Context No. 2502 of 4322 · Exodus
Context · Reflection
Exodus 19:14-20: in context
14Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.” 16On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. 18All of Mount Sinai smoked, because the LORD descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. 19When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. 20The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. The LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Before Israel meets God at Sinai, there is preparation. Moses consecrates the people, they wash their clothes, and they are told to be ready by the third day. Then, on that morning, the mountain erupts: thunder and lightning, a thick cloud, a trumpet blast, smoke rising as from a furnace, the whole mountain quaking as the LORD descends in fire. The people tremble at the foot of it.
Notice that the encounter was not casual, and it was not unprepared. God did not simply appear; the people were told to consecrate themselves and get ready, because meeting the holy is not something you stumble into off the street. And when he came, the response was trembling, not chatter. There is a reverence the moment calls for, and a preparation that fits it. Our own approach to God can grow careless, an unwashed, unready walk-up, as if his presence asked nothing of us. Sinai says otherwise: prepare, and come with awe.
Do I prepare my heart to meet God, and come with awe, or approach him carelessly, as if his presence asked nothing of me?
Sources
- Exodus 19:14: Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
- Exodus 19:16: there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain... and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
- Exodus 19:18: the LORD descended on it in fire... and the whole mountain quaked greatly.