The Lord Came Down on Mt. Sinai

Exodus 19: 9 - 25

This biblical passage is quite special, not only in the Book of Exodus but also in the whole Old Testament. In fact, this is the only event where Israelties were confronted with a direct experience of God. Of course this theophany (divine appearance) is not the only one in the Old Testament. This direct experience of God is very unique in this biblical passage. Yet, what is the purpose of this divine appearance? Certainly, the reason is not to boast that Israelites have this unique experience. As you can see in the Bible, they felt fear and trembled near God. The Bible, through this divine appearance, wants to teach us that understanding God’s holiness is very important for the true religion. Why? It is because understanding God’s holiness leads us to the right hearing and the right understanding about the Word of God. Many churches only teach about God’s love. However, it is not a true religion if we only want to hear and know about God’s love but do not want to understand God’s holiness.

Furthermore, God’s appearance in public also wanted to confirm Moses’s position in the leadership of the Israelites. This is indeed not the first time God spoke to Moses, but this is the first time God spoke to Moses in front of the Israelites. So, it was important for the Israelites to not only listen to God’s voice but also the voice of Moses. Let us read God’s confirmation of Moses’ position in Exodus 19:9. In the New Testament, this Moses typology refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, namely as a mediator between God and the human beings. The question is, after Jesus has fulfilled His role as a mediator, do we still need mediators? To a certain extent we have to emphasize the sole mediatorship of Jesus Christ. We do not need the saints to mediate between us and God. When we want to confess our sins, we can confess directly to God. In this context, we indeed affirm the sole mediatorship of Jesus Christ. There is a tendency where Christians do not want to listen to other people because they already have direct spiritual access to God. Christians might think that it is not necessary to go to the church anymore because they already have direct access to God. If they want to know God deeper, they do not need any teacher because they assume that they can study by themselves. They feel like they do not need to submit to anyone because they just need to submit to God. The function of mediatorship as portrayed in the Old Testament is very important in God’s dealing with His people. In fact, the bible makes a parallel between believing in God and believing in His servants (read: Exodus 14:31). At that time, of course Israelites did not see Moses in the same position as God. However, those who believe in God also believe in the servant saints of God.

Moreover, we see that people that live in Germany or Europe tend to have their own autonomy. Perhaps they are not atheists. They might believe in God but they do not want to be taught by anyone. They believe in God but it is hard for them to believe in church and Christians. It is interesting when we look at the Apostle’s Creed:

“I believe in God, the Father almighty,….
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, ….
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church, the communion of saints,… “
(*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places)

Believe in is specifically used to show that Christians believe, convinced in the triumph of God. It is not in the same position as believing in the holy catholic church and the communion of saints. To put it differently, maybe we can say that we trust in the holy catholic church and the communion of saints.

Is it difficult to believe in both God and the holy catholic church? With numerous scandals that occur in several churches, it is clearly more difficult to make people believe in the church. People get disappointed, not only by the catholic church, but also by the protestant church. Yet, to be able to believe is a gift from God. We see that the story in Exodus 19 : 9 -25 is an invitation for us. If we want to believe in Him, we also have to believe (trust) the church, the communion of saints and other fellow believers. Many Christians have a desire to participate in the Word of God. However, they sometimes have suspicions towards other Christians which hinder them from working together and this is the way Satan attacks the church. Why is it challenging to believe and trust? The simple answer is because we do not want to be hurt, we want to avoid being hurt. Again, God reminds us that we need to have trust in other fellow Christians. Even God Himself comes to the Israelites in thunder, lightning and a thick cloud just to affirm the position of Moses. It is done in order for the Israelites to listen to Moses. The fulfillment of Moses typology was done by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. In the Gospel of John, we can also see the same principle that to believe in God means we must believe in the Son, the sole mediator. Although Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament, it does not mean that we do not need the small mediatorship or mediation, such as the sacrament of holy communion and the church. Hopefully, as we believe deeper in God, we also continue to believe in the church even though our church is still far from perfect. (G.N.S.)