God is both transcendence and immanence. God wants to be part of our life but He would not allow us to treat Him flippantly. There mustn’t be an over-familiarization with God till reverence for Him is non-existence in our life. Hence coming to Him requires that we prepare ourselves. So, in Exodus 19:10-15, we see God instructing Moses to have the people prepare themselves for the divine visitation. They were told to take two days to consecrate themselves. Then on the third day, God would draw near to them at Mount Sinai. We cannot treat a holy God as we would any other person. Hence, there is a necessity to consecrate ourselves as we steady ourselves to approach and serve God.
How must they get themselves ready? Two things were required of them. Firstly, in verse 10, they must wash their garments. Secondly, in verse 15, they were told not to go near a woman, meaning they were to abstain from sexual relations. Why did God require these two things of them? Washing would be an indication that they understood the holiness of God and that to meet Him they must purify themselves. While having sexual intimacy was not wrong or illegal within the confines of a marriage, abstaining from a sexual relationship in preparation to come before God was needful. It is a call to not to indulge in any activity that would take their focus, meaning their heart and mind, away from God. What the LORD requires of us is a personal preparation as we seek to come before Him. And as we draw near to Him, it must be with singleness of heart and mind. Anything, no matter how wonderful and blessed they may be, must not be allowed to come in between us and Him.
Exodus 19:12-13 say, “You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” Why did God set a boundary and limit of distance as they drew near? It is to show that when we approach God, we must come with the right attitude of reverence. Firstly, this shows us that God is different from us and we cannot afford to take Him lightly as we seek to approach Him. Secondly, this shows us that we cannot approach God on our terms, we can only approach Him on His terms.
One more thing we can see from this passage is that we need a mediator to assist us in coming to God. In this instance, the mediator was Moses. He was the go-between that would bridge the gap between God and His people, between a holy God and a sinful people. Moses had special access to God and would speak to God on behalf of the people. Then he would represent God and instruct them on His behalf. God wanted the Israelites to know that whatever Moses told them to do was not his own invention but His instruction to them. That was the reason why He was coming down to speak to Moses with the people in clear range to hear their conversation. For us, we are thankful that God had given a wonderful mediator in Christ Jesus. He had cleansed us from our sin and consecrated us and qualified us for our service to the LORD. What a joy and delight it is to serve the King! Hallelujah!
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