“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. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.”
– Exodus 24:17–18
Oh, what an awesome scene. God’s glory appears like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain. I don’t even know how to imagine that. What does a devouring fire look like on a mountain? Then Moses enters into this cloud and goes up on the mountain and he stays there for 40 days and 40 nights. What an amazing picture of a man meeting with God on a mountain that looks like there’s a devouring fire on the top of it.
Christ has made a way for sinners to access God. We can constantly commune with God because of Christ’s work.
Exodus 24:17–18 Shows Us How Privileged We Are to be able to Communicate With God Daily
I read this and Exodus 24 and then I think, “Whoa. I have the privilege of meeting with God anytime, anywhere, any day.” Like right now, we’re about to pray to this same God. The same God who appeared in a devouring fire on top of the mountain, it’s the same God we’re about to talk with, we’re about to have communion with. The same God that I had communion with this morning and every morning and all day long I had the opportunity to talk to. This is incredible. What Jesus has made possible for us and his dying on the cross and rising from the grave. Jesus has opened up the way for sinners who trust in him and his sacrifice and his sacrifice on the cross for us. We have access to God.
Oh, don’t let that ever get old in your life. You, Christian, as a follower of Christ, we have access to God anytime, anywhere, any day. The same God who revealed himself in this devouring fire in Exodus 24:17–18 so we pray with awe, we pray.
Giving Thanks to God for Letting Us Talk to Him Whenever We Desire to
Oh God, we come into your presence with awe and joy and reverence and delight and fear and love. This mixture of all kinds of different emotions and thoughts and at the bottom of it all we’re just overwhelmed, oh God, that we are with you, that we are in your presence, that you’re listening to us right now, that we, even after this podcast episode is over can just cry out to you for different things in our life. We can hear from you, we can speak with you and you are hearing us, you’re not devouring us. We deserve to be devoured. Jesus, you’ve paid the price for our sins to make this possible. We’re free from the penalty of sin. We’re sons and daughters of the living God. The God of Exodus 24.
Oh, we worship you, we praise you, we praise you for your grace. We thank you for your love for us. Thank you for making this possible. God, please keep us from being a prayerless people. God, help us to experience this privilege in prayer. Just all day long, pray continually as you tell us in your word and then spend concentrated time in prayer before you … Oh God, thank you. We worship you. We praise you for the privilege of communion with you. May this never, ever, ever get old or routine for us. In Jesus’ name, by Jesus’ blood, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
