Context No. 4049 of 4322 · Exodus
Context · Reflection
Exodus 24:13-18: in context
13Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. 14He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.” 15Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16The LORD’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. 17The appearance of the LORD’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Moses ascends Mount Sinai to meet with God, and the scene is one of awesome holiness. The glory of the LORD settles on the mountain like a devouring fire, and a cloud covers it. For six days Moses waits, and only on the seventh does God call to him out of the cloud; then Moses enters into the cloud and the very presence of God, remaining there forty days and nights.
Two things are worth pausing over. The awesome holiness of God. His glory appeared as a devouring fire, a sight so overwhelming that the people watched from below in fear. To draw near to God is to draw near to a holiness beyond our imagining, not something to be treated lightly. And yet Moses was called to enter in, to go up into the very cloud where God's glory dwelt. The God whose glory is a consuming fire also calls his servant near. And notice the waiting: six days passed before God called. Drawing near to God sometimes involves patient waiting, lingering in his presence before he speaks. We approach a God of overwhelming holiness, and yet, through Christ, we are invited to draw near into his presence.
Do I approach God with reverence for his overwhelming holiness, a consuming fire, while gladly accepting his invitation to draw near, willing to wait patiently in his presence until he speaks?
Sources
- Exodus 24:17: "The appearance of the LORD's glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel."
- Exodus 24:16: "The cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud."
- Hebrews 12:29: "For our God is a consuming fire."