Dinner is Served
God has prepared a banquet.
"...they saw God, and they ate and drank.." Exodus 24:10
In the book of Exodus there is a unique encounter that Moses and the Elders a total of 75 people had with GOD. HE invited them up to the mountain that was a blaze with fire, smoke and loud thunderous noises. As they climbed the mountain, fearful I'm sure, they were eventually met with the very presence of God, THEY SAW Him. Well, at least they saw his feet..."Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank". This is an amazing encounter. I wonder if the mention of viewing His feet were because they were terrified to look any higher? I bet they all fell on their faces in sheer terror of what could become of them seeing God Himself.
I don't know about you, but I would have been trembling in my shoes a little like the tin man and lion before the wizard of Oz too.
These 75 men, SAW GOD. This was before directions for the tabernacle were given, yet after they heard the audible voice of God declaring the 10 commandments to the entire nation from the mountain top. They already heard God. They had seen how God vanquished all the false gods of Egypt with crushing blows as HE came against the top 10 gods of the land with specific plagues purposed to expose their impotence.
These men knew, that if you were to see God, you'd die, and YET....they didn't. They, instead, were given food and drink. A banquet was prepared for them. God called them to dinner, to sup with him, to come and sit for a while and meet with Him, to learn of Him. WHY?
Why does anyone spend the time to lavish on others their hospitality? To lovingly show that they are valued, precious, and cared for.
We learn through the scriptures that God has a unique way of taking care of His beloved. That HE has the ability, as powerfully frightening as He can be, to be tender, loving and intimately acquainted with our needs. He displayed His mercy, compassion and desire for fellowship to the elders so they could in turn share this truth with their own tribes.
God desires us to know that as He displayed here, and has said in Psalm 23 that even in the midst of our enemies, He can prepare a table for us to be satisfied, comforted, and nourished. Ultimately, He calls each one of us to answer the call to feast with Him on a mountain that may be some what fearful, and yet marvelously prepared.
When was the last time you sat at the table with Him, learned, listened, and surrendered to what was prepared for you as His guest?
He is a God of amazing wonder. He desires a relationship with us. He invites us to come into HIS territory, a trembling, eerily set ablaze mountain top. Are we willing to endure the climb? Are we humbled by the intensity of the moment, or do we like some that left that place consider it a small thing, become forgetful of His authority and then act unbecoming? OR Are we forever changed and transformed having seen the feet of HIM who is lovely and full of wonder, of Him who walks on pavement of Sapphire clear as crystal, of Him who's feet bring good news?
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