Exodus 19:7-15
~16 min read
TRANSCRIPT
Our text for today's message is taken from Exodus 19: 9-15. What kind of attitude should we have when we approach God? Sometimes we read verses in the Bible like in Psalms 100:2 that says, "Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing," or Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." So, those verses tell us to come before God with great confidence, with gladness, with joy.
At other times, we read verses like Psalm 2:11 that says, "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." So, should we approach God with confidence or should we approach Him with fear and trembling? Some churches would emphasize that God is exalted above and separated from everything that He had created, which is true. His Holiness and Majesty are far beyond what our finite minds can ever comprehend; therefore, we have to approach Him with fear and great reverence.
Other churches would emphasise that God wants to have a close intimate relationship with His people; He wants us to experience His personal presence in our lives; therefore, we have to approach Him with great assurance and confidence. It is true that God is supremely Holy and Majestic; it is also true that God wants to have a close intimate relationship with us. Both these things are true about God.
The problem is that the church usually tends to emphasise one at the expense of the other. For example, in our day and age, people tend to see God as more of a personal friend than a supreme God. The result is that they will adopt a casual, user-friendly approach to worship. We see that happening in the style of worship; people would sing and dance according to whatever kind of music they prefer, whether it be Christian rock, Christian rap, or Christian contemporary music.
We see that happening in the way people approach God in worship, how they come to church, similar to the way they drop by their friend's house for visitation as and when they feel like it, or as and when they feel it is convenient. We must never have this kind of attitude when we approach God. The title of our message is "Approach God Fearlessly or Fearfully."
I. Approach God Fearlessly
Our first point is “Approach God fearlessly”, as in with confidence. In the preceding passage, God had assured the children of Israel of His great love. He reminded them how He had carried them on eagles’ wings like a mother eagle bearing her little ones on her wings. He assured them that they had a special place in His heart because out of all the people in this world, He had chosen them as a royal priesthood and a precious treasure.
As His people, God wants them to draw close to Himself, so He asked Moses to go up to Mount Sinai to receive all the words that He wanted to say to the children of Israel, and then Moses would speak to them. Verse 7 says, "And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him." When the children of Israel heard all the words of the Lord, they responded as verse 8 says, "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.”
It does not mean that God did not know what the people had said and he needed Moses to tell him. God is omniscient; he knows all things, everything perfectly. Here, he speaks of Moses as the appointed Prophet to represent God before the people and the people before God. God wanted to draw near to His people, so He decided to visit them and he said to Moses in verse 9, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord.”
Look down to verse 11, “And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai.” When God visited His people, they would be able to catch a glimpse of His glory, for He had promised to come down on Mount Sinai in the presence of all the people. This was a theophany, a manifestation of God - God would appear in a thick cloud. This was not the only time God revealed himself in a thick cloud. Psalm 97:2 says, "Clouds and darkness are around about him." When Isaiah the prophet was given a vision of the Throne of Heaven, he saw the house was filled with smoke, Isaiah 6:4. All of us are familiar with the Transfiguration. At the Transfiguration, the disciples saw a bright cloud overshadowing Jesus Christ, Matthew 17:5. The clouds that surrounded God's presence showed His divine glory, but at the same time, it also covered it. Why? Because no man could see God and live.
Notice, God did not dwell on Mount Sinai; He only came down upon Mount Sinai. Whenever God visits His people, He would always come down to them. No place on this Earth is great enough to accommodate God's presence, including Mount Sinai. Yet, God chose to come down on that mountain so that He could meet His people. This is a reminder of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was the second person in the triune God, and yet He chose to come down to this Earth to dwell with us, and His name was called Emmanuel; “God With Us”.
Isn't it comforting to know that the Almighty God came down from Heaven to be with us? Jesus came not only to save us, not only to visit us, but to be with us. And if He has come to be with us, He will never forget, neither will He forsake us. If Jesus is with us, what is there for us to fear? There's no need for us to fear trials, troubles, afflictions, struggles, or persecutions. And we will be able to say like the Apostle Paul, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?", Romans 8:31. Even death, we are not afraid. As the psalmist David said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me", Psalm 23:4.
So, God had come down to meet His people, and they could come before His presence fearlessly, as in confidence. But they could not come into His presence any way they wanted. There were boundaries, there were restrictions. Why? Because the moment God descended on that mountain, the mountain itself was made holy by His presence. That is just how holy and awesome our God is.
II. Approach God Fearfully
This brings us to our second point: “Approach God fearfully”. Special instructions were given to Moses. Look at verse 12, "And thou shalt set bounds unto the people, round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever touches the mount shall be surely put to death.” Verse 13, "There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or men, it shall not live: when the trumpet sounded long, they shall come up to the mount.”
No one was allowed to go beyond certain boundaries near the mountain or even touch it, including the animals, until they heard the sound of the trumpet. The Bible does not tell us who would sound the trumpet; most likely God would reveal to Moses at the right time, and then He would assign someone to sound the trumpet. What happened when someone refused to obey and touched the mountain? That person would be put to death, either by stoning or shot through by arrow. The penalty for the violators was so severe that even after they were executed, no one was even allowed to touch their dead bodies, for fear that they would be contaminated with unholiness.
Why did God place such strict restrictions? Firstly, it was to preserve His holiness, His transcendence, and His eternal mystery. You see, some people might be tempted to see God, so they might push forward to catch a glimpse of God, or they might want to know all the answers about God, to penetrate into the mysteries of His deity. But these were things they were not supposed to see or know. So John Calvin said, Allow me to paraphrase what he said, Calvin said, 'How great is men's curiosity! How do they seek to penetrate the secrets of God and indulge themselves into his mysteries, which He chose not to reveal to them? When they do that, their disrespect for the fear of God would consume them.’
Dear friend, what spiritual lessons can we learn from here? It is not wrong to want to know about God and the deep things about God. What is wrong is to demand to know the secrets that God chose not to reveal or yet to reveal. Some people are so intrigued with the mysteries of the rapture, or the tribulation, or the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, so much so that they would set the date and the time for those events. In 2005, there was a man named Harold Camping who predicted that the second coming of Jesus Christ would be on the 21st of May, 2011. Whereby all the believers would be raptured, and there would be five months of fire, brimstone and plagues, millions of people would die each day, culminating with the final destruction of the world on the 21 October, 2011. He precisely said those dates and time.
Obviously, he was confused about the tribulation and the millennial kingdom and his predictions did not come to pass, but the point is that the moment he set the dates and the time for biblical mysteries, he had crossed the boundary. Jesus himself said very clearly that God only chose to reveal the signs of the times, not the exact time. Remember, Jesus said, "But of the day and hour, no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only", Matthew 24:36.
There were others who claimed to have seen God and that they had received special revelations from Him, when the Bible clearly tells us, ‘No man can see God and live, and no man should add or subtract from the Canon of the Holy Scriptures.’ The tele-evangelist, Oral Roberts, once claimed that he had seen a vision of Jesus Christ and he was 900 ft tall. He claimed also that Jesus gave him special instructions to build a hospital and find a cure for cancer. Later on, when the funds were not sufficient to build the hospital, he again said, ‘Jesus appeared to me and he said to me that he would take away my life if you people would not give.’ What blasphemy! He had crossed the boundary.
Dear friend, the biblical principle we ought to follow is that we ought to preach and teach only what the Bible reveals to us. When the Bible is silent, we remain silent. Let the mysteries of God remain as mysteries until God chooses to reveal them to us. Do not cross the boundary. When God said, “do not cross”, do not cross.
Secondly, God placed all these restrictions to protect His people. God was perfectly and supremely holy, so it is not safe to just simply barge into His presence. On several occasions in the Bible, people tried to do that and they were killed. Remember Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire before the Lord? What happened to them? The Lord sent fire to devour them. And what about Uzza who touched the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the presence of God? He was killed instantly. Do not play the fool with God. God was so holy that coming into His presence presumptuously and disrespectfully would mean instant death. So, it was for their own protection that God set those restrictions.
And this is a warning for all of us. We are in the presence of a holy and transcendent God. Therefore, we must worship Him with great fear and reverence. For our God is a consuming fire, and God has given to us instructions in the Bible on how we should approach Him, how we should worship Him, how we should pray, how we should serve Him. And we must follow all those biblical principles. Though we may not be killed instantly, God can do that if he chooses to do so. But just because our lives are spared does not mean that we have gotten away with our sins when we approach Him presumptuously and disrespectfully. One day, we will still have to stand before Him to give an account for all the things we have done.
So, God had come down to meet His people, and they could come before Him. But at the same time, He wanted to remind the people of His holiness, His supreme holiness. He wanted to remind the people on what basis by which they could approach Him. So as we read on, we will see the basis by which the people could approach God.
Firstly, look at verse 10. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.” Here the picture is that of the people preparing to meet the king. In those days, before the people could meet the king, they had to prepare themselves. Likewise, when we come before God, we must have this attitude that we are coming to meet our King, not just any ordinary king, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Secondly, they needed to be cleansed. "Let them wash their clothes." To wash their clothes was a sign of sanctification. Wearing clean clothes was a symbol of a person's true spiritual condition. It indicates the person's need for cleansing from sin before meeting their King, their God. The people did as they were told. Verse 14, "And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes."
But there was one more thing they must do. Verse 15, "And he said unto the people, be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.” In other words, they must refrain from having sexual relationships with their wives. Although there was nothing wrong with sexual relationships within marriage, here it was a form of fasting. They must put away all their earthly cares and carnal affections and let their focus be undivided, preparing their hearts to meet their God.
In 1 Corinthians 7:5, the Apostle Paul said a similar thing. He told the people not to refrain or withhold from having a sexual relationship with their wives, except if both parties agreed to refrain for a period of time. And what was the purpose? So that they could commit themselves to fasting and praying. But even then, it was only for a short period of time. Why? So that the devil would not be able to tempt them for their lack of self-control. You see, both the husband and the wife may agree to refrain from having any relationship for a particular period of time because they want to fast and pray for a particular matter, like someone who is seriously sick in a family. So, they want to be committed to fast and pray. But even then, it was to be for a short period because the devil would take advantage. One party may not be able to exercise self-control, and the devil would tempt the person through adultery, fornication, or immorality.
Here in Exodus, it was similar. The people were told to refrain themselves from going onto their wives for only 3 days. Most certainly, they must commit themselves to prayers and fasting so that they would have this undivided attention to focus on meeting their God, their King. Likewise, when we approach God, we must prepare our hearts and minds. We must be prayerful. We must not let earthly cares and conniving affections to creep into our hearts. We want to have undivided attention and focus on meeting our God. So, that should be our attitude each time we come to worship, each time we come to sing hymns, each time we come to pray and serve God.
Thirdly, they needed a mediator. Ever since God called Moses at the burning bush, he had been serving as Israel's mediator. He had this great privilege to speak directly with God on behalf of the people. And whenever God wanted to speak to the children of Israel, he would speak to them through Moses. So, Moses was Israel's mediator, representing God before the Israelites, representing the Israelites before God. Finally, as their mediator, Moses was told to sanctify the people. Most suddenly, Moses did not have the power to sanctify the people. On what basis could he sanctify the people? So, he had to perform a sacrifice. Through the animal sacrifice, the people would be sanctified.
How do we know that this was how Moses sanctified the people? If you can turn with me to Exodus 13:11-13 and Exodus 13:1, let me read for you, "And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee”. Verse 12, “that thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix” – ‘Set apart’ means to sanctify or to consecrate - And every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the Lord's. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of men among thy children shalt thou redeem." So, how could they set apart or sanctify the firstborn? By redemption, by redeeming it with a lamb. And through the sacrifice of the unblemished lamb, they were set apart.
Dear friend, how can we approach our God, who is so awesome and holy and perfect? We can never make ourselves holy enough before God. Just like Adam and Eve desperately tried to sew fig leaves in a vain attempt to cover up their sins. No matter what we do, we can never cover up our sins. The Bible says, "All our righteousness are but filthy rags." What Adam and Eve could not do, God did. Remember, He covered them with animal skins, which means the animal had to be sacrificed. What you and I cannot do, God did. He provided the Lamb who is able to cleanse all our sins, wash away all our sins, and provide the forgiveness of our sins. He provided a mediator for us. And this mediator is better than Moses. He is the best and only mediator we will ever need in our lives. And this mediator is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 8:6 says, "But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises." This is how you and I can and should approach our God. We approach Him fearlessly, as in with confidence. This confidence is not based on ourselves. It is based upon the fact that God has come down to save us, to draw us to Himself. On our own, we can never approach God. But he has provided the way for us through our mediator, Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross. Through the shedding of His precious blood, we receive the forgiveness of our sins. We are sanctified that we may approach His throne of grace with confidence.
Now, think about this. If we know all these truths, if we truly believe all that God had done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ, how can we ever approach our God presumptuously, carelessly, and disrespectfully? God forbid. We would approach Him with fear in our hearts, knowing that we are coming into the presence of a king, not just any ordinary king, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for how Thou hast taught us through Thy precious word how Thou had come down to meet the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. They were called to come before Thee. Thou hast invited them to come so they could come with confidence. But they could not just come any way they wanted. Thou hast reminded them of the ways in which Thou hast provided for them to approach Thy holy and majestic presence.
Indeed, they need to be reminded of the cleansing from sin, and there is only one who could cleanse them, the unblemished Lamb of God. And Thou also reminded them of the mediator. The mediator has to sanctify them. But Moses has no such power, and so he had to turn to the unblemished Lamb as a sacrifice. Only through the unblemished Lamb could they be cleansed and sanctified.
This is an awesome reminder for each and every one of us who profess to believe in Thee. Likewise, we are coming before our King, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and we ought to prepare our hearts and minds. We ought to be cleansed. Yes, Thou hast cleansed us through the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the unblemished Lamb. And Jesus is our mediator, and by virtue of what Jesus had done on the cross of Calvary, we could come into Thy presence.
How can we come disrespectfully, presumptuously, and carelessly? Oh Lord, forgive us if there are times whereby we approach Thee with a careless attitude. Thou hast taught us this evening. Yes, we can come before Thee with great confidence, but at the same time, we who know all this truth, who Thou art and what Thou hast done for us, we want to come before Thee with fear, reverence, and love. With gratitude for how Thou hast spoken to us. For we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF EXODUSGod’s Prophecy and Promise Had Come To PassGod’s Prophecy and Promise Had Come To PassExodus 1:1-7
From Prosperity to PersecutionFrom Prosperity to PersecutionExodus 1:8-14
God’s Protection in the Midst of AdversitiesGod’s Protection in the Midst of AdversitiesExodus 1:15-21
The Faith of JochebedThe Faith of JochebedExodus 1:22-2:10
Moses in EgyptMoses in EgyptExodus 2:11-15
Moses in the Desert of MidianMoses in the Desert of MidianExodus 2:16-25
Moses and the Burning BushMoses and the Burning BushExodus 3:1-9
Who Are You?Who Are You?Exodus 3:10-15
Who Am I?Who Am I?Exodus 3:10-15
God’s Message to Israel and EgyptGod’s Message to Israel and EgyptExodus 3:16-22
What If They Still Don’t Believe?What If They Still Don’t Believe?Exodus 4:1-9
Send Someone ElseSend Someone ElseExodus 4:10-17
Moses’ Return to EgyptMoses’ Return to EgyptExodus 4:18-20
When Things Seemed to Get Better, They Got WorseWhen Things Seemed to Get Better, They Got WorseExodus 5:10-21
When We Have Done Everything Right, and Yet Trouble ComesWhen We Have Done Everything Right, and Yet Trouble ComesExodus 5:22-6:5
Having to Learn the Same Lesson TwiceHaving to Learn the Same Lesson TwiceExodus 6:6-12
Faithful or UnfaithfulFaithful or UnfaithfulExodus 6:13-27
What God Wants Is Our Faithfulness and ObedienceWhat God Wants Is Our Faithfulness and ObedienceExodus 6:28-7:7
The First Plague - The River of BloodThe First Plague - The River of BloodExodus 7:14-25
The Second Plague - The FrogsThe Second Plague - The FrogsExodus 8:1-15
The Third PlagueThe Third PlagueExodus 8:16-19
The Fourth PlagueThe Fourth PlagueExodus 8:20-32
The Fifth PlagueThe Fifth PlagueExodus 9:1-7
The Sixth PlagueThe Sixth PlagueExodus 9:8-12
The Seventh PlagueThe Seventh PlagueExodus 9:13-35
The Eighth PlagueThe Eighth PlagueExodus 10:1-20
The Tenth PlagueThe Tenth PlagueExodus 11:1-10
The First PassoverThe First PassoverExodus 12:1-13
The Feast of the Unleavened BreadThe Feast of the Unleavened BreadExodus 12:14-28
Departure From EgyptDeparture From EgyptExodus 12:29-42
This Do In Remembrance of MeThis Do In Remembrance of MeExodus 12:43-51; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
Message 2: What is Church to you? My Covenantal Family!Message 2: What is Church to you? My Covenantal Family!Exodus 12:48-49, Colossians 2:11-12
Redemption and ConsecrationRedemption and ConsecrationExodus 13:1-2, 11-16
Precious Lord, Take My HandPrecious Lord, Take My HandExodus 13:17-22
Between the Desert and the Red SeaBetween the Desert and the Red SeaExodus 14:1-14
Crossing the Red SeaCrossing the Red SeaExodus 14:15-31
The Song of PraiseThe Song of PraiseExodus 15:1-21
Will You Obey Or Not?Will You Obey Or Not?Exodus 15:22-27
The Danger of a Complaining SpiritThe Danger of a Complaining SpiritExodus 16:1-3
God’s Response to Israel’s ComplaintsGod’s Response to Israel’s ComplaintsExodus 16:1-10
The Test of FaithThe Test of FaithExodus 16:11-20
Lessons About the SabbathLessons About the SabbathExodus 16:21-36
Do Not Test GodDo Not Test GodExodus 17:1-17
Lift Up Your HandsLift Up Your HandsExodus 17:8-16
The Blessedness of ReunionThe Blessedness of ReunionExodus 18:1-12
Why Do We Have Leaders?Why Do We Have Leaders?Exodus 18:13-27
I Will Carry You On Eagles’ WingsI Will Carry You On Eagles’ WingsExodus 19:1-6
Approach God Fearlessly or FearfullyApproach God Fearlessly or FearfullyExodus 19:7-15
God Reached Out And SpokeGod Reached Out And SpokeExodus 19:16-25
Thou Shalt Have No Other GodsThou Shalt Have No Other GodsExodus 20:1-3
Thou Shalt Not Make Graven ImagesThou Shalt Not Make Graven ImagesExodus 20:4-6
Thou Shalt Not Dishonour God’s NameThou Shalt Not Dishonour God’s NameExodus 20:7
Thou Shalt Keep The Sabbath DayThou Shalt Keep The Sabbath DayExodus 20:8-11
Honour Thy Father and Thy MotherHonour Thy Father and Thy MotherExodus 20:12
Thou Shalt Not KillThou Shalt Not KillExodus 20:13
Thou Shalt Not Commit AdulteryThou Shalt Not Commit AdulteryExodus 24:14
If Thy Presence Go Not with Me, Carry Us Not Up HenceIf Thy Presence Go Not with Me, Carry Us Not Up HenceExodus 33:12-23
