Exodus 24:1-4, 7
~16 min read
💭 Consider this: Have you grown lukewarm in your worship of God? What sins are preventing you from worshipping God as you ought to?
TRANSCRIPT
Our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 24:1-4. Just to recap what had happened to the children of Israel up to this point: they had been delivered from Egypt, they had witnessed the ten plagues, they had crossed the Red Sea, they were fed with manna from heaven and water from the rock, and then they were told to remember how God had delivered them out of Egypt. And since God was their deliverer, He had the right to tell them not to serve other gods, not to make idols, not to dishonour His name, to keep the Sabbath, to honour their parents, not to murder, cheat, lie, steal, commit adultery, be covetous, and so forth.
Essentially, He was their God, and they were His people. That is what the Bible means by covenant — a sacred relationship established by God. And as their covenant God, He wants them to worship Him, but not just any way they desire — they have to worship Him in a certain pattern.
Dear friend, every time we come for worship, do we pause to consider how we ought to worship God? Is there a right attitude and understanding that we must have? Is there a right approach that we must adopt? Are there things we must do and not do? This is what we want to learn from this short passage, to draw spiritual lessons about worship. The title of our message is: ‘How We Ought to Worship God.’
I. The Awareness Of Entering His Holy Presence
Firstly, we ought to have this awareness of entering His holy presence. Look at verse 1 of Exodus 24, “And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.”
The children of Israel had gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai. This was not the first time Moses was commanded to meet God alone. Moses was their mediator, he was the one who represented God before the people, and the people before God. But this time, he was told to bring along Aaron, his brother, and the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders who were appointed to help govern the children of Israel.
It is worthy to note that Aaron was from the tribe of Levi and he became the father of the priests in Israel. But sadly, later on, his sons Nadab and Abihu were destroyed for offering unholy fire on God's altar — you can read about that in Leviticus chapter 10. Together, these men approached God for worship, however, they were not allowed to get too close. They were told to keep their distance. Only Moses, their mediator and representative, was permitted to draw near.
God made it clear that it was an awesome thing to enter into His holy presence. By setting the boundaries, God was teaching His people to honour His holiness. He was a great and awesome God, perfect in righteousness and justice, and they could only come as near as He had appointed. In those days, the people approached God through their priests, especially through His prophet Moses. Today, you and I approach God through the one and only mediator between God and man — Jesus Christ. Through Jesus we come to God, and no one else can help us to do that. And we do not need anyone else to represent us before God, not the priests, pastors, or ministers. We can go straight to God, through Jesus Christ.
This is what worship is all about. It is about meeting with God; it is to come into the presence of a holy and glorious God. That is why, every week at the beginning of the worship service, the chairperson will read a portion of scripture to prepare our hearts to meet our God. Like in Psalm 95: "O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." (Psalm 95:1-3)
Many years ago, I was serving in a Christian para-organisation in Singapore, reaching out to ex-offenders and prisoners. One day, we were told that the president of Singapore would be visiting us. We were told three months in advance of his actual visitation. For the next three months, we painted the entire building, we cleaned up the whole place, and we prepared ourselves — what clothes to wear, what things to say, and what things not to say. Why? Because we would be meeting the president, who was just but another human being. Yet we made all those preparations, we were so meticulous in our preparation. How much more should you and I prepare ourselves to meet our almighty God, our Creator?
Dear friend, what is your heart's attitude when you come to church for worship? Do you drag your feet into the sanctuary and say in your heart, "Oh, it is but just another worship service"? Or do you rush into the church in the middle of the opening hymn? Or do you sneak into the pews when everyone is praying so that no one would know that you are late? Do you think God does not know? He knows. We are always in the presence of God, and He has specially set aside a time for worship. It is called the Lord's Day, because it is the day our Lord Jesus was risen from the dead.
So before, during, and after the worship, our hearts must always be prepared. We must always come with this awareness that we are entering into His holy presence.
II. The Importance Of Reading And Preaching His Word
Our second point is ‘The Importance of Reading and Preaching His Word’. Verse 3: “And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.”
As part of the worship, Moses read all the words and judgments of God. The term "words" is a reference to the Ten Commandments in chapter 20, sometimes known as the Decalogue or the "ten words." The term "judgments" is a reference to all the laws which were given to the children of Israel in the preceding chapters 21 to 23 — laws pertaining to work, slavery, premeditated murder, personal injury, unintentional accidents, loss of property, money, poverty, social justice, and so forth. When the people heard all the laws of the Lord, they promised to obey.
Moses not only read the Word of God, but he also wrote them down. Look at verse 4: “And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.” The altar signifies the worship of God, and the twelve pillars signify the twelve tribes of Israel, or the children of Israel. In other words, the principle of worship, the principle whereby the people should come and worship God, must be built upon His Word.
This verse is very important because it shows us how we got our Bible. The Bible was not given to us through oral tradition, but it was written down. Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, therefore, they had the Word of God in written form.
Let us pause for a moment and consider this: what would happen if we did not have the written Word of God? That would mean our faith would be based on oral tradition, passed from mouth to mouth. One generation would pass the oral message to the next generation, and then to the subsequent generations, and finally, it would be passed down to us. Do you think we could still have the pure, perfect Word of God? Most certainly not. Somewhere along history, the oral message would be lost, misrepresented, or miscommunicated.
Do you remember, as children, we used to play the game of lining people in a row? Then we whispered a message to the first person, and that person had to pass the message to the second person, and then to the next person, and it went on and on. When it finally reached the last person, he or she was told to say aloud the message. It was always a totally different message, and we would get a good laugh. Why? Because somewhere along the line, it was lost in transmission. That would happen to the Word of God if it was only oral tradition.
So the first reason why the written Word of God is so important is because only a written account can be perfect, without mistakes. The second reason why the written Word of God is so important is because only a written account can be verified. In Acts chapter 17, when the apostle Paul preached the message, the Bereans wanted to verify whether those things he said were true or not. What did they do? They searched the scriptures. Even the apostles' message had to be examined. They needed the Word of God as a yardstick to verify the truth.
The world has said many things, but who can verify those claims? In Northern Spain, in the birthplace of Ignatius, the Roman Catholic priest, it was claimed that he had a vision in that house of Mary. But who can verify it? Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, claimed that he saw a vision of twelve tablets, and Moroni the angel came and asked him to translate those tablets. Today, the Mormon church is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world, but who can verify his vision? Benny Hinn, the televangelist, said he saw Jesus appear to him on the wall. Oral Roberts, the Pentecostal preacher, also claimed that Jesus appeared to him as 900 feet tall. But who can verify those visions?
There are thousands and thousands of fake visions and false claims which cannot be verified, but you and I have the written Holy Scriptures that, in every age, every believer can go back to and verify whether those things are true or not. The Bible is a wonderful gift of God.
The third reason why the written Word of God is so important is because only a written account can be preserved. In other words, even if it was Moses' eyewitness account when he went up the mountain, no matter how wonderful that experience might be, that experience would end with him. It could not go any further than Moses — it had to die with him. Moses could recount that experience to other people; he could say, ‘This is the vision and command that I have received’, but he could not preserve it, right? He could not pass on that God-given experience. Only in the written account can God preserve the final product, and the Bible is the final product that we hold in our hands. So, only the Bible can be perfect, it can be verified, and it can be preserved.
All these truths about the Word of God, the written Holy Scriptures, are also confirmed by the New Testament apostles. Maybe you can turn with me to 2 Peter 1:19, and let us see how the Apostle Peter described for us the Word of God. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"
The “word of prophecy” is the Word of God. They were the words given to the prophets, and the prophets were told to either foretell or forthtell the Word of God. The phrase "a dark place" means the spiritual darkness of this fallen world that prevents the people from seeing the truth until the light of God's truth shines forth.
Indeed, we are living in a wicked and sinful world, and we need the Word of God. As Psalm 119:105 says: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," without which we will be groping in spiritual darkness. If you ever pick up a big rock in your garden and you try to see what is underneath that rock, you lift the rock up, and when the light shines in, you will often find bugs, insects, and worms that love darkness scrambling for cover. In a similar fashion, that also happens to us when the light of God's Word shines into our sins.
The light of God's Word will continue to shine “until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts”. The day star is mentioned in other passages of the Bible as the morning star, and Christ is the morning star. In Revelation 22:16, Jesus said, "I, Jesus, am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." The phrase "morning star" means the one who brings the light. It was the name used for the planet Venus, which precedes the morning sun in the sky. Here, the morning star is used to refer to the second coming of Christ. Jesus must first return, and then rule on the earth for 1,000 years and establish His eternal kingdom. In other words, the light of God's Word will continue to shine until that glorious event when Jesus returns in His full majesty.
Now, back to the phrase "a more sure word of prophecy." The word "sure" means steadfast or firm, and the word "more" is a comparative adjective, like good, better, and best. The hamburger is good; that is a simple adjective. The hamburger is better; that is a comparative adjective. The hamburger is best; that is a superlative adjective. The Apostle Peter could have said, "The Word of God is good", simple adjective, or he could use the superlative adjective, "The Word of God is best." We would have understood what he meant. But the moment he used the comparative adjective "a more sure word of prophecy," then that means there's a standard of comparison. You take two things and compare them—one is better than the other. So, we have to ask, ‘More sure than what? More steadfast, more firm, and better than what?’
The answer is found in the last part of verses 16 to 18. Let me read for you: “But [we] were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.” (2 Peter 19:16b-18)
In other words, Peter was speaking about the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus brought Peter, James, and John to that holy mountain, and they witnessed His transfiguration, and they heard the voice from the Heavenly Father. In a sense, Peter was saying, ‘I have seen Christ. I am an eyewitness of His transfiguration. I was there at the holy mount when Jesus was transfigured. I saw His majesty. It was the most wonderful experience. But what we have in our hands, the Holy Scriptures—it is more sure, it is more steadfast, it is more firm, and better than my own eyewitness account.’
Some people may be asking, ‘How can the Bible be better than an eyewitness of the majesty of Christ, the transfiguration of Christ?’ Remember, only the written account—the Bible—can be perfect, it can be verified, and it can be preserved.
Dear friend, isn't it amazing that we have the Word of God preserved for us perfectly, that we can hold it in our hands and read it for ourselves? And when we come for worship services, we read the Bible as a corporate body. When the pastor preaches the message, we can refer to the Bible and verify if whether what he said is true or not. This is the most wonderful gift that God has given to us—His written Word.
Look down to verse 7: “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” Some people find this verse to be redundant because Moses had already read all the words and judgments in verse 3. So why must he do it again? And why must the people say, “All that the Lord ha[s] said will we do” again?
Allow me to give you some suggestions as to why it is not redundant for Moses to repeat the Word of God again. Firstly, it was read out once to help the people understand what God demanded. They might declare their intent to obey, but it was read out a second time so that they would fully understand their duties and responsibilities. And when they say, “All that the Lord ha[s] said will we do, and be obedient”, it was with full understanding of their duties and responsibilities.
One theologian gave this illustration of a wedding: At the beginning of the holy matrimony, the bride and groom are asked to declare their intent. The minister will say, ‘Will you take this person to be your wedded spouse, to live together after God's holy ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?’ If they say, ‘I will’, that means they understand their duties and responsibilities and are willing to enter into the covenant of matrimony. So, they need to take a vow, and this time they would take this vow ‘to have and to hold each other from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.’ So, they declared their intent, and then they, fully understanding their responsibilities and duties, would take this vow.
In a similar fashion, the people first declared their intent. They understood what God demanded, and they were quick to declare their intent. But the laws were mentioned a second time so that they could fully understand their responsibilities and duties, and then they took the vow, so to speak.
The second reason why Moses read the laws again was because the people needed to hear it more than once. Obviously, it is not good enough to listen to God's Word only once and think that's it. We need to hear His voice again and again and again, right? Because as humans, we always forget.
How can we apply this principle to our worship service? Every week, we have the scripture text read out at the very beginning. It is for the intent of declaring the Word of God to us, ‘this will be the passage to be considered’—to prepare our hearts. Then the scripture text is read out a second time, and this time it is being expounded and explained to us so that we can fully understand what it means. And whenever God's Word is read and preached, it always demands a response. So, at the end of the message, we will always have prayers, whereby you and I will make this commitment, take this vow, so to speak, to obey all that has been declared to us.
Dear friend, this is how you and I ought to worship God. Firstly, we need to have this awareness that we are entering into His holy presence. We do not want to come with a callous attitude. We come with our hearts prepared, knowing that we are going to meet our Creator, our God.
Secondly, we need to understand the importance of reading and preaching His Word. God has given to us His written Holy Scriptures, perfectly inspired and preserved, so that we not only can read for ourselves, be encouraged, and edified, but at every age, and for every believer, at all times, we can verify whatever we see and hear, whether those things be true or not.
Are you not thankful for the Word of God given to you? Being thankful is one thing, but we must also read the Word of God. The Word of God must truly be a lamp and a light unto our paths. It can never be the light and the lamp if we do not read it. We must be diligent in the study of God's Word, and we must always, always esteem the Word of God highly in our lives.
Let us pray: Father in heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider this short passage, even as we consider how the children of Israel were gathered at the foot of the mountain, how Thou had commanded the people to approach Thee for worship, and how Thou has taught Thy people that it was an awesome thing to enter into Thy holy presence. This is a reminder to all of us: when we come for worship, when we come before Thee, we must be aware that we are coming before Thy holy presence. We cannot come with a careless, haphazard attitude.
Oh Lord, forgive us if there are times we have not approached Thee in a way that is pleasing in Thy sight. And even as Thy people are called to worship Thee, there was this reading of the Holy Scriptures, and the people not only heard it once, but they heard it twice, and they all promised to obey.
And Thou has also taught us how we got our Bible—how Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. The Bible was given to us not through oral tradition, but it was written down. And because it was written down, it can be perfect, it can be verified, and it can be preserved. And this final product, the Holy Scriptures—the Bible—we hold in our hands. So we must approach it with great esteem. Help us, that we always look to Thy Word with such an esteem, not just in our hearts, but in our practices as well, that we will study diligently Thy Word, that truly Thy Word will be a lamp and a light unto our paths, that we will live out Thy truth.
So teach us, each time we come to church for worship, as we hear the reading of the Holy Scriptures, as we hear it a second time being expounded and explained to us, and we fully understand what it means. Then we ought to respond, and we pray that we will obey Thy Word that has been declared to us. This is how we ought to approach Thy worship.
Help us, remind us always. In Jesus' name we pray, 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 20:14
Thou Shalt Not StealThou Shalt Not StealExodus 20:15
Thou Shalt Not LieThou Shalt Not LieExodus 20:16
Thou Shalt Not CovetThou Shalt Not CovetExodus 20:17
The Response To The Ten CommandmentsThe Response To The Ten CommandmentsExodus 20:18-21
How God Wants Us To Worship HimHow God Wants Us To Worship HimExodus 20:22-26
Why Would God Allow Slavery?Why Would God Allow Slavery?Exodus 21:1-11
The Punishment Fits The Crime — a life for a lifeThe Punishment Fits The Crime — a life for a lifeExodus 21:12-17
The Punishment Fits The Crime — an eye for an eyeThe Punishment Fits The Crime — an eye for an eyeExodus 21:18-36
The Punishment Deters The Crime — property lawsThe Punishment Deters The Crime — property lawsExodus 22:1-15
The Character Of GodThe Character Of GodExodus 22:16-20
Reaching Out To The Down-And-OutReaching Out To The Down-And-OutExodus 22:21-24
The Compassion, Authority & Holiness Of GodThe Compassion, Authority & Holiness Of GodExodus 22:25-31
Truth Cannot Be Subjected To Anything But TruthTruth Cannot Be Subjected To Anything But TruthExodus 23:1-9
Remember Who God IsRemember Who God IsExodus 23:10-19
What Must We Do To Have VictoryWhat Must We Do To Have VictoryExodus 23:20-33
How We Ought To Worship GodHow We Ought To Worship GodExodus 24:1-4, 7
On What Basis Can We Approach His Majesty?On What Basis Can We Approach His Majesty?Exodus 24:4-8
Responding to God’s InvitationResponding to God’s InvitationExodus 24:9-18
The Right Attitude Of GivingThe Right Attitude Of GivingExodus 25:1-8
There I Will Meet YouThere I Will Meet YouExodus 25:9-22
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
