EXODUS 24 - THE MOUNTAINTOP
Exodus 24
Chapter 24 provides a lovely picture of our Spiritual journey for those who are called by the name of the Lord. What is the purpose of our journey? Where is our salvation meant to lead us?I don’t think there is a more beautiful answer to those questions than Psalm 27:4:
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
If God assured you the answer to one prayer, what would it be. Would it be the same as David’s? To dwell in the house of the Lord and gaze upon His beauty. David surely knew what really mattered. In Chapter 24 Moses will be blessed with this opportunity.
First, as the chapter begins, God calls up Moses with the seventy elders, that they may come and worship from afar. But they had to be prepared. And to prepare the people are going to be temporarily cleansed as a foreshadowing of what Christ will permanently provide.
Moses sets up an alter and makes sacrifices to the Lord. He takes half the blood from the sacrifices and pours it upon the alter. He then reads from the book of the covenant and splashes the rest of the blood upon the people.
This is a perfect picture of our salvation. In the new testament we are told that we are cleansed by both the blood and the word. Jesus’ blood, the final sacrifice of a truly perfect and spotless innocent lamb (the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world), is what justifies us before God. God sees us sprinkled with Jesus’ blood and the bible says, he is faithful and just to then forgive us for our sins. Faithful and just because it would be unjust to charge us for sins for which Jesus has already borne the punishment. But then we must be cleansed by the word, which is our sanctification. It is the word of God which renews our mind and teaches us to become like Jesus, which is our goal and ultimate purpose.
And having been cleansed, by the blood and the lamb, the people are now able to enter the presence of God. And what do they do in His presence, “they beheld God, and ate and drank.” Our God likes to entertain.
But then Moses was called to go near. And it is Moses that got to experience God in all His glory.
Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 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. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
It is interesting to note that God met Moses, not on the six days that were meant for work, but on the seventh day, the sabbath rest. What a beautiful reminder that God wants to be our sabbath rest. Jesus Commands us in Matthew 11:28…
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
We are not to burden ourselves with the weariness of this world, but rather to rest in our God and Father.
There is not much that can be added to the description provided of Moses’ experience. Moses entered God’s glory, which burned as a devouring fire. Anyone who has stilled themselves long enough to be brought into the presence of God, knows exactly what Moses is describing. And the only reaction is as the writer of Hebrews instructs in Hebrews 12:28-29
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.