“Then the LORD instructed Moses: ‘Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance.’”

Exodus 24:1 (NLT)

God desired that the priests and elders draw near to Him on Mount Sinai. Perhaps He wanted them to share the vision He was giving to Moses. Perhaps He just wanted to have fellowship with them. It is amazing that these priests and seventy elders saw God and did not die! They ate and drank in His presence.

But then God told Moses and Joshua to go further up the mountain. There God would give Moses the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments. So Moses and Joshua went up to where the cloud of God’s glory rested on top of the mountain. Moses and Joshua waited there for six days. Then on the seventh day, the LORD spoke to Moses and told him to come up into the midst of the cloud. There Moses would remain for forty days and forty nights.

God was revealing His glory to the priests. elders, Joshua and Moses. They would see no image, but only the shekinah glory cloud of the LORD. God didn’t want them forming any image that they would be tempted to worship. This revelation took time. It also required the shedding of blood. God was showing them that the only way for them to draw near to Him was through sacrifice. God is holy, and those who would approach Him must be sanctified with blood.

God also desires to have fellowship with us. He wants to reveal Himself to us. But we cannot draw near to Him apart from the shedding of blood. At the Lord’s Supper, Jesus held up the cup and said this is My blood of the new covenant that is shed for many (Mark 14:24). It is only as we personally appropriate this blood by faith that we may enter God’s presence with confidence.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)

God wants to have fellowship with you. He wants to reveal Himself to you. He has made provision through the blood of His Son so that you may draw near to Him with confidence to find all the mercy and grace you need to help you through the challenges of life. But it’s up to you to ascend the mountain, enter His presence, and see God!

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