Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
And he said,
The Lord came from Sinai,
And rose from Seir unto them;
He shined forth from mount Paran,
And He came from the ten thousands of holy ones:
At His right hand was a fiery law for them.
Yea, He loveth the people;
All His saints are in Thy hand:
And they sat down at Thy feet;
Every one shall receive of Thy words.—Deuteronomy 33:1-3
We know that these were among the final words of Moses. Before he died, he blessed the people of Israel. When he blessed them, he was 120 years old. During the 120 years that the Lord gave him, he passed through more than 43,000 days.
Yet among all those days, there was one particular day that he would never forget before he left this earth. It was not only one of the greatest days in his life; it was also one of the most important events in the history of mankind. Before that day, nothing like it had ever happened.
When Moses remembered how the Lord had led him through three periods of forty years, how did he begin his blessing of Israel? He remembered one day: the day when the Lord came from Sinai, dawned upon them from Seir, shone forth from Mount Paran, and came with myriads of holy ones.
The Lord did not come by Himself. He came with myriads of holy ones. God had appeared to Abraham and had spoken to Adam, but in all history there had never been an event like this. The God who created heaven and earth came down, surrounded by holy ones, and gave His commandments amid flashing fire.
Moses remembered: “Indeed, He loves the people.” All the people were in His hand—two million Israelites. They sat at His feet, receiving His words. This was a day Moses would never forget.
Let us turn to Deuteronomy 5:4:
The Lord spake with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.
Now turn to Deuteronomy 9:10:
And the Lord delivered unto me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
That day was the day of the assembly. Two million people stood at the foot of the mountain of God, and from the midst of the fire He spoke to them.
Deuteronomy 10:4 says:
And He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me.
The people of Israel sat at the foot of the mountain, listening to the words of the Lord. What day was this? Let us look at Exodus 19.
In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
—Exodus 19:1
There is some difficulty in translation. Some translations say, “After three months were completed,” which might suggest ninety days. But the original indicates the first day of the third month. If you count carefully from the Passover and the departure from Egypt, it was the forty-seventh day when they reached the wilderness of Sinai.
Then we read in Exodus 19:16-18:
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
The trumpet grew louder and louder. Then we turn again to Deuteronomy 5.
I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.—Deuteronomy 5:6-7
Then we have the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 5:22 says:
These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
The people said:
Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die.
For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?—Deuteronomy 5:24-26
They said to Moses:
Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
—Deuteronomy 5:27
Then the Lord said to Moses:
Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
—Exodus 20:22
These verses describe the day Moses would never forget. Before this time, God had met Moses on Mount Sinai and sent him to bring Israel out of Egypt. In the wilderness, God carried them as on eagles’ wings. He brought water from the rock, sweetened the bitter waters of Marah, led them by the pillar of cloud and fire, and fought for them in battle.
God said that Israel was like little eagles. It is easy for eaglets to want to remain in their nest. Egypt had been their nest.
When a mother eagle protects her young, she places them in the safest place. But the eaglets must grow. If they remain in the nest, they will never fly.
One day, the mother eagle stirs the nest. The eaglets do not understand. They ask, “Why are these things happening?” It was like this with the people of Israel.
For four hundred years, they had lived beside the Nile River. They thought Egypt was marvelous. But they never expected that God would bring mighty winds and judgments through Egypt and bring them out.
Day by day, God took care of them. How did God describe it? He said that He was like an eagle. When eaglets are learning to fly, they may fall; then the mother eagle comes down and catches them with her wings.
God said, in effect, “I am like the mother eagle, carrying you upon My wings.” When the mother eagle flies, it is as though the eaglets are flying. From the first day, God brought them before Himself.
They finally arrived at the mountain where they were to meet Him—the same place where God had first met Moses.
Brothers and sisters, forty-seven days after Passover they reached the wilderness of Sinai. On the third day, God came down. The heavens were opened, and all the people came before the mountain to receive the Lord.
His glory came upon the mountain. He did not come alone; He came with myriads of holy ones, those who could be seen and those who could not be seen.
On one hand, Moses brought two million people. On the other hand, the heavenly God brought down myriads of holy ones. Then God descended upon Mount Sinai.
The whole mountain was burning. Moses had seen the burning bush; now the people of Israel saw a burning mountain. Yet the fire did not use anything on the mountain as fuel.
It was like the burning bush. The fire burned on the bush, but it did not consume the bush. The bush was not being used as fuel to make the flame brighter. This fire represented the glory of God.
The glorious God broke through the heavens. This had never happened before. Myriads of holy ones came with Him, and Moses called the people to the Lord.
The whole mountain was full of God’s glory. It was flaming. There were lightning flashes, thunder, and the sound of the trumpet. All the people in the camp trembled.
Think about it: the holy God, the glory of God, the light of God, finally descended to earth. He had brought Israel out of Egypt, and now He wanted to speak to them.
God did not speak through Moses. God Himself spoke. He spoke ten words, and He added no more. Then with His finger He wrote on two tablets of stone.
That day would not be forgotten by the people of Israel. The environment caused them to ask: “How can sinners stand before such glory?”
For the first time on earth, heaven came down to earth. God told Moses, “You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.” He spoke through the fire; He spoke from the mountain.
When God descended upon Mount Sinai, He brought heaven down to earth. Throughout the history of mankind, it was a day not to be forgotten.
There, in the wilderness of Sinai, stood a people listening to words coming out of the fire. God said, “You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.”
No wonder Moses never forgot that day. As he prepared to bless the people of Israel, he began from that day. It was the greatest day in Moses’ life and, in many ways, the greatest day of the Old Testament.
When God spoke to the people from the mountain, He spoke ten words. Then He wrote them on two tablets. The Bible calls this His testimony.
Before that time, God had revealed Himself in many ways. But now God spoke to all the people. He established a testimony in Jacob. All testimony begins here.
You need to know the day of a person’s birth; you need to know when something begins. In eternity, God had already planned this. When the time arrived, He accomplished it.
At Sinai, God not only spoke; He personally wrote His words on two tablets. What does this mean? It means that His testimony does not change. Sometimes it is called the tablets of testimony.
When we read the Old Testament, we see that this was indeed a day not to be forgotten. God gave His testimony, and He gave His law.
Counting from Passover, the fiftieth day was Pentecost. Even in the time of Jesus, all the Jews knew Pentecost was an important day, because it was the day the law came down.
God established His testimony among His people. He desired to establish His testimony in the universe. Yet we must ask: could these people keep the law? Could they become witnesses for God?
This is what we want to see. The first night we considered what God’s testimony is. Tonight we ask: how does God gain His testimony?
Before we move on, I want to show you a few pictures. This event happened on earth; it happened in history.
A sister once said that whenever she read the Bible, she thought Capernaum, Galilee, and these places were somehow in heaven. She had never realized that they were actual places on earth.
Mount Sinai and the Sinai Peninsula are on earth. This event happened in history. The Sinai Peninsula is a real place.
For forty years, the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness there. Some people say that crossing the Red Sea was a great miracle, but there was an even greater miracle: for forty years, two million people survived in that wilderness.
The Bible tells us that their sandals did not wear out, their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. From the beginning of the journey to the end, God preserved them.
The day we have mentioned took place in the Sinai Peninsula. In the southern region are a number of great mountains, and Mount Sinai is one of them.
Israel crossed the Red Sea and came southward to Mount Sinai. Another image shows the wilderness in daylight. It is an empty wilderness; there is almost nothing there.
On one side is Egypt. Most of Egypt is desert. Only around the Nile River do you see green. The Nile Delta is like a tree spreading across the land.
When Israel was in Egypt, they lived in the land of Goshen, near the Nile River. The Nile was their lifeline. They did not need to look to heaven, for the river overflowed regularly and supplied their needs.
But when they crossed the Red Sea and entered the wilderness, they lived by miracles. God led them away from the easy northern route, the way of the Philistines, because He wanted to meet them at Mount Sinai.
Mount Sinai appears almost like a foot. The front part is broad, while the summit lies toward the back. The mountain is about two miles long and one mile wide, and rises about two thousand feet.
When Moses went up the mountain, the people could not see him. They thought he had disappeared. Even when Moses and Joshua came down after the incident of the golden calf, the people could hear sound but could not see what was happening at the summit.
The summit rises still higher behind the front portion of the mountain. The area below it may have been where the seventy elders sat before God.
The wilderness could accommodate two million people, and its water sources could sustain them. Archaeological expeditions have documented the region, helping us understand the geography of Mount Sinai.
The terrain is like an amphitheater. There is a great rock in front, with the ground sloping upward around it. It is as though God had prepared a place from which He could speak to two million people.
The people sat at the foot of the mountain—at the feet of God—listening to His word. The seventy elders came nearer, and Moses ascended higher.
The summit cannot be seen from the wilderness. God’s glory was upon the summit, yet the people were shielded by the great rock in front of them. They could see the reflected glory, but they were not consumed.
Our Lord is that firm Rock. If we are not in Christ, we cannot stand before God. The rock speaks to us of Christ, the Rock of Ages.
Let us turn to Acts 7:38:
This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.
Pay attention to the original Greek. “This” refers to Moses, who was in the congregation—or church—in the wilderness.
The word translated “congregation” is the same word used for the church. It is the word used when our Lord said, “I will build My church.” It is the word used for the church in Ephesus and the church in Laodicea.
The people of Israel gathered together. That day was the day of the assembly. There was no exception. When God established His testimony, Moses alone was not enough. All who came out of Egypt had to be present.
Two million people were called to be witnesses. Moses was among them, but God wanted all the people to stand as His witnesses.
The church was born on Pentecost. Moses lived about fifteen hundred years before the birth of the church. Was Stephen wrong to speak of the church in the wilderness? No. The Spirit shows us something important.
Israel was called out of Egypt and gathered before God. That is why it is called the church in the wilderness. What does the word “church” mean? It means the called-out ones gathering together.
We were in Egypt; we were in the world. God called us out of this world, and as we gather together, this is the church.
When Israel gathered before God, they typified the church. They show us what the church is all about. God established His testimony among them.
On the day of Pentecost, 120 people were in the upper room. The Holy Spirit descended and baptized those 120 individuals into one body. From that day, the church was born.
If you compare the two pictures, you understand what the church is. It is not only people called out who meet together. They meet before the King, and God establishes His testimony among them.
On Pentecost, the law came down. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down. What is the common point? In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God establishes His testimony.
The people of the Old Testament were earthly people; the people of the New Testament are heavenly people. In one case, the Lord descended; in the other, the Holy Spirit descended.
When the law came down, Israel failed. But God still desired to gain His testimony. The event at Mount Sinai shows us the goal: God among His people, establishing His testimony.
How could that goal be reached? The way had not yet appeared. The way appeared on the day of Pentecost.
At Mount Sinai, God the Father came down. It was the first time heaven came down to earth.
When our Lord became flesh and came in a manger, it was the second great event in human history. The Savior of mankind came to earth.
God had prepared a way of salvation long before. When the Savior was born, the way of God’s testimony began to be revealed.
The Jewish people saw a high goal. God said, “This is My standard. This is My testimony.” God would never lower His standard.
The first generation fell in the wilderness; the second generation had to continue. God’s testimony never lowers its standard.
To God, the testimony was His testimony. But to the people, it was law. They had to keep the law, yet they could not keep it. Could they be witnesses?
They had already worshiped the golden calf. Which commandment had they broken? The tablets were not even in the camp yet. This is human nature.
God wanted a testimony, but could fallen men become witnesses? From the Old Testament to the New Testament, God’s standard did not change.
Our Lord became flesh and went to the cross. He became the Passover Lamb. Fifty days later, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down.
God is triune. In Moses’ time, God the Father brought heaven down. When Jesus came, God the Son brought heaven down to earth. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down.
Now we understand how God gains witnesses. The law lets us know what sin is. The law is like a mirror.
The law shows us that we cannot keep the law. In terms of God’s testimony, we will fail if we depend upon ourselves.
You break one law, and you break them all. The law tells us that we cannot keep the law. God wanted Israel to understand that they needed a Savior.
After Mount Sinai, the next station was Kibroth-hattaavah, the graves of lust. It was an important station.
After you look into a mirror, you see yourself. Before we see ourselves, we do not know ourselves.
There was an old man who always criticized others. One day in a restaurant, he told his wife, “An ugly old man came before me. I have never seen such an ugly old person.” His wife said, “You are standing before a mirror. That ugly old person is you.”
We do not know ourselves. Paul said, “In my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.” According to ourselves, we cannot keep God’s testimony.
The law is a mirror. It shows us what is within: that the heart is deceitful and corrupt. There is no healing in ourselves.
At Kibroth-hattaavah, the people desired meat. They had manna every day, but they wanted the food of Egypt. While the meat was still between their teeth, God’s judgment came upon them.
The place was called the graves of lust. In their flesh, they had desires. They desired the meat pots, vegetables, and leeks of Egypt.
As soon as you look into the mirror, you see the flesh. Can such a person be a testimony for God? The law reveals our corruption.
Then at Hazeroth, Miriam became leprous. Miriam was a great leader, but the law showed how holy God is and how polluted we are.
One by one, the people fell on the way. For thirty-eight years they wandered in the wilderness. They possessed the tabernacle of testimony, yet they also carried idols from Egypt.
God’s standard did not change. The law prepared the human heart to see that the testimony was glorious, but that men needed a Savior.
Who can keep the testimony? What man can attain God’s standard? The law showed the people that what they truly needed was a Savior.
Our Lord became flesh and was nailed to the cross. He became the Passover Lamb. From the day of the cross until Pentecost, fifty days passed; then the Holy Spirit brought believers into one body.
This is the church of Christ. Israel in the wilderness was a type of the church. God would establish His testimony in the universe, and the responsibility is upon the church.
The church does not merely receive God’s testimony and see the standard. By grace, the church can reach the goal. This is the difference between the law and the Holy Spirit, between law and grace.
Ever since our Lord became flesh, He brought heaven to earth. At Pentecost, the Triune God brought heaven down in a new way.
Israel failed, but the church can fulfill God’s purpose. Why? Our Lord is the heavenly ladder.
Jacob was a worm, desiring earthly things. His world was two-dimensional. He did not know there was a third dimension—a way to heaven.
There is a heavenly ladder connecting heaven and earth. Because of that heavenly ladder, the worm can become like a butterfly and rise into the heavens.
Jacob said, “This is the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” To go to heaven, one must go through this place. For Jacob, and for us, Christ is the way.
Our Lord was nailed to the cross. On one hand, He reconciled man to God; on the other hand, He connected heaven and earth. Jesus became our heavenly ladder.
When He ascended, the Holy Spirit descended. This is a day to remember, because the church was born. It was another day of assembly.
All who are saved are baptized into one body—not merely individual witnesses, but one body bearing one testimony.
God’s testimony is the testimony of Jesus Christ, and it is a testimony of unity.
Let us read John 17:23:
I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovedst them, even as Thou lovedst Me.
Brothers and sisters, this was our Lord’s prayer before He went to the cross. He knew that His people would be divided. Therefore He prayed that they might be perfected into one.
When we are one, the testimony of unity shows the world that God sent His Son.
The people of the world may not have spiritual eyesight, but they know whether we love one another. They know whether we are one.
The testimony of unity is something the world can see. It is not merely a slogan or a beautiful song. The whole world can see it.
When two million people stood as one beneath the feet of God at Sinai, that unity spoke of God’s testimony.
Our Lord prayed, “I in them, and Thou in Me.” This is the secret of unity.
The tablets were called the testimony, and the ark was called the ark of the testimony. Yet the tabernacle itself was not called the testimony in the same direct way.
There was a vessel: the ark. God’s testimony was placed in the ark of the testimony. The tablets spoke of God’s testimony, but the ark also bore testimony.
The ark was at the center of the tabernacle. Inside was the testimony; outside was the tabernacle. The ark points to the Lord Jesus.
God put His testimony in the ark. Therefore, there is not only God’s testimony; there is also the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The ark was made of acacia wood and covered with gold. It speaks of the Word becoming flesh: true humanity and true deity joined in Christ.
In the wilderness of Sinai, one sees acacia trees. They stand alone in the parched land. Under the extreme heat of the sun, they continue to grow.
The acacia tree has roots in dry ground. This reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecy:
For He grew up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of a dry ground.—Isaiah 53:2
The acacia tree cannot gain water easily from the ground. Yet its leaves open toward heaven and receive moisture. Our Lord was like a root out of dry ground, always open toward heaven.
The Bible tells us that all the fullness of God dwelt bodily in Him. John tells us:
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.
—John 1:14
The ark represents Christ. The Ten Commandments are God’s testimony, and the ark represents the testimony of Jesus Christ.
When John was on the island of Patmos, he bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. The word of God is represented by the tablets; the testimony of Jesus Christ is represented by the ark.
How can we be one? The answer is this: Christ is in us. “I in them, and Thou in Me.” Because of this relationship between the Father, the Son, and the believers, we can be completely one.
God’s testimony can be accomplished when His law is written upon the tablets of our hearts.
What is the New Testament? It is the blood of the covenant.
At the Last Supper, the Lord said:
This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.
—Matthew 26:28
At Sinai, Moses sprinkled the blood of the covenant. The whole situation changed.
The seventy elders could sit and eat beneath the feet of God. They did not see only thunder and fire; they saw sapphire beneath His feet.
Because of the blood of the covenant, they could eat and drink beneath God’s feet. Before the Lord’s Table, the Lord says, “This is My blood of the covenant.”
Today we are not under the thunder of Mount Sinai. It is as though we are at the summit basin, looking at the blue sky and the sapphire. But we must not forget that this is because of the blood of the covenant.
The seventy elders were under His feet. Moses came before His feet. We would love to be like Moses.
In the Old Testament, they were under the feet of God. In the New Testament, by grace, we come before His feet. The ark is called His footstool.
When we break bread and remember the Lord, all the children of God gather together. We come before His feet.
We are not merely like the seventy elders; through grace, we come before God as Moses did. This is what His grace has done.
Every time we come before His feet, we recognize that these are the feet that were nailed to the cross.
Every time we come before His feet, let Him write His law upon our hearts. May the life of Christ be lived out through us.
The law written on stone said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” But what is the law written within us?
It says, “Turn the other cheek. Go the second mile. Give your cloak also.” It calls us to be holy as the Father is holy and perfect as the Father is perfect.
Our love must be complete. We must not merely love those who love us; we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
This is the testimony of Jesus Christ. The testimony is in the ark.
If you read history, the Roman Empire conquered the world. Yet during three hundred years of persecution, the Christians bore a testimony.
It was said that if one Christian was killed, many more would arise. The Roman Empire conquered the world outwardly, but spiritually it was conquered by the testimony of the church.
If the law of life is within our hearts and is lived out through us, the result is testimony—the testimony of Jesus Christ and the testimony of the church.
This is what God desires to gain.
Lord, we commit these words into Your hands. Man’s words are limited, but You continue to speak. Speak until Your will is done.
Speak until we are willing to truly answer Your calling for Your testimony, no matter how difficult it may be.
We dare not trust in our human strength. We trust in the law of life, that You may live in us and live out Your glorious testimony.
Thank You, Lord. Your salvation is great, and Your salvation is complete. You do not merely save us from sin; You save us that we may receive a glorious testimony.
May we carry Your testimony upon our shoulders. We give You all our love. In Jesus’ name.