Come Up Hither

Come Up Hither

Exodus 24:9-18.

Key verse: Exodus 24:12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

This topic refers to a clarion call to come into a new encounter of grace. It is a call meant to ushers us into a place where Christ currently dwells and where His person is expressly seen. We will do well to listen and obey His clear, still voice as He bids us come to Him.

From the text of this piece, we see the wonderfulness of the gathering of key men of the children of Israel to worship and behold God’s beauty. It was a party of priests and noblemen, all seventy-four of them, separated from the crowd of hundreds of thousands. But just right there, God again calls out to Moses to “come up to me in the mount, and be there”. We see God in our everyday ventures and even see His glory in most of our religious congregational fellowships and gatherings. But, there is a showing of God that is personal and unique to you. You cannot see that if you only continue worshipping Him from afar or among others no matter how charged the atmosphere might seem. It demands that you inculcate a sustained separation and consecration to God in the secret place of prayer to launch into this manifold realm of Lordship-friendship journey- Genesis 18:17 And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?

Two things are noteworthy in differentiating the initial “went up” fellowship of Moses with the other 73 congregants, and the “come up” intimate individual experience he was called into by God. First, there was the allowance of eating and drinking in the former, whereas, no physical feeding of any sort in the latter. This signifies some leeway for human sustenance and care in the general assembly. We must not remain at the level of that which our flesh is still in contention with the Spirit of God. Even though we may have been ordained and separated from the crowd in our knowledge of the word of God, we could even be a minister already with the soundness of doctrine, have a voice among the people of God, possess some level of nobility in the congregation of saints, etc. But where is the tangible evidence of a personal encounter with God, where is the experience of our deep search for God’s sublime presence? As long as our lives remains void of these, and all we can show is the glory of the outer court, we need to desire and earnestly seek for more of God in wiggling our way into the inner sanctum of fellowship. During the earthly ministry of Christ, the disciples utilized their access to Him to commune privately with Him, seeking for answers and clarity to their life’s existence- Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

They always came to Him with a level of familiarity and friendship that can only exist between people who have been walking together for a while. The Rabbi-disciple relationship necessitated complete dependency on the Lord. They obtained consent to do virtually everything including actions for their basic sustenance at every time and in all places (situations)- Matthews 26:18,19; Mark 11:1-6. Everything was by His clear, unequivocal command and insight. They always got it wrong anytime they acted outside of His express words- Mark 9:38; Matthews 19:13,14; John 18:10,11. And to think they did all of these self-thought actions in defence of Him is lesson for us to know the mind of God before acting out our perceived notion of the defence of His kingdom.

The other notable point that differentiate the “went up” and “come up” experience was that they saw God but they didn’t hear Him. It is quite easy to speak of the majestic presence of God in the congregation of true saints, but there’s a need to know and hear Him in the secret curtains of our devotion. That’s where He speaks His mind to us- Numbers 12:8 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?”

I will stay- Dunsin Oyekan.

Wait on the Lord, wait, wait

Stay with the Lord, stay, stay

Build up your Strength

For the days ahead

Build up your Strength

No need to rush

Build up your Strength

Chorus-

I will stay, On the altar

To drink of the living water

Till I overflow

I will be satisfied

For this is what the nation needs.