“For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.”

If even a beast, suggests something terrible would happen to anyone who disobeyed the commandments for the giving of the law. It was an outpouring of the majesty and glory of God, designed to impress upon the former Egyptian slaves who was leading them out of bondage into a promised land. Such a threat to a dumb beast of the field left them wondering what was going to happen to them. The entire exodus event created stress on the Jewish nation beginning with the plagues and ending with the crossing of the Red Sea.

Emotions were running high. They had not heard from God in their lifetime and now He was thundering from heaven and threatening with words. It was more than they could cope with and so they drew back. It is one thing to hear about God and it is something else to hear God. First, it was the fierce army of Pharaoh’s wrath and now the thunder of God’s commands. They were sure Moses had led them out into the wilderness to die.

Task for Today: Your sins were washed away in the blood of Jesus when you were baptized into Christ. Their baptism in the sea removed the threat of the pursuing army. They went into that sea as fleeing slaves but came out as a new people. You are a new person if you’ve been washed in the blood. They were free from Pharaoh and you are free from Satan. Rejoice that you can endure and will endure to the end.