I was reading the other day in Exodus 20:19-21 an episode with the Israelites and Moses. The people had just witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the smoking mountain - all coming from the presence of God! It frightened them so badly, that they "trembled and stood afar off".
In verse 19 they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." In other words, they were willing to hear what a man had to say about God, but they didn't want to hear it for themselves. It is very much like today when God's people would rather spend their time reading Christian books and devotionals written by men about man's opinions rather than spending time with God in His Word and hearing what God Himself has to say to them.
In verse 20, Moses replied 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." Moses was saying that the people did not need to fear death from God's presence that day, but that they did need to fear God in the future when it came to sin in their life.
Verse 21 says, "So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was." Here is where they chose to break God's heart. They had no desire to "draw near" to their God as Moses did. Before we ever choose to disobey God and His commandments, we first will make the choice to "not draw near" and to "stand afar off" from God and His Word. We will be content to let our leaders and pastors be the ones to "draw near". We tell them, "You be the ones to speak to us - but don't let God speak with us." As this new week is beginning, let's make God's heart rejoice by our desire to get as close to Him as we possibly can - through our prayers and our own reading of His Word, the Bible.
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