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Daily Devotions

Exodus

Exodus 
Day 
Day 212

"Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes, that I may not be ashamed." Psalm 119:80

Text: Exodus 24 : 1-2

A SPECIAL VISITATION FROM THE LORD

The children of Israel were told that God would make a special visit. He would descend on Mt. Sinai and speak to them! Excitement gripped their hearts! How wonderful it would be to have the Lord pay them a visit personally!

Every precaution was taken to ensure that there would be no breaching of God’s instructions concerning His visit. When God finally came to visit Israel, the nation found itself spiritually not ready! In place of joy and excitement, fear gripped the hearts of the children of Israel. Moses was asked to represent the nation in future encounters. The nation feared God so much that they did not dare to hear the personal voice of the Lord speaking to them (CF. Exodus 19-20).

A SPECIAL INVITATION FROM THE LORD

How privileged Moses was to have the Lord teach him personally! Humbly and with great awe, he listened as the Lord gave to him deep and profound civil and religious laws to govern the nation of Israel!

If the general populace wasn’t ready to meet up with the Lord, how about the leaders of the nation? Surely they would benefit greatly from meeting up with the Lord! With this thought in mind, God gave a special invitation to the leaders serving alongside Moses.

“Now He said to Moses, ‘Come up to the LORD,
you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy
of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.
And Moses alone shall come near the LORD,
but they shall not come near; nor shall the people
go up with him.”
EXODUS 24:1-2

1. Names mentioned

Not only was this gracious invitation given, God even mentioned the names of certain individuals. Aaron was mentioned, and so were his two sons!

2. “Seventy of the elders of Israel”

This group of elders could well be the leaders who shepherded the children of Israel in the days when they were in Egypt (Cf. Exodus 4:29).

3. “But they shall not come near… nor… go up with him”

The special invitation to come up to the mountain had certain restrictions. They were able to ascend the mountain only up to a certain point. God distinguished between Moses and the rest of the leaders (Aaron was included in this category).

Should they feel discriminated against? Absolutely not! A privilege must not be misread as “a right”. To be given a special invitation was to be appreciated and treasured! It was all up to God whom He chose to honour! To be included was privilege enough!