Mt. Sinai (or as we learned yesterday Mt. Horeb) is the most significant physical mount of the Scriptures. It is called the mountain of God. While there is some dispute over which mountain peak is the actual Mt. Sinai of the Bible, many scholars believe it was and is located on the southern part of the Sinai peninsula, It rises to an incredible height of 7,497 feet or 2,285 meters above sea level.
Mt. Sinai is where God finally revealed Himself to the children of Israel and gave them His law. Exodus 19 – 31 tells us the account:
After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain...On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. (Exodus 19)…When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24)…When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. (Exodus 31).
The children of Israel received two incredibly important lessons from God on Mt. Sinai.
🏔️ God demands respect. The children of Israel were lead to the edge of the mountain of God. They got to see His glory settle on the mountain. They got to experience his voice as the sound of many thunders. The earth quaked with the presence of God. And everyone in the camp trembled. In fact, they begged Moses to go speak to God for them alone God’s presence was so terrifying.
🏔️ God has expectations. God did not create a covenant with the children of Israel, make them His chosen people, and reveal Himself to them without expectations. Atop Mt. Sinai God divinely revealed His will, laws, and expectations to Moses for how God’s people who live. The first ten of those commands God inscribed on stone with His own finger. If the children of Israel were to be God’s people, then they must follow His laws and expectations – otherwise they were no different than all the other nations of the world.
Now, the children of Israel seemed to not truly grasp those lessons because while Moses was atop Mt. Sinai receiving the law they (with the help of a weak willed Aaron) built a golden calf to worship because they grew impatient as Moses’ lingering absence. So, they decided to just build an idol instead of waiting for Moses to return with God’s law.
For us today, the lessons are clear. God demands our respect. While He does not descend upon mountain tops and His glory does not appear as a literal consuming fire, the God of Mt. Sinai is the same God of today. While His interactions with us on this earth is different than it was during ancient times especially with the Israelites, His power and glory and awesome nature remain the same. And we should tremble and quake in His presence.
God also has given us His laws and expectations. In order to be His chosen people and to enter into His covenant relationship, we must meet His expectations and we must obey His laws. The Scriptures are breathed by God and every word is inspired by Him. God has given as clear instructions on how to worship Him, how to interact with others, and how to live our lives. We can not pick and choose which part of God’s expectations we are willing or want to meet. It is not a cafe style selection. God’s relationship with us is based on a zero sum situation – we will obey His laws and reap His reward or we will not and we will reap His punishment.
Mt. Sinai was a terrifying and eye opening experience for the Israelites. God revealed His glory to them and gave them His laws. His power and glory demanded their respect. His laws created Godly expectations. We must take the same lessons from Sinai.
We must give God is proper respect. We must try every day to meet His expectations. Both are required to be considered part of God’s chosen people. If we do that, we too can experience the awesome nature and power of Jehovah.
#TheMountainsofGod #MountaineeringForGod
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