Deborah P. Brunt

 

I arrived in Colorado Springs ready to play mom for a week to my sister's two teenage daughters. To my delight, the visit also allowed significant time for a personal Getaway with God. Stepping off the plane to a gorgeous, cloudless fall day, I saw through a massive picture window a spectacular view of snow-dusted Pike's Peak. In this place, God would speak to me deeply, personally, through the ancient story of a brief but momentous mountain rendezvous.

 

Going and coming, the Lord would use advertising to prophesy. In the DFW airport en route to Colorado, I bought a pair of "travel sox," brand name: Clöudz. In the DFW airport en route from Colorado, I passed a huge ad posted by a company called ca technologies. Its bold, enigmatic headline greeted me:

 

"the cloud is the answer.

it's also the question."

The Lord did not come to his people trying to please, hoping they would like him, careful to do only what they would approve. From the beginning, he required that they treat him with honor. He set the standards. He set the boundaries. He made clear the consequences for disregarding the boundaries. Then, he sent Moses back down the mountain with the news.

After Moses left, the Lord didn't fret, "I hope the Israelites won't mind making all those preparations. I hope they don't take offense at not being allowed on the mountain. I hope they don't think death too harsh a penalty for crossing a mere boundary. Maybe I'd better call Moses back here and rephrase things a bit."

God had reasons - good reasons, just and merciful reasons - for everything he said. Some of those reasons he would shortly make clear. But the people with whom he was entering covenant did not know his ways. Even when people do know him well, his decisions and his ways are often "past finding out" (Rom. 11:33 NKJV). Typically, he chooses not to explain what people cannot begin to fathom. Confident - not arrogant, holy - not hard-nosed or hard-hearted, he presented the requirements for the meeting.

"Go to the people and consecrate them." Do you find it frustrating that God used a term like consecrate, and then didn't elaborate? The word sounds pious. It names an action extremely important to God. But when we say a verb, we can usually picture the action it represents. When we tell someone to "run" or "speak," we can see in our mind's eye what it will look like when they do. But when God says "consecrate," we can't picture what that looks like. In Exodus 19, God specifically instructed the people to wash their clothes and to abstain from sex for two days. We might suspect that getting ready to meet God includes other criteria, yet the Lord did not list that criteria.

I believe God omitted the details because we would inevitably follow them to the wrong conclusion. We'd think we could take the same actions the Israelites did, checking the boxes as we went, and voila! we'd be consecrated. Yet God is not enacting a business transaction. He's not handing us a to-do list. He's inviting those he has welcomed into relationship to make ourselves ready to meet with him. He himself wants to tell each of us, specifically, personally, how to prepare for every encounter with him.

In turn, he want us to be pro-active learners. He wants us to seek, to question, to ponder the things he's said that stump us, as well as the things we think we've already figured out. As we do so, he wants us to keep looking to him, confident that he himself will enlighten us, Spirit to spirit.

So Lord, even now, we look to you. We wait before you to learn, spirit first, what you want to show us. We recognize that your ways will always be "past finding out" to our natural minds. We reject what satisfies our minds or appeals to our emotions but quenches the Spirit and leaves our lives in the same place as before. Make us know what Moses knew but Israel never did. Teach us your ways.

The Hebrew word translated "consecrate" in Exodus 19:10 is qadash, a crucial biblical word. Qadash is the verb form of the adjective translated "holy" (qadosh) and the noun, "holiness" (qodesh). Qadash means "to be holy, to make holy, or to treat as holy." Since holiness is a word, but holify is not, English Bible translations use several different words to render qadash: hallow, consecrate, sanctify, purify.

The concept of holiness itself lies outside our mental grasp. Try as we might, we simply cannot wrap our minds around it. The other terms used to translate qadash help our understanding little, if at all. As already mentioned, words like consecration and sanctification sound pious but obtuse - and they hide what the Hebrew shows: that all these words carry the same thrust.

Leviticus 11:44, for example, says, "I am the LORD your God; consecrate [qadash] yourselves and be holy [qadosh], because I am holy [qadosh]."

Even before his first meeting with his people, the Lord began teaching them to hallow him by "holifying" themselves. He instructed them to treat him as holy by stepping into their own sacred identity. The Lord identifies them, and us, as "a holy [qadosh] nation" (Ex. 19:6). He describes them, and us, as "the saints [qadosh] who are in the land . . . the glorious ones in whom is all my delight" (Ps. 16:3 NIV).

Our Lord knows the incredible hindrances to holiness that his people face. He knows how far from holy we often look and act. But from the start, he identifies us as holy; he calls us to be holy. And from the days of the wandering Israelites until now, he has made every provision to accomplish the impossible, to conquer the insurmountable.

Calling Moses to meet him seven times on top of Mount Sinai, the Lord made a way to dwell among his people and to guide them into holiness. Sending his own Son to die on Mount Calvary and rise again, then sending the Spirit named Holy to remain, God made a way to dwell within his people and to guide us into holiness. The one God who reveals himself as Father, Son and Spirit accomplishes through us what we still cannot fathom, much less attain.

One day, the process - the consecration, washing and readying - will be complete. Revelation 19:6-8 describes that day:

"'Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad

and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready.

Fine linen, bright and clean,

was given her to wear.'

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's people.)"

In the meantime, God is still saying what he said to Moses on the mountain. In 2 Corinthians, Paul expressed it this way: "For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.' . . . Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" (6:16; 7:1).

Paul had explained earlier in 2 Corinthians that we "purify ourselves" by relying on and cooperating with the God who has come to live within: "It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God. He is the one who has enabled us to represent his new covenant. This is a covenant, not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old way ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives life. . . . And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more" (3:5-6,18 NLT).

Holy God directed the people to honor him by taking specific steps to get ready to meet him and to become like him. He also directed the people to honor him by honoring the boundaries he set. He  would come down on top of the mountain. They were not to come up the mountain, but to gather at its foot.

We'll explore the subject of boundaries further in the next Key Truths column. For now consider: God required that the people be consecrated to call them into their new, holy identity in him. God set limits that the people could not pass because they hadn't yet attained full holiness. He knew how much of a revelation of himself they could survive.

In our lives too, God always has good reasons when he sets boundaries. What seems to limit us actually takes us to the exact spot where he will meet us. When we ignore limits he has set, we put ourselves in grave danger, and we dishonor the Lord. When we operate within the boundaries he has set - even if we don't understand those boundaries or the reasons for them - we honor him and set ourselves up for God-encounters far beyond what we could have asked or imagined. Ultimately, we find ourselves singing with the psalmist, "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places" (Ps. 16:6).

For the Israelites at Sinai, the cleansing preparations and the boundary-setting all led up to the third day, when God would "come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people."

So now, hit pause, then rewind, and let's return to Exodus 19:9, a verse we skipped over - a verse I tried to skip over when studying this passage, but God adamantly refused to let me do so. Moses had climbed the mountain for a second time, eager to tell God the people's answer to his first message. Before Moses told the Lord what the people had said, before God spoke of holiness and limits, "The LORD said to Moses, 'I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.'"

"I am going to come to you in a dense cloud." Taking that statement at face value, I tried to pass on to the "meaty" stuff that followed. But the Spirit of the Lord kept drawing my attention back to the mention of the dense cloud. Thus compelled, I set out through scripture on a cloud hunt. What I found surprised and delighted me.

Two Hebrew words are most often translated cloud. The word in Exodus 19:9,`anan, is used 87 times in the Old Testament. By my count, 72 of those times the cloud signals the presence of God in a profound visitation. 

The first time Moses encountered the Lord - at the base of Mount Sinai while shepherding his father-in-law's sheep - the Lord spoke from a burning bush. Throughout the wilderness wanderings and other significant occasions all through history, the Lord comes in a cloud.

For four decades, the Lord went ahead of the Israelites "in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way" (Ex. 13:21). By night, the cloud became a pillar of fire. When the Lord set out, the cloud lifted and moved. Where he stayed, the cloud stayed. In the cloud, God put himself between the Israelites and advancing enemies. From the cloud, he spoke to Moses and the Israelites. He taught, promised, commanded, rebuked and judged. He revealed the future and imparted his Spirit.

Before the tabernacle was built, the cloud resided outside the camp. At the dedication of the tabernacle, "the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle"(Ex. 40:34-35). 

Afterward, the cloudremained upon the mercy seat of the ark within the Holy of Holies. It billowed up from there to cover the tabernacle. The people could not enter the Holy of Holies, nor could the priests, except the high priest once a year. Yet the tabernacle stood in the center of camp, its miraculous cloud canopy a stunning visual reminder that God himself lived in their midst.

Through both testaments, the Lord God continues to come in the cloud:

At the dedication of Solomon's temple, "the temple of the LORD was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God" (2 Chron. 5:13-14).

One of Israel's singers cried, "The LORD reigns. . . . Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne" (Ps. 97:1,2).

In a vision of God's glory, Ezekiel saw "an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light" (Ezek. 1:4). Describing the vision in detail, Ezekiel said, "When I saw it, I fell facedown" (Ezek. 1:28).

Daniel saw a vision he described this way: "there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven" (Dan. 7:13).

Isaiah wrote of a day when "the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain" (Isa 4:5-6).

At Jesus' transfiguration, "a bright cloud covered" Jesus, Peter, James and John, and the Father's voice spoke from the cloud (Matt. 17:5).

At Jesus' ascension, "He was lifted up while [his followers] were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9 NASU). A cloud received him - a cloud that enveloped the Father's welcoming presence?

Matthew, Mark and Luke all refer to Daniel's vision when describing Jesus' return: "At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27). Revelation 1:7 says, "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him."

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

Like God's call for holiness coupled with his setting of boundaries, his coming in a cloud holds profound paradox. It speaks of proximity (God is here) and of mystery (he is unfathomable). It reminds us: The LORD who met Moses on Mount Sinai tabernacles with us, yet "lives in unapproachable light" (1 Tim 6:16). He comes to reveal himself to us, and yet is "a God who hides himself" (Isa. 45:15 NIV). Like Israel, we can meet with him face to face, yet no one can see his face and live (Num 14:14; Ex. 33:20; 1 Tim. 6:16).

The cloud accompanies remarkable past and future encounters with God - and invites us into his presence today. Indeed, the cloud announces the Presence. It affirms God's holiness. It carries his glory. It unleashes terrifying displays of his anger, rebuke, justice and might. It releases stunning acts of his deliverance, guidance, protection and favor.

The God who comes in the cloud invites his people to meet with him. He sets the standards. He draws the boundaries. He chooses how much time to give us to get ready.

Forty years after the Lord came in a cloud to meet with the Israelites on Mount Sinai, Moses told the people part of God's reason for doing so: "Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, 'Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children''" (Deut. 4:10).

The Lord spoke to the people from the cloud: (1) "so that they will learn to fear me in holy fear for as long as they live" (Deut. 4:10 MSG). And (2) "so that they will teach their children to do the same"(Deut. 4:10 TEV). God came in such a way as to provoke generation after generation of his people to honor him as God. 

In Exodus 19:9, God told Moses another reason for his visit: "I am going to come to you in a thick cloud so the people themselves can hear me as I speak to you. Then they will always have confidence in you" (NLT).

God came in such a way as to provoke his people to honor Moses. Moses didn't seek honor for himself. He sought to know and honor God. Moses didn't practice sterile obedience. He pursued intimate relationship with God himself. He prayed, "teach me your ways so I may know you" (Ex. 33:13). In response, God "made known his ways to Moses" (Ps. 103:7). At Sinai, God honored Moses in a way intended to stir the people to follow suit. "Those who honor me I will honor," the Lord declares (1 Sam. 2:30).

And so Moses met with the Lord a second time on Mount Sinai. Like the first rendezvous, this one apparently lasted only a few minutes. Having climbed the mountain with a message from the people, Moses returned with a new message for the people: Prepare to meet your God!

My last day in Colorado Springs, I set out for an early appointment, still trying to grasp mentally what the Lord had spoken into my spirit so profoundly. It had to do with hallowing him and being holy, with boundary-setting, with honor - and with clouds.

Turning onto a main road, I gasped. Before me lay the mountains I had admired for a week. But that morning, brilliant white clouds with deep gray underbellies sat atop the mountains. In stark contrast with the dark greens and browns of the slopes, the dense, billowy-topped, flat-bottomed clouds framed the white dusting on the highest peak. 

"Oh, Father, what a privilege to meet with you!" I breathed. Whether at a random moment of his choosing, in a place where he's summoned me or at the last trumpet call, I want with all my heart to be ready.

. . . . . . .

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures references are from The Holy Bible, Today's New International Version™ TNIV ® Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society ® All rights reserved worldwide. Also quoted: The MESSAGE (MSG); New American Standard Updated (NASU); New International Version (NIV); New King James Version (NKJV); New Living Translation (NLT); and Today's English Version (TEV).

cloud. OT:6051. `anan. from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.