This verse stood out to me in today's reading.
“Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
In context Moses is retelling the story of the people of God coming to the mountain of God at Horeb where they were too frightened to get near the mountain and refused to approach. Can we blame them? Who wants to die?
And yet, in this same passage, Moses is talking of a prophet, one that God will raise up to show the Isralites the way. Who was that prophet? What did he model? Death is a huge part of our call unto Jesus and the example he set. We are to die to self. To die is gain (Apostle Paul.) Lay down our lives. Pick up our crosses. Die daily. Today in the power of Christ's sacrfice, the path he put before us, and the fullness of his very Spirit--we humans can die and find the result to be life. Some of John 12 comes to mind as well.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.32 And I, when I am lifted up[g] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
Do we hear the voice or the thunder? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Doesn't it sound like he is calling us to serve him by following him unto death? He seems to be saying that pretty clearly in v 26, right? Seems to me that we have a tendancy to cling tightly to everything we consider valuable. Meanwhile God says something along the lines of, can you trust that I've got this? Even if it means you're most tightly held resource (life) will be expected of you?
Hey Dan, There's the hill you are called to die on.
Will you? Or, will you spend that resource elsewhere? You decide.
Thoughts? Keep reading.