Exodus 24:9-18 You need to Go up!
- Have you ever had a mountain top experience with God? Indescribable? Event, prayer, worship
- We just came out of a bloody commitment ceremony from last week where the people agreed to the terms of the covenant, made promises, and agreed to the terms
- So this story continues, and we see Moses going up the mountain with the elders. Why the extra step? Was the blood and the agreement not enough? What more does it take?
- Moses’ journey up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments after the initial blood covenant was a necessary step to establish a direct, divine, and permanent foundation for the covenant between God and Israel. There had to be no question of this rock-solid relationship.
- It emphasized the sacredness, seriousness, and divine origin of the law that would govern the Israelites’ relationship with God and each other. Humans can’t create divine law. Only defend.
- There is much symbolism and tangible encounters that people in the Bible had with God on mountains. It was a place of encounter and higher holiness where heaven and earth met
- Ps 24:3-4 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.”
- Moses went up the mountain, So did Elijah, the disciples, Jesus, God does stuff on Mountains.
- Isaiah: Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord’
- There’s a reason people of God talk about ‘Mountain top experiences’ its because it’s different. It changes you. Something happens there that can’t be replicated and often explained to others.
So why did Moses have to Go up the mountain? He’d already been there once already.
- It ratified the Covenant: It made it the law of God. It made it binding.
- Received the Law Directly from God: shows the divine origin of the law. It wasn’t just an agreement or set of rules made by human decision; it was a divine mandate that required a direct encounter with God. Immutable laws come from an immutable God. Cant be changed.
- The Tablets as a Physical and Permanent Record: stone shows the permanence and unchanging nature of God’s law. the people had verbally agreed to the covenant, the physical tablets served as an enduring record of God’s unchanging unalterable record of his laws.
- Moses was the Mediator: going up the mountain alone, Moses shows that he was acting as the representative of the people, chosen to bring back God’s word from a divine encounter
- The People’s Need for Divine Guidance: Even after the covenant was made in blood, the Israelites needed clear and direct guidance on how to live out that covenant. The Ten Commandments provided that guidance. They outlined fundamental principles of moral behavior that would define the community and their relationship with God.
- Symbolic Significance: the need to seek God’s guidance from a higher, holier place. The mountain often represents a place where heaven and earth meet. The giving of the commandments on the mountain highlighted the seriousness and sacredness of these laws, as they were given in the context of a direct encounter with God.
You need to meet God on your own terms. You need to have an experience with God.
No one else can do this. You need to do it. If you experience it, it will change you like Moses
It’s why no one can take my faith. I’ve been to the mountain and I have seen God. Changed me.
1. You must Go up. You need to directly meet God on your own.
- 9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.
- Moses and the others would not have seen God as they saw him if they had not gone up.
- There is something about every day normal life that inhibits you from experiencing God in the same way as when you are separated from the normal tangible responsible aspects of life
- There are bills to pay and there’s kids to watch. Marriages to be managed. Life takes energy
- If you don’t prioritize connecting with God- you get caught up in minutiae. (run w C, think diff)
- Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
- Deuteronomy 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
- God is possible to be found. This is a story about a specific mountain that was scaled with a historic encounter with God. You don’t need to hike a mountain, but you do need to ‘go-up’
- symbolic idea of separation and ascension to a higher place. Leaving world- connect w heaven
- Col 3:1-2 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
- Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.
- His feet will not be changed and he probably isn’t walking on hills that belong to him
- It’s imagery. paints a picture of faster feet and higher connections with God. Direct connection
- V9 They went up- you have to leave the dulldrums of life- you have to Go and meet God in a special place. You go with Others. You don’t have to Go alone.
- Church is obviously a great place to connect with God and others. You don’t have to be alone
- God has given us the gift of community and when we gather together we experience God together. But its retreats, its mens, womens and youth events. DIFFERENT than normal life.
- God meets us in the normal parts of our life, often you have to reset and separate ALONE
- V15- Moses went up alone- Sometimes you go alone. Sometimes you have to retreat to solitude
- Go for a long walk. Sit on a beach. Go for a hike. Drive alone in your car. Break cycle. Shake it up.
- Most days are the same- the repetitive nature of life can bog you down- GO UP the MOUNTAIN
- many people don’t want to go up. Why cant God come down? He’s trying! You’re too busy!!!
- You have to be involved in the process. You have to seek. He will be there. U control Schedule.
- fast and pray and seek after the God who is REAL. get direct connect. (auto system is the worst)
2. You will see God. Divine connection from a Divine God.
- 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity
- V10- They saw the God of Israel- God is beautiful and is able to be seen and heard
- Probably, in human form- theophany, as Isaiah saw Him (Isaiah 6:1-5), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:26), and even Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:25).
- Now some of you are saying Exodus 33:20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
- And that is true. What is ALSO true is that the writers of the Bible weren’t expecting Christianity to become a law class where people argue every jot and tittle of the written word. We do that.
- What they (Moses) probably did, since he was writing it, expected that since he had already spoken this to the people of Israel that the written record was enough to encapsulate the experience- They saw God there. (if we talk about retreat, service etc. “God showed up)
- We See God here. Jesus said- Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” WAIT WAIT WAIT here Mr. Jesus. Noooo one can see God and live- are you LYING
- Or maybe, just maybe, the literary license and imagery used in the Bible is normal
- Maybe you use euphemisms and word pictures. “love them to death” “eat a horse” “Dead tired” “fell in love” “Found Jesus” “Stuck in traffic” we all do it.
- When Moses says ‘they saw God’ they saw him. Whatever it means. Doesn’t change the word.
- When you seek God you will find him. And you will SEE him 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
- How and what that looks like? Not sure. But I can tell you I’ve seen God. I’ve seen him in my marriage, my friends, my church, during service, alone, crying, weeping, worshipping.
- When Jesus said John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
- He didn’t mean you can’t ‘see’ God. He meant that you will never ‘see’ as in gaze upon God.
- Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
- Here’s why it matters- you need a direct divine experiential encounter with the Living God.
- The Bible was intended to lead you to an experience with God. Not to argue doctrine.
- Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
- Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
3. Commune with Him!
- 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. A covenantal meal solidifies the consummation of the experience of God.
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- Eating and drinking before God has always been an act of covenantal sacrificial communion
- Glory to God- Food is central to sacrifice towards God. We take “communion” together
- Abraham met God under the terebinth tree in Genesis 18 and they had a meal.
- Moses and the elders met God in the Passover meal in Exodus 12
- Disciples ate the Passover meal with Jesus before his death and After his resurrection in lk 24
- We are all going to eat at the Marriage supper of the Lamb! Rev 19:9
- But Its kind of weird if you think about it- its just food we eat it every day. Nothing special.
- Food is Symbol of Life and Sustenance- God sustains us through food. Eating food before God reminds us that he is our provision. He provided the food. We need real food and spiritual food!
- Act of Fellowship and Communion. Eating together more than being acquaintances. Ideeper meaning. The shared food is ingested between parties. (do not even eat w such a person)
- This is my blood- this is my body. Him in us. We all ate the pizza together. Brings together.
- Sacrifice and Atonement. Food costs time, money, energy. “unto the Lord” shows the nature of a sacrifice. Not just to burn it, but to consume it. A costly animal could be sold, not eaten.
- When you kill an animal that could be multiplied or sold instead of eaten, it’s a sacrifice.
- Symbol of Divine Provision and Thanksgiving: By eating together, participants acknowledge that all blessings come from God and express their gratitude. Firstfruits and Tithes: In many instances, food offerings like firstfruits or tithes were presented as a way of thanking God for His provision and dedicating the first and best of what He provided back to Him.
- Transformation of Ordinary into Sacred In a covenantal context, ordinary food takes on a sacred meaning. What is common and everyday becomes holy through the act of offering it to God and consuming it in His presence. This transformation is a reflection of how God sanctifies and sets apart His people. He takes that which is ordinary and makes it sacred- holy unto HIM
- Deu12:7 Rev 19:9, Neh 8:10 1 Corinthians 10:31: Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
- The nature of food is that it is temporary- no matter how much you eat, you must consume more, and when you live in constant thanksgiving towards God- you acknowledge that God is your provider and no one else.
- This is why we pray before we eat. To thank God for his provision, and look forward to the next meal as a testimony to God’s never ending love and provision for us.
- Every time you take communion- remember what Jesus did for you, how you met him
- If you can, you can even have special meals or celebrations to commemorate what God has done- We did it up for the 20th! (could have been used for the poor- blah). God could have been feeding the poor with all his blood sacrifices in the OT.
- It is good that we should celebrate and remember what God has done. It’s costly..
4. It will last forever. Permanent.
- When God does something in your life- it can never been taken from you. Permanent.
- Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that whatever God does,It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.
- Typically, when you experience God- Satan, or one of his helpers will be quickly dispatched to convince you and coerce you that God did not meet you and you were duped. Do not listen.
- If you remember, God spoke the ten commandments in exodus 18. But that wasn’t enough
- 12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”
- V12 They Got the commandments- Written in stone. Perpetually established.
- God did not want there to ever be a time where there wasn’t a stone monument to what he said, expected and what he Did. Moses had met God there, and God wanted him to remember
- This ‘heap of stones’ moment is a constant reminder that God never changes. He is real.
- What God has done in your life belongs to you and him. Don’t let anyone change what God has set in stone. It’s been direct, divine and permanent. Not a minion from Hell could take it.
- Remember what God has done for you. Don’t ever let it go. Stay with him on it.
- Like the ten commandments- let God write it in stone for your life.
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