Exodus 24:12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.” 13 So Moses and his assistant Joshua set out, and Moses climbed up the mountain of God.
14 Moses told the elders, “Stay here and wait for us until we come back. Aaron and Hur are here with you. If anyone has a dispute while I am gone, consult with them.”
15 Then Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it. 16 And the glory of the Lord settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. 17 To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. 18 Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Moses and Joshua set out for Mount Sinai. Joshua stays somewhere on the lower slopes of the mountain while Moses climbs further up and God’s cloud of glory covers the mountain for six days. Then God calls Moses to come up even higher. As Moses climbs higher, God’s glory appears on the mountaintop like a consuming fire. Then Moses disappears into the cloud and remains on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. Joshua remains on the lower slope, patiently waiting for his leader to reappear. But what about the Israelites at the foot of the mountain?
When God invited Aaron and his two sons and the seventy other Israelite elders to dine with Him, he was setting them apart so that they could later bear witness to Him and to His glory. We might think that Moses’ trip up the mountain deprives the Israelites of leadership, but that is far from true. The Israelites already have the tier system of judges to handle various levels of complaints. Now God has specially honored these men by sharing a covenant meal with them. These men have actually seen God in His glory, or as much of His glory as they can handle. Seventy-three men should be enough to provide leadership when the justice system proves inadequate. God has already planned for the time Moses will spend on the mountaintop. The big question is, will these men God has selected exert leadership or fail in their duties?
What is the source of your peace? If your peace depends on a charismatic leader or on a major public figure such as a popular singer or movie star, the day that person dies, your peace will be gone. Recently, Dolly Parton died with cancer. In the wake of her death, millions of people grieved, feeling that somehow, she had managed to touch their lives in ways nobody else could have. While Dolly did many wonderful things in her life, she would be the first to tell people to worship God and not her.
Sometimes, we insist that our peace must depend on someone else or something else apart from God, but nothing is permanent apart from Him. Years ago, Robert Frost wrote a poem about the transient nature of beauty, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
If you know the story told in Exodus, you know that the Israelites are about to come to grief because they are insisting on Moses being their source of peace, rather than the God who has done miracles ever since the beginning of the Egyptian plagues. But what about us? Where does our peace come from? Are we depending on investments? Looking at company failures and Ponzi schemes should cure us of that notion. Are we depending on our health? Aging can bring cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, arthritis, and a host of other problems. Sometimes, family members whom we have trusted prove faithless. Our hope must be built on God, for nothing else and nobody else is permanent. And remember God’s promises in Hebrews 13:5-6. “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to always remember that You are the only true Source of peace. Help us to trust You throughout our whole lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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