SEE THE GLORY OF THE LORD
Exodus 24:12, 15-18 - February 22, 2004
EXODUS 24:12,15-18
12The 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."
15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16and 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. 17To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Dearest Fellow-Redeemed:
In the Holy Scriptures we read of several different mountain top experiences. We heard of one mountain top experience in the Gospel for today (LUKE 9:28-36). In this lesson Jesus went up on the mountain and took with Him Peter, James and John and was transfigured. Jesus was changed before their very eyes. We celebrate Transfiguration Day as a link between seeing the glory of God during the Epiphany season and then the suffering of our Savior during Lent, which begins this Wednesday. During Lent we see another mountaintop, though not quite as high as a real mountain, Calvary—Golgotha where the Savior is crucified.
Today, we are told about Moses on top of a mountain and how things would change for the children of Israel. Moses sees the glory of the Lord. Because of his seeing the glory of the Lord, we also are privileged to see God’s glory. Last Wednesday in Bible study we finished our study of 2 Peter. We were reminded of the importance of the Old Testament as it applies to our life. 2 Peter 1 tells us: "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 PETER 1:19). So we look at these words from Exodus, the words of the Old Testament prophets. We pay attention to them so that light can shine in the darkness of our heart and rise as a morning star in our lives.
Today we see the glory of the Lord: WE SEE THE GLORY OF THE LORD
I. as we hear God’s commands
II. as we dwell in God’s glory in our lives.
I. We see God’s glory as we hear God’s commands
Now the book of Exodus in the Bible is an account, of course, of the children of Israel as they exited or went out of Egypt and made their journey into the Promise Land. We know that when they first saw the Promised Land they did not enter it. The spies the Israelites sent out came back with conflicting reports. Rather than listen to the two spies who told the truth, they listened to the other spies that did not. So the children of Israel wandered for forty years. Along with that wandering in the wilderness for forty years, many different things happened, didn’t they? The Lord God provided the Israelites with manna. Their clothes did not wear out, and their sandals did not wear out on their feet because of God’s divine providing for them. There was water for them from a rock, so they would not thirst. Of course, that which everyone knows most about is the Ten Commandments.
Today, we are told how Moses went to get those Ten Commandments from God Himself. 12The 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." This is the first mention of the tablets of stone. God was going to write them down for the children of Israel and for all nations. There were a couple of reasons why. First of all, over the years and generations, the Law that was put on man’s heart had become clouded and distorted and sometimes even forgotten and forsaken. Moses comes up on Mount Sinai, and the Lord is going to write down on tablets of stone the Ten Commandments so that people would be without excuse. They can’t say, "Well, I don’t know what the Law says."
Moses hears the Word of the Lord, and he is going to see the glory of the Lord. We are told: When Moses went up on the mountain, Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain. He heard God’s Word and went there. There was a cloud there. Verse 15: 15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it; and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. You and I heard about the cloud that came at the Transfiguration. The disciples were frightened to enter it. Here, Moses enters it, because he hears the voice of the Lord, he obeys the Lord’s command to come and see. Then Moses is also going to see God’s glory.
Today, we might tend to say we don’t see the glory of the Lord as dramatically as Moses. We don’t see the glory of the Lord as dramatically as the children Israel did. The children of Israel saw it day after day--at night with the fiery pillar and during the day the pillar of cloud that led them for forty years. Today we still do see the glory of the Lord, don’t we? If we didn’t want to even look into the Scriptures, we could easily see the glory of the Lord as we look around us. We see it in the wonders of nature, which are hard to explain. We see it in the beauties of sunrises and sunsets, the majesties of the universe, the stars at night, the seasons in the years and the list goes on. But especially we are blessed to see the glory of the Lord as a dayspring that has risen in our hearts. We see it in His Word, in His commands. God gave His commandments for a guide for us as believers today to know what is right and wrong. What a sad place we would live in if no one knew what was right or what was wrong and everyone went their own way. Instead in God’s commands, we see His glory. The Psalm writer in Psalm 119 says: "Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight" (PSALM 119:33-35). Psalm 119 talks about the commands of the Lord, the Word of God and where the glory of the Lord really is. That glory of the Lord is in His Word. The Psalmist reminds believers that we find joy and delight in God’s Word. We find the glory of God.
We see the glory of the Lord there because the Lord has worked faith in our hearts. Now we if look around and saw the glory of God in nature which we easily can do, we would fall short of God’s true glory. There is nothing in nature that tells us Jesus died for our sins. No matter how awesome nature is or how magnificent, it does not remind us of the blood of the Lamb of God which purifies us from all sin. Only Scripture does that. Only in God’s Word, do we truly see God’s glory. Paul describes it for us in Romans: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (ROMANS 10:17).
So, today, we come to the mountaintop to see the glory of the Lord. The Lord says to us, "Come on up. Come on up and see my glory." The mountaintop is closer than we realize. It is in our homes as we open up our Scripture, and we can see the glory of the Lord. The mountaintop is here on our day of worship and our place of worship where we can hear the Word of God and study it. We can sing His praises and again see the glory of the Lord. This glory of the Lord is the fact that you and I, who do not deserve salvation, are saved. The Lord invites us to come up to the mountaintop and see His glory. Our gracious God reminds us to encourage one another. Hebrews 3 says: "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness" (HEBREWS 3:13). Sinning and deceitfulness is all around us and can easily harden our hearts.
We saw Peter, James and John on the mountaintop with the Lord; and yet, they were scared to enter the cloud of glory. The Lord says, "Come and see my glory. See it in the Word which you can hear and read and study." Then He says, "Dwell in the glory of the Lord in your lives."
II. Dwell in God’s glory
We notice that in the account here of Moses. The Lord says, "Come on up and see me." Moses could have said, "Oh, I am too scared and will stay at the bottom." We know Moses liked to make excuses. When the Lord first called him, he did not want to serve because he did not speak well. He did not want to serve because he had killed some one. Yet, the Lord called him anyway and made him a leader. Moses could have said to the Lord, "I am scared to come up the mountain." But instead we are told: 15When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. We probably picture just a cloud that covers the top of a mountain. But it was more than that, wasn’t it? It was the Lord’s glory, and it is described for us in our text. 17To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. It wasn’t just a thick dense cloud, but it was a cloud like a consuming fire. It looked like the mountaintop was on fire. It probably even had bolts of lightning shooting out of it.
When Moses was called, he saw a similar thing. Moses saw the burning bush that wasn’t consumed--the glory of the Lord! Once again, he comes to the mountain; and the Lord says, "Come up and I will speak with you." For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. The Lord says, "Come." Yet, Moses had to wait six days on the mountain but not at the top, six days beyond the glory of the Lord and not in God’s glory. Then finally on the seventh day he is invited and he goes up. We are told: 18Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. What patience Moses had! What trust Moses had! What confidence in knowing that when the Lord said, "Come," he ought to come.
Then we are told: And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. This was a long time for just Ten Commandments. We also realize that the Lord gave to Moses all of the other rules and regulations that the children of Israel were to follow--the ceremonial laws, the civil laws along with the Ten Commandments. They are recorded for us in Leviticus. For forty days and forty nights in the glory of the Lord! What happens? We know what happens. Moses comes down the mountain and the children of Israel are worshiping the golden calf. God’s people thought that mountain is on fire and Moses is no longer there. He can’t survive after 40 days. Moses comes down and his face is so brilliant that he has to cover it with a veil (EXODUS 34:29-35 – first Scripture Lesson of the day). This glory of the Lord--the people were terrified by it. They thought it consumed Moses.
This glory of the Lord, too, can be terrifying to the sinner. The glory of the Lord ought to be terrifying to the sinner. Our society is not terrified. No one is concerned about sin very much at all anymore. Because no one is concerned about sin, then no one is concerned about the consequence of sin. After all, the world looks at things thinking that everybody is good at heart. We know differently, don’t we? We are born as God’s enemies. We are born with sin in our hearts. As sinners, we would be like Peter, James and John and be afraid to go into the glory of the Lord. Isaiah asks: "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: ’Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?’" (ISAIAH 33:14).
Not one of us can stand on our own in the sight and presence of the glory of the Lord. None of us can stand with confidence in the sight of that glory. We can only be terrified when we stand by ourselves. We thank God because of His abundant grace and mercy, His love and compassion for sinners everywhere and especially for you and I, He has called us out of darkness. He has made His light shine in our hearts. We can thank God that He does provide a Savior for us. That is what we celebrate on Transfiguration. We see the glory of the Lord. His plan was that none would perish, but all would come to repentance. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises. We celebrate the fact that you and I have a Savior. Paul in Ephesians writes: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding" (EPHESIANS 1:7,8). That is the glory of the Lord. Yes, the glory of the Lord can be a frightening and a consuming fire, but the glory of the Lord is also the fact that the Lamb of God has come to take away the sins of the world. Our gracious and loving Lord has given us His forgiveness with all wisdom and understanding.
So you and I are invited to come up the mountain and see the glory of the Lord in His Word. We are invited to come and see the glory of the Lord day after day in our lives and to dwell in that glory. Maybe sometimes in this world we don’t feel like we live in the glory of the Lord. Maybe sometimes we feel overwhelmed by our situation in life. Maybe sometimes we feel not so happy by the aches and pains or the sicknesses that we endure. We may even be saddened by the events of this world. The Lord says that God’s glory is close by. God’s glory is at hand. The glory of the Lord is in us. Colossians reminds us: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God" (COLOSSIANS 3:16). We are thankful that in our hearts we experience God’s glory. When we are singing hymns and Psalms to the glory of God, we can’t be sad, can we? That is the glory of the Lord. We see it and hear it in His Word, and we dwell in it in our lives, because God’s Word is alive and active in us and through us for our benefit and for the benefit of others.
This Transfiguration Sunday there is a lot to be considered when we consider the glory of the Lord. It reminds us these next weeks as we journey down the path of the passion of Christ and see His humility and sufferings and death, that Jesus still is God’s Son. We are privileged to see the sacrifice Christ made for each one of us. In that sacrifice we also see the glory of the Lord as it is told to us in His Word. As we study that passion, we also will see the glory of the Lord as we dwell in it and live in it through God’s Word. In the first letter of John we are told: "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us--even eternal life" (1 JOHN 2:24,25). This is what God has promised us--even eternal life! That is the glory of the Lord, the glory of the Lord that God’s Son is revealed to us in His Word; and His Word is in us. The glory of the Lord that dwells in us is because of God’s Word that dwells in us by His grace. So the Lord invites us, "Come and see my glory and live with me in eternal glory." Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
