Did you ever see The Wizard of OZ as a kid? I did and it scared me – I didn’t like the flying monkeys or the wicked witch. But one thing that stuck out to me was the appearance of the wizard – all the smoke, the lights, the thunder…
It reminded me of the stories I had read about the children of Israel being protected by the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire that God used to lead them. By no means am I comparing the wizard to God the Father, just giving you a visual you can relate to.
However, the children of Israel had come to a place where God wanted to speak with all of them. God wanted them all to come close to Mt. Sinai and He wanted Moses to come up into His cloud as He spoke.
It had only been 2 months since they left Egypt. They have seen many miracles, some in the final days of their time in Egypt and others as they traveled to Mt. Sinai. It had been a miraculous journey. All that time the Lord spoke directly to Moses then Moses told the people what He has said.
“Once more the Lord spoke to Moses: Go back and tell the people that today and tomorrow they must get themselves ready to meet me. They must wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the day after tomorrow, when I will come down to Mount Sinai, where all of them can see me.” Exodus 19:10 CEV
“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud covered the mountain, a loud trumpet blast was heard, and everyone in camp trembled with fear. 17 Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had come down in a flaming fire. Smoke poured out of the mountain just like a furnace, and the whole mountain shook. 19 The trumpet blew louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.” Exodus 19:16-19 CEV
“Then he said, ‘Moses, go and warn the people not to cross the boundary that you set at the foot of the mountain. They must not cross it to come and look at me, because if they do, many of them will die.” vs 21 CEV
Now I want to contrast this with what we find in the New Testament.
“Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! 16 So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:15-16 CEV
The instruction goes from stay back to come boldly…all because of Jesus!
“So we are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all.” Hebrews 10:10 CEV
When we come to the Father based on what Jesus has done for us, dying for the forgiveness of our sins, we have complete access to His throne – to His presence and there we find a loving heavenly Father welcoming us to a place where we find grace and help.
This is a lesson for us today.
Don’t be afraid, don’t stand back but instead come running to the Father’s throne – crawl up on His lap, tell Him your need and He will be there to help!