As Moses was being established as God’s leader for His people, God hosted a ceremony with the people, the elders, leaders, and with Moses. There were sacrifices and offerings . God literally met with the leaders and elders and allowed them to see Him in person. He then called Moses up to the mountain to prepare stone tablets of the law and to prepare Moses for the journey ahead.
These chapters are critical for us to understand the heart and mind of God. They show God’s intention and desire to connect with the people and to grant them the inheritance He promised their father Abraham. God was awesome and awe inspiring. Still, He revealed Himself to the people so that they would never have to question His presence or power.
He also set the standards and hierarchy so that the people would honor the covenant and those He placed in authority. God did all these things as planned and executed them flawlessly. That is what makes the story of Israel such an amazing quest. Almost all the troubles and woes they would face were self-inflicted. God neither surprised them with new rules nor abandoned them without guidance and structure. He wanted them to be secure in His plan and in His care.
He wants the same for us. He established a plan from the dawn of time to give us access to Him and to Heaven. We are in the season of Christ’s birth. He was the sacrifice. He is the way, the truth, and the life. NOONE comes to the Father except by Him. It is not a secret. It is not a punishment. It is the greatest gift God could offer. As with Israel, He simply wants to be in fellowship with us and to provide us with our covenant-promised life with Him. It is not subtle, there are no hidden exclusions or added factors. He simply asks us to trust and follow Him. As with Israel, God wants us to allow Him to bless us like none other–that is part of an amazing Christmas gift! Shalom!
God Bless You
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, 2 but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.”
3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.
He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.
12 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.
Walking With God 