3.10.25

Good morning!

As we learned in last week's studies, within the family of God and their marriage to the Most High, there are at least 3 different levels of intimacy (and so too with our earthly relationships); those around the base of the mountain, those who ascended the mountain and Moses and Joshua who entered into God's presence (Ex. 19 & 24).

Could you imagine what it was like for Moses to enter into the cloud at the top of the Mountain in the presence of God to receive revelation mouth to mouth and face to face (Num. 12:8)? Surely, It was an ecstatic experience of pure joy (Psa. 16:11).  What was it that gave Him this privilege? Scripture testifies that it was his humility and faithfulness in all His house (Num. 12:3, 7; Heb. 3:1-6); a trusted servant of the Lord.

Moses’ ability to connect to God through prophecy was utterly unique. It was different from the ability of every other prophet that would ever arise (Num. 12:6-8). For most prophets, prophecy is something experienced out of peripheral vision; it is glimpsed, not stared at. God would speak to them in riddles or in dreams; something would be clouded. But not so for Moses.

Sure, on the top of the mountain, Moses received instructions/torah, which included the "Ten Commandments" (Ex. 20) and the laws of Mishpatim/right rulings (Ex. 21-23). God spoke with Moses and delivered all that information to him. But above and beyond that, the information potential of the encounter...Moses received the greatest gift of all: The experience of just being there. Moses was in God’s own “house”; apart from this world of time and space.

Ever wonder why, for example, just before the moment of revelation, God told Moses to proclaim to the people not to touch the mountain; if they touch it, God says, they’ll die (Ex. 19:13,16; Heb. 12:20)? The answer is: It wasn’t that God was being capricious. It’s that the mountaintop wasn't an earthly place anymore. Yeah, sure, Sinai still looked like an ordinary mountain. And it felt like a mountain. But it wasn’t really. It wasn’t part of our world anymore. It was God’s own embassy on this planet, as it were.

Same with the mountain. It was God’s space: A place, on earth, that wasn’t a place at all; a place beyond space. Which made it dangerous, and people needed to be warned about it. They needed to hear that they had to stay away for their own good. Because we humans exist in space, we can’t exist where space and time aren't.

Ever wonder how he managed to go 40 days without food and water? Well here’s a theory. Think about where he was and suddenly, it is not so crazy. He was on the mountaintop, in the glory cloud, in God’s world. He was at the place beyond time. So, sure, relative to the people below, he was there for forty days and forty nights of their time, but in God's time...(Psa. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8).

And though many were able to see God and eat in His presence (Ex. 24:9-11), Moses was the one human being who could somehow ascend to God’s own house, commune with God there and live through the experience; so incredible that his face showed the glory of God (Ex. 34:29-35). It was here that Moses received the revelation of the Tabernacle and the Sabbath (Ex. 25-30; 31:13-18).

I've asked myself the question for decades, why does God put so much emphasis on the Sabbath? And why did Moses need to hear about these two things, the Tabernacle followed by the Sabbath? Could it be that the Master of the Universe was, in effect, telling him: This close encounter that you and I are having here at Sinai, this special connection, is so unique; so wonderful, so joyous, so life changing...but it's not just for you and me. The people are going to have an opportunity to share in it as well. They will have the opportunity to experience it through the Tabernacle (space), and they will experience it through the Sabbath (time).

Personally, Sinai would be recreated, in portable form, for the people; but, in its re-creation, it turns out, Sinai – the place beyond space and time – would actually split into two distinct entities: One focused on space; the other, on time.

The Mishkan is a place in our world in which God can dwell (Ex. 25:8; 2 Cor. 5:1-11). It is a place for the God who is beyond Space. And the Sabbath? It is an appointed time for us to spend with the God who is Himself beyond time (Heb. 10:23-25). What the Mishkan is for space, the Sabbath is for time. Opportunities for us to encounter God, closely in our world.

As Moses left the mountain, a place beyond the material world, he descended to earth with something very material, very concrete: The stone tablets of the law, written by the Finger of God, aka the Holy Spirit (Ex. 8:19; 31:18; Lk. 11:20; Matt. 12:28). Those tablets were inscribed with laws about the Sabbath Day. But Moses also descended with something, in his mind, something that transcended just laws. He came down with an assurance ringing in his ears that he had just heard, from the Almighty Himself, about the Sabbath/V'shamru Benei Yisrael et HaShabbat! The people shall indeed keep the Sabbath as a covenant forever (Ex. 31:13-18)!

You, Moses, atop the mountain, you had a chance to experience this intimacy with the Divine once. The people will have this chance… for generations/ledorotam, it is a sign of the special connection that I, and the People, will have, a brit olam/a covenant between us, forever. They will be able to partake of this closeness that you and I had, perpetually. They, like you, will have a chance to drop everything and just be together with Me. And that experience will change them, just as it changed you. It will make them holy.

Passover & Unleavened Bread are coming!

Shalom!

More Sabbath thoughts on tonight's zoom call. Experiencing God in time and space or does God want an intimate date day every week?

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