Devotions: Life of Moses Exodus 19-20

This passage was an interesting one to try and pull from. The ten commandments have been etched into my memory from the time I was very young. We even had a picture in our bathroom growing up that had them all listed out. I have heard many sermons on the subject and read the passage numerous times. It was even touched on in my general theology class in college. The ten commandments are something that I feel like I understand. 

So, when I read chapter 19 and 20, and watched the Israelites prepare themselves, consecrate themselves, say to the Lord that they would hold up there end of the deal - obey His voice and keep His covenant - I was touched by something I hadn't attributed to the commandments before. 

Exodus 20:18-21 "Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die." Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was."

This little passage comes after they have received the commandments, and they say to Moses - hey! We don't want to come close to God, after all, he may kill us! What a crises of conscience! What sort of conviction must they have been feeling to have heard those commands and thought, oh, no, we shouldn't go anywhere near God, because we deserve death. And Moses responds telling them that the fear they are feeling, the reverence and the justified fear of the wrath of God should be before them, to help them to keep from sinning. 

How often do we truly see this aspect of God, how often to we let the fear of God stay before us? I think God has become too soft when we speak of Him. Yes, he is the God of Love, the God who created the world and sent his son to die for us. But he is also the God of righteous wrath and judgment. He will judge us one day, and just as the Israelites did at Mt. Sinai, I have a feeling that we will be trembling. And why wouldn't we be? Which of us has kept all of the ten commandments? Even the first one is hard in any culture. How can we truly say that we have always put God ahead of any of our own pursuits or idols? We can't. That is the beauty of the grace of God and the forgiveness of sin, but I do not think it is inappropriate to keep the fear of God in front of us. 

Maybe if we think each moment that the Holy God of the Universe, the one who was and is and is to come, the alpha and omega who loves us infinitely and wants nothing more than our obedience and love in return is standing right before us, maybe we will react to things differently. Just picture what the Israelites are seeing here. The presence of God in a huge cloud, lightning and darkness surrounding the mountain. Of course they were terrified of the physical manifestation of God, but they are also terrified of the spiritual judgment of God. 

I know that I have been saved by grace through faith by the death of my Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. I know that he was raised on the third day and that he welcomes all who believe in him and accept Him as their savior. I know that I have received the Holy Spirit in my heart, so that I can daily become more like Him. And if I have the Holy Spirit with me, although it is no smoking mountain, I have the power that created that smoking mountain with me at all times. Shouldn't I be living with the fear of the Lord before me at all times? In reverent awe of Him? Obeying all of his commands because He is the Lord of Creation and deserves my everything?