Recently, John and I did some camping in southwest Georgia. We visited a State Park called Providence Canyon—known as “Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon.” I did some hiking around a three-mile-loop; a loop that went around the rim of these beautiful geological formations.
Providence Canyon stands as a monument and lesson to the power of erosion, as well as improper or overused farming practices that destroyed the Coastal Plain—low lying land adjacent to the sea coast. Over time, small gullies grew into impressive 150 foot canyons. These huge stone pillars made me think about the power of visual things to help us remember and learn from the past.
In our passage today, Moses builds an altar and a monument of stone pillars to remind people of the Truth—the day they made a commitment to honor God’s character and conduct their lives in such a way to reflect the Lord’s glory. God did not force the people to make an oath to honor the terms of the covenant; they willingly made the commitment. However, God knew these visible twelve pillars (depicting the oath of the people from the twelve tribes) would help them remember their word and remain loyal and faithful to God.
Rocky and jagged cliffs of some form exist in all the biblical lands. Many times, God’s people hid around the cliffs to find security from their enemies. David was one of them. As I think of the altar and stone pillars at Mount Sinai, I cannot help but remember the oath I made to the Rock of my salvation—Jesus. I promised to follow my Lord’s commands—to allow the Holy Spirit to make me anew in his image. Every day, Jesus is my Rock—the Cornerstone of my remembrance to remain faithful to my word.
Exodus 24:1-8 NLT Israel Accepts the Lord’s Covenant
1 Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu (Aaron’s sons), and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. 2 Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.”
3 Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the instructions and regulations the Lord had given him. All the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.”
4 Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions. Early the next morning Moses got up and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent some of the young Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses drained half the blood from these animals into basins. The other half he splattered against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.”
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the many ways you set things into place and help us remember to operate our lives with your Wisdom. You are the Rock we need to build our new lives upon and we need to remember our oath to honor your character and ways. Father, thank you for the work of Jesus to be our Refuge who brings us salvation and for the Spirit to groom us in divine holiness. Please impart to us the hunger and the power to live for your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.