Exodus 20:18-21: Drawing Back from God
Exodus 20:18-21
"When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was" (Ex. 20:18-21).
Human beings are, by nature, afraid of God. They should be. This is because we are, by nature, sinful, and sinful beings are, by nature, under the wrath of God--and the wrath of God is something to be greatly feared.
"The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger" (Zeph. 3:8).
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God" (Heb. 10:31).
So it is understandable that the ancient Hebrews were fearful to go to the mountain of fire to meet with God. This fear they inherited from their parents, along with their sinful nature. For when Adam and Eve sinned, one of the tragic consequences of that sin was that they became afraid of God; they tried to avoid God, with Adam saying to him:
"I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid" (Gen. 3:10).
Here we see the root cause of fear of God: our sinfulness. For before Adam and Eve sinned, they walked with God in the Garden of Eden unafraid and enjoying fellowship with God. But after their sin, fear took the place of fellowship and love.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 Jn. 4:18).
So it was that they who had known perfect love now experienced fear, because they were afraid of God's righteous punishment of their sin. That sin was unable to be hidden from God; it was exposed; their hearts were as naked and laid bare before God as were their bodies.
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Heb. 4:13).
So Adam and Eve tried to hide from the One who saw the sin in their heart, who saw who they really were. They didn't like the truth about themselves and didn't want that truth to be exposed by the light of God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (1 Jn. 5:6).
It was the same with their descendents at Mt. Sinai. When God called out to them to meet with him there, just as he had called out to Adam and Eve, like Adam and Eve, they sought to avoid contact with God and told Moses:
"Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die" (Ex. 20:19).
This is a very telling statement of the condition of their hearts. When sin is in the human heart, that heart seeks to distance itself from God. Even today, many people are willing to go to church and hear another human being preach whatever he wants to them, even telling them that they are sinners--but they do not want God himself to say that to them or anything else. They want an intermediary between themselves and God. They want to keep God at a "safe" distance from themselves, pretending that such a thing is even possible because it gives them a false sense of security.
But in truth, it is impossible to hide anything from God, no matter how great a distance one pretends to have between one's heart and God, for "the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10). If the Spirit searches the deep things of God's own heart, it knows how to search the deep things of every human heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from the eyes of God's Spirit. Those who pretend otherwise are out of touch with reality and living in a make-believe world, a world of fantasy and of one's own imagination, not the world of truth and reality. So, in a way, those ancient people of God who feared for their lives on the mountain where God had desired to speak to them were correct in their belief that just hearing the voice of God speak to them could be fatal to them. Much later, God gave a vision to his servant John that illustrates this truth. On the island of Patmos, the disciple John saw in a vision from God this picture of the Lord:
"Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations" (Rev. 19:15).
"(They) were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse" (Rev. 19:21).
Jesus is portrayed in this vision as the great judge of all humanity, who will carry out that judgment by speaking the word of judgment. For he knows the heart of every human being and in this great and final judgment, he will swing that sword and strike into the heart of every human being, exposing the true nature of each person's heart. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh (Jn. 1:1), and Scripture says of the Word of God:
"The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit . . . It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (Jn. 3:19,20).
What a telling description of the hearts of the Hebrews there at Mt. Sinai, unwilling to come close to God on the mountain because of their fear of him and his wrath over their sin. They feared the light of God's word and truth exposing the darkness of their hearts. They are afraid both of light and darkness, and pull back from the darkness on the mountain where God had hidden himself from them for a moment.
"Truly you are a God who hides himself" (Is. 45:15).
But wait a minute. If God truly is a God who hides himself in darkness, and if he is a righteous judge who can strike us down merely by speaking the word of judgment upon us--if God is so terrible in majesty and so far above us in holiness and righteous judgment, what hope is there for us? Surely the Hebrews were right in refusing to enter into the deep darkness where God was, for that would have meant death to them.
Ah, but that is precisely the point! If a person truly wants to know God and would come to him, he must die. Jesus himself made this clear.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it'" (Mt. 16:24,25).
In the time of Jesus’ life here on earth, a person took up his cross in order to go to his death by crucifixion. In order to be born again as a new creature in Christ, the old man within us must be put to death. He who would live in Christ must die. This is not a message the human soul wants to hear and it takes a dedication to the truth to fight against this natural reaction to the need for death to one's self in order to gain the true life that is in Christ. The people at Mt. Sinai did not have this desire for the truth at all costs, therefore they drew back. Only one man dared to continue on to approach the thick darkness where God was. That man was Moses. What was so different about him that enabled him to succeed where the whole nation failed?
We are told in Scripture of Moses that he "was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth" (Num. 12:3 NIV), with the RSV using the word meek instead of humble. Either way, meekness and humility are crucial to being able to approach God and to hear him speak to us without us being slain by such word of God.
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Lk. 18:17).
"For this is what the high and lofty One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite‘" (Is. 57:14).
This needed humility for approaching God must extend from being willing to have our sin exposed before God (which it is anyway, but we have to be willing to see it as well) all the way to being humble enough to die to that old self. Humility to the point of death is characteristic of the God-nature that dwelt in our Lord Jesus Christ:
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" (Ph. 2: 5-8).
This humility was not found in the people gathered before Mt. Sinai, but only in Moses, a preliminary type of Christ who was to come. That is why Moses was able to go forward while the people fell back: because he was a humble man, willing to admit his sinfulness before God. He was willing risk death to his own person if it meant being able to approach God. This is not a quality most people readily accept, as illustrated in the life of Jesus and his work among the people.
When Jesus first began his ministry, people flocked to him because of his miracles and healings and feeding them. But as he taught them about the deeper aspects of coming to God and the requirement for renunciation of all one holds dear in order to do this, then they began to draw back, saying, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (jn. 6:60).
"From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him" (Jn. 6:66).
This same situation arose centuries after the people of God drew back from following Moses up the mountain to meet God--and for the same reason: They did not want to pay the cost; they did not want to let go of their life; they were afraid of dying. Their situation is described and contrasted with that of us who live in the era of the new covenant of God's grace in this way:
"You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: 'If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.' The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, 'I am trembling with fear'" (Heb. 12:18-21).
Yes, even Moses trembled with fear at what was before him--and rightly he should. But he did not let that fear stop him from continuing to move forward and upward to come to God. He was willing even to die, if only he could know the Lord. In this, he showed the same attitude that Job had, who suffered so much by God's allowance, yet exclaimed boldly:
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust him" (Job 13:15).
That is the kind of faith and trust and love that the Lord is seeking in those whom he created for himself. It is what faith and love is all about, trusting God so much that even though we tremble with fear at stepping into the darkness of unknowing surrounding God, we still go on and take that step of faith and love with Moses into the terrible dark cloud on the mountain of fire and lightning. And when we do, lo and behold! the mountain is transformed into Mount Zion, the beautiful mountain of the Lord. For by faith in Christ, we leave Mt. Sinai, the mountain of the law that condemns us to death and makes us tremble in fear over God's wrath for our failure to keep that law, and we find ourselves instead on the mountain of God's grace that forgives us our sins in Jesus Christ.
"You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Heb. 12:22-24).
What a marvelous, gracious gift of God, to speak kindly to those who come before him trembling with fear over their sins, that they do not need to fear his wrath if they will only confess that sin and seek forgiveness in his Son, Jesus Christ. But not all receive that free gift of God. Some turn back in fear and refuse the gift. To them, God has a further word of warning than the one he gave on the mountain of the law:
"See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' (Hag 2:6) The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire'" (Heb. 12:25-29).
That time spoken of in the above passage is rapidly approaching. The end truly is near. It is time to put off any fear of God because of our sins by looking to Jesus to bring us to his mountain of forgiveness and faith and hope and love.
"The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God" (Heb. 7:18,19).
No longer must we draw back like the people of old did, for God will not be pleased if we do.
"But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him" (Heb. 10:38).
"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved" (Heb. 10:39).
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb. 10:19-22).
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