EXPERIENCING the ‘INTIMATE’ PRESENCE of GOD!
January
25 Bible Reading: Exodus Chapters 22-24
EXPERIENCING the ‘INTIMATE’ PRESENCE of GOD!
"So Moses arose with his assistant
Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. Now the glory of the Lord
rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh
day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of
the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of
the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up
into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights."
(Exodus 24:13, 16-18)
When Moses
first encountered God while tending the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law in Horeb
the mountain of God, he saw God in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. He
was surprised that though the bush burned with fire, it was not consumed
(Exodus 3:1-3). This was the first indication to Moses that His presence would
not consume anyone or anything, but the lighted fire was to attract people to
experience a fresh encounter with God.
As the
children of Israel traveled through the wilderness, God went before them by
night in a pillar of fire to give them light (Exodus 13:21-22). When they
arrived at Mount Sinai (or, Mount Horeb) God revealed His glory by descending
on the mountain in the midst of a fire, and the whole mountain was completely
engulfed in smoke (Exodus 19:16-20). The purpose for the children of Israel to
leave Egypt was to serve and worship God on Mount Sinai, which was a sign God
gave when He commissioned Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus
3:12).
There are degrees of nearness to God. The majority of the children of
Israel remained at a distance because of their fear of the Lord. Moses, Joshua,
Nadab, Abihu, Aaron, and seventy of the elders went up the mountain to meet God
(Exodus 24:1, 9-10). Then Moses and Joshua went further, and finally Moses went
into the glory cloud alone (v. 18). Like the burning bush, the fire of God’s
presence did not consume Moses, but when he emerged from the mountain after
spending forty days and nights his face shone the glory of God (see Exodus
34:29-35). This was done so that the
people of Israel would fear and worship God.
In the New
Testament, the church was established when 120 disciples of Jesus went up to
the upper room to spend ten days experiencing the intimate presence of God. On
the day of Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit filled each and every person with His
power and presence. It is interesting to note that the outward sign was “divided tongues as of fire that sat upon
each one of the disciples” (Acts 2:1-4). The disciples were not consumed
due to this encounter, but their effective witness to others in Jerusalem
resulted in about three thousand people accepting the gospel and getting
baptized (v. 41).
J. Oswald
Sanders has wisely commented, “We are at
this moment as close to God as we really choose to be.” God invites us to
draw near (James 4:8), but often we are unwilling to do what is necessary to
meet Him. Today let us experience the
intimate presence of God like Moses and the 120 disciples of Jesus by waiting
in His presence through prayer, fasting and worship! God will empower us to
be an effective witness to attract many people into the kingdom of God (Acts
1:8). Otherwise, remember that our God will be to us a “consuming fire” of judgment in the coming future!
