The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.’ Exodus 24:12 [NIV]
We made it up Snowdon – 15 members of my family on foot and my Mum (whose hips aren’t up to it) went by train. Despite the optimistic weather forecasts, a thick mist descended and you could hardly even see the café from the summit cairn. People were miserably taking pictures to prove they had conquered the mountain, but quite honestly they could have been taken anywhere for all the view there was!.
So we had something in common with Moses - as he was preparing to go up Mount Sinai a cloud covered it. This was not fog, but the glory of God, and it rested there for six days. Then God’s voice called out of the cloud and Moses went up into his presence and remained there for forty days (24:16-18). During this time God gave instructions on how to build a sanctuary for him; also how to make the Ark of the Covenant and detailed instructions for how God was to be worshipped. The biblical account takes as many as seven chapters- indicating the instructions were to be the bedrock of the Israelites’ faith. In the meantime the Israelites down below grew bored, frustrated and rebellious to the extent that they give up hope and turned to other gods, making the famous golden bull effigy.
Moses had gained direct exclusive access to God, and the Israelites had felt abandoned. It can be hard sometimes to allow our leaders to lead us, to plan and to make decisions without becoming impatient and wanting to take over and do it our own way, or go back to doing things the way we once did. Christian leadership is a hard calling and often leads to rejection and loneliness.
For prayer:
Pray for those in positions of Christian leadership, and pray that we will trust those God has given authority to.
Mairi Mowbray
No comments:
Post a Comment