Which do you choose?

This morning I was reading in Exodus chapters 19 and 20. It's the part of the story where the Israelites have been travelling in the desert for two months, and finally arrive at Mount Sinai, where God gives them the ten commandments. We probably all have our own ideas about what this was like - our impression shaped partly by the Bible narrative and partly by the way these events have been portrayed by Hollywood. Everyone knows that a dense cloud descended, there was thunder and lightning, and Moses went up to meet with God on the mountain. In fact, that paradigm of a leader, priest or prophet connecting with God on behalf of the people is a familiar theme to us throughout the Old Testament. But one thing that stood out to me in my reading today was that this concept of an intermediary hearing from God for us wasn't exactly the way God planned it in the beginning.

In Exodus 19 vs 9, God tells Moses that He will meet with him in the cloud, but that all of the people will be able to hear what God says. Part of the reason for this was so that the people would trust Moses and know that his words were truly from the Lord. Another part of the reason was so that every single person would know they too could hear the voice of God, and that it wasn't only something for a select few.

So that's exactly what happened. Everyone got prepared for the big day (washing their clothes, consecrating themselves, etc.) At the sound of the trumpet, everyone approached the mountain, Moses went up into the cloud, God spoke out the ten commandments and all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, heard every word that God said.

But then something very sad happened, and we can read it in Exodus 20 vs 18 - 19: the people found this whole experience so overwhelming, that they begged Moses to act as an intermediary for them. "You tell us what God says, and we will listen to you," they told him, "But we don't want God to speak directly to us, because it scares us to death." 

Moses tried to explain to them (vs 20) that there's a good kind of "fear of the Lord" - a healthy respect for God that helps us choose not to sin. But then there's also a wrong kind of fear - the kind that makes us mistrust God and keep our distance from Him. These people actually chose to stay at a distance (vs 18) and have someone else tell them what God was saying. How tragic is that!

And yet there are so many Christians today who have made exactly the same choice. It's not that they don't want to know what God is saying; it's just that they prefer to hear it through someone else - through the pastor in church or the preacher on God TV. Like those early Israelites at Mount Sinai, they've backed off from hearing God's voice for themselves - perhaps because of fear, perhaps because of laziness, or perhaps because of disappointment during their early experience of learning to hear and obey His voice.

There's nothing wrong with hearing God's truth through an intermediary like a preacher or the author of a book. One of the ways that God speaks to us is through other people. But He also wants to speak to each one of His children directly and personally - through the Bible, during prayer, and in the quietness of their own hearts.

We have a privilege that was not yet available to those early Hebrews in the desert: because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we have direct access into the most holy place, into the very presence of God. (Read Hebrews 12: 18 - 24 and Hebrews 10: 19 - 22)

Let's not be like the people of Israel who settled for always hearing God's message "second hand." Let's nurture our friendship with God and grow in intimacy with Him, so that we are continually growing in our ability to hear His voice for ourselves. That's the way God planned it in the beginning.