Day 3 – First ascent, a declaration of Love

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, ‘𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭: ‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴’ 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘺 𝘔𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.’ 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭.” 𝘌𝘹𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘴 19:3-6 𝘕𝘒𝘑𝘝

As Israel began pitching their tents at the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses made his first ascent. Interestingly, God’s initial words were not a personal revelation for Moses, but a profound declaration of love intended for the people He had brought to Himself. Even before the formal covenant was made, God asked them to keep it.

In the Biblical narrative starting from Genesis, entering a covenant was a major part of what it meant to live in the early world. God wanted to build a relationship with the Israelites through a structure they already understood. A covenant is a relationship between two partners who make binding promises to each other and work together to reach a common goal. Covenants define obligations and commitments; they are distinct from legal contracts because they are deeply relational and personal, requiring both parties to work together toward a common goal.

With the first ascent, God was preparing the heart of the nation for what was to come by declaring His love and asking only for their obedience. And in doing so, they will be His special treasure above all people – a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation.

Think of the 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 in your own life – the challenges or seasons you climbed specifically to hear from God. Did you receive the full revelation the first time? Throughout the Sinai experience, we see that God unfolds His plan, climb-by-climb, revealing a little more each time as we remain faithful to the journey. But first, He desires a relationship with you.

Pray with me: Father, thank You that You call us to Yourself through love and that You are not shy to share Your love with us. Sometimes we just want the answers and neglect to see Your love first. Let us accept Your love and let it wash over us like the promises given to the Israelites. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Pastor Iriza