“Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.” – Ex. 24:15-17
I wish I was there in that moment. Man, woman and beast alike staring up into the unquenchable flame, awestruck and speechless. I wonder if I’d ever forget such a sight; I wonder if that memoir would be etched in my mind everyday, keeping me humble, in terror and in fear. And to think…that this wasn’t even God. This is His glory, and even about His glory, it could only be described “like” a devouring fire. There are no words to describe His glory, let alone Himself.
I’ve been reading a book by A.W. Tozer called “Knowledge of the Holy” and it begins with talking about just that. The reality of God’s divinity. It is indescribable, unattainable and utterly terrifying but so magnetic and wondrous, beckoning a rightful response in humility. Tozer emphasizes that the thoughts of God are the deepest thoughts of any man exactly because we try to rationalize an infinite God with finite minds. He reminds us that even with all we know and can understand of Him, which in itself is by His grace, we are barely scratching the tip of the iceberg. Again, we can only describe what God is like, not what He is because that is for Him to know and reveal. And thankfully, reveal he does.
In revealing Jesus, He lets us see a glimpse of who He is. No wonder the whole Old Testament prophesied about him and the whole New Testament validated him. Most recently I stumbled on the passage in John 11 where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Before he does so, Mary rushes to him weeping and says that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus were there. He is deeply moved and troubled by Lazarus’ death and in the powerful two-word verse, “Jesus wept,” he shows us one aspect of God: unrelenting compassion. The God of the universe in the body of a human in all his omnipotence weeps for the death of man. He wept over death because death is the wages of sin and sin is the wages of irreverence (Rom. 6:23; Isa. 14:13-15). He never wanted us to be far from knowing Him, but sin separated us and cast us into exile.
However, that he would weep, gives me hope that though God is so transcendent, He still longs to be near. In fact, Jesus’ very existence made a way for us to experience God the way Moses did on the mountain. God’s revelation of Himself through Jesus not only demands our realization of morality, finitude and depravity but more so our repentance, reverence and worship.
Back at the foot of the mountain, the glory of God imprinted on my mind, I now wonder how my life would be transformed. Sadly, if you read even just a few chapters down the road, the Israelites become impatient waiting for Moses on the mountain. They ask Aaron to make them a golden calf so they can worship it. Did they forget about the cloud, the way He called out from it or the devouring fire that was His glory? How did they become so irreverent? And to bring it home…am I any different?
This is a daily challenge I’ve been dealing with more in the last phase of my life. As I come to understand more of His character, the aspect that keeps standing out is His transcendence. In light of this, I admit to having many idols and that I paid homage to fake gods; they sat on God’s rightful throne in my heart. But praise God that His glory is a devouring fire and that He is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29) because I cannot rid these idols on my own. The only way to fight irreverence is allowing His glory to painfully, but thoroughly burn our idols. And when all is said and done, only His glory will remain and lest we fall into idolatry again, we must respond rightfully in reverence. Only then will we know Him and only then can we be near Him; let Him be a consuming fire for you today.
