Reading: God’s Covenant with Moses

Francis - I love the picture in, in this session where Moses is at the foot of this  mountain. And as he's about to approach God, God just explained, look to, you  don't just come into my presence and keep the people away. Like there's just a  sense of, I'm approaching someone who is holy and their word holy and make  sure they understand that means set apart, it means distinct, it means he's, he's  beyond us. He's not like us, a lot of times, we have this picture of God, and we  treat him like calm and like, God, let me tell you what, you know, it's like, talking  to God isn't like talking to you. We're talking about a different being. And so it's a good time to get into that with your diciple.  

David - That's so key, because there's this tendency, and it's even based on  scripture, in some ways, like, we're friends of God. And so, but that doesn't  mean we talk with God, like we do our friends. Yeah. And so even as you're  praying with the people, you're discipling, and talking about God, like, permeate  and teach them model for them. What it means to just not lose sight of the  holiness of God was to not get into a routine where prayer even becomes casual and rote, and okay, oh, dear God, this is no, like really satisfying things I really  appreciate about you that you've even helped me. And just, when we when we  pray together, it's a we're talking to the Holy God universe, who years ago,  people stayed far away from that God is by His grace and made a way for us to  come to him. But that doesn't diminish us.  

Francis - I mean, he wants us to come with confidence in Hebrews tells us that  throne with confidence, that doesn't mean arrogance, and we're approaching the most holy place, it says, you know, you're still going into that Holy of Holies. So it isn't just as casual I mean, I cringe when people, Hey, big guy. You know, and I  mean, I understand friendship, relationships, intimate, it's beautiful. That's what  we're created for. But that doesn't, that's not separate from reverence, and  holiness and going, Okay. I'm proud of our Father who art in heaven, hallowed  holy be your name. That's how Jesus taught us.  

David - That's good. You know, the other key thing in this lesson is tying this  picture of priesthood in the Old Testament with disciple making. And so the  priests responsibility was to represent the kind of need to go between, in a  sense between a holy God and sinful people. And so he would, he would  represent sinful people before a holy God, and then, in a sense, represent that  Holy God before sinful people. And there's, there's a picture there that's really  rich, that I would encourage you to help think through with the person or people  you're dicipling for him to think through, all right, like we're a kingdom of priests.  So on one level, we have access to God. So that's amazing in and of itself. But  then we are His representatives, in the world around us. And God has  commissioned us to show what his life looks like in action. Again, we're not 

gonna be perfect in that, but we are His ambassadors in a sinful world. And at  the same time, just like Moses, we see him in different places, standing in the  gap on behalf of the Israelites, we're standing in the gap for people who don't  

know Christ, we're praying, God, reveal your grace and Your glory to them, draw them yourself, okay, that leads us to go and tell them about about Christ and  what he's done and are pleading for their salvation. There's a there's a powerful  picture there.  

Francis - Because Moses had that interaction with God. And he understood  what God wanted in his commands. And then he brought it to the people. And so you've got to get your disciple to understand okay, you see that your your your  that priest now, like you are starting to understand the commands of God. So  your job now is to go to the people as the priest. The people in your life who  don't know God yet don't know his law don't and have a relationship with Him.  Moses comes down from the mountain because I spoke to God, as we says, We got to do I've got a relationship with God and you know, the New Testament, you know, John this would make my joy complete as you can have fellowship with us too. It's that good, that attitude in their mind. So it's like, Okay, now that I've  been teaching you, you've got to do that with your friends. You got to pass on  this relationship. You've got to stand in that gap. And this is why you're making  disciples