Exodus 24:1-18


To experience the presence of God was a wonderful and terrifying thing for the children of Israel.  God has made Himself known to them through His Word and the revelation of His law.  They heard His voice and now they are able to see His glory on the mountain.  Their response to this experience is to worship and make sacrifices to Him.  The more that we grow in our knowledge of the Lord, the more we ought to grow in our worship of Him.
THE PROMISE OF THE PEOPLE TO OBEY:  The Lord has made His will and His law known to the people.  Moses reads the law to the people and they all agree, with one voice, to obey all of the Laws that they have heard.  Anytime that the Lord reveals Himself to us the natural response of every man is to pledge allegiance and obedience to Him.  However, it is far harder to obey than it is to promise to obey.  As much as we may want to obey and not believe that we would disobey such a wonderful God; our tendency with time is to forget our promise as well as our experience with the Lord.  The key to obeying the Lord is to not forget our experience with the Lord and to practice His presence in our lives on a day to day basis.  There are times when we go through spiritual highs and sense God’s presence in our lives in a very special way.  However, there are also times where God seems distant and we doubt His presence with us.  If we are going to be faithful to obey Him we must consistently live in light of His constant presence in our lives no matter how we may feel or perceive His presence in our lives.
THE PRESENCE OF THE FATHER REVEALED: Moses prepares an altar of worship to the Lord and they make sacrifices to purify the people and prepare for God’s presence in even a greater manner.  God has invited the elders to come closer to the mountain and invited Moses to come up to the top of the mountain where God is going to make His glory evident to all the people.  Preparations must be made for such an event.  We cannot come into the presence of God because of our sinfulness, but Christ’s ultimate sacrifice has made it possible for us to experience His presence in us now and gives us a promise of our presence with Him in heaven for all of eternity.  The closer Moses and the leaders come to the presence of God the more awesome the experience becomes.  God’s special invitation to Moses is a unique privilege that God gave in order to encourage Moses and equip him to lead God’s people.  God does not call us to do jobs without giving us the necessary gifts and strength through His presence to be able to perform those tasks.  Moses spends forty days on the top of the mountain with the Lord.  It is vital that we set times aside where we can be alone in the presence of God.

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