Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
Responding to God’s Invitation (Exodus 24:9-18)
25:56 Intro
28:12 I. They Saw God 39:31 II. They Communed With God 44:37 III. Moses Entered Into God’s Glory
46:59 God’s pattern for developing spiritual leadership
53:23 Moses draws closer to God
56:00 Are you drawing closer to God?
1:00:12 Closing Prayer
Our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 24:9–18. At the beginning of this chapter, we learn about God calling out to the children of Israel to come for worship. Like most typical worships, there was the hearing of God's word, and they promised to obey. But their obedience could never be perfect, so God provided the atonement for their sins through the blood of the animal that was shed. Once their sins were washed away by the blood, they could then draw near to God. At every step of the way, it was God who initiated the invitation. It was Him who called the people to come for worship. From issuing the call for worship to speaking to them through His word, to the provision of atonement for their sins, it was God who initiated the invitation.
Dear friend, if God did not invite you and me to come to Him for salvation, we would still be wandering in the wilderness of sin, is it not true? Today we are able to worship God, to call out to Him in prayers, to render our voices to praise Him, and to serve Him. It is all because He has made it possible through invitation.
Here in this passage, we want to learn how the children of Israel responded to God's invitation and the things they have experienced. The title of our message is "Responding to God's Invitation."
I. They Saw God
Our first point is: They Saw God. Let us begin with verse 9-11 of Exodus chapter 24: “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles” - referring to the leaders - “of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink” (Exodus 24:9–11).
Moses represented the prophets. Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu belonged to the tribe of Levi and were called to be priests; they represented the priests. The seventy elders represented the children of Israel. So here, we see all the people were involved in the worship, and the Bible tells us they saw the God of Israel.
how could they see God and not die? Now, this passage poses certain problems for Bible scholars because no one can see God and live, as later on in Exodus 33:20 the Bible will tell us. So how could they see God and not die? Basically there are several views in regards to this issue.
The first view is that this ‘seeing God’ was only an intellectual perception, not a real perceiving with the eyes. But this cannot be true because twice in this passage we are told they saw God and the original Hebrew word for "saw" was not the usual word for ‘to see’; it was a stronger and more intense term, which means ‘to fix their gaze.’
The second view is that they were able to see God and not die because verse 11 says ‘God laid not his hand on them,’ which means God knew they would die if they saw Him under normal circumstances. That was why He withheld His divine hand of judgment and did not strike them dead.
The third view is that they saw God, as in they saw only His glory. In other words, they did not even dare to lift up their eyes to look at God. They fell on their faces and they could only see His feet. They could only describe what was on the floor, as verse 10 tells us: "And there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness." A sapphire is a brilliant blue stone that usually is not transparent, but on this occasion, it was as clear as the blue sky. That is the meaning of "as it were the body of heaven in his clearness."
The fourth view is that what they saw was a theophany. A theophany is the appearance of God in human form, which means they saw the second person in the triune God, the Lord Jesus Christ. That was why Moses did not use the usual name ‘Lord’ or ‘Jehovah,’ which would refer to the Father, but he simply used the name ‘God’ or ‘Elohim.’
I think, apart from view number one, all the other views are possible, and we do not need to be dogmatic about it.
It’s not see to believe, but believe to see
Now, since they saw God, there are also these speculations as to what God looks like, but the Bible is silent. Nowhere in the scriptures does it reveal to us what God looks like, and so we should not speculate, because it is not God's will for us to do that. Do you realise that people like to speculate what God looks like, which is the reason why people worship idols? An idol is a representation of the god they worship. It symbolises the god, how he looks like.
It could be the statue of a man that is supposed to be Jesus. No one knows what Christ looks like, and yet man still wants to represent Him with an image. Each time the idol worshipper looks at the statue, the image will be embedded in his mind, and whenever he prays or worships, he will be thinking of that false image. In reality, he is worshipping a false god and it is so difficult to remove that false image from his mind. That is what Satan wants to do — to deceive people into worshipping a false god.
God does not want us to misrepresent Him with anything. Nothing in this world can ever represent our Almighty God. He wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. So He has given to us this command: ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.’
The Canaanites and Egyptians were always making images of god to look at, and they reduced Him to the form of human beings and animals. Sadly, in a few days’ time or a few weeks’ time, the children of Israel would do exactly the same thing, and they would build this golden calf to represent God. They were not satisfied with the glory they saw on that mountain. They wanted to have a god they could touch with their hands and see with their eyes. They wanted to see God right away.
Are there such people today? Most certainly. There are some people who say, ‘If only I could see God, then I would believe Him.’ But they have it backwards. God has revealed enough of Himself in His word and in His creation for man to know Him and love Him. The gift of seeing God spiritually has to be by faith. To all those people who say, ‘I have to see it to believe it,’ God says, ‘You will not see it unless you believe. If you believe, then you will see.’
So Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders were called to worship God. They heard the word, their sins were atoned for through the blood of the covenant, and then they were brought into God's presence where they could gaze upon His glory. It was a foretaste of heaven.
This is also a picture of our salvation. There was a time when you and I were separated from God because of our sins. Like the Israelites, we were law-breakers. But God has accepted the atonement for our sins through the death and blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. By faith, we believed and after we were saved, we were welcomed into His presence, and we could see God through His word. Each time we read the Bible, we see our Almighty God. We could see God through His creation. We marvel at the things that God has created. We could see God as we interpret the different circumstances of life. We know that nothing happens by chance nor coincidence, and we see the hand of God working at every step of the way. One day, the longing of our hearts to see God will be fully satisfied, and we will see Him face to face. That day will come.
II. They Communed With God
Our second point is: They Communed with God. Look at the second part of verse 11: And they “did eat and drink.” The Bible does not tell us what they ate and drank. Most likely, they ate what was left of the fellowship offerings that they had sacrificed to the Lord in verse 5. But whatever they ate and drank, the sharing of food and drink symbolises their communion with God.
Oftentimes, the Bible describes our relationship with God in terms of sharing a meal. King David said, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies" (Psalm 23:5). When we commune with God, our hearts are at peace, even though we may be surrounded by enemies, adversities, and afflictions. The prophet Isaiah said that one day the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast or banquet for people from every nation to sit at His table (Isaiah 25:6).
In the New Testament, Jesus described His kingdom in terms of eating and drinking. Jesus said, "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 8:11). In other words, the invitation to join in the feast is not only for the Jews, but for the people all over the world. That was why, when the Jews refused to accept the gospel of salvation, Jesus said, ‘Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, bid them, call them, to come for the marriage feast’ (Matthew 22:9), referring to the Gentiles. In other words, only those who are saved will come to feast with God, will come to join in the banquet, and they will commune with God.
Our Almighty God is always handing out invitations to come to His feast. Every time the gospel is preached, people are invited to eat and drink with God. One day, God will host the last and longest banquet of all, which Revelation 19:9 says is "the marriage supper of the Lamb" in heaven, and that will be a feast for all the believers throughout all ages.
Dear friend, every time we receive a wedding invitation, there is an RSVP, which in French means ‘please respond.’ The couple who invites us wants us to respond whether we will come or not. Likewise, God wants us to respond, and the only way to respond is to believe in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for salvation. Have you responded to God's invitation? If you have, then one day you will sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven that will never end. You will commune with God forever and ever.
III. Moses Entered Into God’s Glory
Our third and final point is: Moses entered into God's glory. Look at verse 12: "And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." (Exodus 24:12). After the people had finished eating and drinking, God invited Moses alone to come closer, to go up the mountain. The purpose was to give him the Ten Commandments, which were written on stone tablets. According to Deuteronomy 4:13, they were written on two stone tablets. These were the same tablets that Moses angrily dashed to the ground when he saw the Israelites dancing around the golden calf. Later on, the Ten Commandments were rewritten; we will come to that in Exodus chapter 34.
By the way, there are some liberal scholars who say that the Mosaic Law was collected from the wisdom of the ancient world. That is not true, because notice: God said, "which I have written" (Exodus 24:12). These commandments that Moses received came directly from God Himself. If these commandments were just words of man's wisdom, then you and I have the liberty to obey or not to obey. If these commandments were the words of God, then we must obey, period. There is no ‘and,’ ‘if,’ or ‘but.’ We must obey.
God’s pattern for developing spiritual leadership
Verse 13: "And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God." (Exodus 24:13). Joshua would be the next leader after Moses, and here he was serving Moses, as in learning valuable lessons in the ministry. This was God's pattern for developing spiritual leadership. We learn to lead by observing and serving alongside someone else.
By way of testimony, before I was ordained as a pastor, I had to study Pastor Steven Khoo. He taught me how to minister, what to say, what not to say, how to conduct the Lord's Supper, the holy matrimony, funeral services, baptism, and so forth. We may be able to learn the theories of all these spiritual activities, but to be effective, to understand the practical aspects of it, we have to observe and learn by coming alongside someone else.
This principle also applies to all the preachers, elders, deacons, fellowship leaders, and Sunday school teachers. We have to train those people who are called to serve by taking them under our wings, like Moses did to Joshua, teaching them how to lead and how to serve by our lives. This is God's pattern for developing spiritual leadership.
Verse 14: "And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them." (Exodus 24:14). It is the duty of the leader to delegate responsibilities to others in his absence when he's not around. In case there are disagreements and difficulties, the people need to know who is in charge, and the people in charge have to be faithful and trustworthy. With this in mind, Moses appointed his brother Aaron and Hur to be the leaders. At that time, it seemed to be a good choice because, after all, these men had helped to defeat the Amalekites. Remember how they lifted Moses' hands during the battle? You can read about that in Exodus chapter 17. So, Moses thought that was a good choice, or so he thought. Unfortunately, when he came down from the mountain after 40 days, he realised that with Aaron and Hur as the leaders, the people had built the golden calf. How sad!
What can we learn from here? Humanly speaking, we can only do so much. We can only make sure that the ministry is passed on to people whom we know are faithful and trustworthy, but there is no guarantee. We cannot see the heart, nor can we tell the future. Sometimes people may pretend to be faithful, or they may change along the way. Initially, they may be faithful, but along the way, they may go astray. However, we have to play our part in making sure that things are done right, and then entrust the whole matter into God's hands. The Church, the ministries, the fellowship groups—they all belong to God. Only God alone is in control of all things.
Verse 15: "And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount." (Exodus 24:15). At this point, the Bible did not mention Joshua, so only Moses alone went up the mountain. Verse 16: "And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud." (Exodus 24:16). "And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel." (Exodus 24:17). You can imagine what an amazing picture it was, looking from the foot of the mountain. The children of Israel saw the glory of God like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain.
Moses draws closer to God
And where was Moses? He was not standing at a distance, looking at God's cloud of glory. He was right there. In fact, he entered into the midst of the cloud of glory, as verse 18 tells us: "And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount:” - which means he ascended unto the summit of the mountain, to the top of the mountain - “and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights." (Exodus 24:18).
Let us pause for a moment and consider the life of Moses. Moses had been getting closer and closer to God ever since he met God at the burning bush. He had seen the glory of God revealed in the burning bush, in the ten plagues, in the opening of the Red Sea, in sending manna from heaven, and water from the rock, in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. And now, he was given the privilege to enter into God's cloud of glory, and there he communed with God for 40 days and 40 nights.
Allow me to quote one theologian who said this: ‘This entering into God's cloud of glory and communing with Him for 40 days and 40 nights is but a glimpse of heaven. As the believer lives his life, he draws closer and closer to God. He sees more and more of God's glory, until finally he enters into His glory and communes with Him forever and ever.’
Are you drawing closer to God?
Dear friend, that is also a picture of us as believers. God has come to us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who was sent to be our Saviour. Jesus came down from heaven and revealed the glory of God, as John 1:14 says: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." Our spiritual eyes are opened; we were saved by grace and through faith, and from then onwards, as we live our days on this earth, as we commune with our Almighty God, we are getting closer and closer to Him. We see His power and glory manifested through our lives as He uses us to bring people to salvation, as we face the trials of life with His strength, as we experience His hand of provision and protection, as we receive His blessings and comfort. Our life is all about God's glory. We are saved for His glory, and we manifest His glory through our lives.
One day, our Lord Jesus will come in the clouds for each and every one of us. When we are still alive, we will be raptured to meet Him. If we have died, our bodies will be raised from our graves to be united with our souls in a glorified body. We will enter into His glory and commune with Him, not only for 40 days and 40 nights but forever and ever.
Dear friend, our lives begins with God's glory and ends with His glory. Have you responded to God's invitation to come to Him? Have you seen God with your spiritual eyes? Have you been communing with Him? Are you getting closer and closer to God, eagerly waiting for the day to come when you will enter into His glory?
I pray that all of us, our lives, will be like this: we saw Him, we communed with Him, and we have entered into His glory. One day, we will be fully satisfied because we will be in His glory forever and ever.
Let us pray: Our Father in Heaven, indeed, as we consider this portion of Scripture, there are so many wonderful lessons we can learn. At every step of the way in our salvation, Thou art the one who initiates the invitation. If Thou hast not called us and invited us to come to Thee for salvation, none of us would be saved. We would still be wandering in the wilderness of sin and die a terrible death, condemned forever and ever. But in Thy great mercy, Thou hast called us, and Thou hast sent Thy only begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to save us through His atoning death and the shedding of His precious blood on the Cross. We are saved.
And as we live our days on this earth, our spiritual eyes are opened, and we see Thee so clearly in Thy Word, in Thy creation, and in the way we interpret the different circumstances of life. Truly, at every step of the way, Thou art working in each and every one of our lives. And as we commune with Thee, as we draw closer and closer to Thee, we eagerly wait for the day when we will enter into Thy glory and commune with Thee forever and ever.
Oh Lord, we eagerly wait for this day. Some of us are in our evening years; perhaps our days on this earth are numbered. But we are not fearful. Instead, we are excited because death will usher us into Thy glorious presence, and then we will be with Thee forever. That is the desire of our hearts, and we pray that all of us will live our lives to draw closer and closer to Thee.
We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
name we pray amen our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 24:9 to18 at the beginning of this chapter we learn about God calling out to the children of Israel to come for worship and like most typical worships there was the hearing of God's word and they promised to obey but their obedience could never be perfect so God provided the atonement for their sins through the blood of the animal that was shed once their sins were washed away by the blood they could then draw near to God and every step of the way it was God who initiated the invitation it was him who called the people to come come for worship from issuing the call for worship to speaking to them through his word to the provision of the atonement for their sins it was God who initiated the invitation dear friend if God did not invite you and me to come to him for salvation we will still be wandering in the wilderness of sin is it not true today we are able to worship God to call out to him in prayers to render our voices to praise him and to serve him it is all because he has made it possible through invitation here in this passage we want to learn how how the children of Israel responded to God's invitation and the things they had experienced the title of our message is responding to God's invitation our first point is they saw God let us begin with verse 9-1 of Exodus chapter 24 then went up Moses and Aaron naab and Bahu and 70 of the Elders of Israel and they saw the god of Israel and there was under his feet as it were a pave work of a safire stone and as he were the body of Heaven in his clearness and upon the Nobles referring to the leaders of the children of Israel he laid not his hand also they saw gone and did eat and drink Moses represented the prophets Aaron naab and Abu belonged to the tribe of Levi and were called to be priests they represented the priests the 70 elders represented the children of Israel so here we see all the people were involved in the worship and the Bible tells us they saw the god of Israel now this passage POS certain problems for Bible scholars because no one can see God and live as later on in Exodus 33:20 the Bible will tell us so how could they see God and not die basically there are several views in regards to this issue the first view is that this saying God was only an intellectual perception not a real perceiving with the eyes but this cannot be true because twice in this passage we were told they saw God and the original Hebrew word for saw was not the usual word for to see it was a stronger and more intense ST which means to fix their gaze the second view is that they were able to see God and not die because verse 11 says God let not his hand on them which means God knew that they would die if they saw him on normal circumstances that was why he withheld his Divine hand of judgment and did not strike them dead the third view is that they saw God as in they saw only his glory in other words they did not even dare to lift up their eyes to look at God they fell on their their faces and they could only see his feet and they could only describe what was on the floor as verse 10 tells us and there was under his feet as it were a pave work of safire stone and as it were the body of Heaven in his clearness a sa a sappire is a brilliant blue stone that usually is not transparent but on this occasion it was as clear as the blue sky that is the meaning of as it were the body of Heaven in his clearness the fourth view is that what they saw was a theophany a theophan is the appearance of God in human form which means me they saw the second person in the trium god the Lord Jesus Christ that was why Moses did not use the usual Name Lord or Jehovah which would refer to the father but he simply used the name God or Elohim I think apart from view number one all the other View VI s are possible and we do not need to be dogmatic about it now since they saw God there are also this speculations as to what God looks like but the Bible is silent nowhere in the scripture does it reveal to us what God looks like and so we should not speculate because it is not God's will for us to do that do you realize that people like to speculate what God looks like which is the reason why people worship idols an idol is a representation of the god they worship it symbolizes the god not how he looks like it could be the statue of a man that is supposed to be Jesus no one knows what Christ looks like and yet man still wants to represent him with an image each time the idol worshipper looks at the Statue the image will be embedded in his mind and whenever he prays or worships he will be thinking of that False Image in reality he is worshiping a false god and it is so difficult to remove that False Image from his mind that is what Satan wants to do to deceive the people into worshiping a false god God does not want us to misrepresent him with anything nothing in this world can Ever represent our almighty God he wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth so he has given to us this command Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images the Canaanites and Egyptians were always making images of God to look at and they reduced him to the form of human beings and animals sadly in a few days time or few weeks time the children of Israel would do exactly the same thing and they would build this golden CF to represent God they were not satisfied with the glory they saw on that mountain and they wanted to have a god they could touch with their hands and see with their eyes they wanted to see God right the way are there such people today most certainly there are some people who say if only I could see God then I would believe him but they have it backwards God has revealed enough of himself in his word in his creation for man to know him and love him the gift of seeing God spiritually has to be by faith to all those people who say I have to see it to believe it God says you will not see it unless you believe if you believe then you will see so Moses Aaron naab Abu and the 70 elders were called to worship God they heard the word their sins were atoned for through the blood of the Covenant and then they were brought into God's presence where they could gaze upon his glory it was a forast of Heaven this is also a picture of our Salvation there was a time when you and I were separated from God because of our sins like the Israelites we were law Breakers but God has accepted the atonement for our sins through the death and blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary by faith we believe and after we were saved we were welcomed into his presence and we could see God through his word each time we read the Bible we see our almighty God we could see God through his creation we Marvel at the things that God has created we could see God as we interpret the different circumstances of life we know that nothing happens by chance nor coincidence and we see the hands of God working at every step of the way one day the longing of our hearts to see God will be fully satisfied and we will see him face to face that day will come our second point is they communed with God look at the second part of verse 11 and they did eat and drink the Bible does not tell us what they ate and drank most likely they ate what was left of the fellowship offerings that they had sacrificed to the Lord in verse 5 but whatever the ate and drank the sharing of food and drink symbolizes their communion with God often times the Bible describes our relationship with God in terms of sharing a meal King David said thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies Psalm 23:5 when we commune with God our hearts are at peace even though we may be surrounded by enemies and adversities and afflictions the prophet Isaiah said that one day the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of banquet for the people from every nation to sit at his table Isaiah 25:6 in the New Testament Jesus described his kingdom in terms of eating and drinking Jesus said and I say unto you that many shall come from the East and West and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven in other words the invitation to join in the feast is not only for the Jews but for the people all over the world
Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
that was why when the Jews refused to accept the gospel of Salvation Jesus said go ye therefore into the highways and as many as you shall find bid them call them to come for the marriage Feast referring to the Gentiles in other words only those who are saved will come to Feast with God will come to join in the banquet and they will commune with God our almighty God is always handing out invitation to come to his Feast every time the gospel is preached people are invited to eat and drink with God one day God will host the last and longest banquet of all which Revelation 19 ver9 says is the marriage Supple of the lamb in heaven and that will be a feast for all the Believers throughout all ages dear friend every time we receive a wedding invitation there is an R SVP which in French means please respond the couple who invites us wants us to respond whether we will come or not likewise God wants us to respond and the only way to respond is to Believe In His only begotten son Jesus Christ for salvation have you responded to God's invitation if you have then one day you will sit down at the marriage supper of the lamb in heaven that will never end you will commune with God forever and ever our third and final point is Moses entered into God's glory look at verse 12 and the Lord said unto Moses come up to me into the mount and be there and I will give thee tables of stone and a law and Commandments which I have written that thou mayest teach them after the people had finished eating and drinking God invited Moses alone to come closer to go up the mountain the purpose was to give him the Ten Commandments which were written on stone tablets according to Deuteronomy 4:13 they were written on two stone tablets these were the same tablets that Moses angrily dashed to the ground when he saw the Israelites dancing around the golden calf a later on the Ten Commandments were Rewritten we will come to that in Exodus chapter 34 by the way there are some Liber Scholars who say that the Mosaic law was collected from the wisdom of the ancient world that is not true because know this God said which I have written these Commandments that Moses received came directly from from God himself if these Commandments were just words of man's Wisdom then you and I have the Liberty to obey or not to obey if these Commandments were the words of God then we must obey period there's no end if or but we must oby verse 13 and Moses rose up and his Minister Joshua and Moses went up into the mou of God Joshua would be the next leader after Moses and here he was serving Moses as in learning valuable lessons in the ministry this was God's pattern for developing spiritual leadership we learned to lead by observing and serving alongside someone else by way of testimony before I was ordained as a pastor I had tostudy Pastor Steven coup he taught me how to minister what to say what not to say how to conduct the Lord's Supper the holy matrimony fineral service bism and so forth we may be able to learn the theories of all these spiritual activities but to be effective to understand the Practical aspects of it we have to observe and Learn by coming alongside someone else this principle also applies to all the preachers Elders deacons Fellowship leaders and Sunday school teachers we have to train those people who are called to serve by taking them under our wings like Moses what he did to josua teaching them how to lead and how to serve by our lives this is God's pattern for developing spiritual leadership verse 14 and he said unto the elders the ye here for us until we come again unto you and behold Aaron and her are with you if any man have any matters to do let him come onto them it is the duty of the leader to delegate responsibilities to others in his absence when he's not around in case there are disagreements and difficulties the people need to know who is in charge and the people in charge have to be faithful and trustworthy worthy with this in mind Moses appointed his brother Aaron and H to be the leaders at that time it seemed to be a good choice because after all these men they had helped to defeat the amalekites remember how they lifted Moses hands during the battle you can read about that in Exodus chapter 17 so Moses Tau that was a good choice also he taught unfortunately when he came down from the mountain after 40 days he realized that with Aon and Hull as the leaders the people had built the golden cuff how sad what can we learn from here humanly speaking we can only do that much we can only make sure that the ministry is passed on to people whom we know are faithful and trustworthy but there's no guarantee we cannot see the heart nor can we tell the future sometimes people may pretend to be faithful or they may change along the way initially they may be faithful but along the way they may go astray however we have to play our part in making sure that things are done right and then entrust the whole matter into God's hand the church the Ministries the fellowship groups they all belong to God Only God Alone is in control of all things verse 15 and Moses went up into the mount and a cloud covered the mount at this point the Bible did not mention Joshua so only Moses alone went up the mountain verse 16 and the glory of the Lord upon Mount Si and the cloud covered it six days and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud and the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel you can imagine what an amazing picture it was looking from the foot of the mountain the children of Israel saw the glory of God like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain and where was Moses he was not standing at the distance and looking at God's Cloud of Glory he was right there in fact he entered into the midst of The Cloud of Glory as Verse 18 tells us and Moses went into the midst of the cloud and get him up into the mount which means he ascended onto the summit of the mountain to the top of the mountain and Moses was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights let us pause for a moment and consider the life of Moses Moses had been getting closer and closer to God ever since he met God at the burning bush he had seen the glory of God revealed in the burning bush in the templex in the opening of the Red Sea in sending Mana from heaven and water from The Rock in the pillar of cloud by day and Pillar of Fire by night and now he was given the privilege to enter into God's Cloud of Glory and there he communed with God for 40 days and 40 nights allow me to quote one Theologian who said this this entering into God's Cloud of Glory and communing with him for 40 days and 40 nights is but a glimpse of Heaven as the believer lives his life he draws closer and closer to God he sees more and more of God's glory until finally he enters into his glory and commune with him forever and ever dear friend that is also a picture of us as Believers God Has Come to Us in the person of his son Jesus Christ who was sent to be our savior Jesus came down from heaven and revealed the glory of God as John 1:14 says and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth our spiritual Eyes Are Open we were saved by grace and true faith and from then onwards as we live our days on this Earth as we commune with our almighty God we are getting closer and closer to him we see his power and Glory manifested through our lives as he uses to bring people to Salvation as we Face the trials of life with his strength as we experience his hands of provision and protection as we receive His blessings and comfort our life is all about God's glory we are safe for his glory and we manifest his glory through our lives
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one day our lord Jesus will come in the clouds for each and every one of us when we are still alive we will be raptured to meet him if we have died our bodies will be raised from our Graves to be United with our souls in a glorified body and we will enter into his glory and commune with him not only for 40 days and 40 nights but forever and ever dear friend our life begin with God's glory and ends with his glory have you responded to God's invitation to come to him have you seen God with your spiritual eyes have you been communing with him are you getting closer and closer to God eagerly waiting for the day to come when you will enter into his glory I pray that all of us our lives will be like this we saw him we communed with him and we have entered into his glory and one day we will be fully satisfied because we will be in his glory forever and ever let us pray Our Father in Heaven indeed as we consider this portion of scriptures there are so many wonderful l lessons we can learn that at every step of the way in our Salvation Thou Art the one who initiates the invitation if thou has not called us invites us to come to thee for salvation none of us will be saved we will still be wandering in the wilderness of sin and die a terrible death be condemned forever and ever but in thy great Mercy thou has called us and thou H has sent thy only begotten son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to save us through his atoning death and the shedding of of his Precious Blood on the cross we are saved and as we live our days on this Earth our spiritual eyes are opened and we see thee so clearly in Thy Word in thy Creation in the way we interpret the different circumstances of Life truly at every step of the way Thou Art working in each and every one of our lives and as we commune with thee as we draw closer and closer to thee we eagerly wait for the day when we will enter into thy glory and commune with thee forever and ever oh Lord we eagerly wait for this day some of us are in our evening years perhaps our days on this Earth are numbered but we are not fearful instead we are excited because death will Asher us into thy glorious presence and then and we will be with thee forever that is the desire of our hearts and we pray that all of us will live our lives to draw closer and closer to thee we give thee thanks and we pray all this in Jesus name amen