The Morning God called Moses to come up to Him

 

Exodus 19:16-25

 

September 17, 2024

 

 On the morning of the third day, there were thunder and lightning 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.  Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.  And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.  The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.  Also, let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.”  And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’”  And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.”  So, Moses went down to the people and told them.

As I read this yesterday to my bride of 59 years, I wonder how we could find application in these verses.  I hit me as I sat in my quiet living room, looking at the back porch, they were preparing to hear from God.  This was the requirement to wash themselves and their clothes.  To refrain from having sex with their wife and come and stand and wait for the lord to speak.  They were at Mount Sinai, and were ordered not to touch the Mountain or they would die; this was serious.

What has God told you and me, in Psalm 46:10, “He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  For me, it requires me to seek Him early in the morning, to ask for knowledge and the ability to allow the Holy Spirit to give me understanding of how to apply what I read in my daily life.  A person I often quote is Blaise Pascal. This one spoke to me this morning: “Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.”  Are we not told in the Scripture to seek first the kingdom of God?  Matthew 6:33, we have these words from Jesus: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 

 

I often wonder what “all these things” and it the basic needs of each of us. it is found in verses 31-32,  ^“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” 

 

What is keeping you from seeking first the kingdom? Is it not making an appointment with the Lord to meet Him early, to spend time talking to Him about your desires for your family, your job, and how to manage the fund He has given you?  What keeps you from doing so? Another quote from Blaise, “All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.”

 

If we put anything, family, sports, or job, before God, we have shown we have a love problem, and it is time to wake up two we have not, because we have not loved the Lord our God, to seek Him first, before all else.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice