Day 6 – Fourth ascent, intercession

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥.  𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯.  𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺.  𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘪, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘱.” 𝘌𝘹𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘴 19:16-20 𝘕𝘒𝘑𝘝

Can you imagine standing in that crowd with the Israelites, looking up at this terrifying scene? Here was a nation that had known only the cracking whips of Egypt. They had never travelled beyond those borders until now, and they likely had never seen a mountain at all, let alone one engulfed in thunder, lightning, smoke, and fire. Understandably, they trembled in absolute fear.

It is during this fourth ascent that Moses actually protests. He reminds God, “𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘪. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴… ‘𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺.’” Moses was concerned about the safety of the people, but he missed a vital point: 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀; 𝗛𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

Throughout the Bible, the theme of testing is often illustrated with fire. Moses didn’t protest because he was tired of climbing the mountain 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. He climbed despite the smoke, the thunder, the fire, and the earthquake.  The nation had asked him to 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦 on their behalf, promising they would listen to him as their mediator (verses 18–19). Moses offers a profound perspective: he tells them not to be afraid, explaining that God is testing them so that a healthy fear of the Lord would take root in their hearts, keeping them from sin (verse 20).

Lovely one, there are days when our personal mountains look exactly like Sinai, shrouded in smoke and shaking with uncertainty. Often, these mountains involve the people around us, and this fourth ascent teaches us the power of intercession. It calls us to step up and pray for others, regardless of how we feel about the mountain we are currently climbing.

Pray with me: Father, give me strength and a bold spirit to obey Your voice regardless of what the mountain in front of me looks like. Situations come with their own fire and earthquakes, but thank You, Lord, for being on top of it all. Let Your Word purify me. Teach me during these climbs to intercede for others, too. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Pastor Iriza