19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
I think this is the second biggest mistake in history. The people of Israel are standing at the base of Mount Sinai hearing the voice of God speak directly to them. They are being instructed on how to live godly lives as free people. And they are afraid the Lord is going to kill them, as He killed the Egyptian army that pursued them into the Red Sea. There was no reason for them to think the Lord was going to kill them. He is just going to continue to talk directly to them. If they don’t go onto the mountain, they are safe. But they don’t want to hear directly from the Lord. They want an intermediary. How many times have I heard people say, “If I could just hear God speak directly to me, I would know what He wants me to do.” They had the opportunity to continue to hear directly from the Lord, and they chose to not hear directly. What a mistake! But, we have an opportunity they did not have. We have God’s Word. We can take the time to read and hear directly from the Lord, but we chose to be lazy or busy. We chose to stay in a foggy land, rather than get clarity through His Word. We chose to hear secondhand rather than directly. Nothing is better than reading and meditating on the Word and hearing Him speak to you. He wants to use the Scripture to talk to your heart. Are you making His voice available to your ears? Are you reading His Word with an expectation that He is going to speak? Or are you just reading to check the box or learn some more Bible facts? He wants to speak directly to us. But when He does, it is our responsibility to obey. Maybe that is why they wanted distance. They wanted an excuse to disobey. Is that why we are not in the Scriptures?
The Arnold Journey 