Advent is about the coming of Jesus, and Luke 2 is part of the narrative surrounding His birth. When we read Luke 2, we notice that there're a lot of people hearing and telling things to each other. If we focus on Luke 2:18-19, we read that who heard the words of the shepherd wondered at what was told them. The shepherds were preachers, announcing things to even the parents of the child, and it had a profound effect on Mary. In this series, we have been treasuring up all that has been said about Christ and pondering it in our heart. Today, we will consider how the baby born in Bethlehem is also the Lord of Might.
(A) Meet obscure hymns: El Shaddai gave Moses the law
Thus far, we've seen how Jesus is:
Emmanuel who has “ransom[ed] captive Israel … in lonely exile”.
Rod of Jesse who has “free[ed] Thine own from Satan’s tyranny… (to) give them victory o’er the grave”
Key of David who has “open[ed] wide our heavenly home…close[ed] the path to misery”
Dayspring who has “cheer[ed] our spirits by Thine advent… disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight”
In this last verse, we see how He is also the “Lord of Might”. This is not an abstract term in this hymn. We are told we who He is, what He came to do, and where He does it from.
(a) What does He do? He gives the law to His own tribes in ancient times.
(b) Where does He do it? He does it “on Sinai’s heights”.
(c) Where does He do it from? In the cloud, majesty and awe
Do you see how this hymn writer is interpreting the Bible for us, even from the 5th Century. He is saying that Emmanuel gave the tribes the law. He therefore draws from both the NT and the OT. It means that Jesus didn’t just appear as a baby in Matthew and the other gospels. His appearance was a culmination of years and years of prophecy and promises and He embodies the fulfilment of much of the OT.
(B) Meet the Divine: El Shaddai in View
Exo 19:1-6 give us the preamble to the text. These are written in a straightforward manner, and we are given movements in sequence. These 6 verses bring us up to speed on the events from the moment they leave Egypt to the moment that Moses went up to God. Notice in this narrative that Moses keeps going up and coming down Mount Sinai. Every time Moses goes up, God tells him to go down and the people His words. God wants to speak with His people, but could not do so directly. Thus, we see here how Moses fulfills the function of a mediator, a go-between between God and His people.
Moses was to explain to them why they were put at this mountain.
Exo 19:4 begins with “you yourselves have seen”, essentially the Bible’s version of “you know ah”. The unchallenged fact is that they themselves have experienced God’s own provision and rescue. God was calling them to think back to the Exodus. God reminds the people of His actions on their part. They did nothing, but God did everything. Emmanuel has ransomed captive Israel. God didn’t just get Israel back. He also broke Egypt with the plague, shattered Pharoah’s army and destroyed the nation at the Red Sea. The Israelites saw everything. But also, how quickly they forget how they were ransomed, and think that they also contributed to their salvation.
The purpose of their salvation is stated plainly in Exo 19:5. God brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai, and brought Moses up and then down to tell them that they are His. This was the only reason why they were brought out of Egypt.
Exo 19:6b-15 goes on to describe God communicating with His people through Moses. God was teaching them how to prepare to meet Him (Exo 19:10-15). The details of their consecration and how they should be made holy, was told to them and they were expected to obey all of it in order to be ready to meet Him. They were to wash their garments for 3 days (Exo 19:10-11). They were also to set up limits and order themselves as a people all around the mountain (Exo 19:12-13). Think about the logistics of this in the preparation to meet God. There’s also a serious consequence to touching the mountain for beast or man — stoned or shot (and not with their hands) (Exo 19:13). God wants to meet His people, but He has to meet them with limits in place.
The scene in Exo 19:16-20 is described richly, and the writer clearly intended to invoke all 5 senses. We can hear it in the thunder (Exo 19:16) and we can feel it in the atmosphere. We can see the lightning and a thick cloud. This is an experience of presence, that something or someone is here. We’ve never experienced something quite like this, where the presence of God brings a natural transformation of space. The people know it, and that’s why all in the camp trembles. Moses has the difficult job of coming out and meeting God (Exo 19:17). The whole mountain was covered in smoke (Exo 19:18). This whole experience made people experience their smallness and even their own moral vulnerability.
Moses was called up to meet the God of Exodus, a God of smoke, fire and cloud (Exo 19:20). This is also the same God we worship today. Yet, many of us don’t think of God in this sense, and certainly rarely approach Him with such awe, reverence and fear. The lives that we live as modern people have squeezed out how terrifying God can be. The longer we live in our modern world, it’s so easy to make God small in our eyes because man is made big in our cities, with all our skyscrapers, technology and innovation. Exo 19 is designed to jolt us out of our ideas of who we are and ideas of who God is and to see who God truly is. We need to tune our minds biblically to see who God truly is. This God will not keep to our 9 to 5 schedule, and will not abide by our “I’m nice, so bless me” assumptions. Have you met the Exo 19 God lately? Has He shown up at your doorstep, showing us who He really is, and in the process, shattered our ideas?
(C) Meet Him Yourself: El Shaddai dwells with us – Emmanuel
This passage is also meant to show us that the advent of God creates problems. The people could not come through on their own, lest they perish (Exo 19:21). The priests who come up also need to consecrate themselves (Exo 19:22). Both times, the threat is that the Lord “might break out against them”. This is the problem of Exo 19 — no one can come before a holy, majestic God, because of our terrible, terrible sin that can consume us. Have we lost the sense of awe that comes with entering His presence? We can develop a thick moral skin and delude ourselves into thinking that we are ok. Stand with the priests who are unable to go up the mountain. They are aware that below their clean clothes lie a heart that still wants to be god. Exo 19 is a text that we must come to again and again, to remind ourselves that our God is far, far greater than our worst fears, and higher than our greatest glories. Our problem is that God calls us, but we cannot approach Him, and cannot stand in His presence.
In a few chapters, the people would have forgotten what they saw here, and build an idol for themselves. Moses needed to stand between them and God and Moses asked God to see His glory (Exo 32-33). God says that no one can see His glory and live (Exo 33:21-22). Moses witness just the passing glory of God, and his face is transformed (Exo 34:29-35). This is what the people knew. Yet, years later, the opening verses of John 1 speak of the true light (John 1:9). This is not just any light. This is the shekinah glory, the light of Exo 19. We have seen his glory (John 1:14). This is not just any glory. This is the Exodus 19 glory.
Exo 19 shows us the Lord of might, covered in clouds and smoke and the people tremble before Him. But this is not the end of the story. Christmas continues the story, as the Lord of might, the great God has come down. In Jesus, God did what He could not do in Exo 19. Christmas has now come and gone, but as the festivities and merriment settle, resolve to draw near to God, as He has revealed Himself. Make Him great in your eyes in this new year.