us, and God relents and does not destroy His people. There are severe consequences which you can read about at the end of chapter 32, but God does not cancel the covenant even though it was broken by God’s people in the first 40 days.
So the crisis appears to be over, but there is another layer:
Ex 33
33 The Lord said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ 2 And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3 Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”
4 When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes…
Did you catch the difference? They are back on track, God is sending them on their way to the promised land, “but I will not travel among you”… For Moses, this is not an option:
“12 One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ 13 If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”
14 The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”
15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”
17 The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”
Notice the progression: vs. 14 – “I will go with you, Moses…”; vs. 15 – “If you don’t personally go with us…”; to vs 17 – “I will indeed do what you have asked…”
Moses knows that God’s presence is what matters: “your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” That is what makes the difference. Without God’s presence, they are just a weak, wandering nation with lots of gold and animals they took from the Egyptians ripe for attack from other people groups. They need God, and Moses recognizes this.
Now God’s presence is glorious – it is the pillar of cloud and fire, it is the consuming fire on top of the mountain, it is the God who has a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli under his feet, it is the God who punishes sin, and it is the presence that will lead them (if they will follow) in power into the promised land. And Moses longs for this. He craves it. He recognizes that God’s glorious presence among his people is what “sets us apart”.
So let me bridge that into today. Is it any different, or does the presence of God among us still set us apart? I don’t think it is any different at all, except that it is more full and more tangible and more available to each of us (as opposed to just Moses and the 70 elders). Now the presence of God through the Holy Spirit is offered to each of us – the “consuming fire” that they saw from a distance is poured out now as “tongues of fire” that we saw fall on the disciples of Jesus on the day of Pentecost, and that we now claim for each of us who follow Jesus and accept the glorious presence of the Holy Spirit indwelling us.
Repentance
Except we still have this problem with sin. We are aware of sin in our lives, and so we imagine ourselves not with Moses talking with God face to face, but with the people who have bowed before the golden calf and are expecting judgment. And so this thought of experiencing the glory of God, I think, fills us with fear because we expect it to bring judgment that will destroy. And here is the lie. God didn’t destroy the Israelites, and He won’t destroy us. But the fear keeps us in sin because it keeps us distant, which keeps us missing out on the glory of God, when there is a very very simple answer. In one word: repentance.
Repentance. Not confession – that part is relatively easy. We recognize we are sinners and are often quick to admit it. But God doesn’t want my confession without my repentance. Repentance is confession + change. It is saying “God, this is wrong and with Your help I’m not going to do it any longer!” And this, I think, is where this really unravels. If we won’t stop sinning, if we continue to bow down before the golden calf, we continue to invite the power of God to be leveled against us rather than for us. And this, my friends, and I say this because I love you, is a dangerous way to live.
We should be afraid of the revelation of the glory of God if we are not willing to repent of our sin and allow God to work with us to change our hearts and minds and actions. But we come here proclaiming to be followers of God, so certainly we must be willing to repent. Certainly we must be willing to allow God to be transforming us, changing us, leading us into lives that are so incredibly vibrant and alive because they are being rid of sin which weighs down and destroys. Certainly we want to be free of these sins that mess up our lives and make us miserable. Certainly we want to be overwhelmed with the glory of God FOR US. Don’t we?
Do you need to repent of gossip?
Do you need to repent of greed?
Do you need to repent of spending your time on idle things instead of the things of God?
Do you need to repent of sexual sin?
Do you need to repent of harboring grudges against others?
Do you need to repent of leaving your Bible on a shelf and of the only prayer being “thanks for the food”.
Do you need to repent of putting yourself first instead of God and others?
Do you need to repent of something else?
See, here is the point of all of this. God’s glory is good. Even when it is a consuming fire – it is not consuming us and destroying us, it is consuming sin and destroying anything within us that keeps us from experiencing how good and loving and powerful God is. If we let fear keep us distant, we miss out tragically. But if we come, then we step into what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:7-8: “7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. 8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?”
See what the Holy Spirit is giving? “life”.
God’s glory is good. It is no longer to be feared. And in fact, it is gentle.
Conclusion
I want to wrap this up with the last bit of this story in Ex 33. Back in vs. 13, Moses expresses his heart: “let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor.” He has experienced the glory of God, and He wants more. Do you? Why wouldn’t you!!! They have this conversation about God relenting and agreeing to go with His people, as Moses pleads that God’s presence is what sets them apart, and then Moses makes this incredibly bold statement:
18 Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”
19 The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. 20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 The Lord continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. 22 As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”
See the gentleness of God? His protection? His care? That is for us today. God hates the thought that we might cringe in fear from Him, He hates the thought that we might so fear His judgment that we would remain in sin instead of repentance, because He wants us to see. He wants us to know. He wants us to experience His glory, because of how amazing it is and because of how much He loves us and wants us to receive life.
God wants it for us. Do you want it? Then fall to your knees before God; repent of any and every sin; choose to go up the mountain with Moses rather than staying behind with the golden calf; and say to the God of the Universe: “show me your glorious presence”. He won’t destroy you, He will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with His hand, He will protect and preserve and give us only as much as we can handle,
and it will be amazing.
