The Mountains Are CallingSample

In the Presence of God: Mt. Sinai

After 430 years of slavery, many Israelites had given up on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As they walked out of slavery in Egypt, they saw that God still cared for them, but he still needed to reintroduce himself to them, to show them what a relationship with him looked like. To do this, God invited Moses up a mountain. There he told Moses that he would be coming to him “in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever” (Exodus 19:9).

On the mountain, God revealed to Moses the Ten Commandments and established with the people a covenant that would guide them the rest of their lives. God delivered instructions for the people, and by them, he taught the descendants of Abraham that his very presence is infinitely holy. No one and nothing can compare to God. In his holiness, he is completely set apart.

God’s presence on the mountain also demonstrated that he is full of glory. This is what the clouds surrounding the mountain represented. “Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke . . . , and the whole mountain trembled greatly” (Exodus 19:18). God is so glorious that even the mountain quaked and shook in his presence. 

I read of these encounters with God, and I consider my own life. Am I treating the presence of God with a flippant attitude? Am I ascending the mountain with great reverence, hoping to see his glory?

Think about the way you enter into the presence of God. When you open your Bible, do you realize that you are walking into the Most Holy Place? When you enter into a church and people are gathered in Jesus’s name to worship him, have you prepared your heart to experience the living God? 

The Christian is set apart because of a personal relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. We trust in his death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sin and to be made right with God. When we do this, we are consecrated by God and made holy. And when we have been consecrated and are prepared to meet with God, we’d better be ready to encounter him in a way like never before. 

In what ways might you treat the presence of God too lightly in your life?