Scripture Reading(s)
Exodus 24:12-18
24:12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
24:13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
24:14 To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”
24:15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
24:16 The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud.
24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
24:18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Reflections
It is interesting that before God gave Moses the law, He gave Moses just 10 commandments for the people. Many have speculated as to whether or not God would have been so strict in giving the many laws to Israel if they had not broken the first commandment of the 10 before Moses could even present them to the people. Just a few chapters later in Exodus (before the many laws were given to Israel) God was on the verge of destroying the people. If it were not for the intercession of Moses on their behalf then they might have been wiped out. Sadly, we will have to wait until we are in heaven to know the answer.
Moses, however, desired to follow the Lord and was bold even in his presence. As Christians we must be as Moses was. We must have confidence in the Lord and we must desire to follow His calling for our lives. We no longer are bound by the 614 laws given to Israel but we do still have instructions from Jesus on how to live and how to be a light to all the nations around us. We have been given an opportunity that Moses could have only dreamed of. We have the Spirit of the living God inside of each of us. Let us seek God’s wisdom and will for each of our lives and be as confident as Moses was, even in the middle of the fire and smoke as it raged about God’s holy mountain.
Sometimes we must follow God up on the mountain in order to receive what He has waiting for us.