There
are many critical points in the Book of Exodus. They tell us that walking with
God is not a monotonous, unadventurous journey. If we care to admit, it is certainly
one filled with dramatic moments. When we learn to discern the activities of
God, we will learn much from what He is doing in and through every moment of
our life. It would take volumes to narrate each and every one. Let’s recall here
some of the critical moments we have looked at so far in the first 23 chapters.
Of course, we remember Moses’ divine encounter in the burning bush, leading to God
sending the ten plagues upon the Egyptians. The culmination was found in the
death of all the firstborns of Egypt. God brought about this to ensure that His
people would be released from their years of slavery and bondage. Then came the
giving of the Ten Commandments when God laid down for them the moral laws for
His people so that they could conduct life with dignity and wisely to bring
glory to Him. The Book of the Covenant which we have been dealing with in
Exodus 20-23 help them to co-exist peacefully as God’s redeemed community. They
were called to live as God’s covenanted people.
In chapters 21-23. God gave His law to them in
terms of a covenant. He recounted how He saved them from Egypt to help them see
that they belonged to Him and must live a life of obedience. God had every
right to tell them not to serve other gods for they owed their worship to Him
alone. They were also instructed on how to conduct their lives as His
covenanted people. Now here, they were gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Moses had already been up to the mountain with God before. Mount Sinai was
about some 1180 meters high. For a man of his age, this was no small feat. As
the mediator of the Old Covenant, this was Moses’ task. While each encounter he
had with God was exhilarating to be sure, it must also have been challenging
and terrifying at the same time. How not to be when he was in the presence of
the Holy God! But that’s another subject. As the mediator of the Old Covenant,
he was the people’s representative before God every time he went into the
presence of God. When he returned to speak to the people with God’s message, he
would represent God before the people.
In Exodus 24, we find God calling Moses up to the
mountain again. This time he was told to bring 73 others with him. So, verses
1-2 read, “Then He said to Moses ‘Come up to the Lord,
you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel,
and you shall worship at a distance. Moses alone, however, shall come near
to the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up
with him.’” The rest could only come within a certain distance.
Only Moses, the mediator, had total access to God. Why did God set such
boundaries? He wants His people to respect His holiness. Our God is awesome and
righteous. We cannot come before Him with a flippant careless attitude. Our
way to Him must be in ways which He has prescribed. Today, we have access to
the heart of God only through Jesus Christ, our mediator. First Timothy 2:5
explicitly says that “…there is one God, and one mediator
also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” We come face
to face with God in Christ Jesus.
Remember
the intention of God as He drew them out of slavery was for them to come and
offer worship to Him. But being a holy God, He requires that His people come
with an attitude that He deserves. It requires that the posture of life of every
worshipper be aligned. Hence, God prescribes things His people ought to
consider to deal with their sinful and rebellious nature inherited from the
fall of Adam. Moses was called so that he could prepare God’s people for the moment
of worship. He went into God’s presence to receive instruction before he could
lead the way in worship. In the same way, we too must prepare ourselves so that
we can come with the right attitude and posture to offer the best
worship that God deserves.
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