The first level: worship from the foot of the mountain
In this verse of scripture, we notice the following:
§ Moses built an altar and offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings to the Lord. This is so essential for worship because after the fall the fellowship with God required an altar and an offering. Moses also read all the things related to the covenant that God had made with them and its conditions (Exodus 19: 3 – 6) and sprinkled the blood on the altar and on the people.
§ The people were responsive to Moses. Moses spoke to them and they declared their agreement through their understanding and their obedience. It is thus clear that this was the worship of the people at the foot of the mountain before the altar of God!
This is the first level of worship which we start with and which is essential. Worship starts at the altar and the offering; Christ is our offering and our altar at the same time (1Corinthians 5: 7b; Hebrews 13: 10 – 12).
There, we can renew our covenants with God as we remember that we were redeemed by the blood of the covenant and so should walk according to its conditions. This alone is capable of keeping us in our fellowship with God and keeping us from the evils of the world.
Yet, we should aspire to grow in our fellowship with God and in being separate from the world in order to ascend to another level in the mountain of worship. (2Corinthians 6:14–7: 1) Note that worship always requires going up the mountain! God met the people at Mount Horeb first, but after that when they entered the Land of Promise, He chose to dwell in Mount Zion amid His people in Jerusalem, the place of the temple and of worship. (Psalm 68:16, 2Samuel 5,6)
In this first level, the worship according to the flesh and the worship of the spirit are probably intermingled. At this level we are still in the valley, at the foot of the mountain; the world is still near us as we have not yet been completely separated from it. If we do not pay attention to this and start to ascend upwards, we will be tempted to backslide from God. We all know that after this worship at the foot of the mountain, the people backslid and worshiped the calf –a kind of worship which they had seen in Egypt in the days of their slavery.
They also started to dance, eat, drink and play; this means that they slid to uncleanness. When the flesh interferes in worship, it offers mixed reactions: enthusiasm and passion in worship that can be followed by lusts and uncleanness. (refer to Exodus 32)
By Shrineinternational.org
Activity for Today
You may pick one of the 10 attributes of God below as a central focus of your worship today. Meditate on the attribute throughout your day.
- The God who saves me
- The God who sees me
- The great King above all gods
- The just and mighty One
- The living Father
- The Majestic Glory
- The Majesty in heaven
- The one who sustains me
- The only God
- The potter
Prayer For Today
Lord grant me the grace to draw near to you daily. May I grow to know you more intimately and love you passionately.
Music For Today
‘Closer’-William McDowell