Message 62
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 19:10-24; 20:19-21; 32:1; Rom. 5:13, 20; 4:15; 7:7-8, 13; Gal. 3:19; Rom. 3:19; Gal. 3:23-24
Not many Christians realize that concerning both the giving of the law and the function of the law, there are two aspects, the “day” aspect and the “night” aspect. Nevertheless, such a truth lies hidden in the Bible. If we get into the depths of the truth in the Bible and consider it in the light of our spiritual experience, we shall see that there are these two aspects related to the giving of the law and its function.
Christians should never have the attitude that the law of God is not good. In Romans 7:12 Paul says, “So that the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” In Romans 7:14 he goes so far as to say, “The law is spiritual.” The law is both good and also spiritual.
Paul’s use of the adjective “spiritual” with respect to the law indicates that the law is related to God the Spirit. Because the law is something of God and out of God and because it belongs to God, who is Spirit (John 4:24), the law is the same as God in essence and in nature. Whatever proceeds out from God must be the same in substance as He is. The word “spiritual” in Romans 7:14 points to this substance. Certain things are very good, but because their substance is not of the Spirit, they cannot be called spiritual. Because the law comes out of God and is the same as God in substance, it is both good and also spiritual.
Because God is both the source of the law and its substance, the law is very uplifted in its nature. We should never regard the law as something that is not good or spiritual. In speaking of the law in Romans 7, Paul was careful. He emphatically declared that the law is holy and also spiritual. The law remains good and spiritual no matter whether we are good or evil, spiritual or unspiritual. If we are evil, the law is still good. If we are not spiritual, the law is nonetheless spiritual. No matter what we are, the law is good and also spiritual.
Although in itself the law is always good and spiritual, to us the decree of the law may be either positive or negative, either “day” or “night,” depending on our spiritual condition. To one kind of person, the decree of the law may be very negative. But to another kind of person, it may be altogether positive.
These two aspects of the decree of the law, the “day” aspect and the “night” aspect can be seen on the same occasion — the giving of the law on the mountain. The mountain where the law was given was called both Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai. To Moses on the mountaintop, the mountain was Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. But to the people at the bottom of the mountain, it was Mount Sinai.
I am sure Moses never forgot that wonderful experience with the Lord on the mountaintop. When Peter, James, and John were with the Lord Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, they saw the Lord transfigured, but they were not transfigured themselves. But when Moses was on the mountaintop with the Lord, he himself was actually transfigured. When he came down after spending forty days with God on the mountain, the skin of his face was shining with the element of God which had been transfused into him. The light that radiated from Moses’ face was in fact the light of God Himself. If this light was not God’s light, then what other kind of light was it? For Moses, the mountain on which the law was given was not Mount Sinai; it was Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.
When Moses was on the mountaintop being infused with God, he was mingled with God. Just as Peter did not forget his experience on the mount of transfiguration but referred to it when he was old (2 Pet. 1:17), so Moses could not forget his experience on the mountain of God, where he beheld the Lord, was infused with His element, and was mingled with Him. In their ignorance and blindness, some people today oppose the truth that believers can be mingled with God. According to them, the teaching that we can be mingled with God is heretical. But if Moses had not been mingled with God, how shall we account for the shining of his face? What caused his face to shine so that the people could not bear to look at it? Moses was infused with God Himself and experienced a kind of transfiguration.
In the Bible we are told of only two people whose faces shone: Christ on the mount of transfiguration and Moses when he came down from Mount Horeb. When Christ was on the mount of transfiguration, His face was shining like the sun (Matt. 17:2). As we have pointed out, when Moses came down from the mountain after beholding the Lord for so many days, the skin of his face also was shining. Eventually, the believers will shine as the sun. In Matthew 13:43 the Lord Jesus said that “the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” If we wish to be those who shine as the sun, we need to be a Moses on the mountaintop beholding the Lord and being infused with Him.
Whether in our experience the decree of the law is positive or negative, “day” or “night,” depends on our condition, not on the law itself. If we are a Moses on the mountaintop, the decree of the law for us will be a wonderful experience. But if we are like the people trembling at the bottom of the mountain, the decree of the law in our experience will be dreadful and terrifying.
At the time the law was given, three categories of people were involved: Moses, and perhaps Joshua also, on the mountaintop, the people at the foot of the mountain, and those who were on the mountain worshipping afar off. As one on the mountaintop, Moses experienced God’s transfusion and infusion. The ones who were on the mountain, neither at the top or the bottom, worshipped afar off, and those at the foot of the mountain trembled. Where are you in your experience? Are you at the bottom of the mountain trembling, on the mountain worshipping afar off, or on the top of the mountain being infused with the element of God?
To Moses and possibly to Joshua as well, the decree of the law was a wonderful experience. But to those at the bottom of the mountain, it was very frightening. This was the reason they trembled with fear. The vital point here is that whether the giving of the law is positive or negative, “day” or “night,” to us is determined by our condition, not by the law. If our condition is positive, the giving of the law will also be positive. But if our condition is negative, the decree of the law will be negative.
The same principle applies in reading the Bible. In our experience, the Bible may be either a book of “day” or of “night.” Many hold to the superstition that the Bible affords only good things for those who read it. According to this superstitious belief, whenever a person comes to the Scriptures, he will receive something positive. However, many come to the Bible and do not receive any benefit whatever. Furthermore, both believers and unbelievers alike have actually been slain spiritually by the Bible. Those who take the Bible as a book of dead letters will be killed by it. This has been the experience of many Christians, including a good number of pastors and Bible students. People are slain by the Word not because there is anything wrong with the Bible, but because there is something wrong with those who read it. Like the law, the Bible is good and also spiritual. As a gift from God, the Bible cannot be wrong in any way. However, to those whose spiritual condition is a “night” the Bible becomes a book of “night.” Once again we see that whether the Bible is a book of “day” or “night” to us in our experience is not determined by the Bible itself: it is determined by our spiritual condition.
From the very beginning, it was not God’s intention to give man commandments to keep or to have man do things for Him. God’s eternal intention is to work Himself into us. When He comes to us and speaks with us, He does not do so with the intention of giving us a certain number of commandments for us to learn and keep. On the contrary, His desire is simply to be with us in order to infuse Himself into us. The longer we stay in God’s presence, the more we are infused with Him.
In north China where I was born, it is very cold in the winter. Years ago, we used a coal-burning stove to heat the room. On days when it was especially cold, I enjoyed standing close to the stove and absorbing the heat. When I went into another room after spending time by the stove, others could feel the heat coming out through my clothing. By standing near the stove I had been infused with the heat from the stove. This is an illustration of how we are infused with God by spending time with Him. God’s intention is to have a people who stay close to Him that He may transfuse His element into them.
When Moses was in Egypt, he saw how the children of Israel were mistreated by the Egyptians. Hence, he decided that he would do something to deliver God’s people from bondage in Egypt. Whether Moses was right or wrong in attempting to deliver the people, it is certain that he acted in a foolish way. When God later delivered the people out of Egypt, His intention was not merely to release them from captivity. If we have the heavenly vision, we shall see that God’s intention was to bring the people who had been separated from Him back to Himself so that they could be with Him.
After trying to rescue the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, Moses fled to the wilderness. He was deeply disappointed and discouraged. During his years in the wilderness, Moses was forced to give up the prospect of a great career. No matter what kind of ambition or intention a person may have, after forty years in the wilderness every trace of ambition will surely disappear. Moses was forty when he attempted to rescue the children of Israel. At the end of the next forty years, when he was eighty, he considered himself ready for death. According to Moses’ word in Psalm 90, even those who are strong should not expect to live beyond the age of eighty. By the time he reached the age of eighty and thought of himself as good for nothing but death, Moses had lost every trace of ambition. Every bit of his intention was gone. As far as he was concerned, he was finished. He may have said to the flock while he was shepherding them, “I am dying, flock, and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here with you. Perhaps after a few days, I’ll be gone.” Suddenly one day Moses beheld a burning bush, a bush that burned without being consumed. When he turned aside to “see this great sight” and learn why the bush was not burnt (3:3), God called to him out of the midst of the bush (v. 4). No wonder that Moses later spoke of God as the One who dwelt in the bush (Deut. 33:16). God wanted Moses to forget about his own doing. Furthermore, God did not want Moses to be disappointed or discouraged. He had come to call him and to send him back to Egypt that he might bring the people out of bondage and lead them to the very place where God was. In 3:12 the Lord said to Moses, “When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” As this word indicates, God’s intention was not just to rescue the people from persecution in Egypt; it was to bring them to Himself on the mountain of God. It is important that we see this positive aspect of God’s salvation.
Not many Christians see God’s intention in His salvation. To them, salvation consists only in being delivered from hell. However, the Bible emphasizes the positive matter that God’s salvation is to bring His people back to Himself. According to the New Testament, in His salvation God brings His people not only to Himself, but also into Himself. Thus, God’s intention in His salvation is to bring His chosen people to Himself and even into Himself.
According to the picture in the book of Exodus, God did everything to bring His people out of bondage in Egypt and to lead them to Himself on the mountain of God in the wilderness. He brought them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness, where He provided water for drinking and food for eating. Eventually, God brought the children of Israel to the very place where He had appeared to Moses and called him. In 5:1 the Lord said to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” In 10:9 Moses once again told Pharaoh, “We must hold a feast unto Jehovah” (lit.). God wanted His people to come to His mountain to feast with Him and unto Him. God did not say to Moses, “There are many things for the children of Israel to do. I want you to rescue them from Egypt so that they may do a great work for Me.” On the contrary, God told Moses to lead the people out of Egypt so that they could hold a feast unto Him. Eventually, in fulfillment of His word, God brought the people to His mountain.
In bringing the people to the mountain of God, it was not God’s intention to give them commandments to keep. When God first spoke to the people in chapter nineteen, there was no thunder, darkness, or sound of a trumpet. There at the mountain the atmosphere was pleasant and quiet. Verse 4 says, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.” The people had walked out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the mountain of God. But from God’s point of view, He had carried them to Himself on the wings of an eagle. After likening Himself to a great eagle, the Lord went on to say that the people would be His personal possession and that they would be unto Him “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (vv. 5-6, lit.). Is this a word of law or a word of grace? It is a word of grace, not of law. Actually it is a word of love expressed by grace.
If the people had been enlightened concerning God and themselves, they would have said, “Lord, we thank You for Your mercy. We are not worthy of it. We don’t deserve it. All we can do is thank You for it.” However, when the children of Israel heard the words God spoke to Moses, they answered, “All that Jehovah has spoken we will do” (v. 8, lit.). This indicates that the people did not have a heart for God and that they did not know Him. Even Aaron was at least somewhat ignorant. Otherwise, how could he have been persuaded to make a golden calf for the people to worship? The response of the people and Aaron’s deed in shaping a calf out of gold prove that the children of Israel did not know God and that they did not truly have a heart for Him.
Because the people knew neither God nor themselves, God changed His attitude toward them and also caused a change in the atmosphere. He told Moses that He would come in a thick cloud (v. 9). He also charged the people to sanctify themselves, to wash their clothes, and to observe the boundary. Exodus 19:12 says, “Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death.” In verse 16 we see how dreadful and terrifying the atmosphere became: “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.”
It was not God’s original intention to create such a terrifying atmosphere. But only Moses knew what God’s intention was. He realized that God did not intend to make the people afraid. This was the reason he said to the people in 20:20, “Fear not: for God is come to prove you.” Moses knew that God was proving the people, that He was testing them. He realized that it was not God’s intention to have thunder, darkness, lightning, and the terrifying blast of a trumpet. Among all the children of Israel, Moses was the only one who knew the desire of God’s heart.
At the word of the Lord, Moses went up to the top of the mountain and stayed there with God for a period of forty days. Years ago, I thought these forty days were meant to be a trial to the children of Israel. Yes, these days were a time of testing to them. However, these forty days were not primarily intended to be a test of the children of Israel; they were designed to give Moses an opportunity to be infused with God. The longer I stayed by that coal stove in my house, the more heat I absorbed. Likewise, the longer Moses stayed with God on the mountaintop, the more he was infused with God.
Concerning most of these forty days, there is no record that either Moses or God did anything. It was not until the end of these days that God began to speak to Moses. God was happy simply to have one of His people stay with Him. Would you have been content to stay with God those forty days and not do anything? Suppose a brother would invite you to his living room and ask you to sit down with him. Then for twelve hours he simply sits with you and looks at you, not saying a word. Would you be able to endure this? I do not think anyone, especially one of a quick disposition, could tolerate such a situation. But Moses stayed on the mountain with God for forty days without eating, drinking, or sleeping. There was no indication that any kind of business was transacted between him and God. The only thing that happened was that Moses received a divine transfusion. God’s very element was infused into him.
Certain of my small grandchildren are fond of visiting my wife and me. One child in particular comes over mainly for the purpose of getting something good to eat. However, when she has another source for these things, we do not see very much of her. But when she has no other source, she comes to see us. But she does not stay very long. It is not her intention to stay with us; it is to get something from us and then to go her way. We, on the contrary, enjoy her presence and would like her to stay with us longer. The behavior of my grandchild is a picture of the way we often relate to the Lord. We come to Him not simply to be with Him, but to get something good from Him. As soon as we receive it, we go away. Thus, we may pray to the Lord and even meet with Him in fellowship in order to get something from Him that is a benefit to us.
God knows how difficult it is for us to stay in His presence without doing anything. In sympathy with our weakness, He may tell us to do certain things. But it is not His intention to require us to do things. It is to keep us with Him that we may be infused with Him. But according to our natural concept, we consider that God is placing demands on us and making requirements of us. Oh, that we might see that God’s intention is to infuse us with what He is and with what He has! In order for this infusion to take place, we need to be with Him.
After spending forty days on the mountaintop being infused with God, Moses was shining with God’s light. Notice that God did not ask Moses to do anything. Rather, He transfused Himself into Moses until Moses began to shine with Him. This was the reason that when Moses came down from the mountain, the skin of his face was shining. The highest profession on earth is to spend time being infused with God that we may shine forth God. This is far greater than doing anything for God. If we would shine forth God, we need to spend time with Him, not to do something but to have Him transfused into our being.
My burden in this message is to point out that God’s intention in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt was to lead them to His mountain so that He could infuse them with Himself. He wanted them to be infused with Him even as that burning bush had been infused. The bush which burned without being consumed had been fully infused with God. God was in the bush and spoke from the midst of it. God wanted all His people to be brought to the place where He could infuse them with Himself. Therefore, He told them that He brought them on eagles’ wings and that He would make them His personal treasure and a kingdom of priests.
When the people heard those words, they should have bowed down and confessed, “O God, we cannot make ourselves a treasure for You. We are not precious. There is no way for us to become Your personal treasure.” If this had been their attitude, God would have said, “I will make you a personal treasure to Me. Stay with Me, and I will infuse you with what I am. Eventually, you all will become precious in My sight.” Imagine what the situation would have been like if all two million Israelites had been infused with God and had begun to shine forth God. Their glory might have been like the glory of the New Jerusalem.
God’s people did not understand His intention. Their concept was that they should do certain things for God. Furthermore, they wanted to do these things and thought they were able to do them. They had seen what God had done for them, and now they wanted to do something for Him. This concept caused them to fall.
Have you ever asked yourself why God gave us such a big book as the Bible? In the hundreds of chapters in the Bible, there are a great many commandments for us to keep. Certain of these commandments are repeated again and again. The reason for this repetition is that God’s desire is to keep us with Him through the Word. In order to stay with God, we need to stay in the Word. However, often when we come to the Bible, we have no consciousness of coming to God. Moreover, when we dwell with the Bible, we do not have the sense that we are staying with God. How we need a change of concept! Whenever we come to the Bible, we should come to God and stay with Him. Yes, the Bible shows us many things God wants us to do. But all these things are secondary. The primary matter is that through the Word we stay with God and are infused with Him. Unfortunately, we are easily distracted from Him by other things. There are not many like Moses who stay with God according to the desire of His heart. Once again, I wish to point out that during those forty days Moses was with God on the mountaintop, he did not do anything. It was not God’s intention for Moses to do certain things; it was for him to be infused with God Himself.
In the Bible we can find out what God says to us and what He wants us to do. However, the primary matter is that we stay with God through the Word. But this is not easy for us to do. Our tendency is to come to the Bible simply to find out what it says about different things. As we read the Word, we may decide that we shall do whatever the Bible says. Little do we realize that in making such a decision we actually set God aside. Those who come to the Word in this way are not truly blessed by God. If we would be blessed by Him through the Word, we need to see that both what God wants us to do and what He says to us are secondary. What is primary is that we stay with God to be infused with Him. The reason God speaks to us and tells us to do certain things is that He wants us to be with Him.
Why do we need to read the Bible? When I was young, I was told that as a Christian I must read the Bible to find out what God wants me to do. Yes, by reading the Bible we find out a great many things God wants us to do, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of things. The problem is that we are not able to do them. Nevertheless, in our natural concept, we desire to find out what God wants us to do and then set out to do it. Our attitude is that we must do and want to do whatever God speaks. Therefore, we make up our mind to do these things and in practice we set God aside. Instead of making up our mind to do what the Bible says, we should say, “Lord, I love You, I love Your word, and I love everything You say to me.” If we speak this way to the Lord, He will answer, “Very good! Now you need to know that whatever I want you to do, I will do for you and through you.”
In a song about saying amen to the Word of God, there is a line I appreciate very much:
What I never could do God is doing in me.By saying Amen to His Word.
Hymns,#1219
What we are not able to do ourselves God desires to do in us. For example, a husband should say to the Lord, “Lord, You ask me to love my wife. Lord, I love You, but I must tell You that I cannot love my wife.” Then the Lord will say, “Right, you can’t love your wife, but I will love her through you. What you cannot do, I will do in you.” Concerning the commandments to love the brothers and to love our neighbor as ourselves, we should also say, “Lord, I love You, but I must be honest with You. I cannot love the brothers, and I cannot love others as myself. I have many neighbors and relatives, but I simply am not able to love them. Lord, I love You and I love Your Word, but I simply am not able to love them. Lord, I love You and I love Your Word, but I cannot love other people.” Once again the Lord will tell us that what we are not able to do He will do from within us. This is God’s economy both in the Old Testament and in the New.
