FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN: THE WHISPER OF GOD
Read 1 Kings 19: 9-12
Moses is not the only great Bible figure who met God on Mount Sinai. Hundreds of years later, Elijah met God there too. Although they ministered in different places and during different times in Israel’s history, both Moses and Elijah played prominent roles in shepherding the flock of God’s people. Some of their experiences with God are remarkably similar.
For example: both Moses and Elijah were called prophets who served God passionately as they fulfilled their respective roles in His plan for redeeming the world. Both confronted God’s people for chasing after pagan gods and led his people back to faithfulness. They both went to the same mountain (perhaps even the same cave?) where God showed Himself to these faithful men who loved and lived the biblical text. Both men boldly declared their desires to God, who rewarded them by allowing them to experience Him in extraordinarily intimate ways. There, one-on-one with God on His holy mountain, but mercifully sheltered from full exposure to His mighty presence, they witnessed His awesome power. More importantly, they experienced His gentleness, mercy, and love- and that transformed their lives. Even their death experiences shared a strange, holy quality that is unlike that of any other Bible characters.
The story and testimony of these great men of God did not come to an end, even in death. In a sense they “returned” together- on another mountain, in another place, at another time, to herald a third great prophetic figure of the Bible whose life in some ways echoed their own. In an event known by Christians as the transfiguration, Jesus was mysteriously transformed by divine power in the company of Moses and Elijah, sending a powerful message that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. This central story in the Christian text is deeply rooted in the stories of Moses and Elijah and was anticipated in the Jewish traditions of the time.
The gentleness, mercy, and love that Jesus demonstrated throughout His earthly life reaffirmed the character of God- the same aspects of His character that He revealed to Moses and Elijah on Mount Sinai. As Moses and Elijah- and so many people since ancient times- discovered, God’s awesome power makes an impact, but God’s gentleness, mercy, an love are what transforms people. Jesus, the Son of God., whose life echoed the intimate whisper heard by Moses and Elijah, ultimately set the example we should follow as we step into our role in fulfilling God’s plan for redeeming the world. So let’s explore the lives of Moses and Elijah as they came to the mountain of God. Through them we will not only recognize the Creator of the universe as He revealed Himself to and through them, but we will better understand Jesus the Messiah and the ways by which He revealed the very nature of God through His own ministry and person.
.What it means to be a servant of God. A life in God’s hands!!!!
The life story of Moses shows God’s purposeful preparation of the man who would be “ as God to Pharaoh” and bring God’s people out of bondage in Egypt. Moses would be God’s partner in shaping God’s people into His “treasured possession”, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:5-6). He would be God’s instrument in providing the Torah, the document of Cod’s covenant with His people. And he would become the paradigm for all godly prophets to follow.
Even during the dark times for the Hebrew people as the days of brutal enslavement by the Egyptians, God was at work in the lives and hearts of His people. Although some of His chosen people turned away from Him to worship Egyptian gods, others remained faithful to the God of their ancestors. Consider, for example, Moses’ parents and grandparents. Moses’ mother was named Jochebed, which in Hebrew means “praise the Lord”. His father was named Amram, which means “exalted nation or people”. What kind of faith would cause slaves to give their children names that expressed such bold optimism and hope? Further, what kind of parents would defy the Pharaoh in order to preserve the life of their newborn son? When hiding baby Moses at home was no longer possible, his mother chose a place where Moses would be found and likely cared for. The Nile River is frequently crocodile infested, and a princess would not bathe in public, so it seems that Jochebed put the basket with Moses inside was hidden in the reeds of a channel close to the palace. It is likely that Moses’ sister was watching over him and expected someone to find him. Miriam, Moses’ sister, asked the princess if she could find a nurse for the child and the nurse turned out to be Moses’ own mother. Certainly Jochebed took every opportunity to nurture Moses’ mind and character, and teach him the traditions of his ancestors. The princess gave Moses the best education and training that Egypt could offer.
But why did this all fit together? Surely it was part of God’s plan and He worked it out.
Isn’t it amazing to see the powerful way in which God works to raise up partners in His plan to reclaim His world! So this should help us all to understand what it means for a person’s life to be in God’s hands. It tells us everything about God’s commitment to train and prepare His people to be partners in His plan.
Elijah, like Moses, demonstrated great passion for God and expanded great physical and spiritual effort in order to lead God’s people into life of faithful obedience to God. Like Moses, Elijah climbed mountains, confronted kings, and crossed deserts. He saw God work in mighty ways and sought to know God as one would an intimate friend. Elijah remains the picture of an impassioned servant of God- the model of a person who served God wholeheartedly. By studying his life and discovering the depth of his commitments, perhaps we will cultivate a deeper passion for obeying and experiencing God in our lives. One of the qualities that demonstrated Elijah’s fire for the Lord was his bold obedience to do whatever God commanded. When God gave Elijah a message to tell the king what was taking place in Israel, Elijah did not hesitate (1 Kings 16:29-33; 17:1-3). Then the confrontation Elijah arranged between himself (as the prophet of the Lord) and the prophets of Baal was no easy task, and it was done with great personal risk to Elijah.
No one knows exactly where the 1 Kings 18 events occurred on Mount Carmel, but the distance would be at least two miles and more than a thousand-foot climb. Elijah then went to Mount Horeb, which if it is the traditional Mount Sinai, is more than 190 miles away, and it could have been much further. Elijah is utterly exhausted after the events on Mount Carmel and Jezebel’s threat on his life (1 Kings 19:1-4. Even so, he walked nearly two hundred additional miles before reaching Mount Horeb, where God met him (1 Kings 19:9-18). Because Elijah passionately and obediently served Go, God accomplished mush through him. When Elijah’s days on earth were fulfilled, God designated Elisha to succeed him. Remember Elisha asked for a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit even though Elijah had warned him that he was asking for a difficult thing (2 Kings 2:9-12). But James reminds us that “Elijah was a man just like us” (James 5:17-18). This tells us that God arranges all of this!
Faith Lesson
No figure in the Hebrew Bible is more central than Moses, who is called “the servant of the Lord”. In the Christian testament, Moses is mentioned more often than any other Hebrew Bible figure, and these references emphasize parallels between the work of Moses and Jesus. Moses prefigured, prophesied, and prepared for the Messiah’s coming. As servants of the Lord, both Moses and Elijah had a deep faith in God. They encountered opposition and wrestled with the burden of God’s will, yet they obediently submitted to Him and asked for God’s mercy when others disobeyed God’s commands.
Closing
Read Joshua 22:5—“Be careful to keep the commandments and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul”.
For information on how to teach the Bible or to just study the Bible, Copy and Paste:
http://f5548i1vh9vr8v1hw1rseuap3f.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=TEACHTHEBIBLE
http://4fd03ku0f-4l9w6qlh25q9eh-d.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=ABIDINGINGOD