Have you ever wondered why the Bible is like it is? As a young Christian I used to think to myself sometimes, “Why isn’t the Bible easier to read? Why doesn’t it just have straightforward index-linked, easy-to-remember lists of truths about God, about life and about the way things are?”
For example, don’t you think it would be easier if you just opened the Bible and it said, “Chapter 1: Holiness. God is holy. Holiness means being separated or set apart from all that is not good and praiseworthy. Christians should be holy too, but that does not mean pious or sanctimonious. It means living in the power of the Holy Spirit so as to be attractively distinctive from the world around. For examples of holiness see page 582-590. Chapter 2: God is loving.” And so on?
Wouldn’t things be simpler that way?
But it is significant that God’s word does not come to us in propositional statements like that. There’s a reason for it. God, in his wisdom, has given us most of the Bible in narrative, that is to say stories (true stories) about real and ordinary people, and how their real choices, real words and real actions affected their relationship with God and changed their understanding of his ways.
The Bible is not a theoretical text book. It’s a how-to book with true-to-life examples. Even in the New Testament letters, where you do have hundreds of propositional statements;
- The wages of sin is death
- God is love
- Rejoice in the Lord always
- It is God’s will that you should be holy
- Christ has been raised from the dead etc., etc.
Even then, the letters are real correspondence between real people; it’s a living dialogue that had to do with what people do and how they respond to God.
I say this because we’re starting a series of talks tonight on encounters with God. We’re going to look at people like Moses, Jacob, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter and Paul at moments in their lives where they met with God.
Jesus looked at the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law once and said to them, “You search and study the Scriptures so diligently, so carefully, because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
In other words what Jesus is saying is this: “As much as systematic theology and Bible study and learning doctrine are important and commendable disciplines, you know what?, it’s all about an encounter with the living God.”
God’s Awesome Presence
How do you meet with God? Apart from coming to services like these, do you set aside time in order to do so?
Sometimes God meets people with a majestic display of power and holiness. That was the case for Moses and Isaiah. Sometimes he speaks to them with a still, small voice. That was the case for Elijah and Jeremiah. Sometimes it’s an unexpected revelation in the middle of a normal day; that was the case for Mary and Peter. Sometimes it’s very physical; Jacob wrestled with an angel, Paul fell to the ground and was blinded.
I think God meets with us in different ways because for each of us he has a unique plan. Whenever God meets with us he always chooses the way that best accomplishes his purpose. We encounter God in many different ways but whatever way it is will always be about God’s plan and will in our lives.
Here, with Moses, the encounter with God is a fearful, imposing and disturbing manifestation of noise and light. Let’s just read it again, starting in Exodus 20.18:
“When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.’ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.”
Why did God manifest his presence so dramatically here? I think the answer lies in the context. The Hebrew people were just starting a new-found existence as a nation under God, not long freed from centuries of slavery in Egypt. It was a new dawn for them. The first (and instinctive) thing people do on being released is to express their freedom by saying, “No one’s going to tell me what to do anymore!”
This is why it was important for Israel to see God’s awesome power and authority. Unless they had witnessed this display of God’s greatness and glory they would never have listened to Moses. They would have turned round and said to Moses, “Who do you think you are? Who set you up as our leader, telling us what to do and where to go?”
And, in fact, as soon as they forgot God’s power and might that is precisely the sort of thing they did say as Numbers and Deuteronomy show.
Three Observations
Number one (and it’s obvious, really): The full manifestation of God’s presence is an overwhelmingly awe-inspiring thing (v18). Try and imagine standing at the foot of a great mountain under a broodingly violent thunderstorm; there are sudden thunderclaps that make you jump, there are distant and menacing low rumbles that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, there are loud and abrupt trumpet bursts that startle you; there is dazzling, sheet lightning behind heavy lead-grey clouds. The mountain is covered in thick, billowing smoke.
God’s coming near was a fearsome experience. The letter to the Hebrews describes it in these words; “…a mountain… that is burning with fire, …darkness, gloom and storm… a trumpet blast… a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them… The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’”
There have been times in my life - particularly when I have heard God speak prophetically revealing secrets of the heart or seen God heal visibly and instantly - and my principal emotion was awe; an adrenaline rush akin to alarm but without the sense of dread. But usually we only ever experience a fraction of the full, crushing, awe-inspiring grandeur of God’s holy presence.
I think I can usually spot mature, discerning Christians in a church of strangers. Believers who really know God tend to be mindful of his utter holiness and formidable greatness when they come to worship. They know that the full manifestation of God’s presence is overwhelmingly awe-inspiring. There’s something about their body language that expresses a holy reverence and a healthy fear of the Lord even when his presence is not especially manifest.
Second observation here: Most people at Sinai chose to stay at a safe distance from God’s presence (v18).
Why do people often prefer to remain at a distance from God? Some people keep their distance because they just assume that God cannot be known. Others avoid God, because they are living with sin in their lives and are not prepared to have that challenged and changed. Sadly, many remain at a distance, because they have a false view of God and they assume (wrongly) that he could never love them after all they have done. It says here in v18 that the Israelites kept their distance from God because they were scared. It was beyond their experience.
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
Here is clear evidence that the fear of the Lord is nothing to do with being scared of him. Moses explicitly says, “Do not be afraid.” But in the very next sentence he explains that the reason for all the thunder and lightning is so that they will learn to fear the Lord.
My definition of the fear of the Lord is: “an acute awareness of the presence of God’s power that produces a sense of awe, calls forth reverence and inclines the heart away from sin.”
So Proverbs 14:27 says, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people from the snares of death.” Then Proverbs 19:23 says “The fear of the Lord leads to life: then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”
Third observation here: Most people preferred to meet with a man than meet with God. They would rather that someone else might speak to God on their behalf (v19).
As an ordained minister I get a similar refrain sometimes; “You’re a vicar. Will you say a prayer for my daughter? You’re a priest. Will you come and exorcise my haunted house?”
They said, “Look Moses, we don’t think it’s appropriate for us to talk to God directly, so we’ll just talk with you, and then you can go and tell God what we think. We don’t really feel it’s our place to go up the mountain, we don’t feel led, you go!”
They wanted someone to stand between them and God; an intermediary. So that is what Moses did. Years later, judges, then prophets, then priests and then kings all stood before God and spoke with him on behalf of the people, representing their concerns to God and hearing the word of God for them. But now the Lord Jesus Christ stands forever a perfect mediator between us and God and he gives all who have faith in him (you, you and you…) free and unlimited access to the throne of the heavens!
The Transformational Encounter
What happened when Moses came back from his face-to-face encounter with God? Chapter 34, v29 says his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. They had to put a veil over his face because the brightness of his countenance was almost otherworldly. It says in v30 that they were afraid to come near him.
This event turns up in the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 3, where it says this:
“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, (he’s talking about the Law of Moses that absolutely everyone failed to keep) if that came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory… will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
…We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away… But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And with unveiled faces we all contemplate the Lord's glory, being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord...”
In other words what it means is this: the freedom of the Holy Spirit to know God and love him is so much better than the dreary, pious and half-hearted observance of religious regulations and guidelines. God’s glory and majesty shone brilliantly in Moses’ face when he gave the law. So how much more should his glory and majesty be seen in holy joy and abundant blessing and overflowing grace in our lives as we grow in our relationship with God?
Two observations on chapter 34 and then I’ll close:
Firstly, Moses’ encounter with God had a visibly transformational effect (v29). It’s not that the people could see God’s presence in Moses. The reality is that it was so bright they couldn’t ignore it. I’ve heard people say of Christians who have met with God, or who are brand new born again, “She is radiant” or “He is just glowing.” With Moses it was just one man out of a whole nation. With the Church it’s thousands at the same time.
How often do you spend time with God? Put it this way, if you could, would you spend more time soaking in his presence? Listen – you can! The more you do, the more people will say, “You’re radiant, you glow.” Your face probably won’t light up a room. But the time you spend in the wonderful presence of God will have an effect on your life - and people will know you have been with God. Your meeting with God, my meeting with God has a visibly transforming effect.
Second observation: Moses’ encounter with God included hearing from him (v32). It wasn’t just a weird experience. It wasn’t just a buzz or a great feeling. In all the encounters with God in the Bible there’s substance, there’s content. God speaks.
The point of Moses’ encounter with God was to pass on to the people the words God had spoken with him face-to-face. That’s another classic feature of meeting with God; if it’s genuine, it will have a prophetic edge. You hear from God in some way and you know it’s God because when you pass it on to someone else later it’s fresh and alive. Someone was saying this morning we pray “Give us today our daily bread.” Yesterday’s is stale. You can’t live off yesterday’s blessings, yesterday’s experiences, yesterday’s breakthroughs. What is God’s word to me today? I’ll never know unless I set aside time to meet with him.
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 3rd January 2010
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