Exodus 24:16: “And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mt. Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day God called out to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.”
So what was Moses was doing in the cloud for six days before God called him. I read this verse in my KJV and it said that God called out of the cloud, which suggests that Moses was not in the cloud. However, checking it out in my Hebrew Bible I find the preposition Mem which is rendered as from before the word cloud. God called from the midst of the cloud. This could mean that Moses spent the six days in the cloud. Now if Moses was in this cloud for six days and did not speak a word with Him for six days, what in the world what he was doing.
Our English text reads that for six days the cloud descended upon the mountain of Sinai, but the Hebrew text said it abode on Mt. Sinai. That word abode is very important. In the Hebrew the word is shekin which, if you add a feminine ending, would be shekinah like in the Shekinah glory of God. The word shekin means to rest, reside, inhabit. The first two letters, Shin and Kap form a Semitic root which carries the idea of rest and the third letter tells us what type of rest this is. The third letter here is Nun which carries the idea of faith, revelation productivity, and fertility. Another English word that is used is the word intercourse or to be more politically correct we would say intimacy. I believe it is safe to say that Moses and God spent six days just enjoying each other’s company before God got down to business on the seventh day. Now this may seem a little backward as he rested for six days and worked on the seventh day. I can’t say that I fully understand what took place on those six days, but I do know I sure would not mind having a similar experience.
What really captured my attention is the word for six that is used in six days. This word in Hebrew is spelled Shin, Shin (shash). However ,the word six in this verse is shashat, spelled Shin, Shin and Taw. It is a little baffling as to why that Taw was added. It is grammatically ok to do this, but my question is why? Unless, of course, there is a play on words here. Keep in mind a play on words is not always to create humor, actually it is a device to create a broader range of meaning and understanding. In this case it appears that shashat is a play on the word Shatah. Shatah means to drink or in the Niphal to be drunk or saturated. In the Old Persian there is a similar word which has the idea of weaving, intermingling. With this as a play on words, it would suggest that during the six days God was just saturating and intermingling His presence with Moses.
After seven days of communing with God Moses was ready to receive instruction from God. Sometimes we treat God like a celestial boss, we go to Him for our orders and knock ourselves out trying to discern His voice. Maybe Moses had the right idea and that was to spend a little quiet time with God, I mean quiet in the sense of just enjoying His presence and not speaking, then after six days you can get down to business and start chit chatting. His voice might be a little clearer after that time. The Jewish sage Maimonides once said that silence is the highest praise. Sometimes we think that in order to praise God we have to repeat his name over and over, or keep saying something like, “I praise you, I love you, I adore you.” I mean a man can tell a woman only so many times, “I love you, I adore you” until she finally says, “Shut up and kiss me you fool.” Then the old slob finally shuts his mouth and in silence expresses his love. We are so afraid of silence. Remember your first date, you felt you had to keep talking for fear you might get some nonverbal sign she was not interested in you. Silence for some people is a like an empty sewer that needs to be clogged. I believe Moses spent six days in the highest praise. He spent it in silence.
The text further tells us that God called to Moses on the seventh day. Moses was most likely a bit deaf as well as having a speech problem, after all why did God have to call out to him. The word call is qara’ in Hebrew. This means to call or shout. But soft, qara’ has a dual meaning. It also means to have a meeting. Possibly the Lord did not call out to Moses but met with Moses to have a sort of business meeting. What that means is that God did not meet with Moses for six days, He had that meeting qara’ on the seventh day. The first six days were pleasure, the seventh day was business.
I know it is supposed to be business before pleasure, God set that up at creation, but, after all He is God, and he can bend the rules a little and have pleasure before business. So next time I am seeking a word or direction from God, I may just indulge in a little time of pleasure with God before getting down to business. You see, when I study and write, I feel God’s pleasure. Sometimes, God and I get down to business and I either learn something or get some direction. But to be perfectly honest, the reason I spend so much time studying and writing is not to learn something or get direction from God. I don’t even write these little studies to share them with those who may or may not read them. I do it for only one reason, the same reason Moses spent six days in the cloud. He just enjoyed, bringing God pleasure and feeling His pleasure. As Eric Liddell said, at least in the movie Chariots of Fire, his explanation as to why he was training for the Olympics rather than preparing for the mission field, “God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
Sometimes just sitting back, saying nothing or using the abilities or desires that God gave you such as carpentry, music, repairing a lawn mower, mowing the lawn or working in the garden, whatever you enjoy doing God will enjoy being there with you when you do it, it will bring God pleasure. If God gave you that ability and/or desire, then doing it with God will bring Him just as much if not more pleasure than getting down to business. That silence before Him using whatever ability he gave you is the highest praise.
P.s. We were told by Publishers that they were taking down our books as of March 1st but it looks like they have already taken down one early so it’s best to buy now before they are out of print forever. Also, I wanted to mention that though not all books are labeled on our website as bestsellers, however they have all been best sellers a couple reaching #1 best seller…so you really can’t go wrong no matter which one you choose. Lastly, for those who may not know , there is a way to purchase and send e books as a gift on Amazon which you can get to through our shop (once you click on the book you want to purchase it will link over to Amazon automatically) Here is the link to our bookstore https://www.chaimbentorah.com/store/ Blessings, Laura
Recent Comments