- On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 19:16-17 – By this time in their journey the people of Israel had seen a lot of grand sights from the Lord. Yet what is happening here at the base of Mount Sinai was a different category, for God Himself was coming down to them. The mountain was covered in a thick dark cloud of smoke that went up like the smoke of a volcano. An intense lighting and thunderstorm filled the sky, and the mountain itself was shaking before their feet. To top it off there was a very loud trumpet blasting, that kept getting louder. Likely you would react the same as the Israelites did if you were there that day, trembling in fear. Yet, as scary as it was, the call was for them to approach the foot of the mountain while Moses went up it. How did the feet of the people go from shaking in the camp to walking towards where God wanted them? Moses led them. There we see our role as believers in the world, especially those of us who are Christian leaders. When the true grandness and glory of the Lord is understood by the lost, often God can seem overwhelming, unapproachable, and terrifying. Instead of taking a step towards God they feel their sin has ruined them to the point they couldn’t approach the Lord. Our role is to help them see that through Jesus, He not only made a way for our sin to be covered but He made a way to the Father whose arms are open wide to embrace us. Be like Moses here in not allowing the people around you to remain trembling in their camp when God is calling them to His mountain. Lean in, discover why they haven’t taken that step towards the Lord, and lead them to the Father who is waiting for them. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3163
- Exodus 19 Daily DEVO And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.” Exodus 19:21 – We see here something I believe will help as we progress through these next few chapters. We see the reason for the rules God gives. As we will be reading these next few days, we’re going to see a bunch of laws being given out and a simple question could be asked, “Why did they need all these laws?” It’s because God knew His perfection and He knew the people’s imperfection yet still wanted them to be able to have fellowship with Him. God wasn’t trying to ruin their life with all these laws, He was giving them an opportunity to be close with Him. While our relationship to the law given here has changed because of Jesus, the commandments we get from God still have that purpose. As we follow the teachings of Jesus and live as He commanded us to, our fellowship with God becomes richer. Just remember that the reason for the rules is because God wants closeness with you. We have salvation because of Jesus and as we follow the commandments of God our relationship with Him will grow and mature. That’s exactly what God wants. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 813
- And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.” Exodus 19:21 – How long do things have to be confusing for you to give up listening to God? Here the Israelites were witnessing something truly amazing, God coming down on the top of a mountain. They could see the powerful cloud, hear the rumbles and trumpets, and Moses was giving them clear, simple commands from God to follow in that moment. Just don’t start up the mountain. Yet notice what Moses had to do after climbing all the way to the top, God sent him right back down because the people were already about to begin breaking off from their faithfulness to God. It’s good for us to truly ask ourselves how long do things have to be difficult, confusing, uncertain, and/or painful in our faith life for us to be considering walking away from it. Let’s be real up front, God never said anything about the pursuit of Him being painless. If that was spoken to you, your were lied to by some pastor or teacher. So how much are you willing to bear? My hope is that at this point in your story, you’ve had a chance to see God is greater than anything else, He’s good to His word, and He truly does loves you. Sure we can walk away, but is there anything at all that can offer us what God can? When something is worth the pain, you stick with it through the pain. When something doesn’t make sense, running away from the One who can make sense of it all is foolish. Know in this journey we to will find ourselves in seasons much like the one the people in our chapter are in. In a place we don’t know, surround by confusion, and things are happening that are just so out of our control. Those moments are not to moments to walk away but to lean in deeper. Allow God to show you in those times just how good He really is to you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1902
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