Meeting God

When you strip the Christian faith down to its core, you are left with the simple idea of man meeting God. The very reason for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was to enable sinful mankind to have fellowship with a Holy God. And before you can ever have fellowship with anyone, you have to first meet that person. Then, even after that initial meeting, there will have to be many more meetings with that person if a true relationship is to develop. Ultimately our relationship with God, like all our other relationships, is made up of a series of meetings with him.

In Exodus 19 the people of God were camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses was to receive the 10 commandments that would serve as the basis of the old Covenant. After Moses made several trips up the mountain to speak with God, God told him to consecrate the people, because God was going to descend upon Mount Sinai before them. Moses obeyed, and consecrated them. Then, on the third day, Exodus 19:17 tells us that,

“Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.” This verse is so shockingly simple and powerful at the same time that it amazes me every time I read it! But beyond the sheer shock value of this verse, it reveals something very powerful to us about both God’s desire to meet his people and the way in which he sets up such a meeting.

Remember, as I pointed out earlier, that Moses first consecrated the people before this encounter. In the case of the people of Israel in this physical encounter with God, this consecration included washing their garments and abstaining from sexual relations. But the heart consecration is simply being separating from anything that might defile us. Jesus accomplished this at the ultimate level when he took away our sin (John 1:29).

But there is still a process of continual daily consecration that is our responsibility. The effects of sin are everywhere in the world, and every day it exerts its influence upon us in many ways through “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.” (1 John 2:16) This is why, in James 1:27, we are admonished that it should be the goal of every Christian “To keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Also notice in Exodus 19:17 that Moses brought the people “out of the camp” to meet God. Eventually God would instruct Moses and His people to build him a house so he could “dwell among his people” in the camp. But at this point in their journey, they had not yet built the tabernacle, and so it was necessary for them to come “out of the camp” to meet God. This same thing is true with respect to each of us a well.

God’s desire and plan is for each of one us to be a dwelling place for His spirit – a place where we can meet and have intimate fellowship with him daily. (Revelation 3:20) But because God is Holy, he will not have fellowship with us in “the camp” if it is defiled:

“Your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.” (Deuteronomy 23:14)

Many New Testament passages assure us that, through his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus has become our source of Holiness before God (1 Corinthians 1:30, Hebrews 10:10). But as with consecration, we still have a responsibility to walk in this holiness daily. And since our bodies now are the temple, coming “out of the camp” is not an option. But we do have a say in making sure that “the camp” is undefiled. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

As Christians, we have been given the unspeakable privilege of meeting with God as often as we like. But, like Moses, we also have the responsibility of bringing others to meet him as well (2 Corinthians 5:18). Keep this in mind as you walk through your day!