Exodus 24. 12-18 NIV courtesy of www.biblegateway.com
The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Got to admit, this is tough passage to comment on. First a technical note of interest. In v16 'and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai' the word 'settled' comes from the same Hebrew root as 'dwell'. That is, the LORD dwelt on the mountain, giving a stronger sense of God's presence with Moses. There is also a link between the root for 'dwell' and the word for tabernacle, the tent in which God was to dwell with the people of Israel.
This short note only increases the atmosphere of worship in this text. Certainly one went up a mountain to worship God. Everyone understood that God lived in the heavens (above our heads) and so if you climbed a very high mountain you could get closer to God. So you see the origin of worshipping on the 'high places'.
Israel was familiar with God's presence through fire and cloud from their escape from Egypt. The Israelites were separated from the Egyptians following them by 'a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.' So then, God was with them.
Second technical note. Notice that the LORD is spelled out with all capital letters. In the original Hebrew this word would have been YHWH - the name of God. Faithful Jews would not speak the name of God aloud, and so when they encountered this word in the reading, they would substitute adonai - or 'lord.' But of course, this was not just any 'lord' but the divine name, so the word was captialized to indicate that to all readers. This capital spelling of LORD is called the tetragramathon (I am looking up the spelling of that one). However, you will notice this capitalization of LORD throughout the Old Testament.
Just two thoughts so far on this Exodus text. To journey with God is arduous and full of unexpected twists and turns. There is glory and there is fire. God's power both sustains and burns away that which is counter God's desires. Both glory and fire are powerful and can overwhelm. We are never to lose sight of the enormous gap between us and the divine; we are to stand in God's presence with humility and fear. For mortals, it will be much like being in a cloud, surrounded by glory and aware of the power of fire in the near vicinity.
Not exactly the teddy bear God that too many folk envision. This passage is a good reminder of that.
Definately not the teddy bear God that people like to envision. Beleiving in God doesn't mean you won't have hard times or suffer tragedy... God IS full of twists and turns. We are instruments of God and we have to be willing to take the bad with the good. This passage reminds me of the book/movie the 5 people you meet in heaven. These people had no idea the impact their lives had on the lives of others. How their tragedies or their triumphs led to great things in soemone else... We don't always understand the why's of everything but God does have a plan, a purpose for us. Ultimately, knowing that we are not in control but God is can be what saves us from ourselves. When things are so bad for someone and the "fire" is too close or has engulfed their lives, that's when we, the people of God have hope... People that don't have faith have little hope in bad situations it seems. I can't imagine a life without hope... The Glory of God is great and I'd rather stand in that cloud aware of the fire than not at all.
ReplyDeleteWhat if we reframed this to say: Life has lots of twists and turns; God is ever faithful. Humans are eager to blame God for stuff that we have mucked up. I envision the fire of God burning off the stuff in our lives that keep us from living within the divine; the cloud is our usual inability to clearly see the path that God lays out. What do you think???
ReplyDeleteI think that is true. I think in any situation where humans are left feeling hurt, betrayed, broken or just feeling upside down we want to place blame somewhere other than ourselves... looking for the tiniest smidgen of justification for our actions. In that case, I welcome the fire. Sometimes there is no justification.
ReplyDelete"God's power both sustains and burns away that which is counter God's desires. Both glory and fire are powerful and can overwhelm."
I understand this better now i think... I have to admit that sentence didn't stand out to me each time I read the post until i read your response.
I have to admit, I struggled quite a bit with this weeks posts... still thinking on the other!