Exodus 19:16 – 25 “On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in the thunder.
The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the summit. So Moses went up, and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish. Even the priests who approach the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”
But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, for You solemnly warned us, ‘Put a boundary around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”
And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”
So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.
Bless Moses’ trusting heart! Even though the Israelites have murmured, complained, and rebelled nearly to the point of stoning Moses, he still believes that they will follow instructions! But God knows human hearts, and God knows that down there in the camp there are already people planning their route to the mountain.
Why are there blasts from a ram’s horn? In a culture in which people herded sheep and goats, the ram’s horn, or shofar was an obvious choice as a means of getting attention and raising alarms. even today, the shofar is blown in synagogues around the world during certain celebrations. In ancient days, anybody hearing blasts from a ram’s horn would naturally stop what they were doing and look to see what the problem was. Here God is using an instrument that the Israelites would recognize to get their attention.
God descends in earthquakes, thunder, fire, and smoke. The entire mountain is shaking, including the ground on which the Israelites are camped. Moses goes to the mountain top and God speaks with him. But God is warning Moses.
“Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the LORD, lest many of them perish. Even the priests who approach the LORD must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”
Huh? God has already ordered Moses to establish a boundary and to get the people to consecrate themselves. It seems that the Israelites don’t take directions much better than did the sheep that Moses used to herd. Evidently by this point, there are priests who approach the Lord. The origin of these priests is unclear, but they too have failed to follow instructions to consecrate themselves. Perhaps the priests figured that since they were already priests, they were special and had no need of cleansing, so they ignored Moses’ warnings.
APPLICATION: How holy are we? We spend most of our days in highly secular situations that are anything but holy. Our speech and our actions may fit our particular situation, but do they honor God? Sadly, most of us must say no.
Honoring God must begin in our hearts and then spread into the rest of our lives. Many of us may have grown up in homes in which there was nobody to model holiness for us. We really are as clueless as the Israelites wandering around the base of Mount Sinai. God has given each of us a longing for Him, which means that deep inside we long to be holy.
Take heart! The same God who disicipled the Israelites into a nation can also teach you how to be holy. If you are willing to give up anything that stands in the way of holiness, God is already prepared to help you!
PRAYER: Father God, we are not holy, and we really don’t even have a clue about how to achieve holiness. You are the One who taught Israel. Please teach us. Cleanse us. And help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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