The Ten Commandments, Final Thoughts on Ex 20:18-22

We conclude our look at The Ten Commandments with a final look at Ex 20:18-22 

 

You can find the posts on a few of the Scripture passages that precede The Ten Commandments at the following links:

The observational overview of Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE
And the in depth look at Ex 19:3-6 can be found HERE.
The in depth look at Ex 19:7-11 can be found HERE.
The concluding thoughts on Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE. 

 

The posts dealing directly with The Ten Commandments can be found at the following links:

 

The initial overview of Ex 20:1-17 can be found HERE.   

The in-depth look at Ex 20:1 can be found HERE.  

The in-depth look at Ex 20:2-6 can be found HERE.

The in-depth look at Ex 20:7 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:8-11 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:12 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:13-16 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:17 can be found HERE. 

The concluding thoughts on Ex 20:1-17 can be found HERE.

 

The Initial overview of Ex 20:18-22 can be found HERE. 

The In-depth look at Ex 20:18-19 can be found HERE.

 The in-depth look at Ex 20:20-22 can be found HERE.

 

 

I do encourage everyone to look at all the prior posts in this series as the preceding context helps us to a deeper understanding of the Ten Commandments.

 

You can hover your pointer over (most) any verse reference to read the corresponding verse(s).  (Scriptural cross-references are THE most important resource!)

 

 

Exodus 20:18-22 (NASB)
¹⁸ All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.
¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."
²⁰ Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin."
²¹ So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
²² Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

Biblical Principles

• Given the original context, what does the text mean? --As this occurred immediately following God speaking directly to the Israelites we are able to see what God's presence did for them.  They believed and were afraid.  So afraid they wanted Moses to speak God for them.
• What fundamental universal truths are presented in this passage. State that truth in a simple sentence or two. -- As Moses tells the Israelites, we are not to be afraid but are to have the fear of God in us so that we may not sin.  We are not capable of being in God's presence without an intermediary.  Jesus IS THAT intermediary!!
• What issues in our own culture and my own situations does this truth address? -- Too many people do not have the fear of God in them AND too many people are too afraid to open themselves up to Jesus!
• What are the implications when applied to my life and the world around me? --  I need to realize the Law was given to us (me) for our own good.  I must also realize that I will NOT be able to hold true to God's Law on my own without God's chosen intermediary, His Son, Jesus Christ.  And as Jesus tells us:  I should not be afraid!!  Jesus is here for us!  
• What changes does it require? --  To stay focused in prayer, and immersion in God's Word.
• What values does it reinforce? -- God's values!!! 
• What difference does it make? -- As with most things in the Bible it makes all the difference.  Knowing that I am to have the fear of God (reverence for) in me and that allows me to be not afraid is an amazing thing to know! 

Application

• Is there a sin to avoid? --Being afraid
• Is there a promise to claim? -- If we keep the fear of God in us we will be free from sin.
• Is there a command to obey?  -- To not be afraid but to instead have the fear of God in us.
• Is there an error to mark? -- Yes!  The Israelites were more afraid then reverent.  And that is one of the reasons they were not able to keep the covenant
• Is there a challenge to face?  --  Yes!  How to keep the fear of God in me!  And yet how to not be afraid.  Staying strong and courageous!

Application Summary

• I need to have the fear of God in me but I should not be afraid.  I should have extreme reverence for God and His Word and commands!  I should be courageous in my faith and life.   I should most of all continue to desire a relationship with God's chosen intermediary for us:  His Son, Jesus Christ.

One Final Thought

• I think it is really important to remember and meditate on Ex 20:2-6 and Ex 20:17   All the Commandments are God's commands but it seems that nearly all sin is somehow fed and nourished when we (I!) forget these two commandments.  If we (I!) struggle with Ex 20:2-6 and Ex 20:17 we (I!) will struggle with all the rest.   I am also overwhelmed by God's plan!  His love for us!  Reading and looking to the passages preceding and following the The Ten Commandments has (hopefully) made those commandments even dearer to my heart.  Ps 119:9-11

This concludes our look at The Ten Commandments (or Decalogue if you prefer)

In our next post we will begin a study of two related sections of Scripture:  Lk 22:31-34 and Jn 21:15-19 (with a brief mention of Jn 21:22

 

 

The Ten Commandments, Today's Verses are Ex 20:20-22

We continue our look at The Ten Commandments with an in-depth look at 20:20-22 

 

You can find the posts on a few of the Scripture passages that precede The Ten Commandments at the following links:

The observational overview of Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE
And the in depth look at Ex 19:3-6 can be found HERE.
The in depth look at Ex 19:7-11 can be found HERE.
The concluding thoughts on Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE. 

 

The posts dealing directly with The Ten Commandments can be found at the following links:

 

The initial overview of Ex 20:1-17 can be found HERE.   

The in-depth look at Ex 20:1 can be found HERE.  

The in-depth look at Ex 20:2-6 can be found HERE.

The in-depth look at Ex 20:7 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:8-11 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:12 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:13-16 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:17 can be found HERE. 

The concluding thoughts on Ex 20:1-17 can be found HERE.

 

The Initial overview of Ex 20:18-22 can be found HERE. 

The In-depth look at Ex 20:18-19 can be found HERE.

 

I do encourage everyone to look at all the prior posts in this series as the preceding context helps us to a deeper understanding of the Ten Commandments.

 

You can hover your pointer over (most) any verse reference to read the corresponding verse(s).  (Scriptural cross-references are THE most important resource!)

 

 

Exodus 20:20-22 (NASB)
²⁰ Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin."
²¹ So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
²² Then the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

 

Grammatical and other Considerations

• Moses tells them to not be afraid and yet tells them that God came to test them so that the fear of God may remain with them.  The fear of God is different from being afraid?
• This was done so that they may not sin.  God gave them help!
• Only Moses approached God as the people were afraid.
• God tells Moses to reaffirm to the people that they have indeed seen that God, Himself, has spoken to them!

My Questions:

• What is the difference between being afraid and having the fear of God with us?

Verse Cross References:

• Ex 20:20 -- Dt 13:1-3 Pro 16:6 Isa 8:13 Ex 4:13 Isa 41:10 Isa 41:13 Ex 15:25-26 Dt 4:10 Dt 6:24 Pr 3:7 1Sam 12:20 Dt 8:2 Dt 6:2 Dt 10:12 Jos 24:14 Job 28:28 Pro 1:7 Ps 2:11 Lk 12:5 Acts 10:35 2Co 7:1 Php 2:12 Rev 14:7 Ex 1:17 Pro 2:3-5 Psa 111:10 Jos 1:7 
• Thoughts --Fear of the Lord.  It is everywhere in the Scriptures.  It leads to right behavior.  And yet we are always told to not be afraid.  What IS the difference between being afraid and having the fear of the Lord.  Lk 12:5 is important!  I think Pro 2:3-5 is important!  Seek and ye shall find! 
• Ex 20:21 -- Dt 5:22 1Ki 8:12 Ps 18:9 Ps 18:12 Ps 97:2 1Ti 6:14-16 
• The people definitely had the fear of God in them now.  They needed (as we now still need) a mediator.  Moses was their mediator.  Jesus Christ is ours!
• Ex 20:22 -- Dt 4:36 Dt 5:24-26 Ne 9:13 Heb 12:25-26 Psa 136:23 
• After commanding Moses to remind the Israelites that they had indeed witnessed the presence of God in the clouds speaking to THEM directly, God then went on to speak more to Moses and elaborate on the Law.

Important terms

(Do not be )Afraid:

• WORDSearch concordance search -- Ge 43:23 Ge 46:3 Dt 20:1 Dt 20:3 Dt 31:6 Jos 11:6 Ps 56:4 Ps 56:11 Pro 3:25 Isa 37:6 Isa 44:8 Jer 1:8 Zep 3:16 Mt 1:20 Mt 14:27 Mt 17:7 Mt 28:5 Mt 28:10 Mk 5:36 Mk 6:50 Lk 1:30 Lk 2:10 Lk 12:32 Jn 6:20 Rev 1:17 Ge 15:1 Ge 21:17 Ex 14:3 Dt 1:21 Jos 8:1 Isa 51:7 Mt 10:28 Mt 10:31 Lk 5:10 Rev 2:10 
• Thoughts -- There are so MANY instances of people in the Bible (and consequently us) being told to not be afraid.  There are a few instances of Jesus identifying Himself along with telling the person to not be afraid beacause it is indeed He.!  A lot of the times the phrase is used to tell us to not be afraid for worldy reasons or in doubt of God's plans and promises.  I need to meditate on this some more! In general the English word afraid is used when we are being instructed to "not be (afraid)".  Or to put another way, when we are being instructed to be courageous! The English word fear is always used in the context of having "the fear of God" which is considered a positive!  We are never told to be afraid of God (at least that I have seen), but are instructed to fear God or have the "fear of Him" with us.
• Definition -- to be afraid, stand in awe, or fear.  Basically connotes the psychological reaction of fear.

Test:

• WORDSearch concordance search -- (God testing humans)-- Ex 16:4 Dt 8:16  Jdg 2:22 Jdg 3:1 Jdg 7:4 Ps 26:2 2Ch 32:31  Jer 17:10 Jer 20:12 Zec 13:9 Jn 6:6 1Co 3:13 (self test? 2Co 13:5 ) REv 3:10  Ge 22:1 Ex 15:25 
• (Man testing God!  not good!) -- Ex 17:22 Nu 14:22 Dt 6:16 Ps 78:17-19 Isa 7:12 ( Mal 3:10 -- God asking men to test him...) Mal 3:15 Mt 4:7 Mk 8:11 Lk 4:12 Lk 10:25 Lk 11:16 Ac 5:9 Ac 15:10 Ex 17:7 Ps 95:9 Ps 78:41 
• Thoughts -- Many of the uses of the English word test in the New Testament are when men are testing Jesus!!  We are NOT to test God.  However He tests us!  But this is not to be confused with tempting us to sin!  I also feel like more thought is needed on this topic!
• Definition -- to test, to try, to PROVE!  (an interesting choice of words) (in the New Testament, the Greek word also means to prove, question.)

fear (of Him)  (fear of God):

• WORDSearch concordance search -- Ge 20:11 2Sa 23:3 Ne 5:15 Job 4:6 Ps 36:1 2Co 7:1 2Ch 19:7 2Ch 19:9 Job 28:28 Ps 19:9 Ps 34:11 Ps 11:10 Pr 1:7 Pr 1:29 Pr 2:5 Pr 8:13 Pr 9:10 Pr 10:27 Pr 14:26-7 Pr 15:16 Pr 15:33 Pr 16:6 Pr 19:23 Pr 22:4 Pr 23:17 Isa 11:2-3 Isa 33:6 Ac 9:31 2Co 5:11 Ge 22:12 1Pe 2:17 Rev 14:7 Rev 19:5 Ne 5:9 Job 4:6 Job 6:14 Ps 2:11 Ps 5:7 Jer 32:40 Isa 63:17 Ecc 7:18 
• Thoughts -- The fear of God is always shown to be a good thing!  It is proper and worshipful AND leads to proper behavior and wisdom.  The fear of the Lord is much different than being afraid!  much different!
• Definition -- The Hebrew word for afraid in this verse basically connotes the psychological reaction (not a good one) to fear!  The Hebrew word for fear in this verse means fear, terror or reverence!  A sense of awe!  I like reverence!  We should be in awe of God.  We should revere Him and worship Him and we should have a sense of fear.  He is God!  But we should not be afraid of Him.  Our reverence (or fear of Him) should lead us to correct behavior and lead us to seek Him!  To be afraid of Him would be to retreat from Him and would cause us to not accept His merciful gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ!!  Notice that the people are afraid in this verse!  They stand at a distance, and want Moses to talk to God.  We DON'T have to do that!  We have Jesus!  We should not be afraid of Jesus.  We should WANT to be close to Jesus and humbly and gratefully accept His gift of salvation! And if we do that, we are able to talk to God directly and to ask Him directly!  Jesus tells us this Himself:   John 16:23-28   In these verses Jesus is telling the apostles they will ask God directly in Jesus' name!  Jesus death and resurrection have done all the work.  All we need do is believe and accept that gift!  And then we can go up to the mountain to talk to God, not afraid but basking in the true fear (reverence) of the Lord!
• Further thoughts:  Adam and Eve were AFRAID of God in garden after they had disobeyed and sinned.  Ge 3:4-11 Eve coveted, sinned, tempted Adam to sin (who acquiesced without a bit of protest) and they were afraid of God.  Being afraid of God seems to indicate wanting to hide from God due to guilt and shame because we know we have sinned!  Having the fear of God with us actually leads us to seek God out!  When we have the proper reverence we want to NOT sin!  We want to read and hear God's commands!  We want to be IN a right relationship with Him.  This is the difference!  And it is huge and important and worth much more thought and meditation. 
• (there is more on fear with regards to fearing our enemies and being strong and courageous enough to not fear and to believe the promises God has made to us!...but I think in this particular verse the emphasis is on being afraid leading to separation from God and having the fear of God leading us closer to God!)

Spoken:

• Definition -- a verb focusing on verbal communication and especially the time and circumstance of that communication!  God is stressing to the Israelites that they have JUST heard Him speak to them!

Answering My Questions

• What is the difference between being afraid and having the fear of God with us? -- (I think the insights gained above from looking at "the fear of God" answer my question so I reprint them below)
• Thoughts -- The fear of God is always shown to be a good thing! It is proper and worshipful AND leads to proper behavior and wisdom. The fear of the Lord is much different than being afraid! much different!
• Definition -- The Hebrew word for afraid in this verse basically connotes the psychological reaction (not a good one) to fear! The Hebrew word for fear in this verse means fear, terror or reverence! A sense of awe! I like reverence! We should be in awe of God. We should revere Him and worship Him and we should have a sense of fear. He is God! But we should not be afraid of Him. Our reverence (or fear of Him) should lead us to correct behavior and lead us to seek Him! To be afraid of Him would be to retreat from Him and would cause us to not accept His merciful gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ!! Notice that the people are afraid in this verse! They stand at a distance, and want Moses to talk to God. We DON'T have to do that! We have Jesus! We should not be afraid of Jesus. We should WANT to be close to Jesus and humbly and gratefully accept His gift of salvation! And if we do that, we are able to talk to God directly and to ask Him directly! Jesus tells us this Himself: John 16:23-28 In these verses Jesus is telling the apostles they will ask God directly in Jesus' name! Jesus death and resurrection have done all the work. All we need do is believe and accept that gift! And then we can go up to the mountain to talk to God, not afraid but basking in the true fear (reverence) of the Lord!
• Further thoughts: Adam and Eve were AFRAID of God in garden after they had disobeyed and sinned. Ge 3:4-11 Eve coveted, sinned, tempted Adam to sin (who acquiesced without a bit of protest) and they were afraid of God. Being afraid of God seems to indicate wanting to hide from God due to guilt and shame because we know we have sinned! Having the fear of God with us actually leads us to seek God out! When we have the proper reverence we want to NOT sin! We want to read and hear God's commands! We want to be IN a right relationship with Him. This is the difference! And it is huge and important and worth much more thought and meditation.
• (there is more on fear with regards to fearing our enemies and being strong and courageous enough to not fear and to believe the promises God has made to us!...but I think in this particular verse the emphasis is on being afraid leading to separation from God and having the fear of God leading us closer to God!)
• There IS much more to look at with regards to this subject!  A LOT more!

Summarizing

• The notes above regarding the difference between being afraid and having the fear of the Lord in and with us are a huge part of this verse.  Also pertinent is that God reminds the Israelites that He spoke to them directly, so they know that these commandments are His Word!  AND they know that He is real, more awesome than humans can comprehend and that these commandments are for them to follow.  We also see that the Israelites are afraid of God.  They DON'T want to be near Him yet as they send Moses back up the mountain to be their intermediary.  We don't need to do that.  Jesus' death and resurrection (and our acceptance thereof) make it possible for us to speak to God and to be in a right relationship with Him.  We don't need to be afraid, we should just have the fear (reverence for) of the Lord in us!

Topics for further study

• Courage
• Fear of God
• God testing us
• Us testing God

Bibliography

• Baker, Warren, ed. – The Complete Word Study Old Testament Chattanooga, TN: AMG, 1994. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Baker, Warren and Eugene Carpenter. The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Brand, Chad, Charles Draper, Archie England, ed. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Fleming, Don. Concise Bible Commentary. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1994. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• God's Word: Today's Bible Translation That Means What It Says Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, n.d.. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• God's Word Application Index. Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, n.d.. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• – Holman Christian Standard Bible Nashville: Holman Bible, 1999. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Holy Bible, New American Standard. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Nave, Orville. Nave's Topical Bible: A Digest of The Holy Sciptures. New York: Topical Bible Publishing Co., 1896. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Holy Bible, New American Standard La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Pfeiffer, Charles F. and Everett F. Harrison, ed. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1990. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Thompson, Frank Charles. Thompson Chain Reference Bible. Indianapolis, IN: B. B. Kirkbride Bible Co., 1997. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Torrey, R. A. The New Topical Textbook. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1897. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Vine, William E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1940. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary – Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

Next time we will conclude our look at The Ten Commandments with some closing thoughts on Ex 20:18-22

 

 

The Ten Commandments, Todays Verses: Ex 20:18-19

We continue our look at The Ten Commandments with an in-depth look at Ex 20:18-19

 

You can find the posts on a few of the Scripture passages that precede The Ten Commandments at the following links:

The observational overview of Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE
And the in depth look at Ex 19:3-6 can be found HERE.
The in depth look at Ex 19:7-11 can be found HERE.
The concluding thoughts on Ex 19:3-11 can be found HERE. 

 

The posts dealing directly with The Ten Commandments can be found at the following links:

 

The initial overview of Ex 20:1-17 can be found HERE.   

The in-depth look at Ex 20:1 can be found HERE.  

The in-depth look at Ex 20:2-6 can be found HERE.

The in-depth look at Ex 20:7 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:8-11 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:12 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:13-16 can be found HERE. 

The in-depth look at Ex 20:17 can be found HERE. 

The concluding thoughts on Ex 20:1-17 can be found HERE.

 

The Initial overview of Ex 20:18-22 can be found HERE.

 

I do encourage everyone to look at all the prior posts in this series as the preceding context helps us to a deeper understanding of the Ten Commandments.

 

You can hover your pointer over (most) any verse reference to read the corresponding verse(s).  (Scriptural cross-references are THE most important resource!)

 

 

 

Exodus 20:18-19 (NASB)
¹⁸ All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.
¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."

Grammatical and other Considerations

• These two verses occur directly after God spoke the ten commandments to the Israelites.
• The Israelites were afraid!  They definitely preferred to have Moses act as intermediary!

My Questions

• I understand why there were afraid.  Being so close to God's presence would be overwhelming, but given all that He had done for them up to that point, why were they SO afraid?  Why would they not welcome God speaking directly to them?

Verse Cross References

• Ex 20:18 -- Ex 19:16-18  Heb 12:15-24 Heb 12:25-29 Ps 139:7 Psa 139:8 Jer 23:24 
• The verses Heb 12:15-24 and Heb 12:25-29 help to show the magnitude of this event;  God speaking directly to the Israelites.  As stated before in this study:  How amazing is it that God came down to speak to them directly?!?  And then, How amazing is it that God came down to us in the form of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ?  Not just to speak with us from a mountain, but to actually BE with us, to BE one of us!  Just so that we could be saved?  If the Israelites were so afraid of the intimacy of God speaking to them from a mountaintop how much more are we often afraid of the intimacy of Jesus speaking to us as one of us?  Because when Jesus speaks to us, one on one it is God speaking to us.  That intimacy is awesome and frightening, and oh so real!!
• Ex 20:19 -- Dt 5:23-27  Dt 5:4-5 Gal 3:19  Dt 18:15-19 Ac 7:38 Ex 33:18-23 Ge 32:30 
• And yet they did not die!  That is the point.  ( Dt 5:23-27 )  And yet God knew the people (us) needed a mediator!  That is why He chose Moses and why He planned to send His son.  Someone that was one of us and yet God as well. Dt 18:15-19  And still that intimacy can frighten us more than even thunder and lightening!  God loves us.  He wants us to be with Him.  So much so that He sent His son as a sacrifice for our sins.....
• It is also important to note that God achieved one of His stated goals: Ex 19:9   One of the reasons He came down was so that the people would understand that Moses is the chosen mediator and that they would believe Moses from then on!  And according to what the Israelites say in Ex 20:19 this goal was met (although they would soon forget Ex 32 (as we all so often do!)

Important terms

All the terms in these two verses are fairly straight forward.  However I would like to look at the word perceived (NASB) as it is often translated as witnessed (NKJV and HCSB)

Perceived:

• WORDSearch concordance search -- The Hebrew word is used 1308 times in the Old Testament.  Can be watch, see witness etc. etc.
• Thoughts -- I think I like the idea of witnessed over perceived! 
• Definition -- to see with the eyes, but also "to see that one can learn to know"

Answering My Questions

• I understand why there were afraid. Being so close to God's presence would be overwhelming, but given all that He had done for them up to that point, why were they SO afraid? Why would they not welcome God speaking directly to them? -- Well...as I stated above sometimes we can be afraid of the intimacy and directness that Jesus offers us, and He is in a form that is recognizable to us.  So it would see that to be in God's awesome presence could and would cause fear and AWE!  Even the Peter, John and his brother who were with Jesus daily became afraid when God spoke to them out of the cloud:  Mat 17:2-8 Interestingly enough they were not afraid as Jesus was transfigured, nor were they afraid as Jesus spoke to Moses and Elijah!  The apostles became afraid when God came down!  So THIS answers my question!  And it is also interesting that Jesus tells the apostles to "not be afraid."  Mat 17:8

Summarizing

• God knew they would be afraid.  He also knew He needed to appear before them to help Moses have authority. (authority that God gave to him).  God's presence that close up would be completely awe inspiring and overwhelming:  Mat 17:2-8 and Ex 33:18-23   And yet as Jer 23:23 shows that God is near!  Always near.  Ps 139:1-10 Isa 57:15 James 4:8 Pro 15:3 Isa 66:1 Act 17:27-28

Topics for further study

• Jesus as mediator
• Fear of God

Bibliography

• Baker, Warren, ed. – The Complete Word Study Old Testament Chattanooga, TN: AMG, 1994. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Baker, Warren and Eugene Carpenter. The Complete Word Study Dictionary – Old Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Brand, Chad, Charles Draper, Archie England, ed. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• God's Word: Today's Bible Translation That Means What It Says Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, n.d.. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• God's Word Application Index. Holiday, FL: Green Key Books, n.d.. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• – Holman Christian Standard Bible Nashville: Holman Bible, 1999. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Holy Bible, New American Standard. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Nave, Orville. Nave's Topical Bible: A Digest of The Holy Sciptures. New York: Topical Bible Publishing Co., 1896. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Holy Bible, New American Standard La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Thompson, Frank Charles. Thompson Chain Reference Bible. Indianapolis, IN: B. B. Kirkbride Bible Co., 1997. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Torrey, R. A. The New Topical Textbook. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1897. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Vine, William E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1940. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.
• Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary – Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

We will continue next time with an in-depth look at Ex 20:20-22