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Memorial Drive
3/4/18
MOSES ON THE MOUNTAINTOP:
Lessons On Drawing Near To God
Exodus 24:12-18, 31:18
Would you like to be closer to God?
“Now the Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. But to the elders he said, ‘Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.’ Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Ex. 24:12-18)
“When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.” (Ex. 31:18)
WALKING THROUGH THE TEXT … Moses On the Mountaintop
Not a quick trip! (“remain”)…
Giving a “hard copy” of the Ten Words …
Moses ascends the mountain, waits six days for God’s call, enters the cloud on the 7th …
The glory of the Lord on the mountain is “like a consuming fire” …
God personally engraves the Ten Words on tablets of stone …
Engraving on stone speaks of the durability and lasting value of God’s words …
The tablets given are the “document clause” of their covenant agreement …
His words really are “written in stone”! … (Jeremiah 1:12, Matthew 5:18)
APPLYING THE TEXT … Lessons On Drawing Near To God
“Prolonged commune with God is the soul’s truest strengthening, and sweetest refreshment. Without it our spirits languish—we grow weary and faint—worldliness creeps upon us—our thoughts and discourse become “of the earth, earthy”—we have no life or liveliness in ourselves, and can impart none to others. Moses’ commune was abnormal, extraordinary, inimitable by us in its main features—its duration, locality, nearness of access, and completeness of isolation. But it may serve as A PATTERN TO US in many respects.” (Exodus, H.D. Spence)
… A WILLINGNESS TO INVEST TIME
Note that TIME plays a significant role in the text …
Six days of Moses’ waiting …
Forty days on the mountain … (“remain” – “to exist, to be, to become”, from “to
breathe, to be, in the sense of existing”)
Clearly there is not merely COMMUNICATIONOF WORDS going on but also
COMMUNION OF SPIRIT! The TRANSFER of the words clearly takes place
within THE ATMOSPHERE of asignificant time of closeness, of nearness.
When it comes to what God has to SAY to me, it ultimately isn’t just about
COMPLETING a chapter but rather about CONNECTING with God.
… A WILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE IN WORSHIP
The lesson to be learned is that there will be no “drawing near” to God without
an understanding that worship is always at the center of drawing near!
“… SUCH the Father seeks, THOSE WHO WILL WORSHIP in spirit and in truth.” (John 3)
Genuine worship simply isn’t something that we can work UP and crank OUT! Genuine worship is GROUNDED in TRUTH, in SEEING what is true, IMMERSING yourself in what is true, taking time to FIX YOUR MIND on and REFLECT on what is true, all to a particular end!
It takes time to disengage from our everyday world! It takes time to disengage from the
normal, persistent, and pervasive thoughts that typically occupy our minds! It takes time
to redirect our focus from the mundane and earthly to the holy and the heavenly!
… A WILLINGNESS TO RESPOND IN OBEDIENCE
“I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their INSTRUCTION.” (Ex. 24:12)
“instruction” – “laying something out, shooting an arrow, pointing by aiming the finger”
Just as SEEING God is to result in WORSHIP, so HEARING GOD is to result in OBEDIENCE
to God by walking and living in the DIRECTION that He points out!
… A WILLINGNESS TO ALLOW GOD’S PURIFYING PROCESS
“… the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire … ” (Ex. 24:17b)
The experiencing of our relationship to the fullest always includes
God’sacting as “a consuming/refining fire.”
There will be no “drawing near” for those unwilling to be changed!
One will not come without the other.
DO WE WANT TO “DRAW NEARER” TO GOD?
- Invest TIME to both HEAR and SEE God as He is!
- Allow a SPIRIT OF WORSHIP to develop as a response to SEEING God as He is!
- Come with an ATTITUDE of Willingness to Obey God’s Word!
- Come with a HEART ready to be CHANGED by a God who desires to REFINE us!