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. 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 (Exodus 19.16-20).
The Mount Sinai experience was a frightening one for Israel. They were warned not to approach the fiery mountain, or they would die, but I cannot see why anyone would have wanted to approach such a sight!
Mount Sinai was what we sometimes call a Theophany, or an appearance of God. Obviously, a complete revelation of God's glory would have been devastating. Sinai was just a little glimpse of God's awesome presence appearing for the people to see so that they might come to fear God and obey His word.
It was on Mount Sinai that God gave Moses the Law, having been written in stone by God Himself. The ten commandments were God's famous synopsis of the covenant He was making with Israel there, having brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Israel was going to inherit the land of Canaan, as God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were to be God's holy people, called out from among all other nations of the earth. They had a special relationship with God and that is why God appeared to them on Sinai and spoke directly to them there.
The experience of Sinai was a depiction of God's relationship to Israel. They were His people, yet they were kept at a distance. They were given His commandments, yet God knew they were rebellious and would break the covenant. They wasted no time in doing this, making a golden calf to worship at the very base of the holy mountain of God!
The distance that was kept between God and Israel, and the rebellious hearts of the people of Israel, were the major characteristics of that Old Covenant made at Mount Sinai. The people were never allowed to come near to the presence of God. An elaborate system of sacrifices and cleansing was instituted in the Levitical priesthood, which made at least a partial Divine presence with the people possible. And the hearts of the people remained stubborn and disobedient to God.
But God promised that this would not always be the case. Through the Prophets God sent to Israel later in her history, God predicted that a New Covenant would be established that would be very different from the one made at Sinai (See Jeremiah 31.31-34). The blessings of this New Covenant would include an inner transformation of the heart and a permanent solution for the people's sin.
This New Covenant has been made through Jesus Christ!
God's people no longer must remain at a distance from God but are invited into His presence. The days of a Mount Sinai religion are over and done! We now have boldness to enter even the Holy of Holies through the blood of Jesus.
Of course, it is still possible for people to have a Mount Sinai kind of religion. There are still religious people who remain alienated from God and basically rebellious in their hearts toward the Word of God. But wherever the Gospel of Christ is preached and is believed, there is freedom from the Mount Sinai experience of God.
May all believers take full advantage of our access to God through Jesus Christ and draw near to God with the full assurance of faith!
Pastor Jason
No comments:
Post a Comment