The Meeting on the Mountain, Part 2

Exodus chapter 19. We are slowly but surely making our way through the book of Exodus, the life of Moses. We are not going to cover every chapter in Exodus. We will skip around after chapter 20, the Ten Commandments. But today, we're in Exodus chapter 19, part number 2: the meeting on the mountain. The meeting on the mountain. And I want to let you know that Exodus 20 is more difficult to understand unless you know Exodus chapter 19. You need to understand exactly what it means to meet. With God.

And Israel on this day, in Exodus chapter 19, has a meeting with God there at Mount Sinai. God is going to manifest Himself in a unique And marvelous way. We need to be able to understand that. And we saw the significance of the mountain of God by helping you understand two main things. One is this is the place. Where Moses received his call from God. Also, that was the place where God Himself revealed His character to Moses. Now, on top of that, God led them to this place because now Israel needs to have the character of God revealed to them in a personal way.

And then we move from the mountain of God to the meeting with God because Moses had a specific meeting with God on that mountain. The meeting of God, first of all, was about a reminder.

It was about a reminder of what God did for Israel. You will note that God never gave the law to Israel while they were in bo. It wasn't until they were redeemed, it wasn't until they were delivered out of bondage that he gave them the law. You see, if he gave them the law while they were in bondage, they would think that somehow they need to keep the law for God to deliver them. No. There's no keeping of the law for God to deliver you. God gives them the law after they have been delivered. Why? Because the requirements of the law are about a relationship with the living God of the universe.

You'll hear people today who say, well, you know, the Ten Commandments are, you know, they're not for today. They were way back. That was under the law. We're under grace today. The Ten Commandments are for today. Whoever says that to you, turn them off. Don't listen to them. Don't talk to them ever again. Okay? Because they're wrong. They're dead wrong. Why? Because remember, Israel, what happens in the Old Testament is symbolic of our relationship with God in the New Testament. You can't understand.

The New Testament, unless you understand the Old Testament. If you don't understand the God of the Old Testament, let me tell you something.

You're not going to understand the God of the New Testament. I mean, that's all inspired, right? Why do we just preach new covenant stuff? You can't understand the new covenant unless you understand the old covenant. And what happens to Israel is all symbolic. Of what was going to happen through the ministry of Jesus Christ our Lord in the New Testament. Everything pointed to Jesus Christ. You're going to see that today in Exodus chapter 19. It is so clear, it is so perfectly clear for us to grasp.

Because God's got a marvelous plan. And so He reminds them: look, the requirements I give are about a relationship with me. It's the law of love. That's what it is. And that's why 1 John 5:3 says that God's commandments are not burdensome. Why aren't they burdensome to the believer? Because he delights in the law of God, he wants to follow the law of God. You see? And so God has not given them the law until He's already brought them out of slavery. He's already redeemed them from Egyptian bondage.

Now He's going to give them the law of God. You with me? Okay. So we went from the reminder to the reward. And then it says, verse 5: Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples for all the earth. Is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. Israel was God's possession, not because they merited that. But because of the mercy of God, He chose them because He loved them, and they were His possession, and that gave them worth and value.

But what happens now is that all of Israel was to be like priests to the Gentile world. That is, they were the spokespersons. That was, that is, they were the representatives of God to the Gentile world. They were to be the light to the nations. You can read about it in Isaiah chapter 42, Isaiah chapter 49. This is what they were supposed to do. And because they didn't do a very good job of it, they decided to worship foreign gods, the light was snuffed out. Until one day God will come back and redeem them.

And Isaiah 61, let me read it to you. Isaiah 61, verse number 6 says this. But you will be called the priests of the Lord. You will be spoken of as ministers of God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. There's coming a day where Israel will once again be God's representative. To the nations. But it's not going to happen until the Son of Man returns and sets up his kingdom there in Jerusalem. But he will bring them back to him. And so he says, You remind them of what I did.

And you tell them about the reward that they are my possession, and that they are my priests, and they are to be a holy nation unto me. And when people see them, they must immediately know the difference by what they eat, by what they dress, by how they speak, and who they obey. The one and only true God of the universe. You with me so far? Did anybody remember all those things from two weeks ago? What was their response? Their response on the outset was proper. Oh, it sounded good. Well, sure, whatever the Lord says we'll do.

He redeemed us. He bore us on eagles' wings. How many times have you left church or left your time in the Word of God saying, I'm going to do that? And then you don't do it. Aren't we glad that our God is a God of grace and mercy who forgives us when we sin, picks us up again, moves us on? Because we failed our Lord many, many times, just as Israel did. Yet God wants us to follow Him. That's the meeting with God. Point number three: the manifestation of God.

The manifestation of God. We note three things about the manifestation of God. The first one we covered last time, and that was the readying for it.

There are four aspects. Of the readying for the manifestation of God. One dealt with the consecration of the people. The consecration of the people. God says to Moses, You go down, you consecrate them today.

You set them apart. You prepare them because consecration is important. You know, when we go to worship, when we go to meet God, one of the reasons we don't ever see God in the Word of God is because we are unwilling to consecrate our lives to God. We're unwilling to separate ourselves from those things that cling to us, those things that rob us of our clear sight before God. And God tells Moses, You go down and you consecrate them, you sanctify them, you set them apart. And you tell them to wash their garments.

There were things they couldn't do, and there were places they couldn't go. Do you know that when we go to worship God, He demands there are certain things that we can't do? In certain places we can't go. People want to worship God their own way today. They think that worship God their own way is sufficient. It 's never been sufficient. All you have to do is read the Old Testament and realize when God would deal with those who worship in a wrongful way. But you need to be able to understand the implications of this.

And that's why it says at the end of verse number 15: do not go near a woman. Don't do that. I want your focus on me. I want your attention directed toward me. It's representative of the fact that, you know, so many times we get distracted. Some of you are distracted today. Some of you are distracted about what time I'm going to be done. You're distracted by what you're going to have for lunch. You're distracted about what route you're going to take to camp. What games you're going to play at camp.

You're distracted about all kinds of things. You're distracted because the guy in front of you said something to you on the way in and you don like what he said to you. So you become easily distracted and you miss the manifestation of God. And God says, I don want you to miss my manifestation.

I want you to see me for who I am. And you can't be distracted. I have to have your undivided attention. And that's why you can't go here. And that's why you can't go there. And that's why you can't do this. Because I want you to know that for you to see me, you must follow exactly what I say. That's all. But God knows God was preparing them to understand the significance of his holiness. This is holy ground. You must understand that. And then there was that congregation of the people. He says in verse number 17, these words.

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of The mountain. You know, that is so important that the people gather together to meet God. It's important for you to spend time with God every single day. But the reason we gather together on the Lord's Day is because God manifests him in a significant way and in a special way through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God than He does at any other time during the week. I'm convinced of that. But this all deals with the readying of these people to receive a manifestation of God.

God was going to reveal His character to them. They needed to get it. So, point two of the manifestation of God is the record of it. The record of it. And that's in verse 16 and 18. So it came about on the third day when it was morning that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp laughed and jumped for joy.

They trembled, didn't they? They were terrified. And it says, verse 18, Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. Now, this, just by the reading of it, might not seem like much to you, but you need to understand what's going on here. God is revealing Himself. To his people.

And the way he does it with thunder, smoke, fire, lightning, earthquake, is throughout the whole Bible on how he reveals him to man. Because it signifies the holy, majestic character of our God. Notice, God speaks from the fire, right?

God speaks from the fire. That's why Jeremiah 23, 29, God says, Are not my words like f? You see, when we gather together and open the word of God, we are opening that which is fire. It is the word of Almighty God. And people say, well, you, if I was at the Mount Sinai and I was able to see what they saw, boy, I'd be in fear too. I would tremble too. The Bible says that God looks to those who are broken of a contrite spirit and tremble at His Word.

Because they recognize the fire of the Word of God and God speaking to them through the fire and they beholding His glory and His majesty and His authority and His purity and His sovereignty. They are realizing the majestic Holiness of God. That's why there is a border around the mountain that they cannot cross because they will be consumed if they do. God is a holy God, and those who worship Him must understand that He is holy. It is the basis of who He is. His law is holy. His justice is holy. His wrath is holy.

His knowledge is holy. Everything about God is holy, holy, holy. Now, listen, You must understand that what's happening here is symbolized in the book of Revelation. Revelation 4 verse number 8, Revelation 8 verse number 5, Revelation 11 verse number 19, Revelation 16 verse number 18. Okay? I think I got them all right and what they are about is you'll read in the old testament that there is thunder There is lightning, there are earthquakes, there is fire. Why? Because it's all coming from the throne of God.

God is descending up on Mount Sinai. Wherever God is, it's a holy place. And when you read the book of Revelation, as God begins to enact divine judgment upon the earth, it's symbolic of His holiness. Because he's of pure eyes and to behold evil, and therefore he is going to destroy those who will not worship him properly on this earth. And that is why the book of Revelation is filled with fire. Lightning, thunders, and earthquakes. And it all speaks of the loudness of it, just like it does here in Exodus chapter 19.

How loud it was, and it got louder and louder and louder. Why? Because God likes loud. He does. Keyword, book of Revel, 84 times. It 's used. God likes it loud. That 's why when you sing, you sing loud. When you praise Him, you praise Him loud. Why? Because God doesn 't like songs. He likes loud because he's loud. He's mega loud. And therefore, we begin to understand the majestic character of our God. God is coming down. His holiness is descending upon Mount Sinai. This is the mountain of God, and you can't cross over there.

And Moses begins to record what's happening. Can you imagine what Moses is doing as he records this stuff? This is amazing. Don't forget, Moses was fearful too. Hebrews chapter 12, it talks about how in fear and trembling Moses was. Now, listen, and God would re-emphasize the borders, the border in verses 21 down. He says, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, Go down, warn the people, lest they break through the Lord to the gaze. And many of them perish. And also, let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.

And Moses said to the Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai. For thou didst warn us, saying, Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it. Then the Lord said to him, Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord. Lest he break forth upon them. So Moses went down to the people and told them. You see, he was emphasizing the fact: look, this is the holiness of our God, and you can't cross over to a realm that you are not allowed to be in.

Or you will die. And this all is setting the tone of what the gospel message is all about. Because I want you to move from the record of it to point number three, and that is this: the reaction.

To it. The Bible says in verse number 19, chapter 19, verse number 16: all the people who were in the camp, they trembled.

Listen to what it says over in chapter 20. Chapter 20, verse number 18. And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood. At a distance. Now that's important. There was trepidation in the hearts and minds of these people because they encountered the holiness of God. The majestic holiness of God. And like Isaiah, who fell at his feet and knew that he was unworthy, that he was a man with unclean lips.

Like John and Revelation chapter 1, like Peter, James, and John and Matthew chapter 17. You can go through the Old Testament, read about Daniel, read about Ezekiel. And you understand that when people encounter the holiness of God, they fall on their face before Him and there is great fear because they are afraid they're going to die. You see, listen.

When you come to church and you're not a Christian, you should leave fearing you're going to die. But when you come to church and you're a Christian, you should leave thanking him that he died for you so you don't have to die. See, that's what meeting God's all about. That's what coming to worship God's all about. See, if I'm not saved, I leave knowing I'm going to die. Because he's so holy, I can't meet his standard. But if I'm a believer, I realize that he has met the standard for me. He died in my stead, and therefore, because he died for me, I don't have to.

So I leave rejoicing. I leave. Praising his glorious name for what he's done for me. And these people were filled with trepidation. They filled with fear. And that trepidation led to a separation. Exodus 20 says, What do they do? They stood at a distance. You know why they stood at a distance? Because they recognized their sinfulness and God's holiness. Like Peter, who said, Depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. It was that loathsome look at oneself.

Who realizes that because of his sin, he can't meet God's standards. You see, God was studying the tone to let them understand. That's how no matter how much they purified themselves, no matter how much they consecrated themselves, because you see, God is so holy and so pure that we can't do enough to get close to God. We can't do it. And God was showing them. You tell them, you go down, they are to wash their clothes, they are to consecrate themselves, they are to gather together, and they are to be.

And do what I say they're to do. And when they come to see me, then they will realize who I am and realize they can't make it without me. And they'll throw themselves on me and they'll learn to depend upon me because that's the only way you can get to heaven. Is to depend upon Jesus Christ Himself for your salvation. You can't do that. Get it there on your own. You can't. And so they will stand at a distance. See, whenever you minimize God's holiness, you minimize man's sinfulness. And when you minimize man's sinfulness, you minim the greatness.

Of Calvary. And that's why people don't repent of their sins. That's why people don't get right with God because we don't preach a holy God anymore. We don't preach a God who is so holy that he will destroy those who do not obey his word. We don't preach that anymore. So man sees himself as deprived, no longer depraved. That's what he doesn't have on how sinful he is. And therefore, man doesn't come to a place of repentance because when he reads about the cross of Calvary, it's just a cross on a hill far, far away.

It means nothing to him. But to the believer, it means everything. To him. That's why Paul said we preach Christ and Him crucified. So you see their trepidation, you see their separation. And thirdly, you see their petition.

This is where it really gets good. It's been okay up till now. That was a joke, by the way, in case you missed that. It's been, but it's going to get really good right now.

Listen to what it's saying. It says in Exodus chapter 20: Then they said to Moses, Speak to us yourself, and we will listen.

But let not God speak to us, lest we die. Know what they were asking for? You know what they petitioned Moses to do? Moses, look, you go to God. You, listen, you be the mediator between us and God. We know that we can't cross the border, and we've heard his voice, and we know that unless things change, we're going to die. So, Moses, you go. You can go ahead and die, Moses, but we ain't going to die. You go, you be the mediator, Moses. That was their petition. Because they knew that death was imminent because they had seen and heard the living God speak out of the fire.

And they were in great fear. Now listen to this. So Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid, for God has come in order to test you, in order that the fear of him may remain with you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. Then the Lord said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make other gods besides me, gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.

You shall make instead an altar of earth for me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offering and your peace offering. your sheep and your oxen, in every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you, and I will bless you. Moses says, Fear not. Listen carefully. Only man's mediator can tell you not to fear. That's the only one. And Moses said to them, They said, Moses, you go, we're going to die. You got to go, man. We know we're going to die. So Moses said, Fear not. Fear not.

God has done this to test you. R, all that happens in the Old Testament is symbolic of the ministry of Christ and his sa work in the New Testament. And now you begin to understand more about what God is going to do. And as Moses would draw near to God and mediate for Israel, so Christ is the one who draws near for us, because there is one mediator between God and man, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. And so what is happening in Exodus chapter 19 and in Exodus chapter 20 is symbolic of what salvation is all about.

In order for God to manifest himself, we must be prepared to meet him. But the only way we can meet him is through a mediator, Jesus Christ, our Lord. He says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one comes into the Father but by me. And he's the one who said in Luke chapter 12, fear not, little flock. He's the one who said, fear not the one who kills body and soul, a body, but the one who kills body and soul in hell. He's the only one who can say, you know what? Don't fear. What did the Lord say to John in Revelation chapter 1?

John, fear not. What did the Lord God say to those on the Mount of Transfiguration when they fell down out of fear? Fear not. You see, the only one who can say, fear not, is the Lord God Himself. And He only says it to those who have come to Him in the proper way. Those who come and lean on him. You see, the gospel message is about presenting the law of God because the law is holy. We'll look at this.

In weeks to come, as we study the Ten Commandments, the law is holy. So when you preach the gospel, you preach the law of God because it's about the holiness of God. And when you preach the holiness of God, man realizes how sinful he is. And man says, you know what? I can't get to God. I'm going to die. And we say, fear not, because there is one way to get to God, and that's through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the mediator. He's the one who gets you there because he is God Himself in the flesh. And you throw yourself upon God, you throw yourself upon His mercy, and a man.

is transformed because God saves a soul. That's the message of the meeting of the mountain, the manifestation of God to man, that somehow we would come to grips with His greatness, His holiness, worship Him as He is. And learn to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I trust today you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I always sing a lot about heaven, but there's only a few who are going to get there. That's what the Bible says.

Few there be that find the right way. May it be that you be one of the few who know the truth about Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and man, in order that you might hear those words, Fear not, little flock. Fear not. That's great.