Roll Up for the Mighty Majestical Tour

We have met each challenge with the Israelites as they have wandered through the desert.  They have needed decent water to drink, food to eat, and victory over a hostile people.   

Each time, through Moses, God commands the people to sit down and watch Him perform things that can only be called, "miracles."  Moses is the leader but like the monarch of Britain, he can only advise and warn.  He is not the one who would bring about what the people needed,; he's only the servant.

That's the whole point of the desert:  Only God can meet your need.  Period.  

If it's God's to give, then you have to follow His instructions.  

When the people encounter bitter water, Moses cries out to the LORD, and He shows him a piece of wood that Moses throws into the water to make it drinkable. 

God then tells the people that they must obey Him by listening and then doing what He commands.  

The people complain about food. God says He will provide manna from heaven. He will "rain down bread." (Ex. 16:4) He is very explicit on how the people are to get it: They are to go out and each day gather just enough for that day. Moses and Aaron go to the people, and say: “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him." (Ex. 16:6-7).

As Aaron is speaking to the people, and as they gaze upon the desert, they see the glory of the LORD in a cloud. (Ex. 16:10)  God tells Moses that He has heard the people's grumbling, and will provide food for them, so that they will "know that I am the LORD you God."  (Ex. 16:12)

Lo and behold, in the morning, breakfast is served, (the menu is really simple--one item: manna) and Moses tell them what it is and how they are to gather it. Dinner will be served (the menu is simple--one item: quail).  All free of charge and provided only by God's hand.

The people cannot explain it any other way. 

Just as Jesus fed the multitude (echoing God feeding His people in the desert) no one could explain what happened in any other way but it was from God's hand.  

But with each provision, came instructions from the Lord.  He didn't just hand out food, and make water available.  Each event was a test to see if the people will listen to God's voice, and do what is right "in His eyes," (Ex. 15:25-26) meaning that (a) only God can do this (b) He wants you to trust Him (c) He knows exactly what the challenge is and will meet it supernaturally so you have no doubt Who did this (d) It prepares you for the next challenge.  He is making a precedent of miraculous provision that you will draw upon with the next challenge you face. He will step in again.  

But all these interactions of grumbling people + Moses and Aaron getting upset + God hearing the people + God stepping in and mightily meeting the people's needs = the prelude to the Big Event:  The giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.

The people have only been in the desert for three months, and we meet up with them, leaving Rephidim, where they had camped out.  They come into the Desert of Sinai. 

This is what the wandering in the desert is all about:  God tested them in little ways, showing them that He will provide for them and they must obey Him with do what He declares to be His ways.  

But the larger testing is to come:  To be a nation of priests whose obedience to His law will pave the way for His Son, who will redeem the whole world. 

The people camp out in front of a mountain.  The location is very significant:  God's great display of  kindness, majesty and love played out on a mountain with the founding father of the Jewish people.  Abraham's hand was stayed by God, for his willingness to sacrifice his son.  God saw Abraham's faith and that was enough.  It was counted to him as righteousness, for he was obedient to God, for he trusted God would provide for him and his son, whatever happened. 

Now we move from the father of the Jewish people, to the people themselves. God is not going to ask them to sacrifice their sons; God will ask them to sacrifice themselves.  He will ask them to shed their vanity, pride and lack of faith to become the very people He chose long ago.  Why did He choose them? 

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. (Ex. 19:3-6)

Moses returns and tells the people what God told him. They respond beautifully: “We will do everything the Lord has said.” (Ex. 19:8) 

Moses brings their answer back to the Lord.

This is exactly the kind of trust and respect that God wanted these former slaves to have, and the desert, with all of its hardships, made this attitude of gratitude possible.  Their experiences have shown God to be utterly faithful to all He says He will do. 

God wants the people to go deeper in their trust of Moses, given what is to come:  Moses will bring the Law to the people, the crowning moment that the desert experience has been preparing them for. 

But this isn't water or food.  This is way more significant for now and for the future.  This is the cornerstone, the foundation that will allow the Israelites to become those priests, those holy people.  This is moment where God gives His people the keys to the kingdom.  

But first, the people must clean their clothes.  God will come down on Mount Sinai in front of all the people on the "third day." (Ex. 19:11)  God also instructs Moses to not allow the people to come up the mountain or touch it.  The people will only be allowed to ascend the mountain when the ram's horn is blown. 

The echoes to Jesus are astonishing. 

God comes down the mountain (of heaven) in His Son and dwells among us. As John says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14).

The Greek renders the "dwells among us" as "tabernacled among us."  The Tabernacle in the desert become the dwelling place of God in human form.  

Moses consecrated the people and told the people to wash their and refrain from sexual relations. They are going to come before the mountain of God and to be ready "for the third day." (Ex. 19:15) 

We are clothed in His righteousness, for what we wear (our sinful nature and the behaviors there of) consists of filthy rags:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Is. 61:10)

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Rom. 13:14)

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Is. 64:6)

Third day?  Sound familiar?

Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that He would rise again on the "third day."

Jesus went up to the mountain to die for us and He brought the New Covenant from God to us--we who are slaves, unworthy and clothed in sin. 

The Big Event is about to unfold, which we will explore next time. But its echoes to an even bigger Event makes us realize that God, all along, has us in the desert to remind us He is still in the business of miraculous provision--for our souls.  He wants us to ascend the mountain in the beauty of holiness that only His Son can provide. 

The mountain, like the Garden of Eden, is the place where a holy God embraces His cleansed and clothed children, in fellowship and forgiveness.