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 trembled.  

Exodus 19:16

 

As you study through the Scriptures we learn that the third day is very significant to God.

In Genesis it was on the third day that the waters were gathered into one place and the dry land appeared and began to sprout forth life with seed in it bearing fruit.

It was on the third day that Jonah cried out to God from the belly of a fish and God then commanded the fish to vomit him out onto the dry land.

It was on the third day that our Lord arose from the grave victorious.

Here in Exodus it will be on the third day that all the people will hear the voice of their God.

I cannot even begin to imagine the awesomeness of this day. In this account we read that the Lord descended on this mountain in fire. We read that smoke rose like that of a smoke furnace and that the entire mountain quaked violently. All of this on top of a trumpet sound that grew louder and louder.

Then Moses speaks and God Himself answers him with thunder, God’s words to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the LORD to gaze and many of them perish.” (Exodus 19:21).

My husband works in a steel mill. His company melts down metals in huge furnaces to produce steel. When the smoke is rising up out of the furnace you can see it from miles away. When water is found in the furnace it will explode with a force that shakes homes for miles around. He has taken me to his worksite to see these furnaces and to watch their power. I watched in awe at these furnaces and could feel their strength, even from the safety of the inside of my husband’s truck. I cannot even begin to imagine the awestruck fear that was upon this people as they stood at the foot of this violently quaking mountain that was so simply because it had been descended upon by the One True Living God.  

The earth quakes when God comes down. What in the world makes us think we could ever stand in His presence? Only the blindness of sin and the pride and arrogance of a deceived heart can make us this ignorant…

God’s warning to the people is not from being power hungry or to show them He’s boss. It is a true warning out of concern for their very lives. This One True Living God was not one of the gods of Egypt that they had grown accustomed to. This God, the I AM, was and is holy.

They could not approach Him and live because they had yet to learn how to approach this holy God. We in our sinful flesh can have no part with this God. He is not the works of man’s hand nor is He a fallen one. He is Elohim, the Creator God.

Our sin separate us from God. Our sin brings His righteous wrath. Sin and holiness do not mix just as water and hot melted steel do not mix. Just as that water in the furnace at my husband’s work naturally brings the wrath of the steel and is consumed in its fury, so our sin naturally incurs the wrath of the holiness of our God and is consumed in His righteous fury.   

Oh, how thankful I am that this holy God, our Creator, made a way… when there was no way.    

Oh Father,

How thankful I am for Your mercy. My sin is ever before You, but in Your mercy You have made a way for those who seek You to find You. Those who submit to You will not be consumed in Your fury, but You have always made a way for Your people to commune with You. Now in Christ we have not come to that mountain that can’t be touched, but we have come to Mount Zion. Let us not refuse Him who is speaking (Hebrews 12:18-29). 

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

 

Comments