For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (Hebrews 12:18-19, NKJV).
When God reveals Himself the very foundation of the universe trembles. When He steps into time and space, His Presence and power and authority are unmistakable and undeniable. So much so that there will come a day when: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11, NKJV).
Precursors of that day are recorded in the ancient books of Scripture, with God choosing to reveal His glory to humanity to mark significant developments in redemptive history, as in the event alluded to in the verse above, the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.
His august Presence blackened the mountain with fire, and His Words rumbled through the cosmos in unapproachable power, with roiling blackness and darkness and tempest .
For their own protection the Children of Israel were strictly prohibited from approaching too closely or casually - they were to understand the sheer majesty of the raw creative Power whose words spoke existence into being.
And the sound of that voice crescendoing over even the clarion trumpet call of the heavenly honor guard accompanying Him proved intolerable for the mere humans for whose benefit the Divine Appearance was manifest.
They begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, for it overwhelmed them and gave them a glimpse of the true nature of the One they followed, and in whose hands they had put their very lives and souls.
While we may see that reaction as less than courageous, in the very least it was an acknowledgement of who God is - the sovereign Lord of Lords and King of Kings - and it is far more appropriate than the casual, almost nonchalant attitude some today hold toward our Maker and Redeemer, it they admit to His existence at all.
He is, most emphatically, not the genial, grandfatherly figure portrayed in popular culture, nor "the man upstairs", nor is He accessible by any means other than through faith in His Son, Jesus. To believe or think otherwise is blasphemy of the most arrogant form, transforming He who lives in unapproachable light - whose glory fills the heavens - into a mere figment of limited human imagination.
This majesty, sovereignty, authority, glory and power clothed Himself in human form and came to us as Christ Jesus, born of a virgin, under the Law. His flesh was a veil that protected us from the obliterating impact of His true Presence, and was also the means by which He revealed Himself more comprehensibly to the human mind. It was also the form needed to BE that sacrifice that would take away the sin of the world.
But make no mistake, Christ is all the fullness of the godhead bodily. In His resurrected and glorified form, His glory still fills the heavens, and His voice is as devastatingly overwhelming as that from Mount Sinai.
The difference, though, between now and then is yet another aspect of the superiority of Christ to all that can be conceived of in the past, present, or future - in every aspect. Rather than prohibition we have complete access - we can boldly come to a place far more significant than the Mount of the Law. We have, in fact, unencumbered access to the very Throne of Grace itself.
This is not to imply that the power and majesty that blackened that mountain and caused all of Creation to tremble is in any way lessened or mitigated. If anything, through God's selfless act of redemption through His Son, that revelation of ultimate power is clarified by the revelation of ultimate love.
The words spoken from Heaven now are no less than the words spoken to ancient Israel then. If anything their message is more significant, since they are augmented by the supreme act of sacrifice on the Cross.
For those who have sincere faith in Christ, there is no need to beg that His word not be spoken anymore, for its burning provisions of judgment under the Law have been satisfied by the Son of God Himself.
The Word to His followers now conveys forgiveness and salvation and eternal life in the Savior - judgment has been satisfied.
That Presence of unimaginable majesty is unchanged, but that consuming fire, rather than a source of terror, is the only true source of warmth and light and life to those who call upon the Name of the Lord.
