And Now, Heeeeeeeres God

Winter In the Word The Ancient Made New #6 And Now, Heeeeeeeres God! The hardest part of my early days in elementary school was_____________ Using the combined knowledge of the class about Moses and The Exodus, make a list of the details that foreshadow the story of Jesus. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ God begins to present his covenant with Israel…Exodus 15:25b God said, “If you listen, listen obediently to how God tells you to live in his presence, obeying his commandments and keeping all his laws, then I won’t strike you with all the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians; I am God your healer.” (The Message) God’s expectations, easy or difficult?_______________________________ 19:1-2 Three months after leaving Egypt the Israelites entered the Wilderness of Sinai. They set up camp facing the mountain of God. (The Message) So far, their trip has been________________________________________ 6 God said, “The whole Earth is mine to choose from, but you’re special: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” (The Message) If God said this to me, I would____________________________________ 8 The people were unanimous in their response: “Everything God says, we will do.” Before we go any farther in this story, let’s remember who these people are._________________________________________________________ Their relationship with God is_____________________________________ 10-13 God said to Moses, “Go to the people. For the next two days get these people ready to meet the Holy God. Have them scrub their clothes so that on the third day they’ll be fully prepared, because on the third day God will come down on Mount Sinai and make his presence known to all the people. Post boundaries for the people all around, telling them, ‘Warning! Don’t climb the mountain. Don’t even touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain dies—a certain death. And no one is to touch that person, he’s to be stoned. That’s right—stoned. Or shot with arrows, shot to death. Animal or man, whichever—put to death.’ (The Message) If I’m in their place, I would have__________________________________ 16 On the third day at daybreak, there were loud claps of thunder, flashes of lightning, a thick cloud covering the mountain, and an ear-piercing trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp shuddered in fear. (The Message) This is their introduction to God. How would you say it’s going?__________ 20:1 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. (NIV) A most important ans stunning beginning.___________________________ 18-19 All the people, experiencing the thunder and lightning, the trumpet blast and the smoking mountain, were afraid—they pulled back and stood at a distance. They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we’ll listen, but don’t have God speak to us or we’ll die.” (The Message) Israel’s reintroduction to God was_________________________________ That Was Then. This Is Now. Hebrews 12:18-21 Unlike your ancestors, you didn’t come to Mount Sinai—all that volcanic blaze and earthshaking rumble—to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop. When they heard the words—“If an animal touches the Mountain, it’s as good as dead”—they were afraid to move. Even Moses was terrified. 22-24 No, that’s not your experience at all. You’ve come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just. You’ve come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel’s—a homicide that cried out for vengeance—became a proclamation of grace. (The Message) Hebrews 4: 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then, boldly approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (NIV) Aren’t you glad that someone else did the fearful trembling for you?