Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning.
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Israelites Are Afraid of God
Bible Verse :Exodus 20:18-21
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was."
Message:
If we were to witness this today — a mountain covered with cloud, with bright flashes of lightning showing through at the top, and an ear-splitting noise like a trumpet, and then a loud voice speaking to us — we would look around for the person responsible. David Copperfield, perhaps, the “man behind the curtain.” But the Hebrews were not misled into explaining it by technology. It did not exist.
They knew for certain that it was God they were seeing and . . . they did not like the experience. They had seen the actions of this Being, done for their benefit, to deliver them from Egypt, and those were terrifying enough: a great body of water opening to let them pass and then collapsing on the Egyptians; a silent angel who came in the night and killed every firstborn. How terrified would we be, if one night the eldest child of every woman and female beast were to die, for no discernible cause.
Exodus|Pillar of Cloud
The fact is, seeing and hearing the overwhelming sensory experience of Mount Sinai, and knowing what a fearful Being God actually is, they realize that they cannot experience Him without dying. For, like us, they are full of sin. God, in the presence of sinfulness, becomes an angry God to be feared to the utmost. A human being cannot face Him and survive.
God appears to the Hebrews to give them the Ten Commandments directly; and here, we see a second purpose. He intends to save the Hebrews (and, eventually, all those who will follow His Son). But the beginning of salvation, like the beginning of wisdom, is fear of the Lord. If we do not fear God, we will die. For we and the world we live in are His creation and like any creator, He will edit His work. The parts that are true to His vision will live on for eternity, for God is not bound by time; but the parts that offend Him, He will remove.
So this is the second purpose of God’s appearance to the Hebrews. No longer will any of them desire to see God. Rather, they will take instruction from His prophet, so that they might become worthy to appear before Him some day.
Meditation
:
Prayer :
God of love, Father of all, the darkness that covered the earth has given way to the bright dawn of your Word made flesh. Make me and all who confess your holy name people of this light. Make me faithful to your Word that I may bring your life to the waiting world. Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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