The Mountain of God

Introduction

Sometimes you have to go out into the wilderness in order to meet with God.
God led the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promise Land. This could have been a short trip of about 200 miles. However, they didn’t take the direct route because God knew they had lessons to learn in the wilderness. He was more concerned about the people they would become than how quickly they would get to the promised land. (Jon Ortberg)

The significance of Sinai

This is the first revelation of God to the newly emerging Israel and it carries with it a conditional promise: If you will obey me, you will be my treasured possession… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

It is in the wilderness not the Promised Land

Therefore it is not the place to settle. However it does mean that you can encounter God, in all his fulness, on the journey. You don’t have to wait until to reach your final destination. You don’t have to wait until you die to meet with the living God!

It is both the place of revelation and the place of failure. It’s while Moses is up the mountain that the people make their idol.

It is the place where God called Moses. (Acts 7:30)

"After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

It is the place to which Elijah flees

Let’s think for a while about how God reveals himself to us.

How has/does God reveal himself?

1. In creation (his general revelation)

“What can be known about God is plain to them, for God Himself made it plain. Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all” (Romans 1:20 TEV)

Also part of this so-called general revelation of God is his self-disclosure through history and humanity.

Because humanity bears the image of God, those things that separate us from the rest of creation point towards the image of God that we bear. In history, God is revealed through the outworking of his plan. As one writer puts it:

History’s continuation despite the forces of destruction at work within it points to the compassion of God; a new community (the church universal) emerging out of the chaos of history points to the love of God, and the drive of history itself to a climactic finish points to the ultimate sovereignty of God.

Christianity 101, Gilbert Bilezikian

2. Through his word

From In the beginning God ... (Gen. 1:1) to Come Lord Jesus ... (Rev. 22:20), the Bible teaches the reality of God. There is never a hint of doubt in the Bible concerning the reality of God. It never attempts to prove the existence of God, but asserts His reality as unquestionable. The existence of God is never questioned in the Bible. On the contrary, the Bible boldly confronts us with who God is and what God does. From beginning to end we are faced with accounts of ordinary men and women who dared to believe that God is - and who lived their lives accordingly.

3. In Jesus Christ

John 1: In the beginning was the Word… The Word became flesh and dwelt among…

The differences between the people encountering God on the mountain and the people encountering God on the hillside (Sinai versus Jesus)

(Sinai)Thick cloud God is hidden---(Jesus) Jesus can be clearly seen, God is revealed

People needed to be consecrated---People didn’t need to do anything particular, they can simply come

Limited approachability---Jesus “touched”

Death was the consequence for touching the mountain---Healing was the consequence of touching Jesus

Limited access (only when the signal given)---Free access

Moses was the go-between---Jesus was his own go-between


In the OT the holiness of God is was separates the people from God. This remains true in the NT and in our time. It’s the incarnation that brings him close. He shall be called Emmanuel, God with us.

And the dwelling of God will be with human beings… he will be their God… (Rev. 21)

This is the measure of God’s love for us: In his holiness he must separate himself from us, but he wants to be close to us, so he chooses to become one of us. God, through Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to stand in his presence without fear of being destroyed.

What does God reveal about himself?

1. That he is “other”
The theological word for this is transcendent. At its simplest it means that he is “Above all things”. We must not confuse God with the universe he created because he is not a part of it. This transcendence is characterised by the three “omni” qualities: omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.

2. That he is active
Right from the beginning of the Bible we read about the God who is active. He creates, he builds relationships, he acts in judgment and mercy and he reveals a long-term plan.
The idea of God’s activity continues throughout the Biblical story. Even Jesus pointed to the fact his Father was always at work.

3. He is holy
The restrictions placed on the newly emerging Israelite community at Sinai were as much about their protection as they were about God’s privacy!
Jacob, when he’d spent the night wrestling with God declared: I have seen the face of God and lived.”

4. He is gracious
Not in terms of the way he moves, but in terms of the way he treats us. Paul reminds us that we are saved by grace through faith. The OT reminds us that he is slow to anger and full of loving-kindness.

What is the key lesson that Israel must learn at Sinai?

1. Patience: While Moses is away, God is still present. He sees everything. But the people get inpatient and wonder where Moses has gone and make an idol.

2. Obedience

3. Boundaries
The parameters of the relationship. It was from Sinai that God would give the Torah, the instruction. This would define what it would mean to live in a relationship with God.

Conclusion

What comes out of an encounter with God? Usually new or renewed purpose. Think about Abraham, Moses, Jonah, Elijah.

For the newly emerging community that would become the nation of Israel, the most important lesson for them to learn was that God loved them deeply, rescued them at great cost and would guide them into a positive future.

In Christ he makes the same disclosure and offers the same eternal reward to those who will trust him now. In Christ, the journey of life has meaning, direction and purpose, whether you’re in the land of slavery, or in the wilderness or in the Promised Land.