The Unapproachable God Approaches

Scripture: Exodus 19-20

Sermon: The Unapproachable God Approaches

Topics: Covenant, Marriage, Committed

Preached: November 25, 2018 AM

Rev. Mike Abma

PREAMBLE

We are about to read a very important Old Testament passage.

This passage describes the beginning of what is called the Sinai Covenant between God and his People.

Theologians and Biblical Scholars like to describe this

as a Suzerain – Vassal Covenant.

This morning I will be using a word I am more familiar with, and I think you are more familiar with too. That is the word Marriage.

The Covenant Ceremony we are about to read is a lot like a Marriage Ceremony.

But here is one key thing to keep in mind.

When we think of a Marriage Ceremony,

We think of a marriage between equals,

A husband and wife are both equal.

In this particular ceremony we are about to read,

The marriage is between two very different and unequal partners.

God is the mighty, the majestic, the Holy One.

Israel is human, frail, and sinful one.

But here is the wondrous thing:

God has chosen Israel to be his bride,

So this first passage we will read is the Betrothal part of the ceremony —

God pledging to take Israel as his very own.

BETROTHAL

Listen

Exodus 19: 1-9a

At the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai.²They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.³Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites:⁴You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, ⁶but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.’

7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.’

God has had a relationship, a covenant, with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the sons of Jacob.

But this is something new.

Israel is now a nation.

Israel is now a people.

They have been born – delivered by God through the Red Sea.

Now God wants to make his relationship with this new and young nation

official.

He is ready to commit to them, to be their God.

But He needs them to commit to Him –

to agree to be his holy nation, to be his priestly kingdom.

So this is the Betrothal part –

God pledging to be committed to Israel

And Israel pledging to be committed to God.

PREPARATION and CONSECRATION

Now to the next part of the Ceremony – the Preparation and Consecration.

In Jewish marriage ceremonies today,

brides and grooms prepare for their wedding by taking a ritual bath,

A mikveh.

It is a purification ceremony.

The same is true here – Israel is told to cleanse themselves and to prepare for the coming marriage.

Exodus 19: 9b-15

When Moses had told the words of the people to the Lord, ¹⁰the Lord said to Moses: ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes ¹¹and prepare for the third day, because on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹²You shall set limits for the people all around, saying, “Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Any who touch the mountain shall be put to death. ¹³No hand shall touch them, but they shall be stoned or shot with arrows; whether animal or human being, they shall not live.” When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they may go up on the mountain.’ ¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵And he said to the people, ‘Prepare for the third day; do not go near a woman.’

This is preparation time.

The marriage is coming in just days.

So Israel is commanded to wash –

to clean their clothes

to be ready,

to be prepared

to be consecrated to meet their God.

There is that odd line in there “do not go near a woman.”

It may sound strange, but think about it a moment.

This marriage ceremony, this covenantal ceremony

was all about clarifying a person’s

first love,

their first devotion

their first commitment.

They had to make clear that their first commitment

was to be to God and no one else, not even their spouse.

This whole preparation time was so that

Israel was holy as God was holy.

That they were devoted to God,

as God was devoted to them.

That thy knew they belonged to God,

body and soul, in life and in death.

That is really the essence of the word “holy” here.

It means to be devoted to, consecrated to, committed to the Lord.

PROCESSIONAL 19: 16-20

Why do we have wedding rehearsals?

Having been to many, many wedding rehearsals, I can tell you that it is mainly to get the Processional right.

What is the music that will be playing?

What is the order that people go down the aisle?

What happens when the Bridal Procession starts?

Well this next passage is God’s Processional as he descends from heaven to the top of Mount Sinai.

Exodus 19: 16-20

16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. ¹⁹As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak and God would answer him in thunder. ²⁰When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

This Processional is something else isn’t it?

The fanfare is absolutely terrifying:

There is thunder.

There is lightning.

There is smoke and fire.

There is the sound of trumpets blaring away.

God is coming. He is descending in his glory.

That is when God begins to Speak.

He begins to speak the Vows of this Marriage Ceremony.

Because that is really the heart of any Marriage Ceremony —

the promises made, the promises kept.

God speaks 10 words or commands

words that will characterize his holy people.

Why 10?

Remember those 10 plagues? They were agents of Chaos,

causing the undoing of Creation.

These are 10 words of Order,

beginning the restoration of Creation.

God basically says to his Beloved,

“If we are going to live together,

You with me, and me with you,

This is how is has to be.

This is how you have to live.

This is how it has to go in your relationship with me.

This is how it has to go in your relationship with each other.”

WEDDING NERVES

I have officiated at a lot of weddings, and brides and grooms, they get nervous.

They get a little afraid and even overwhelmed by what is happening.

Here, in this holy marriage ceremony between God and his people,

The nerves start to show.

Exodus 20: 18-21

When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, ¹⁹and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’ ²⁰Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.’ ²¹Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Israel is nervous, Israel is scared because God presence is overwhelming.

God is simply too much for them:

He is too big

Too glorious

Too majestic

Too much….

So they turn to Moses and plead with him:

“You speak to us. We’ll listen.

But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die.”

God listens.

From this point onwards, God only speaks through Moses.

And later, God will only speak through the prophets.

God will not speak to all his people all at once ever again.

HONEYMOON

This whole Marriage Ceremony in Exodus continues for chapters and chapters.

Then God will eventually descend even further,

all the way down to a newly built Tabernacle,

so that He can travel with his people, and they can travel with him.

They set off into the wilderness.

Later, when the prophets speak about this time,

they speak about it in honeymoon-terms.

This is a time God rejoices over his people

the way a groom rejoices over his bride, says Isaiah (62:5).

Jeremiah wistfully remembers how

Israel was a young bride

And she followed the Lord into the wilderness.

That was a beautiful time

when Israel was holy to the Lord, devoted to the Lord,

and of course, the Lord was devoted to them.

It was their honeymoon.

But these prophets both ask, “What went wrong?”

Why did God’s people drift from their God?

Why did they turn their backs on this marriage covenant?

Why did they run after other sources of security, and comfort, and pleasure?

CONCLUSION

Clearly God remained holy –

He remained devoted to his people,

faithful to his people,

committed to his people.

But Israel did not remain holy –

they drifted, they forgot, they again and again leave God in the lurch.

There is an old story told that tries to clearly distinguish between

involvement and commitment.

It is the story of a chicken and a pig walking down the road.

CHICKEN: Hey pig, I have an idea. Why don’t we open a restaurant together.

PIG: Hmmmm….maybe. What would we call it?

CHICKEN: Let’s call it “Ham n Eggs.”

PIG (pause)

No thanks.

You’d only need to be involved.

But I…I would need to be committed.

In the marriage between God and his people,

the people were only involved with God.

So God decided to descend once again.

This time he did not do so loudly, but quietly.

This time his coming was not Big but Small.

He came not in strength, but in weakness.

His arrival was not overwhelming but somewhat underwhelming.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

God came because he loved his people

and his creation dearly.

God came

because he was committed.

AMEN