Exodus 24:12-18

Let’s Wait a Minute

Exodus 24:12–18 NRSV

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. 17 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. 18 Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Quick recap of the series

Pray like usual and then take a LONG pause...

We don’t like to wait do we?

(Examples of waiting)

In our passage today there is quite a bit of waiting going on...

vrs 12 - God tells Moses to wait

vrs 14 - Moses tells the elders and leaders of the people to wait

vrs 15-16 - It doesn’t explicitly say waiting but Moses is on the mountain for 6 days and not until the 7th day does God call for Moses.

So let me ask the question…why all the waiting?

you have to think from the moment God tells Moses the plan in vrs 12 that he is to come up the mountain and wait, with that the anticipation has begun to build. There is now wondering expectations. What will it be like? What will happen? All of these questions start to swirl in Moses’ mind you have to think. Moses is now filled with anticipation for this meeting with God.

Not only does Moses have expectations but then Moses begins to make preparations. vrs 14 says that he tells the elders and leaders to wait on him and that he puts Aaron and Hur in charge. Now we will see in a couple of weeks that this is a bad idea but for now it seems like a good thing. Moses clears his plate as best he can in anticipation and preparation for this meeting with God. He doesn’t want to be distracted by the problems of the people, he doesn’t want to have to deal with some judgement. He puts people in a place where they can handle the people so Moses can fully be with God. Moses has anticipated, Moses has prepared...

Moses waits a little bit more…I don’t know about you but for me this is anticlimactic. I expect it to go from vrs 15 to 17, why is 16 getting in the way. Moses has made his preparation, Moses is where he is supposed to be. Why more waiting God? Why can’t Moses just immediately be in your presence???

I asked myself that but then I thought about my devotional time, I thought about the worship services I attend, I thought about the times when we are trying to meet with and experience God and I asked myself, “Do I wait on God or am I making God wait on me? Does the supreme being of the universe sit around and wait for me to arrive so he can start or should I be waiting on him?”

The reality is Moses had to wait 6 days for God to say, alright come on up, 6 days. 6 days alone on a mountain waiting for God to speak and invite him in to His presence.

I know there have been times in my life where I thought God was being silent. I thought God wasn’t answering me, but the reality is God is making us wait. Giving us a time of preparation. Giving us an opportunity to get everything settled so we can be alone with him, because he loves us, and he wants to sit alone with you, just you and him.

—> I love both of my girls but I get to spend alot more 1 -1 time with Payson right now. We are carpool buddies since she goes to school here at the church. Every day we ride to the church together and almost everyday we ride home together. I love that 1-1 time we get everyday.

—> last week MaKenna had Friday off, and by chance so do I, so on a rare day we got to spend the entire day together, but unlike with Payson I had to make plans because this was different. This was something that was out of the ordinary.

We have seen in this journey through the Exodus that God and Moses talk alot, they have an open line of communication but God wants this encounter to be different. God wants extended, special time with Moses.

Throughout the Bible when God is doing big things people make special preparations to spend extended time with God. We see Moses spend 40 days with God here in Exodus, Elijah spends 40 days with God in 1 Kings, and Jesus spends 40 days after his baptism. All of these 40 day encounters prepare these people for something big. Extended time with God can do the same thing for you.