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And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. 13 They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

Someone has written about God’s ‘dangerous holiness.’ We could equally speak of His ‘frightening holiness.’ The point to note here is that we can’t come to this holy God any old way; we can’t approach Him how we choose. We must come to Him on His own terms or not at all.We now know (in the light of the full revelation of Scripture) that we must approach God in and through the mercy and grace of Jesus. There is no other way than the Cross. Otherwise we will be incinerated by the blazing holiness of God. It is in the New Testament that we read that our “God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). This is still true in the gospel era. So although we may come to God boldly through Jesus, this does not mean coming carelessly, thoughtlessly, lightly. Sin (and sinners) cannot survive the holiness of God, apart from the intervening blood of Christ.

Someone observed, ‘An easy-going people believe in an easy-going God.’

‘They needed the warning that the holiness of God is such that no human self-preparation can ever satisfy its demands. Humans can no more fit themselves to stand in the Lord’s holy presence than Adam and Eve, in their day, could find the road back to the garden and evade the angel with the sword of flame.’ Alec Motyer: ‘The Message of Exodus’, p.207.

Graham Kendrick got it so right:

‘Only by grace can we enter, only by grace can we stand;

Not by our human endeavour, but by the blood of the Lamb…

Lord if you marked our transgressions who would stand,

Thanks to your grace we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.’

and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

This reference to the third day is full resonance. There are repeated references to the third day in the Bible. As God came down on Mount Sinai to give the law to His people, so it was that on the third day (after three days and nights in the grave) Jesus rose again to usher in the age of the Spirit, in which the law would be written on people’s hearts.

Thank God for that great third day and all it’s significance.

‘We are an Easter people and ‘Hallelujah’ is our song.’

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes

Before moving on in Exodus 19, I want to highlight a couple of further things in the text at which we looked recently. First of all, this bit about the clothes wash!

Someone pointed out that clothes speak of intent. For example, if you see a woman in a bridal dress you know she intends to marry; if you see someone in a football kit you know they intend to play in a match. This theme of washing clothes is one we can follow through in the Bible, and we find it in the New Testament as well as the old. It reflects an intention to live as holy a life as possible.

The holy life does take intentionality.

John Stott writes about Ephesians 4, and Paul’s teaching about a new set of clothes:

“Then we must actively cultivate a Christian life. For holiness is not a condition into which we drift. We are not passive spectators of a sanctification God works in us. On the contrary, we have purposefully to ‘put away’ from us all conduct that is incompatible with our new life in Christ, and to ‘put on’ a lifestyle compatible with it.” (Italics mine).

PRAYER: Lord God, if holiness is to be pursued, help me to go after it with all my might, even as I lean on your strength.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. 13 They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.”

If we leave aside the details which were specific to that historical moment and to these unique people, we nevertheless find at our passage’s beating heart an abiding principle: that call to holiness without which “no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14; see also James 4:6-9 for an important New Testament parallel to Exodus 19:10-15).

We cannot escape the Biblical emphasis that holiness matters. But it is possible for us to fall into at least two extreme responses to this call for Holiness:

1. Super-spirituality: To delude ourselves into believing we have arrived at some sort of ‘sinless perfection’, or that we can. (I read a rather tragic story recently of someone who was regarded as a spiritual giant in the rather extreme church circles in which she moved. She was in so many ways a sincere woman, and she believed she had arrived at this rarified ‘sinless’ state. But her sons were traumatised by her parenting – deeply scarred. They experienced her as, in many ways, an abusive woman). This is not to deny, by the way, that in the Christian life you do tend to get what you go in for, and that there are people who are shining examples of closeness to God. That being the case, it makes the next extreme all the more sad;
2. To throw in the towel altogether out of a sense of weakness and failure. Hebrews 12:14 begins in this way: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy…” God wants our holiness, and on our side holiness is to be pursued, drawing on all the grace God continually gives.

‘Exodus reflects the way biblical thinking works. The Word of God is designed to be life-changing…’ Alec Motyer, ‘The message of Exodus’, p.203.

The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

We have noted previously how Moses serves as a model for preacher – leaders in the church today. He meets with God, hears His voice and passes on His Word. We know for sure that Moses was not perfect. (He had his moments!!) Nevertheless, he had about him a spiritual authenticity that might otherwise be described as ‘the anointing.’

Let’s not miss the importance of this point: a leader may or not be articulate. (Moses clearly felt that he was not). He/she may be obviously gifted, or otherwise. But if they endeavour to walk with God and bring His Word to the people of God, these same people will recognise a certain indefinable something about them, and have confidence in them. They will sense that this man/woman is ‘real’. There is no substitute for that, whatever we call it! It lies at the core of genuine ministry.

“The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud..”

God can come to us in any way He chooses. In the Bible we see Him manifesting His presence in numerous ways, and ultimately, of course, in Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-3).

Sometimes God comes to us in a “dense” cloud. His ways are regularly mysterious, and although He is with us we may not see Him.

I was reflecting on this recently, and then I picked up Joyce Huggett’s book, ‘Listening to God.’ A very dear friend loaned it to me a little while back, and I’ve been slowly working my way through it as part of my morning devotions. Having just thought about God coming in “a dense cloud”, I found myself reading about a period in Joyce’s spiritual pilgrimage when she was going through a ‘dark night of the soul.’ Someone (who she describes as ‘a spiritual friend) said to her:

‘I feel so excited by this darkness of yours. You see, when you stand in the howling desert like this, you never know how God will next come to you. What you do know is that he will come. I believe God is encouraging you to look for him round every corner because he is coming – and he’s coming soon’ (p.155).

It is not for us to dictate how and when God should meet us. We know He ‘moves in mysterious ways’.

At the end of the chapter I’ve just finished, Joyce quotes this prayer. I believe it is appropriate for today:

‘Saint Catherine of Siena, Lord,

Said you are like the sea.

The more we know of you,

The more we find;

And the more we find of you,

The more we want.

Yet we never really understand you.

I don’t like that idea at all.

I want to know about you, Lord.

Just as I want to know about the sea

Or space or electricity.

But if it’s true that I can’t know it all

Then keep me wanting to know.’

So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.

We need to be careful what we promise in God’s presence don’t you think? There is a clear warning in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7:

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.

2 Do not be quick with your mouth,

    do not be hasty in your heart

    to utter anything before God.

God is in heaven

    and you are on earth,

    so let your words be few.

3 A dream comes when there are many cares,

    and many words mark the speech of a fool.

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfil it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfil your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfil it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.

Of course, if you have made a rash promise, it’s not too late to start to fulfil it from today – and to look for God’s help in doing so. The truth is, we are unable to do anything God requires of us except by His strength.

The Israelites said, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” But they couldn’t. It is only under the terms of the new covenant that the required obedience is made possible:

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

    after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

    and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

    and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33

Thought: The Spirit of God will equip us to do what the Word of God tells us we ought to do.