Exo 19:3-9 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
Who would Moses have been without listening to God? Just another guy whose name we would never have known? Probably. Because Moses listened and obeyed God, his name is known throughout the earth. God did amazing things through him to guide the children of Israel, to protect them, to bring them unto himself. I am reminded of Rom 8:11 “If God be for us, who can be against us” when I read Exodus 19:4. In v.5, God simply says, if any of us will obey His voice and keep his covenant, he will hold us as a treasure, above all people. That’s a promise from God. It can’t get better than that. They were to be (we are to be…mankind was designed to be) a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.
And all the children of Israel said: Yes, what he said…yes, we will do that. God took it a step further and appeared to Moses in a cloud so that the people could see that and it would encourage them and help them believe that God was speaking to Moses and they should listen to him. It was to help them be obedient. This God of ours will go to great lengths to assist us in our journey home to him. We must be obedient, and no matter how much power evil seems to have, God is much more powerful. No matter how wonderful something appears to be, if it is not of God, it will not be all that wonderful.
God knows that though our intention this morning might be to finish our course and trust God, and be obedient to his will, there will be trials. Many trials for every one of us, complicated trials. But remember, our God is watching over us, and if we continue and hold on to our faith and ask his guidance and listen for his voice, and continue in his word and spirit, he will “bare you on eagles wings” and keep us close, for we “shall be a peculiar treasure unto me (God) above all people: for the earth is mine (God’s).” And we shall be a “kingdom of priests.”
Look forward and look to God. The earth is God’s. The literal earth, and the landscape in our own mind belongs to God. We must do our work to return our earth to God, and when we have done that, each little bit that we return to him, is redeemed…Is treasured…Is loved by our Creator…Is available for him to perform his holy works through us to others. We are God’s servants and there is so much work to be done. He is God: He can do anything he wants to do in heaven and on earth, but he has a design by which he plans to do things, and we are part of that, but it is still about choosing, continuously choosing.