“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us lest we die.’ And Moses said to the people. ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.’ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.”
— Exodus 20:18-21
While Moses was on the mountain with God to receive the first tablets containing the Ten Commandments, the people were witness to all the phenomena that accompanied His presence.
Their reaction was one of great fear, so much so that they “stood afar off” and were not willing that God should speak to them for fear of dying.
While God did intend that the fear of His presence would cause them to be obedient and not sin, the Israelites took things entirely too far. They refused to hear for themselves what God was saying to Moses, preferring that he speak to them instead of God.
Doesn’t that sound a little familiar? The Israelites needed someone to stand between God and themselves. A man, a messenger, a priest, a teacher, a preacher — almost anyone would do as long as they didn’t have to stand before God for themselves.
This was how it would be for the next several thousand years. A priest would mediate between God and man.
Then comes Jesus. At His crucifixion the veil in the temple that separated the most holy place from the people was torn into from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). No longer would we need someone to speak to us for God.
We were set free from the bondage of legalism and granted the freedom of grace to seek Him on our own.
What should have been an opening of the floodgates of those who would seek God for themselves in truth revealed that for the most part we still wanted someone to speak to us for God.
We still suffer from the disease of secondhand knowledge where God is concerned. Whether it be the Father, Son or Holy Ghost, or the Bible, we would rather someone else heard, and came and told us.
I can almost hear the trumpet!
