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God Told Me

Words of Faith Final

God Told Me
Words of Faith 12-8-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 19
[16] On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. [17] Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. [18] Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, [19] and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
[20] The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up [21] and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. [22] Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them."
[23] Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, 'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.' "
[24] The Lord replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them."
[25] So Moses went down to the people and told them.

People will sometimes say, "God told me" such and such a thing. I confess that I have spoken this way to describe the strong leading of the Holy Spirit or the "still small voice" within. What happened at Mount Sinai was entirely different. God came down from heaven to talk.
After three days of preparation, God descended to Sinai in a remarkable display of power and majesty. This was not the "still small voice." This was a "big loud voice." This was not something only one "prophet" heard. This was heard by all. This was not the voice you sometimes sense and wonder if it might be your own desire. No. This was God Almighty making a rare personal appearance on earth.
Of course, the people trembled, standing at the foot of the mountain. They heard crashing thunder and a very loud trumpet or ram's horn blast. They saw flashing lightning, fire, and dense billowing smoke as if from a smelting furnace. The "God told me" experience was terrifying. The people felt the mountain trembling in a violent earthquake. The "black cloud" of smoke brought "darkness" to the sky, and only Moses and Aaron were permitted on the mountain.
In theology, God Almighty, the Creator, is described as "transcendent" or "wholly other" and beyond our ability to sense or apprehend. God is also described as "immanent," which means close or "with us." One of the names of Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. God is both transcendent and immanent.
It is a big deal when the transcendent "wholly other" nature of Holy God stoops to talk with His creatures. It is more significant than the Lord "appearing" in the burning bush or speaking through three strangers under a tree. It is more profound than Abraham's leading or Jacob's wrestling.
The giving of the Law at Sinai was the single most profound encounter of man with God since the expulsion from the Garden. Here, God Almighty came to a mountain to talk. Later God would become flesh and live and speak for a while among us. These are the high points of God's effort to reach man.
For this reason, we should not treat the Law of God lightly. Yes, we are people of grace. We are saved by grace and not by works fulfilling the Law. Yes, the Law functions to reveal our sinful nature and need for God's grace. But the Law is also the perfect Word of guidance that defines our relationship with God, ourselves, and one another. We cannot and must not casually dismiss that which God uttered and wrote for all time at Sinai.
We must also take some care when we hear or say something like, "God spoke to me" about such and such a thing. Did the earth shake? Did the smoke billow? Did the trumpet blast? Then it is not the same.
Yet, I must say that the Lord speaks to me every day. I don't always listen as carefully as I need to, but He speaks. He speaks mostly by illuminating to me His inspired Word. He also speaks through the convincing of the Holy Spirit regarding matters that are in accordance with His Word. But the earth trembled only at Sinai and only this one time. The basics were complete.
Jesus sat on the mountain and in the Temple only a few times, and He clarified the Law as He provided the way of grace. This is the Word by which we live. This is what God told me.

Father God, Almighty and Holy One, I come in reverence before Your presence. I am grateful for Your Holy Spirit, who illumines Your Word and comforts my heart. I rejoice in knowing that Jesus lives in me and guides me daily. I am in awe of Your plan, which spans the trembling ground at Sinai all the way to the quietness of a Bethlehem manger. Walk with me today. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.