Day 1161: God's witness to His word - Exodus 19 vs 7 - 17

7-9 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

10-11 When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12-13 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot (with an arrow) whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

14-15 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” 16-17 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 19:7-17 English Standard Version

This was a scene that was intended to be unforgettable!

Moses gave God's strict instructions to the people, and consecrated them for two days to prepare for the third day. They were to wash their garments and abstain from women. They were to set a border around the mountain, beyond which they could not pass. If anyone, man or beast, touched the edge of the mountain, they were to be put to death, and not even touched. Then on the third day, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Why did God let them see such awesome power?

He gives the answer in what He said to Moses: “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” God wanted there to be no doubt that Moses was His spokesman, and would tell them His very words. Christians believe that Moses was the author of the first five books of the Bible. Jesus confirmed this in Mark 12:26 by saying “As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?”

But there was another reason why God came with such power. It was because of the self-assuredness of man. We read that “All the people answered together saying: 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do.'” Little did they realize their own inability to do all that the Lord said. In a very short time they would be making a golden calf to worship! Oh how we need to see the weakness of our own nature.

The writer of Hebrews reminded his readers that they hadn't come to something that could be touched, such as “the blazing fire, and darkness and gloom, and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them because they could not endure the order that was given, 'If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Rather, he says, our salvation was “declared at first by the Lord, and attested to us by those who heard, while God bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

Then he added: “Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard . . . lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1-4) Let us ever look to God for grace to persevere in the truth which we have heard.