Original Entry Date 5/27/2016: I’ve actually used this section of scripture on an older post of mine about the relation between the stone tablets (10 Commandments) and the heart. Here is the link to that in case you are interested:
(https://baptizemyheartlord.com/2021/02/21/symbolization-the-stone-tablets-and-the-heart/)
Lets begin in Exodus 24, where Moses begins his venture up to the top of the mountain.
Exodus 24:12 NKJV:
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”
Here we see God calling Moses to the top of the mountain which represents God calling us to a higher standard or to a higher place. We are called to be holy.
1 Peter 1:15-16 NKJV:
as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
God calls Moses to a higher place, telling him that He will give him the tablets of stone with the written law and commandments. This connects to the way our hearts become transformed as we come to know Christ and believe. We become suitable for this Higher calling.
2 Corinthians 3:3 NKJV
3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
The end of Exodus verse 12 ends with God stating that the stone tablets were being given to Moses so that he could teach the people of Israel His Laws and Commands. Just like the stone tablets, our hearts are inscribed with these commands, so that we equipped to teach others about Jesus and His Word.
Back in our text, let’s skip down to verse 15.
Exodus 24:15 NKJV:
15 Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
Moses goes up the mountain (into his higher calling from God) and the cloud of God’s Presence covers the mountain. This symbolizes being filled with the power and glory of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the Bible we see the Glory of Gods Presence described as a great cloud
Exodus 40:33-35 NKJV:
And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
The Cloud and the Glory
34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
2 Chronicles 5:13-14 NKJV:
13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Back to our text we read:
Exodus 24:16-17 NKJV:
16 Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17
The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel
The final thing I am pointing out is in verse 17. The site of the Lord was like a consuming fire to the children of Israel. This represents how we look to the world, full of the Spirit and on fire for God!
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