~Wow, Jon Courson (click here for his site) points out that the LORD's visitation on Mt. Sinai was a picture of what was to happen in Acts 2! On the Day of Pentacost, God the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in the Upper Room and tongues of fire sat upon each of them. (Acts 2:3) The fire was seen and God's voice was heard, even on the street below! (Acts 2:6) Quite an opening for the rest of this chapter!
We will pick up here and conclude Exodus 19. (bold/color emphasis is mine)
19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and GOD answered him by a voice.
~There is much treasure to be uncovered in studying the "voices" mentioned in the Bible. Look them up "voice" your concordance! The Lord impressed on me some time ago that the His Bride actually has a voice ... so, if we are not connected to His corporate Body (the Church), not only is the Body missing a part, but also we miss out on hearing the precious voice of His Bride! Did that come out right? Hard to explain, but I know it is very important.
Here are just a few other voices mentioned in the Scriptures.
Voice of:
-the trumpet
-the LORD God
-your wife
-your brother's blood
-swearing
-Israel
-your word
-God
-Judah
-the people
-singing men
-man
-thanksgiving
-mirth
-gladness
-the Bridegroom
-the Bride
-the oppressor
-strangers
-the day of the Lord
-still small voice
~There are too many more to list here ... this calls for an entire in-depth study! Suffice it to note: there are many voices competing for our attention. It is easy for us to let the multitude of noise crowd out the One Voice we need to listen for and obey ... that familiar, comforting, loving Voice of our Shepherd.
~The trumpet was actually the "voice" of a shofar. On Mount Sinai, God called His people to assemble with a call that is still used today, the tekiah gadol (see study on Ex 19:1-18). The shofar is symbolic of the horns of the Ram that was sacrificed, in the place of Isaac, on Mt. Moriah. A voice that cries through the generations! They surely could not miss it, nor ignore it! Which is so comforting to me; we won't be able to miss Jesus' call when He sounds it!
~Imagine the whole scenario: an ominous heavy, thick cloud descending on the mountain in front of you, deafening thunder and crashing lightning, the earth violently shaking, the mountaintop bursts into flames, smoke billows out and a giant shofar calls (out of all of that noise), and gets louder and LOUDER and L-O-U-D-E-R!!!! Good grief! ANYone would be shaking in their boots (or sandals, as the case may be.)
10 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
~The LORD came down and Moses went up; just as Jesus will come down and His Church will go up to meet Him! (1Thess.4:17). Hallelujah! Isn't our God SO gracious?!!!!
~Everyone was scared half-to-death, except Moses. When God called, Moses went right back up that mountain! (This was the 3rd ascent of Moses.)
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
~God set boundaries to protect His people from their own curiosities and desires, just as He does for us today! Hmmm, could that also have something to do with His admonition to "not remove the ancient boundaries?" (Prov 23:10)
~This is why children, adults, even animals, need clear and well-defined boundaries. Left to our own devices, we will naturally test to see how far we can go. We actually feel more comfortable and secure with set boundaries, don't we? We NEED the safety and comfort of our Loving Master's bounds! There is safety in the sheepfold (on many levels)!
22 AND let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
~The unfathomable splendor, majesty, holiness of God would surely be so powerful, that we could not handle it in our earthly bodies!!! I think we would just disintigrate back to dust immediately!!!
23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for You charged us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
~"But..." Moses argued with God :/ ... Like God forgot? Oh dear, aren't we SO like Moses in so many ways?
24 And the LORD said unto him, Away (hurry), get you down, and you shall come up, you, and Aaron with you: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest He break forth upon them. ("through" what? the smoke and fire? the set boundaries? both?)
25 So Moses went down unto the people, and spoke unto them.
~Moses was obedient to the Lord's call and direction. Much responsibility comes with being the mediator between God and His people! But, alas, this is for us too! Still today, we are all 'called up' to meet with God and to speak His Words to the people that He has put in our lives.
~Moses was a model of priestly ministry. The Lord spoke to Moses ... then Moses told the people the Words of the Lord ... then he went back to the Lord and told Him the words of the people. What an awesome privilege for us to be included in God's 'kingdom of priests' (Ex19:5,6) and His 'royal priesthood' !!!! (1Peter 2:9) **The job does however, still require many 'climbs' up and down that mountain!!!** All the more reason to keep spiritually 'fit!'
~Oh-so-many analogies to draw from this chapter and apply to our lives! I know that I have barely scratched the surface! That is another cool thing about the Living Word; the more you dig, the more you find! And the closer we get to God's actual plan for us. GOOD Stuff!!!!
Oh Dear Lord God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
OUR God, our Shepherd,
May we hear Your Voice above all others.
When You call us, may we come - without questioning.
We desire, we need Your Presence in our lives.
Help us to set Godly boundaries,
and be joyful and content within them,
knowing You are near.
Oh Father, we yearn to hearYour Last Trumpet,
calling us to our eternal home!
Sanctify us, prepare our loved ones and
come Lord Jesus!
Amen
I am blessed every day with some new revelation of God's Word.
I will be sharing my measure of manna with all who come to my "tent.
Please, let me know if you have been blessed
by the way it was prepared for you this day.
~Shalom~
