Isaiah 40 verse nine enjoins Israel to proclaim their wonderful God:
9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” (ESV)
In the context of this passage all Zion – that is God’s people, are to celebrate the coming of “Your God”. As Christians we must encourage ourselves to the same kind of triumphant worship. Our God is a God who acts first when we need rescue. Humanity so often fails to understand the depth of our sin that separates us from God. He is always the one to come to us, making the first move toward reconciliation.
Over the next few issues we will examine times when God came to individuals or the people as a whole to reveal new things about himself. Theologians call these events “Theophanies”. It comes from a compound Greek word meaning God and appearance. When God appears he always has an important message. His will for man is increasingly opened up through the Biblical narrative when he takes the initiative to interact with us.
This article begins with Exodus 19. By this point in the story – Israel has grown in Egypt to many tens of thousands or even millions. God has seen their plight under Egyptian bondage and has acted to rescue them. After crossing the sea, the people have gone into the desert to encounter both thirst through bad water or no water, and hunger as the foods they carried dwindled. They grumbled at God and he provided both water and food in the form of manna and quail. They were learning as Moses himself had, that only God can sustain when human efforts fail.
Exodus 20 introduces the Ten Commandments in which God was laying out a new covenant with his people. This took place about three months after the Red Sea crossing and they have traveled south to Sinai putting them farther from the promised land than when they were in Egypt. One might argue that it is not only geographical distance but also spiritual distance from their great God.
Chapter 19 sets the stage and gets us ready for the giving of the covenant. It breaks down nicely into three parts.
- In verses 1 through 8 we learn of the grace of God that has come before.
- In 9 through 19 we learn of a terrifying yet inviting God.
- The final verses of the chapter relate to Moses going down among the people to prepare the people for the commandments.
Alec Moyter sees in verses 4 to 6 the blueprint for God’s intervention in our lives.
Motyer affirms that the order is imperative.
1) Salvation by grace, 2) obedience and then 3) blessing.
God saves, and then he calls us to follow. He pays the price first and then asks us to respond. But note that the end result – his blessing, is contingent on our obeying. Blessing does not necessarily follow God’s offer of salvation. We don’t get to write the story. Only God does that. And yet his story is actualized in us! He took these people out of Egypt to bring them to himself at Mt Sinai.
He makes a three fold promise, if they fulfill the covenant. They will be God’s treasured possession. They will be a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. God elects Moses as his emissary. Though the priesthood has not yet been established Moses demonstrates what it is to be a mediator and to do the work that a priest does. Priests channel God’s blessings to the world. But God’s blessings are not to be hoarded, they are meant to be shared.
The Lord says to Moses (v 9) that he will come to him (Theophany) in a dense cloud, but the people will hear God so that they will trust Moses. The people must prepare by washing their clothes and be presented at their best. Just as we dress our best for a wedding they need to honour this time with their very best. Moses councils them to abstain from sexual relations. They need to be different in every way from the hedonistic Canaanite people whom God has chosen to move aside for Israel. All their attention must be on being in their clearest mind to hear God speaking.
God set clear expectations. They were to guard the approach to the mountain, not with a fence or caution tape but with the knowledge of the sanctity of the mountain. If something, even an animal unknowingly wandered up there, or if they were grasping after God in their own way and not God’s way, they were to be put to death. The judgment they brought on themselves was so severe, that they were not even to be touched. The death sentence had to be given from a distance.
On the third day after their preparation, thunder and lightning shook the mountain. God surrounded himself in cloud so the people could hear but not see him. There was smoke like that from a furnace. God’s majesty accosted the people with all their senses. Have you ever been near one of Hamilton’s steel furnaces when it opens? There is a blazing light and the smell of metal and slag. The heat billows out and the acrid smoke is so strong it can be tasted. The violent roar of the hot gases sends a wall of heat that can be felt. So it was at the mountain of Sinai. This is a fearsome God!
The people gathered at the bottom of the mountain while God used the great cloud to hide his Shekinah glory, lest the people die. But then they heard their mediator Moses, speaking with God and God answering.
Apparently some people wanted to rush to see God for themselves, enough that God sent Moses down to warn them off again. God says these people must not break out against the limits I have set lest I break out against them. And an unrestrained God is an awesome and terrifying thing.
Thus began the giving of the rules of the covenant that God had already established in verses 5 and 6 of the chapter. The people had agreed to it with like mind (verse 8) for ‘All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” God was giving guidance to what obedience looked like. We know them as the Ten Commandments.
Two Key Questions:
- What do we learn about God from this Theophany?
- And what do we learn about ourselves in relation to God?
The conclusion of the matter is that God in his glory and power is terrifyingly overwhelming. The bright light of his radiance shines into every corner and crevice of our lives, exposing our failings and our sin. We should all be like Isaiah crying woe is me. I am unclean.
Wonderful and liberating, God is also a God of relationship and grace. If his awesome presence is unknowable, his grace extends even further. The great King of the universe reaches out to us. He must shroud himself in cloud because we cannot look upon his glory and live. Even then it is only if we approach him on his terms that we have access to him. We needed a mediator. Moses was such a mediator to the children of Israel. But his was only a temporary way.
Jesus came as God but in human form, setting aside his heavenly glory to come to us and invite us to know his Father just as he did – as a loving dad. He came as God’s final and complete mediator. When the veil of the temple was torn in two we were given free and welcoming access to God. Jesus now presents us in his glory to the king.
We can live in peace and contentment with these comforting thoughts. God always reaches out first with his grace. Our part is to obediently follow. Then God can lavish all his rich blessings upon us and treasure us as his people.
Beamsville ON