How Do You Prepare To Come Into the Presence of God?

Exodus 19

For many generations the Israelites had lived as slaves. Now Moses has been used by God to lead them from their captivity to a new life. What will this new life look like? How will they live? What will guide them on this new path?

As they leave Egypt they find themselves trapped against the sea with the army of Pharaoh approaching. There seems to be no escape and then God delivers them through the water to safety. Now as this mass of 2 million people move across the desert they find that they need water. Water is a necessity in everyone’s lives. It is not too unreasonable to think that they complained to Moses for something to drink. God made the bitter water sweet so they could drink it. Then they complained about the lack of food. So God provided quail and manna for them to eat.

The people seem to expect Moses to solve all their problems. It is difficult for us to imagine the mindset or culture that was established through generations of slavery. The people were probably not very educated. Not much was written down if anything of their history. Everything was passed down through oral traditions and most likely songs. Music allowed them to remember who they were and where they have come from. For years they had been told what to do and now they were free and did not know what to do. They were lost and confused.

I believe God was trying to change their culture, their way of thinking. God was going to reveal to them His nature and character and His desire for who they could and would be. They would learn to trust God. They would learn how to relate to each other. He would give them Ten Commandments to guide their life together.

As they approach Mt. Sinai, God speak to them through Moses. He tells them to prepare themselves. God will be revealing Himself to them on the mountain. A thick cloud will cover the mountain and God will speak to the people. They are not to touch the mountain. They are to take three days to prepare themselves for coming into God’s presence. They are told to wash their clothes, refrain from any sexual activity, and to consecrate or sanctify themselves.

Washing their clothes makes sense as you want to make yourself presentable to God. When we worked with the children in Uganda they would first wash themselves and put on their best clothes before they came to greet us. I can remember a time when going to worship you would have your Sunday best to wear. I am not sure why God told them to refrain from sexual activity beyond the fact that God did not want them to have distractions while coming into His presence. When He told them to consecrate or sanctify themselves, I wonder as well as what that looked like? How did they set themselves apart for coming into God’s presence? Did they pray? Did they sing songs about God? It is an interesting task to think about what they did for these three days before God revealed Himself on the mountain. How do you prepare to come into the presence of God?

How do you prepare yourself to come to worship on Sunday mornings? Have we lost the mystery and awe of who God is? Is it possible that we have taken advantage of coming into the presence of God? Are we treating the worship of God as something common? I want to challenge you to think, reflect and pray about how you prepare to come into the presence of God.

See You In Worship,

Pastor John