Dining With God

Before I left for Australia, Pastor Lay Suan preached a sermon based on Exodus 24. But it wasn't really a sermon. It was really a wake up call and an invitation.

Come up here to me…
Of all the words in the first two verses, the thing that bothers me the most are the words 'worship from afar'. It is the fact that God wants to keep His people away that shocks me. God says, "...the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him." Elissa also mentions this point in her blog post titled "In This Chaos We Find Safety". There was to be no touching the mountain that God was on. There was no way they could come close even after washing and consecrating themselves for 3 days.

I think, being in the new covenant, we sometimes forget the privilege of coming to God. We are so pampered at the ease by which we approach God that we mistakenly devalue it.

We see here in Chapter 24 that God wants Moses alone to come near to God. He desires the close relationship of His people. God desires intimacy! The Hebrew word for "come near" is Nagash, the same word used to describe sexual intercourse, or sexual intimacy, the closest physical relationship between a man and a woman. God wants to be closer than that.
In John 15, Jesus attempts to communicate that desire to the disciples, and to us. He says, "Abide in Me, and I in you" and "Abide in My Love".
In John 17, He prays "that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You..."

Intimacy comes at a price
As I read through verse 3 to verse 8, it details what it took to prepare themselves to come close to God.

1. Telling everyone the requirements of this intimacy.
2. Getting them to agree and be like-minded.
3. Writing down what had been instructed.
4. Waking up early.
5. Building an altar at the foot of the mountain.
6. Building 12 pillars to represent each tribe.
7. Sending youth to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings of oxen (which is a long tedious process of selecting an appropriate animal, killing it, collecting the blood, carving up the carcass, burning the parts of the animal).
8. Throwing half the blood collected on the altar.
9. Reading the Covenant to the people.
10. Throwing the blood on the people.

It is a long list that started early in the morning and probably required much preparation before it could be carried out. All that work can be summarised into one Name.

JESUS

Formerly, the leaders were unable to even touch the mountain. The bible says that God "did not lay His hand on the chief men of the people of Israel". In Exodus 19:12 & 13, God clearly stated that whoever touched the mountain would die. In Exodus 19:21, God told Moses to warn the people in case they came through and saw God and died. No looking, no touching, no intimate relationship. But when those requirements were fulfilled, the leaders able to climb up to see God. They were able to eat and drink with the God of the universe. Something not done since before Adam & Eve's sin.

I believe that through the consecration, the altars set up, the sacrifices offered, the blood sprinkled and the terms of the Covenant read out allowed for a moment, this intimacy that God was longing for. I believe this is just a snapshot of what Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice, the perfect high priest, did for us. What the men of the old covenant enjoyed briefly, we have for eternity!

And yet, that is not all there is to be said. There is a higher call that Moses received. A call for an intimacy deeper and purer than the sexual union between a man and his woman. A call that is not reserved only for Moses and Aaron, but for every believer now. A call to come close to receive what is necessary for your life's work. There is no other option if the church is to fulfill her responsibility to the world.