“God is coming for a
visit. Get ready” -- essentially, that’s what Moses told the Israelites when
they finally left Egyptian slavery. With over 400 years of oppression in their
backpacks, God instructed Moses to prepare the Israelites for a visit from him.
Holy God set
the standard for the meeting: the people were to wash their clothes and married
couples were to abstain from sexual relations. They were not to touch the
mountain or go near it. Three days after their preparations, God came to earth at
the site of Mount Sinai. The Israelite’s witnessed a “violently” trembling mountain
with dense clouds hovering, lightning strikes, and roaring thunder. Smoke
billowed “up from it like smoke from a furnace” (Exodus 19:18). If that weren’t
enough, a trumpet sound “grew louder and louder.” I imagine humility grew in
great measure as the Israelites met God under those circumstances.
Moses later wrote, “Everyone in the camp
trembled” (Exodus 19:16). The writer of Hebrews recorded, “The sight was so terrifying
that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear’” (Hebrews 12:21). For us, the
picture becomes clearer. When God displays even a portion of his power, all people
instinctively recognize their smallness.
The Israelites already had primer lessons
about God’s power: they had witnessed the land-destructive, economic disastrous
plagues of Egypt. They had walked on a dry seabed with walls of water heaped up
on each side. God had already provided three months of provisions for their
company of over a million people. Future teachings also awaited them when God
would care for them over forty years: their shoes or clothing would not wear, they
would eat daily bread, and they would drink water in a wasteland -- all from
God Almighty’s tap.
Soon after
the fiery power of God displayed on the mountain, God commissioned and equipped
workers to build a mobile meeting place, a symbol of his steady presence among
them. Because they would travel for many years before inheriting a permanent
land, a movable tent would become a meeting place for God and man. Gifted
artisans would construct the tent and furnishings of worship.
One
furnishing, the Ark of the Covenant measured 4 x 3 x 3 footage, still and small
compared to a quaking mountain. The box’s lid, the atonement covering, had two
cherubim with wings stretching over its length. God told Moses, “There, above
the cover between the two cherubim, I will meet with you and give you all my
commands for the Israelites” (Exodus 25:22). A smoldering mountain or a 4 x 3 x
3 meeting place for one-to-one contact present a marvelous contrast. At the
mercy seat, God accommodated the smallness of man. He harnessed his glory.
For hundreds
of future years, God would meet Israel’s leaders in a less terrifying and
public way at the mercy seat. Through the less intimidating meeting place, all-powerful
God simply gave another brush stroke to his portrait. My small mind cannot
comprehend all of God, but he ably assists those who long to know him. Much
later at the right time in history, God sent his servant, Jesus. Immanuel, meaning God with us, Jesus furthered
our understanding of mercy. He became the altar, the atoning sacrifice, and the
mercy seat, and most of all, he showed us that God is very approachable.
The
prophet Isaiah whetted Israel’s appetite for Jesus with this description: “Like
a shepherd he will tend his flock, in his arm he will gather the lambs and
carry them in his bosom” (40:11).
This week,
imagine yourself awaking with the rest of the Israelites to that smoldering
mountain and the deafening trumpet blasts. After meditating upon God’s power
and your probable response to that situation, think about the cradle of God’s
arms around you, tending your every need. Both displays represent God’s
holiness and his ability to take care of his dear children. Our casting every
worry into his capable hands remains a key to becoming humble.
Hunger for
Humility (8): “I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself”
(Exodus 19:4).
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