They Wrote it Down

God spoke to people in a way that they could understand.  Those people listened to what God had to say.  Not only that, God told some of those people to write down what they had heard…and they did.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." (Exodus 34:27 NIV)

I’m thankful to God for telling them to write it down.  I’m grateful for them and their faithfulness in the writing.  It’s not like they could just go to the local office supply store for some paper and ink to print out the blog post they had written that morning.  No, the writing process to time and effort.  They had to want it.  To preserve it for thousands of years, they had to know that God wanted it.

Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. (Exodus 34:28-30 NIV)

I’m glad they wrote it down because so many of us are afraid to draw near to God.  Just like Moses’ day, many people are afraid to enter the doors of a church building.  They don’t want “the roof to collapse,” or “the place to burn down.”  They don’t want to draw near people of God because people of God are “Holier than thou,” or worse yet, “hypocrites.”

But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 34:31-32 NIV)

I’m glad those people of God in the past wrote it down, though.  I’m glad others overcame their fears enough to draw close and listen, too.  I’m glad that they preserved those writings for those thousands of years.  Because of their faithfulness, we get to hear the stories, too.

When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD. (Exodus 34:33-35 NIV)

How about you?  Are you thankful that God spoke to people in a way that they could understand?  Are you grateful for those people writing down what God said?  Do these stories help you draw near to God, too?