Exodus 19:20. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Jesus going up to Heaven wasn’t the first time that happened. A long time before Jesus, Moses sort of went up into Heaven, and then years later a prophet named Elijah went up to Heaven too. We’ll talk about Elijah tomorrow. Today we’ll talk about Moses.
Todays’ verse comes from Exodus 19. In that chapter of the Bible, the Israelites have made it out of Egypt and all the way to Mount Sinai where they will worship God. There God will give them the Ten Commandments (do you know any of the Ten Commandments?).
On Mount Sinai, God will come down from Heaven while Moses goes up to meet God from Earth – And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. So when Moses goes up the Mountain, it is sort of like he is going up to Heaven because God is there.
But there are a lot of differences when Moses goes up to meet God in Exodus 19 and when Jesus goes up to God after the resurrection. Read these verses from Exodus 19 and listen for how scary it was for Moses to go up to God.
Exodus 19:16-20. 16In the morning…there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
God wants us to live with him but there is a big problem – he is perfect, and we aren’t. God is holy, and we are unholy. God is loving, and we are unloving. Because God demands that we be perfect like him, we can’t really get near God.
But Jesus can!
And he did when he ascended into Heaven. When Jesus went up to Heaven to meet God there was no fire, lightening, thunder, smoke, or loud trumpets. Why not? Because Jesus had already proven that he IS perfect, holy, and loving just like God (he IS God).
When we trust in Jesus, we are all those things too, just like Jesus. His perfection is ours. His holiness is ours. His love is ours. That means now we can be with God forever. The Israelites were never good enough to actually live with God. God tried to live with them on Mount Sinai and later in the Temple, but the people would never obey him, so God left.
But then he came back as Jesus. And Jesus also came to us as a person. A person who DID obey God perfectly. A perfect person who was punished in our place on the cross. A perfect person who now lives in Heaven with God. And with him, we are credited as perfect too. Do you know what that means? It means we can live with God on his mountain, in his temple, in Heaven or on Earth.
Wherever God is, we can be too!
You: Do you think you are good enough to live with God? Why or why not?
You with Jesus: What does Jesus do for us that lets us live with God forever?
Prayer: Father, I’m glad that I will be going up to you with Jesus and not “Moses.” Thank you for saving us from our sins so that we can live in your presence forever. Wherever you are is where I want to be. Amen.
TLICfamily 