Social Distancing at Sinai
In Exodus 19 God instructs Moses on how the Israelites should conduct themselves in preparation for the deliverance of the commands that would outline the covenant. The chapter starts off with God reminding the people of what he had done to the Egyptians two months earlier, how he had carried Israel to this point and what he planned to do for them in the future if they will keep his commands. The people accept the deal and send Moses back up the mountain. After explaining their acceptance of the terms, Moses returns with special rules for the preparation of the people to be protected from God’s holiness.
They were to be consecrated for two days and wash their clothes for the LORD’s arrival on the third day. Then Moses was to mark off a boundary all around the mountain that no one could cross or even touch. They were to use fatal force against anyone who did. Only when the ram’s horn sounds could they come near. I’m sure there were some complaints about the requirements and even some people who might have thought about challenging them. Many who might have contemplated some mischievousness or maybe that’s just my brain. (Which animal would you have sacrificed to see what would happen by tossing it up on the mountain and why is it a cat?)
All of those thoughts ceased when the “fireworks” began on the third day. When the LORD arrived on Mount Sinai with thunder, lightning which was very, very frightening (verse 16) Moses lead the people to meet God. The entire mountain shook in respect to the Holy God of Israel. The LORD instructs Moses two more times to remind the people not to “break through” and get too close. For their own protection God wants the people to social distance from him.
There are many echoes of future events in this story. From the washing of their clothes in connection to consecration (Galatians 3:27), the history changing third day (Acts 10:40) to the attention grabbing elements (Acts 2:2-3) of a new covenant, we see these throughout Scripture. It would do us well to remember how much the Israelites had to go through in preparation to “convene” with God. The life changing events by definition change our everyday conduct. From the extra practices due to Covid 19, to extra hoops at the airport post 9-11 or what our ancestors endured after Pearl Harbor, every generation has different experiences. This proves how awesome, consistent and enduring Jesus sacrifice continues to be.
It’s flexible. It’s mobile. It can be simple. All those things can sometimes lead to us taking our avenue of prayer for granted. If we take that 24/7/365 correspondence for granted then it isn’t such a large leap that we take the whole relationship for granted from time to time. Think about all the preparation it took for all those people to even receive the LORD at a distance. Because of Jesus we can “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:15-16 NLT). Some of the most flexible and simple ideas can be the most challenging but because of Jesus’ act of love, social distancing from God is no longer a command but a choice.
Travis
“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22 ESV