Approaching God with reverence (Exod 19:16-25)
Exod 19:16-25
Christians often contrast our open approach to God (Heb 10:19-20) with the distance kept by Israel at Sinai (Exod 19:12-13). However, we should not drive too great a wedge between the OT people of God and ourselves and lose out on what Scripture is teaching us. Admittedly, the Holy Spirit indwells Christians today and this was not available to all believers in the OT. However, none of us have seen God face-to-face. Even in Jesus the disciples encountered His divinity veiled in humanity. On the other hand, we only need to read the Psalms, the heartfelt prayers of Solomon or Ezra (1 Kings 8:22-53; Ezra 9:6-15) or the testimony of Israel about the nearness of their God (Deut 4:7) to realise that a profound relationship with the Lord was possible even then, despite the limitations. Conversely, Hebrews 12:18-29 warns that since we were brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, we must not approach Him with less reverence than the Israelites did at Sinai because ‘our God is a consuming fire’ (v.29).
It seems to me that our easy familiarity with God mirrors Western societies’ attempt to do away with formalities and any sense of inequality or hierarchy. Thus, a Starbucks barista, a bank manager and intimate friends are all alike in calling us by first name, and the dress code has become so informal that, in NZ at least, it is not uncommon for men to wear shorts to work or to church. If we had an audience with Queen Elisabeth II, however, respect for her would require us to follow certain rules from the proper address (‘Your Majesty’ initially and subsequently ‘Ma’am’ as in ‘ham’) to the correct way to bow or curtsy, appropriate attire to wear, standing until the Queen sits down, speaking only when spoken to by her, not touching her and so on.[1]
Similarly, God is Israel’s king and receiving His revelation is a solemn occasion, like a meeting with royalty that one should not take lightly. Elsewhere, even the angels avert their gaze as they worship the Lord (Isa 6:2). Our passage takes great pains to describe the awesome presence of God accompanied by thunder and lightning, fire and earthquake (Exod 19:16, 18) and to stress the necessity of the people not coming too near (Exod 19:12, 21-22, 24). Elsewhere the issue is spelt out as the contrast between God’s holiness and human sinfulness (e.g. Isa 6:3, 5). As I explain in an earlier post, if we envisage God’s holiness as fire and our sins as flammable, then it is indeed a dangerous thing to come near to God. Or to use a different illustration, it is like looking full into the sun without protection. I remember seeing the total solar eclipse of 1999 at Lake Balaton in Hungary, when viewers had to watch the event through glasses with a special solar filter (sunglasses were nowhere near safe), even though most of the sun was obscured by the moon.
Why should this matter to us? Physical distance at Sinai expresses the principle of reverence and it is a reminder that we have a powerful and holy God. Familiarity breeds contempt and we have seen this play out in relation to COVID in NZ as well as in the world. As the virus is back with us in this country and there are resurgences across the globe, we are once again confronted with its power. When it comes to God, the takeaway is not that we should dread Him or obey out of fear, though. Rather, it is important that we do not neglect or dismiss Him or His Word to us but give it due weight and recognise the serious implications of living life in disregard of His truth. Remembering His power also encourages us that He is able to come to our aid in time of need.
[1] Interestingly, the rule that royalty should not be touched survives from medieval times when kings and queens were seen as representing God.
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