About seven weeks after celebrating the first Passover and leaving Egypt, Israel receives a message from the LORD at Mount Sinai through Moses.
Moses went up the mountain to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you will carefully listen to Me and keep My covenant, you will be My own [treasured] possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites” (Exodus 19:3-6).
In obedience, Moses descends, summons together the elders of Israel, and relays for them the message from the LORD. And we read:
Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the LORD has spoken” (Exodus 19:8).
It seems like a sweet, simple story. But will Israel do all that the LORD has spoken? Nope. They won’t even finish receiving the instructions for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31) before they turn to serious and abhorrent idolatry (Exodus 32). In other words, they won’t even make it from the foot of this same mountain before they’ve failed to do all that the LORD has spoken.
Doesn’t the omniscient God know how it will go? Is He unable to see that Israel would not even come close to honoring their commitment to do all that the LORD has spoken? Is He an irresponsible covenant-maker, allowing Israel to make a commitment they could not keep?
The LORD certainly knew that Israel would not keep their end of the bargain. Yet He still cut covenant there at Mount Sinai. He still proceeded to provide the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17), the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22-23:33), and instructions for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31). In His mercy, He continued the work of making a kingdom of priests and a holy nation of a people who would never merit those titles by their own behavior.
In His mercy, God was pleased to honor Israel’s willingness to serve Him, despite their inability to do so. He was pleased to honor their godly intent, in spite of their worldly temptations. And so it remains with us, who can so closely identify with the prayer recorded by Thomas Merton in Thoughts in Solitude:
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
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