Tag Archives: mountain

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Three

Devotion, , , ,

DAY THREE

 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,

and the seventy elders of Israel went up

and saw the God of Israel. 

Under His feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. 

But God did not raise a hand against these leaders of the Israelites;

they saw God and they ate and drank.

The Lord said to Moses,

 “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here,

and I will give you the tablets of stone,

with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction…”

When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it,

and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. 

For six days the cloud covered the mountain,

and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses

from within the cloud.

  To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like

a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 

Then Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain.  And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. 

Exodus 24:9-12; 15-18

 As we move through these descriptive Scriptures, keep two things in mind, that these descriptions come from human understanding and that we are being exposed to the awesome majesty of God which is beyond human description.  Allow yourself to be caught up in the atmosphere of the presence of God and of those around the throne who were overwhelmed and overawed by the glory of God.  We are learning to pray to the God who is revealed in Scripture so that we can develop a realistic appreciation of who He is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Two

Devotion, , , ,

DAY TWO

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain,

and a very loud trumpet blast.

Everyone in the camp trembled.

Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,

because the Lord descended on it in fire.

The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace,

the whole mountain trembled violently,

and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

Exodus 19:16-19

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched

and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; …..but you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.

Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably

with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:18, 22a, 28, 29

As you read through these Scriptures aloud, remember that you have been made acceptable to God through the blood of Jesus.  We worship an awesome God, who is a consuming fire, but we worship the One who has made us holy through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, and we no longer have to approach Him with terror and dread as the Israelites did.  We can worship Him with confidence because we are holy in His sight.

 

 

Ravenously Hungry!

Bible Study, , ,

RAVENOUSLY HUNGRY!

“Coming down off the mountain with them, He stood on a plain surrounded by disciples and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. They had come both to hear Him and to be cured of their ailments. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. Everyone was trying to touch Him — so much energy surging from Him, so many people healed!” Luke 6:17-19 (The Message).

Imagine the scene: Jesus had been up the mountain all night — praying, seeking His Father’s wisdom and guidance for the choice of disciples who would best follow Him and become like Him so that they could learn and bind His yoke on people wherever they went and do what He was doing and even more. And who did He choose? Simon Peter, James, John…and Judas Iscariot!

Now He comes down, having decided exactly who would form His band of followers, and He is met by a crowd of would-be disciples and people from the length and breadth of Judea and even farther afield -Tyre and Sidon, Gentiles from Phoenicia — Jezebel’s territory! What were they doing there? Sicknesses, diseases, demons…they were as much in need of Jesus as were His own people. They came for help and they knew where they could get it.

Jesus was electric with power. Why? Was there something about that crowd that charged Him with energy to heal and deliver? We learned earlier that the people of His own hometown of Nazareth rejected Him — even tried to kill Him. When He returned some time later, He was powerless to do miracles there because of their unbelief.

So vibrant was the atmosphere in this gathering that Luke commented on it. Power flowed from Him like electricity from a generator and just a touch brought healing and relief to their troubled minds and bodies. What was the difference between these people and the people of Nazareth? They were not concerned about His pedigree or lack of it. His presence brought help and they grabbed it with both hands.

To the villagers of Nazareth He was just a local kid, Joseph and Mary’s son, no big deal. He had grown up in front of them and they thought they knew who He was. Were they aware that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit? They thought He was Mary’s illegitimate son, a bastard who had no right to be running around teaching about God as though He were somebody special.

But to the people who were thronging Him and clamouring for His help, He was a rabbi, a prophet with unusual power and an unusual connection with God. They were not concerned about His pedigree, or who His parents were or what His father did. They were full of faith and expectation that He could and would heal them and their hopes were not disappointed.

“Then He spoke: ‘You are blessed when you’re ravenously hungry. Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal'” Luke 6:20 (The Message).

Healing and deliverance were never the be-all and end-all of Jesus’ ministry. As much as they were acts of mercy and compassion to relieve people’s suffering, they were also a foretaste of what God’s kingdom was about — the restoration of all things. It was as important to minister to their hearts as to their bodies. He wanted them to understand that God had a destiny for them much bigger than comfortable lives in the here-and-now.

If we understand this from a Hebraic mind, Jesus was not talking about food; He was talking about having an appetite for God and His truth. God’s promise has always been that He will respond to those who sincerely seek after Him. “He is the rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6. Really living was much more than not being sick or crippled or demon-possessed. It was about being God’s sons and daughters in a family that loves and takes care of one another.

You can be a part of it too! It depends on how hungry you are.