Today we read chapters 19-21 in Exodus. The setting is the base of Mt. Sinai.
Reminders
I live in Tucson, Arizona, and although our deserts and cacti are mostly what we’re known for, the truth is Arizona boasts fantastic mountains. We have what are called the sky islands. They call them this because we have the desert which has an elevation of 1000-2000 ft. and then these ranges that can ascend to 10,000 ft. or higher. This makes them beautiful to see, leads to great sunrises and sunsets, and plenty of diversity. We also have great hiking and even skiing trails.
Mt. Sinai has an elevation of just under 8,000 ft. but they were coming from the desert of Shur, which is flat and at sea level. From pictures of the area I have seen, there is a great similarity.
As Moses ascends the mountain, God reminds him of what He has already done to Egypt, and for Israel.
This is the chosen person who is leading the nation of Israel out of bondage. He has invoked plagues, parted a sea, destroyed one of the mightiest armies of the day, and yet God feels the need to remind him of who He is.
I can take comfort knowing, when I resist God’s will for my life, because of doubts I have, more about my abilities than His, that even Moses needed this reminder.
Obedience
God points out the whole earth is His, but that if the people obey Him, He will make them His treasured possession. Sadly, that is a big if. Unfortunately, none of us obey God.
Thankfully, God knew this all along. I believe it is why He used that word if.
Of course, the people responded, “we will do everything the Lord has said,” but as we read on, we see they don’t. It is easy to criticize them for this failure. Only if we do, we must accept that we fail Him daily as well.
Consecration
Then we have this sequence of events: Moses must consecrate them, wash them clean, and have them ready by the third day.
Moses is no longer alive. But, thankfully, Jesus is the one who consecrates us, washes us clean, and ever since that third day, when He arose from the tomb, has made us ready to meet God.
When we put our faith in Jesus, trusting that He did all that, we can see him. He indwells us through the Holy Spirit so that we can know God’s innermost thoughts. He is in our hearts so we can know Him the way He knows us.
Moses was told to tell the people not to follow him up the mountain. If anyone tried to force their way through, God tells him He will destroy them.
The High Priest
Before Jesus’ death on the cross and the Holy Spirit’s arrival to live within us, we could not approach God. It required an intercessor. This was the High Priest who offered a sacrifice.
Jesus was that High Priest who offered Himself as that sacrifice so that we could always come to Him.
God warns that he will punish those who hate him and worship idols, along with their descendants, for three or four generations. He then says He will show love to those who keep his commandments and their descendants for a thousand generations.
I only wish I could keep those commandments. None of us can, but through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we are all cleansed and are as holy in God’s eyes as our Savior is.
Idolatry
Of all the Ten Commandments, the two that I believe modern man struggles with the most are not to make idols and not to covet.
These are sins that hide in our hearts.
We make idols of everything. An idol is anything we elevate to an importance that surpasses God. When we spend more time making money that we do focused on Jesus, that has become our idol. If our obsession is a sports team, or musical group, or working out, etc. and we use those things as a reason not to be doing what God wants, i.e. “No I can’t go to prayer meeting tonight, we have tickets to….”, that is an idol. If we are honest and we’re to use a stopwatch, do we spend more time focused on God or our jobs? More time in front of the TV or in the Bible?
The idolatry of self has permeated our society.
Materialism
We’re perfectly satisfied with our home, our car, and our spouse. But, when we find ourselves repeatedly wishing our house was more like someone else’s; or our car was as nice as someone else’s; or I wish my spouse was like that; we are slipping into that area of sin called coveting.
The entire goal of the marketing industry is to make us believe we need something different from what we have. Even those who follow the Christian faith do this, ignoring the Bible’s message about finding contentment in God’s provisions.
We call perfect eyesight 20/20 vision. Ironically, Exodus 20:20 says God is going to test us so that we fear Him. It is that fear of God that keeps us from sinning.
Today, we feel we can flaunt our sinful lifestyles and expect God to accept us. We have lost any fear of God.
Perhaps we know of what He did in the past, but we shrug that off.
We rarely hear anyone share their testimony, which is important so that people can understand what God is still doing for them.
If we were more consistent at sharing that information, people would have a more vibrant fear of the Lord.
Authentic worship
God wants that fear being authentic. In 20:25, we read He does not want us to create altars with dressed stones.
We behave as if by making a fancier alter we can prove our worth. We will never be deemed worthy without the blood of Jesus. The fanciest sacrifice we can make is still a filthy rag in God’s eyes (see Is 64:6).
Therefore, we build giant cathedrals to impress the Lord. He points out that when we try to ascend the steps to those places, we are exposing our private parts to those who see us ascent to worship.
It is all for show. It is all lip service.
God wants a genuine commitment from us. He asks in 21:6 for His servants to have an awl pierce their ear to show they are servants for life.
God’s law
We spent the rest of our reading time on the laws today. God’s law is perfect, but no one could ever keep that whole law.
You may think you have done well, but the Bible says none of us has done well enough. To claim we are Holy is to call God a liar and to say Jesus did not need to die for us (see 1 John 1:10).
The way chapter 21 covers every potential objection is important. We will try to say, “I know I sinned, but it is because something special happened”. Moses highlights the unavoidable weight of our guilt, regardless of the situation.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23)
