When seeing God is not enough

One of my friends was reading Exodus 24:9-11: "Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank." And she just realized that human being can see God Himself. (She thought that no one can see God, or they will be struck dead). I pointed out the significant of the preceding verse 8 of the important of redemption/forgiveness before approaching God: "Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, 'This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.'". (Jesus also stated, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" - unfortunately there are no one could be perfect enough on their own to see God by their own perfection, that's why we depend on the blood of Jesus to cover all our sin...)

Then interesting enough, the lectionary calendar for this week points me to the next part of Exodus 24. Verse 12 said that, "The LORD said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.'"

What I am seeing here is the link between the redemption/forgiveness in verse 8, the fellowship with God and with each other in verse 9-11, and the Instruction of God given here in verse 12.

First, note the order of redemption/forgiveness --> fellowship with God and others, and --> following God's instruction in life. Without believing, there will be no belonging; and without belonging, there will be no becoming.

And many times we stop short too prematurely in our growth in God. Some thought that if our sin are forgiven, that was enough, salvation is just a "get out of hell card". Others thought that if we find ourselves in fellowship with other believers and with God, that was enough, blessing is just "spiritual happiness". But here, God bid Moses to move on to receive "the law and the commandment, which [God] have written for [our] instruction!" The important matter is to continue follow God in this present life, in the present world. Jesus emphasized plainly that if a person love Him, that person must obey what He commanded (John 14:15,21,23,24). And so, we need to move on to actually follow God's instruction in life, and not just stoping short prematurely.

Being grounded in the Word are crucial for us to know what to do in life.

In the recent weeks, I was studying from Daniel in our small group. In the last study, this scenario played out: A death squad of the Nazis descended upon a Jewish ghetto to carry out their destructive order. And they met the first guy on the block: You. What would you do?

Daniel was in that scenario, and this is what recorded of him, "When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact" [Dan.2:14]. That word "tact" is an intersting word, the PCS has the following insight on it:

"[that word] is variously rendered in the Old Testament. It is related to the Hebrew verb meaning 'to taste' (taam). Here it conveys those spiritual instincts of judgment, discernment, and what we might call a sense of the realities of the situation. Daniel's wisdom was a well-developed sense of spiritual 'taste.'

We speak about people having a highly developed taste in many spheres. What we mean is that they are able to tell the difference between foods or drinks or even clothes that seem to the rest of us virtually indistinguishable. Taste is a mysterious sense and one which experience can develop to a very high degree. There are people who can tell the year of a certain wine or the origin of the leaves for a cup of tea. In some ways, spiritual wisdom is just like that. It is a highly developed sense of God's ways, learned through obedience to God's Word. It is a sensitive awareness of the kind of behavior that is appropriate to the child of God in different circumstances. It does not necessarily come with age but with understanding of the Lord's Word and ways..."

So, in the midst of our everyday life, God invited us to take on His instruction and His word so that we would be able to live effectively in our everyday life, admist all the problems and crises we will encounter.

Lord God, help me to not only just be forgiven, but also can overcome sins; help me not only just have the fellowship, but also have the followship; and help me not only just know Your Word, but also obey them as well.