Whispers of Christ

Reflections from Exodus 24

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Exodus 24. I read it some time ago, and I guess I’m in a season where it just seems to resonate with me more deeply than it did when I initially read it. As I started re-reading it, several points started to stand out to me (thank you, Holy Spirit). I wanted to share them with you because I believe they are incredibly important. 

But before you read them, I would recommend that you take a moment to read Exodus 24. Sit with it and meditate on it. If you want to read it online, here: Exodus 24 (NLT) 

1. God wants relationships with all his children.

I’ve talked in the past about how God is relational. God is a trinity (3 persons in 1). Not only is he relationally based but he wants relationships with all his children. He isn’t aloof or unapproachable. While I could show you a number of passages that back up this point, this passage alone tells me how relational he is. In the first verse he calls his children to come meet with him. 

2. God has boundaries.

As Christians, we tend to think that boundaries are selfish. I’ve been doing a lot of learning on this front recently and the more I study the Word the more I realize that God has boundaries. Really it goes back to him being a God of order and not one of chaos. While he is relational, he also was very selective in who he would share things with. Don’t think of this as a form of favoritism or trust issues, He doesn’t struggle with either. I think it’s more than that. He knew that only Moses was really trustworthy to be obedient. 

3. Intention to obey is good but follow-through is better. 

While I hear you saying to point #2, but “the Israelites agreed to obey!” That’s my point here. Yeah, they agreed to obey God. And guess what, just a few chapters later, they are at the bottom of the mountain creating the golden calf!! They got bored and tired of waiting on God to work and started doing things their own way. While their intention at the beginning of this may have been good, they lacked follow-through. Now before you go off and start saying “geez, what idiots!” I’m gonna ask you because I’m asking myself, how many times have you and I done that? How many times have I told God I’d obey but when push came to shove, I flaked? Yeah that hit home for me too. 

4. When God speaks, take notes.

I thought it was interesting. Moses took notes. I’m not sure why but this humored me a bit and also made me think, how many times have I received a prophetic word or something from God and I forget it not 1 hour later? The past couple weeks, and I’m not sure why, but I’ve taken to carrying a small little notebook around with me. Whenever I get a thought that doesn’t seem like my norm or is just a bit… more, I guess, I will write it down. Why? Just to have some point of remembrance of what God is doing in my life and what he is speaking. Some people write in their Bibles, and yeah, I’m one of those too but I can’t carry my Bible into work with me, so I take my tiny notebook. I would encourage you to do the same. Sometimes it’s a verse, sometimes a thought, sometimes a prayer. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes less. But that’s not what matters, what matters is that I have a record to reference for the days when I need it. 

5. Worship prepares you to hear from God. 

Why do we worship? Because it’s preparation to hear what God has to tell us. Just like when you pray, you should repent first, why? Because it’s preparation. There are multiple Psalms that tell us to enter God’s courts with praise. It’s the first thing that is supposed to be on our lips and the last thing we say. 

6. There is always room at God’s table for more. 

I love this imagery. They sat down in the middle of a manifestation of the glory of God and had a feast. The only thing that makes this better is that it’s not limited to people who were holy enough, more righteous, or people that this world would deem “worthy”. The psalms tell us that God prepares a table for us. Even the story of Christ shows that there is room at the table for those we deem “unworthy”, Christ served Judas. Sit on that for a minute. Christ served Judas. That makes me so happy – why? Because it means there is room for me too. I always think of the table of God like a feast from the Harry Potter movies. The food never runs out! The last slice of pie was taken and then a new one shows up as if by magic. That’s God’s table. He doesn’t run out of food, love, room, or seating. Sit down sister, he’s got room! 

7. The more you follow God, the fewer people there are. 

Moses started out with all of Israel coming to the mountain with him. His circle was large. But you notice that as he ascends the mountain, fewer and fewer people are with him. He goes from all of Israel to the 70+ elders, then to just his right-hand guy (Joshua), then it’s just him. While this was literally happening, I think there is also a great symbolism here. Many pray to be closer to God, but to be closer to God you have to be further from people. While it may take a physical form, I’m not going to encourage you to go out and isolate yourself from the community, that’s not healthy. What I am saying is that there will be a point where the people you started out with will decrease in number. Not everyone is meant to walk your path with you and that’s ok. Next time you start feeling like you are seeing friends drop like flies, it’s time to start leaning in closer to God. 

8. Be organized and Be focused

We know that God is a god of order but it seemed interesting to me to see the fact that while he calls Moses deeper, Moses clearly leaves instructions. I’m sure this is in part for what they tell you in a few chapters but it’s also a clear indication to me of good leadership. The same way that you would want to leave your house tidy before you go on vacation, it’s important to make sure that all your business is completed or transitioned properly before you go into “unavailable” mode, which leads me to being focused. Moses organized things and left it in good standing so that he didn’t have to worry and could focus on hearing from God. When we meet with God we want to minimize all distractions. I struggle with this just as much as anyone but I’ve learned that I can’t tune into God’s voice if I don’t minimize the distractions of this world. And God is worthy of our focus.

9. Not everything needs to be shared. 

This one is hard for me. Once I hear from God I get so excited. I want to share what’s been said with anyone I pass on the street and twice as much with my sisters. But not everything that he says is for everyone’s ears. Just like he selected specific people to ascend the mountain, Moses doesn’t tell you what all transpired between him and God within those 40 days that he was there. Sometimes words fail. Sometimes it’s best to not share. I heard once that there is a difference between something sacred and something holy. Holy was like the outer courts of the Tabernacle. All people could enter and see, but sacred was the Holy of Holies. The most inner part of the Tabernacle where only one person was allowed at a certain time. Sometimes, what we experience or hear we are called to hide in our hearts and just treasure. 

10. It takes time to hear God’s voice. 

We often talk about God speaking in a still small voice (stemming from the story of Elijah). But I think we often forget that it takes time to get into tune with God. It’s not that one day he is more vocal than another but that some days we don’t tune in our spiritual radio just right. You can’t just turn it on and off, it takes time to find the frequency he is broadcasting on that day. It took Moses 6 days to hear from him. Notice that god covered him and then on the 7th day started speaking. I don’t know if God spoke the whole 40 days but I find it comforting that even Moses who was close to God had to wait a minute before he heard God’s voice. It takes focus and intention to hear God speak. So don’t give up if you don’t hear him at first. Just ask him to increase the volume a bit and give you focus to hear him better. 

11. Going deeper with God can look scary and be hard.  

In verse 17 we see that the mountain to the Israelites appeared to be a consuming fire. God had previously appeared as a pillar of fire or a cloud to them prior to this so they shouldn’t have been surprised but I’m willing to bet they were. No matter how many times you see or experience God, it’s always surprising and always amazing. But my point is that no one would argue if they had told Moses it was dangerous or scary or looked unsafe. Sometimes when God calls us to go deeper, he calls you to do things that are beyond human reasoning, beyond your own abilities. Sometimes it looks unsafe. Think of David and Goliath. I bet that felt and looked unsafe. Esther had to go before the king, knowing that she could lose her life. Mary was liable to get stoned for carrying Jesus. Sometimes being close to God and walking in obedience is unsafe from a human perspective. The other item that I thought interesting is that Moses walked to the top of the mountain. I don’t know about you but I get winded hiking and I’ve never hiked a mountain. I bet he met some resistance, was tired, and probably struggled. I used to hear people saying that God takes us from victory to victory and mountain top to mountain top. But when you think about it, this means that there is either a battle or an uphill climb in between each. Meaning expect some resistance, to be rerouted a few times, or even to slide downhill and have to start again. I’m not saying it isn’t worth it, I’m 1000% sure that it’s worth it, but let’s be real, it takes work and it takes time. But Romans 5:3-4 tells us that it produces perseverance, from perseverance – character, and from character – hope. So don’t give up yet. 

12. You can experience God’s presence and still turn away from him.

I’ve heard the argument that if you turn away from God then you weren’t really saved. I’m not going to address the issue of salvation right now, but I would like to point out that Aaron’s sons were present for this whole gathering (Nabad & Abihu). They experienced the manifestation of God’s glory, worshiped, and feasted with the others. They even lived as priests for a time, but then they got cocky and by Leviticus 10 we see that they have been struck dead by God. What I want to point out is that God gives us the option of freewill and that means that you can go and experience God in incredible ways, but then turn and do horrible things. I’m not saying it’s right or that it’s fruit of the spirit, but this shows us that it is possible. To me this serves as a warning, even people who experience great things are capable of horrible things. 

Symbolism within the Passage: 

This passage is full of take-aways. Not only do you find the points above but there is also symbolism. While the Bible does give you literal items, you will also find that it tends to contain symbolism pretty regularly. I love that the Lord includes beautiful imagery because that’s how he tends to speak to me – through images and visions. I think he knows that images and symbolism are intriguing and beautiful to me so that’s what he uses, but I digress. 

In verse 10 we see the glory of God described in detail. The NLT translation says “There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface (pavement) of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.” So let’s break it down lapis lazuli (or sapphire) is a metamorphic rock that was highly prized during ancient times due to its symbolism and intense color. In the past it was used for jewelry, ornaments, and even crushed and used by painters! This isn’t the only passage in the Bible where we see its symbolism used. Other passages describe it as God’s throne (Ezekiel 1:26 & 10:1). It’s also used in Job 28:6 & Song of Solomon (also known as Song of Songs) 5:14 for its imagery for beauty, holiness, and value. The Bible often uses blue as a symbol of holiness, purity, wisdom, and something from heaven or indicative of the heavenly realm. Some people have said that it’s thought to be an indicator of clarity, truth, and revelation. 

So armed with this knowledge and the Holy Spirit, here is what I see and understand from this passage: 

This gemstone or color seems to often walk hand-in-hand with God’s presence. It is a confirmation that God was there and it also indicates the holiness of God. This is further supported by the fact that prior to his presence coming down to meet them, they worshiped and sacrificed. They not only had to prepare their hearts but cleanse themselves as they were unworthy to stand before the presence of our holy Father. Throughout the Old Testament, people were not permitted to stand before God without first atoning for their sins. We no longer have to do that because the Lamb of God (Jesus) came and atoned for all our sins – past, present, and future (this doesn’t mean we don’t need to confess, we do. Confession is for us, it’s to help us acknowledge what we have done to start the process of change). He literally paved the way for us to come to God, starting with the covenant he made with Israel. Regardless of who you are or what you have done, you are able to stand before a holy God who walks on streets of sapphires because of what Christ Jesus has done for your sins. 

Final Thoughts

I guess what I came away with from this whole passage is that God, in his holiness, is relational. He wants a relationship with each of his children and he makes room for us at his table, so much so that he creates pathways for us to come to him. If we want to go deeper, he will lead us up the mountain but we should be ready to have our endurance tested. And when we are done, we need to guard what we have learned, experienced, and our hearts to make sure we don’t backslide. I’m hoping that this encourages and feeds your soul like it has for me. And if you find that you have questions or want to know more about accepting Christ as your savior, please send me a note 🙂

Praying for you always,

—Hannah