Exodus: Of Laws and LoveSýnishorn

Always In Front of You

By Samantha Rodriguez

“So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said.’ So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.’ Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.”—Exodus 19:7–9 (NIV)

Three months after escaping Egypt, the Israelites arrive at the Desert of Sinai. It’s here they stop at Mount Sinai, and God speaks to Moses, giving him the terms of their covenant and the Ten Commandments.

In the verses just before today’s passage, God tells Moses to convey a message to the Israelites about how He will keep them as His holy nation if they obey Him and keep the covenant. God will detail more terms of this covenant and give Moses the Ten Commandments at this stop on their journey as well. Yet, before this happens, God physically makes His presence known to the people. Not only do the people hear Him through the dense cloud, but the rest of Exodus 19 also details what the people would see or hear as God speaks to Moses.

This reminds me of something my mom often says. My mom is an unashamed germaphobe, so she is particularly picky when we eat out at different restaurants. Something that either reassures her or mortifies her is when the kitchen and chefs are visible from the restaurant's seating area. For example, eating at a restaurant like Benihana’s or Saito’s, where the chefs cook right in front of you, can be exciting and reassuring because you can see them handling your food. On the other hand, a careless chef may make his audience uneasy. In this short part of the chapter, we can see God’s heart in how He spoke to Moses so the people would see and hear it was truly Him. He intentionally makes His intentions and presence known so His people would trust Him more, just like a good chef at a restaurant!

God may not reveal His appearance or allow us to hear His audible voice, yet He will always grant us experiences to reflect on and remember His presence, promises, and graciousness. In this way, the people trusted Moses as their intermediary and trusted God as their guide.

However, in terms of our place today, we no longer need a human intermediary between God and us! If we’ve accepted Christ’s gift of forgiveness and salvation and thus entered the family of God and committed to being a follower of Jesus, then we’ve received the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God lives inside of us! Therefore, we can also see God’s character and trust Him by realizing the beauty, grace, and grandeur of this gift of His Spirit living in us!

Pause: How has God revealed Himself to you and reminded you of His presence and trustworthiness?

Practice: Look for God’s presence in your life today and practice remembering His character throughout the day.

Pray: Father God, thank You so much for always being present in my life, whether I can immediately see or recognize it. Help me fix my eyes on You continually and continually put my trust in You. I love You. Amen.