Good Morning.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” (Exodus 19:9)
The primary reason God descended upon the mountain was to impress upon the people the need to hear. In this particular case, they would hear directly from God and not through a messenger or intermediary. This proved to be too much for them and so they asked Moses to petition God not to speak to them directly (Ex. 20:19). The experience at Sinai would turn out to be the exception and not the rule because, afterwards, they would indeed hear from God through Moses and the other prophets who would followed him.
Like Moses, those other prophets would continue to impress upon the people of Israel the significance of their calling and the importance of believing Moses “forever.” In other words, God showed up on the mountain to validate His servant, Moses, in the sight of all the people so that, in the future, they would remember he spoke on behalf of the Almighty. Every day of their journey would not be a Sinai experience, but the word of God delivered to the people was still to be honored. To this day Judaism, by and large, continues to respect the word given to Moses because they understand that His Word is eternal. Put simply, the LORD does not change (Malachi 3:6) and, therefore, His Word doesn’t change. Messiah also made it clear that the Word of God is eternal and unchanging. He said:
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17-18)
We live in a day when law — whether man’s or God’s — are treated more as suggestions rather than boundaries to be respected. It is my view that, generally speaking, men are doing what is right in their own eyes, failing to respect the eternal rule of order. In the end, the lawlessness being sown will reap the whirlwind. Therefore, as God’s people, we must be those who remain true to the standards our Creator has established. We must not fall into the trap of thinking we are permitted to augment, delete or ignore what God has said just because society willingly dismisses it. We must be those who are faithful to honor His Word and live by the standard expressed by Paul: “Let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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