March 24, 2023

Approaching a Holy God

Exodus 19

Michael Banks
Friday's Devo

March 24, 2023

Friday's Devo

March 24, 2023

Friday's Devo

March 24, 2023

Friday's Devo

March 24, 2023

Big Idea

God reveals the way and His will through His Word.

Key Verse | Exodus 19:5-6

"'Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all 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 people of Israel."

Exodus 19

Israel at Mount Sinai

1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, 10 the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; 1 19:13 That is, shot with an arrow whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” 14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 And the LORD said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Footnotes

[1] 19:13 That is, shot with an arrow

"Kingdom of Priests? What does that mean?"

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Exodus 19

In Exodus 19 Israel is called to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." As Moses and Israel approach the LORD at Mount Sinai, they do so in awe and fearful reverence, taking days to purify themselves before they go near  God's presence! It's no coincidence that in 1 Peter 2:9 the Church mirrors and shares in this calling to be a "royal priesthood and a holy nation," and what a calling that is! 

Holiness is no light calling. Rather, it's a challenge. In Moses' position, I would simply be terrified and for a good reason. For if the standard for holiness is God's holiness, then the standard is perfection. My mind recalls the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:48, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." How in the world am I supposed to measure up to such a standard? How am I supposed to approach such a perfect God?

The truth is that Israel would never measure up to such a standard, and we as followers of Jesus today never will either—on our own. The joyous realization of the Christian life is that as we pursue a lifestyle of holiness, we don't have to pursue it on our own! In God's family, we are indwelt with greater power than mere moral platitudes or human willpower—rather, the very spirit of God lives in us! We approach God from a position of the grace of Jesus Christ, who, by taking on our sin, has already made us holy and righteous in the eyes of God. The task seems insurmountable, but Jesus has already accomplished it for us. 

Now, from a position of grace, we can approach a Holy God because Christ, by His sacrifice, has enabled us to do so. The door of access and relationship swings wide! Now as we seek to obey God's Word and earnestly pursue holy lives that reflect God's glory in the world, we can rest fully confident that we have access to the God of perfection in Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit!

This month's memory verse

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

– John 14:27

Discussion Questions

1. As Christians, how should we approach our calling to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation?

2. What does it mean to approach God in fearful reverence and purity?

3. In your own relationship with God, how easily do you feel like you can approach Him?

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Hugh Stephenson

GM Michael! Love your call to “earnestly pursue holy lives that reflect God's glory in the world.” When I tell people that my three favorite books are Genesis, Leviticus and Revelation I often get an incredulous look. Genesis they can understand. Revelation is a bit harder given its complexity and depth. BUT LEVITICUS?!?!?! After I explain it, they seem to better understand. At least somewhat. There are four questions in any World View. -How did this all begin? -What went wrong? -How does it get fixed? -How does it end? Genesis answered 1,2, and 3. Revelation answers 4. What about Leviticus? Leviticus gives me and a deep, deep, understanding of the purity and Holiness of God. Knowing Leviticus means its very likely that I will know and live out the truth of- -God Big -Hugh Small For me, anything that continually stresses and strengthens this truth is very, very good.
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Hugh Stephenson

So… One of the great wake-up calls in my life was being taught about purity and defilement. https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-purity.html https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-defilement.html As part of this education, I learned about being consecrated. https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-consecration.html These teachings had a shock value to me that totally took me by surprise. Connecting the dots, I began to see how the truth of “God Big, Hugh Small” will give me a direct path to His blessings and all the 7,487 promises in Scripture. Consecration- verse 10, “…go to the people and consecrate them…” The notes teach- consecration is “To set apart as holy.” This links me to the blessings. So why did God set this up this way? As best as I can understand, God chooses to act through us. So, he needs a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” that are His “treasured possession”.
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Hugh Stephenson

Those people need to be “set apart as holy”. Clean and undefiled. Pure and holy. Paraphrasing the notes- Elected, “You belong to me from among all peoples.” Bonded- “a close bond of belonging.” Obedient- Know Him so well that trust, surrenderer and obedience are as natural as breathing. And what does it take to know Him this well? “When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted desires, a broken friendship, or a new friendship— when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us.” “Jesus can expound nothing until we get through all the noisy questions of the head and are alone with Him.” https://utmost.org/classic/have-you-ever-been-alone-with-god-2-classic/
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Michael Sisson

INTRODUCTION: The Israelites’ encounter with G-d at Mt. Sinai will later become memorialized in the Feast of Weeks (Heb. “Shavu’ot” meaning “seven weeks” [after Passover]; a.k.a. “Pentecost” from the Gk. meaning “fifty days”) as codified in Torah as one of three “Feasts of Obligation.” (Dt 16:16; Passover/Unleavened Bread, >>>The Feast of Weeks,<<< and the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths; three times a year when all Israelite males are obligated to appear before G-d in the place of His choosing) It is the Feast of Weeks that is in view in Acts 2. Thus, the origin of Pentecost is NOT the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2; rather its origin is in the giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai. (Hence, the reason Jews from all over the Diaspora were present in Jerusalem when G-d poured out His Spirit upon believers in Acts 2.) Consequently, readers should note the intentional, obvious, and significant parallels G-d has carefully orchestrated between the giving of the Torah (Law) at Mt. Sinai, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit during Shavu’ot (i.e. Pentecost) on Mt. Zion/Jerusalem. Re: Ex 19:1 Ex 19:1 (NASB) >>>In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt,<<< on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. The Hebrew calendar is based on LUNAR months. Thus, Exodus 19 begins after two new moons have appeared since the Israelites departed Egypt, fifteen days into Nisan (the first month). In other words, the chapter opens on the 1st of Sivan (the first day of the third month of the Hebrew calendar). Intellectually reconciling the lunar, Hebrew calendar of Scripture with the solar, Gregorian calendar under which we currently live can be quite tricky (which, by the way, explains why Easter is on a different day every year). You can find a concise and exceedingly helpful timeline of the key events from the 1st of Nisan to the 6th of Sivan (on which the Torah was given exactly seven weeks after Passover) at Hebrew For Christians. https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Shavuot/shavuot.html Re: Ex 19:5-6 Ex 19:5-6 (NASB) ‘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; 6 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.” “My own possession“ = Heb. “ סְגֻלָּה segullah” This is a technical term with a treaty connotation. G-d is making Israel His special representative among the nations. The Torah will serve multiple functions (e.g.: a family history, a national constitution, a marriage contract, a pedagogue, etc.), among which it is a suzerainty treaty. A suzerainty treaty is an agreement between a king and a conquered people. In the treaty, the king offers to provide for and protect the people in exchange for their fealty. This passage is G-d’s offer of His suzerainty treaty…”the Mosaic Covenant” — the agreement to keep the Torah; in return G-d, King of the Universe, will be Israel’s L-RD. See the people’s response in Ex 19:8. Re: Ex 19:9 Ex 19:9 (NASB) The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, >>>so that the people may hear when I speak with you<<< and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD. See Ex 19:19. See also Ex 19:16; 20:18; Acts 2:4 Note: what most English translations render as "thunder" in the above verses >>>could be translated "voice" or “voices.”<<< Re: Ex 19:10-17 As Moses was required to remove his sandals before treading upon “holy ground” when he encountered the burning bush (Ex 3:5), Israel had to make considerable preparations before approaching the holy ground of Mt. Sinai from whence G-d addressed them. Re: Ex 19:18 Ex 19:18 (NASB) 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. See “tongues of fire” in Acts 2:3 Re: Ex 19:22,24 Ex 19:22 (NASB) “Also let >>>the priests<<< who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, or else the LORD will break out against them.” From the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) Torah Commentary: "According to Exodus 28 and Exodus 29, the priesthood was not established in Israel until after the Sinaitic revelation, which would make the present reference to priests, like that in verse Ex19:24, an anachronism. Many modern scholars regard these verses as reflecting a different strand of tradition about the origins of the priestly institution. Jewish commentators understood ‘priests’ here as referring to first-born males, in that the latter functioned as priests until they were replaced by the Aaronides, as recounted in Num 3:11-13 and Num 8:16-18."
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Sue Bohlin

Lots of glorious TRUTH in your devo, Michael--bless you! The Israelites had experienced 430 years of silence from Yahweh while they were in Egypt; no wonder God had to teach them about Himself! In the plagues, He revealed that He is powerful. In Exodus 19, He first reveals His affection and compassion for them. I love how He says, "I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." There is such a beautiful, intimate, PERSONAL revelation of His heart here! Then He tells them they are His "treasured possession," and He wanted to make them a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (And I also love that as a Gentile, grafted into the vine of God's people, I get to be part of the fulfillment of His desire.) If I had been one of the newly-freed slaves, just out of the bondage of Egypt, this would have been absolutely mind-blowing to me. Then Yahweh reveals Himself to be holy--set apart--and He commands His people to copy that holiness. Unlike many parents who warn of consequences but then don't follow through. God wasn't kidding and didn't mess around with His consequences when people violated the call to be holy. (We see that in the New Testament, in the book of Acts, as well as the Old Testament.) (But we're not going to do a deep dive into the holiness code in Leviticus in THIS year's JTJ. Sorry @Hugh!)
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Michael Scaman

I like the mountain themes in the Bible. The change. Eden would gave been a mountain with rivers running down. Eden meaning delight. Sinai was a terrifying mountain. God's holiness almost unapproachable and frightening. Zion was a mountain you could dwell with and worship God on as the Ark and the temple were there (but Zion relates to the word thirst so its like Mt Drought, suggesting a long for more someday) There is an even better heavenly Zion coming Which Hebrew says is not like the terrifying mountain they came to before.
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Amy Lowther

1. We should approach with respect to God and Jesus, helping as they would wherever and whenever possible. 2. It means being ready to learn from God. 3. I feel it is very easy.