Exodus 24:12-18 (NRSV)
Read Exodus 24:12-18 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12The 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." Verse 13So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. Verse 14To the elders he had said, "Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them." Verse 15Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. Verse 16The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Verse 17Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Verse 18Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
Devotion
The people of Israel are at Mt Sinai where God established a covenant relationship with them. The Ten Commandments are spoken to them and other laws that were to guide their ongoing relationship with others. In today’s reading, Moses goes up on Mt Sinai amid the cloud and fire and God reveals the Ten Commandments engraved on tablets of stone, permanent and durable against the forces of nature. As we close out the Advent / Christmas / Epiphany cycle of the church year and approach the beginning of Lent, we are reminded that in Jesus Christ our relationship with God is rock solid, and nothing can separate us from that relationship.
Prayer
Loving God, we give thanks that our faith is built on Jesus, the solid rock, because all other ground is sinking sand. Amen.