Monday devotions@work 5 May 2020
At Jesus’ instruction, the disciples returned to Jerusalem after He ascended into heaven, to wait for The Promise of the Father as He had commanded them. Jesus told them that this Promise would be the Holy Spirit, and I am sure they were in great anticipation of this Promise. At this point they knew that Jesus was the Messiah, that He was faithful and true. He had told them that He would be resurrected, and although they saw Him dying on the cross, they also saw Him raised from the dead as He had spent time with them during the past 40 days. By now they believed that what He says will be done. They gathered into the upper room, praying in unity – in one accord waiting for the Promise of the Father to come. (Acts 1)
They would without doubt also have been reading the account of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, seeing that they were about to celebrate the feast of Shavuot (or Pentecost as we know it) in a couple of days’ time. I can just imagine Peter reading from Exodus 19, recounting history but with a new anticipation of the fulfillment of the Promise Jesus made that something new and powerful will happen on this feast day. This was the day they usually celebrated that God had met them at Sinai to cut covenant with them.
This was the day in history that God met Israel and said to them:
“I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to Myself”
It was the day that He said to Moses that He will come to the people in a thick cloud so that they will be able to hear Him speak to Moses, so that they will believe. He commanded them to consecrate and prepare themselves for three days, after which He would come down upon Mount Sinai for all the people to see.
Then on the third day, as He promised, there were lightning and thundering and a thick cloud on the mountain and the sound of a very loud trumpet, so loud the people were exceedingly afraid, and as they came out of the camp to the foot of the mountain, they saw that the mountain was engulfed in smoke and the Lord descended on it in a fire and the whole mountain quaked. It must have been a frightful sight, yet an awe-filled moment. Moses’ encouragement to them over the past couple of days was that God had promised to be their God and had taken them into covenant to be His people, his special treasure and invited them to be His people. Now they were afraid at the sight of His Awe. Moses once again encouraged them not to be fearful, explaining that God came to them to show them who He is – that He is great and mighty and holy and sovereign – that they may have reverence and respect for Him so that they will not sin, but that He also comes in grace to be their Bridegroom and take them as His Bride. When the people saw all these lightnings and thunders and heard the trumpet sounds, they were very afraid and said to Moses “you speak with us and we will hear – but let not God speak with us lest we die”. I wonder how different history would have been if the people at this moment had had the faith to meet with God for themselves instead of “through Moses”?
God invited Moses and the leadership of Israel to come nearer and worship Him, and from there Moses went up further into God’s presence, wrote down all the Words of the Lord and came to tell the people what God had said. Then he read the book of the covenant to the people and the people agreed to do all that God had said to them and sealed the covenant with blood. Then “they saw the God of Israel and they ate and drank” – they had a covenant meal with God.
I am sure that in the upper room there must have been a tangible anticipation, expecting another meeting with God. Waiting on Him for the fulfillment of the “Promise of the Father- the Holy Spirit that was to come to fill them with the power to be witnesses”. I am not sure that they had any idea of how this will happen, yet I can imagine the excitement in the atmosphere.
Do you and I still have the hope that this same promise can be fulfilled in our day too? Are we anticipating a meeting with the Holy Spirit? Are we praying, waiting in the hope and faith that He will meet us too, like He did with His disciples? Let us not say “(Moses) you speak with us and we will hear – but let not God speak with us lest we die”, for we can know that the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost so that we too do not have to be afraid of God, but that we shall have reverence for Him while we can see God and be empowered by His Spirit. Let us take time this week to wait in hope just like the disciples did, and let us be encouraged by their experience of waiting on God, that we will also see Him fulfilling this promise once again in our lifetime – to meet each of us in a special way as we prepare our hearts, consecrate ourselves, and wait in hope.
Kristene de Marco - Take Courage... He is in the waiting
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