Hebrews 12:18-21 NIV
[18] “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; [19] to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, [20] because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” [21] The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

How awesomely frightening is the description of Israel’s meeting with God at Mount Sinai! Even Moses, who been with God and spoken with Him face to face on this mountain many times, was shaking with fear. This was a side of God he had never seen in those times that he had gone up the mountain to converse and commune with Him. Even his meeting with God at the burning bush did not affect him as did this occasion when He came down to cut covenant with His people.

Why did God pull out all the stops to reveal His majestic glory to His people? Did He want them to experience the full fury of His holiness and power so that they would have no doubts about the nature of the one who was calling them into covenant with Himself? It seems that He came to them in physical manifestations that would forever imprint on them the grandeur of this God in contrast to the gods of Egypt that they had chosen to worship.

Tragically, they quickly forgot the terrifying plagues that obliterated all the so-called power of their fertility gods. They wanted gods that they could see and feel and touch. They wanted gods like themselves that they could understand and manipulate to suit their demands!

The God who had chosen them as His treasured possession was incomprehensible. They could not push Him around, or call the shots. He, not they, was God and they must understand this, once and for all. They must know that He required unquestioning obedience in return for which He would treat them with unfailing faithfulness.

This God whose presence, if not form, was so vastly different from the gods they had known in Egypt that they could only submit, if only temporarily, to His unseen presence and His covenant requirements. However, these same people, who stood at the base of the mountain and felt the hot breath of their God in their faces, could say, in one moment…

Exodus 19:8 NIV
[8]… “We will do everything the Lord has said.”

…and, in the next, demanded…

Exodus 32:1 NIV
[1]…“Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

How is it possible for people to be so fickle?

Our writer had to remind those Jewish believers who were tempted to retreat into Judaism to avoid persecution, that they would be taking a backward step from forgiveness and grace, from celebration and joy, into the darkness and uncertainty of strict laws and an uncompromising Law Giver who would never condone disobedience and failure.

Which scenario would they prefer? They had once been alongside those who had trembled with fear at Mount Sinai. They had felt the fear of failure and the threat of divine judgment. They had known the weight of a guilty conscience and the uncertainty of not knowing whether they had done enough to satisfy their God’s demands.

They had also felt the relief of forgiveness and the power of new life in Christ. Did they really want to go back into the old way of burdensome laws and rituals?

So, they should reflect on the choice they were tempted to make. They were once participants of the terror of Mount Sinai. Now they were among those who enjoyed the wonder of Mount Zion, the city of God, where all the hosts of heaven and the redeemed children of God are gathered together to celebrate the grace and mercy of God through Christ.

With which gathering do you identify?