"(I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord; for ye were afraid because of the fire, and went not up into the mount)" Deuteronomy 5:5
THIS parenthesis by Moses reminded the Israelites of their need of a mediator when they entered into covenant relationship with the holy God. Sinai was an awe-inspiring experience, and the consuming fire of God's presence struck fear into their hearts. They could not bear to have a direct confrontation with the One whose voice spoke out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness (v.22).
IT was God Himself who commanded that the people should keep their distance and ordained that Moses should act as a mediator between Himself and them, but the people were equally positive in requesting that they might be spared a face-to-face meeting with God (Exodus 20:19). When they realised the awesome situation in which they were found, with thunderings and lightnings, the sound of God's trumpet and the smoking of the mountain to which He had descended, "they trembled, and stood afar off". They well knew that an encounter with the everlasting burnings of God's presence would overwhelm them, so they were only too thankful to have Moses to stand between their God and themselves.
WE, however, are encouraged to draw near to God. Not that we are any more fit to do so than they, but because God has mercifully provided us with the mediatorial work of His Son, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). Apart from Him, the only thing we would know about God would be that He is a consuming fire.
FAR from regretting the people's cry for a mediator, the Lord expressed His pleasure in the matter. "They have well spoken unto thee," He said to Moses. How right we are when we appreciate our need of Christ as our Mediator! How could we know God as our Father if it were not for the Lord Jesus? How could we benefit from the New Covenant if it were not sealed by His blood?
FOR Moses the task was so daunting that he confessed that in the presence of the holy God, "I exceedingly fear and quake" (Hebrews 12:21). After all, he himself was also a sinner! In the case of the Lord Jesus, however, there was no such fear. His hands were so clean and His heart so pure that He was quite at home with the everlasting burnings. But although He did not quake like Moses, His soul was "exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death" (Matthew 26:38). The task of mediation was only fulfilled by the shedding of His life's blood.
AND His work is a lasting one. Moses stated that he acted, "at that time". For us it is not just for one occasion but for all time. There is never a moment when we do not need Him to be our Mediator. It is our comfort to know that He constantly stands in the blinding light of glory on our behalf, ever living to fulfil this labour of love which makes it possible for us boldly to draw near instead of having to remain distant from God.
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