100 Days of HopeSample

Mt. Sinai

This verse comes from the words God spoke to the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. What transpired at Mt. Sinai is pivotal. God has just liberated his people from Egypt in magnificent form and has led them to a mountain in the middle of the wilderness. This is the first time since Eden that God has spoken to a group of people. Until now, God has been silent as mankind drifted farther east of Eden.

God makes a covenant with his people to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Priests served as representatives for their gods. People looked to priests in order to gain understanding on what their god was like. God is inviting the Israelites to be His representatives to all the nations; to be His hands, His feet, and His body. Doesn’t this sound familiar to the teachings of the New Testament? In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (5:20).

If God wants us to be His representatives, then we should pay attention to what His character is. God specifically commands the Israelites to be just to the poor and to not enslave widows, the fatherless, and foreigners. He calls them to remember that they were once slaves in Egypt, but He had liberated them. It’s as if God is telling the Israelites “do for others as I have done for you; liberate.”

God is calling the Israelites and us as Christians to bring both physical and spiritual liberation to the suffering and weak while living a life that represents His character so that the world may know who He is.

Prayer: Thank you God that you hear and respond to the cries of your people. Thank you for your strong compassion for the suffering.