After Moses received the Ten Commandments,
he spoke to the Israelite people who were apparently terrified by being in the
presence of God. They wanted Moses as their mediator. Think about their
situation and mediate on where you are with God today.
The LORD spoke these words to all of you
assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from
the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he
said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to
me. But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the
mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me.
They said, 'Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we
have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God
can speak to us humans, and yet we live! But now, why should we risk death
again? If the LORD our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be
consumed by this awesome fire. Can any living thing hear the voice of the
living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive?' Deuteronomy
5:22-26 NLT
Imagine the Israelites standing at the foot
of Mt. Sinai with Moses holding two huge stone tables engraved with the Ten
Commandments. If you’ve seen the 1956 epic movie “The Ten Commandments” with
Charlton Heston, you have the visual in mind. Those people who had been
wandering in the desert, led by God and His miracles were afraid to die. Their
fear, as expressed here by Moses, was that God would burn them up in His
awesome fire. But they had heard the very voice of God. How awesome is that?
How often do we see God working in our
lives? It is probably not as dramatic as parting the Red Sea, speaking to us
from a burning bush or a fire, or providing manna. God just wants His people to
obey His commandments. That is what He wanted from the Israelites and that is
what He wants from us. When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment,
He summarized them into two:
"The most important commandment is
this: 'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you
must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind,
and all your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." Mark 12:29-31
Do those and you will live is the message.
Living. Living forever with God. That was what Jesus was teaching. Read the
discussion that Moses had with the Israelites (Deuteronomy 4-6) and then the
teachings of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and decide for yourself. You
can systematically read the Gospels; you don’t have to read them all at once.
Is there a risk involved in knowing God, or is there more risk involved in NOT
knowing God?
Prayer
~ Lord, open our eyes and hearts to know You more fully. Help us to have a
sense of respect, not a fear of punishment or death in knowing You. You are
truly a great and awesome God, who we are privileged to know. We love You with
all of our heart, soul, mind and strength…help us to love our neighbor as ourselves.
© 2020 Text and
photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of
Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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