Come Boldly!

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes…For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the Mountain shall surely be put to death…Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lighting flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.” – Exodus 19:10-12 & Exodus 20:18

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 (NKJV

Above we have two different verses in the Bible; the first is in Exodus, which is in the Old Testament, before Jesus came. The second is Hebrews which is closer to the end of the New Testament, after Jesus came, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven.

In Exodus we see that God says to Moses the leader He appointed to lead the people of Israel, that He was coming down to talk to the people. God was going to come down on Mount Sinai. But God said that the people had to clean, and purify themselves before He came, and the people could not stand near Him, or even at the bottom of the Mountain. If anyone were to defy the boundaries and come closer they would die. Then when God came down, and was on the top of the mountain, He was covered with dark clouds and smoke and there was a great trembling on the mountain and lighting, thunder, and the sounds of trumpets. The people saw this and they were afraid, and they trembled and stood far away. They did not see God’s face and they did not even want to hear His voice for they were so terrified and only wanted to hear what God said through Moses.

But in Hebrews, it said that Jesus is our High Priest, He is the One who purifies and makes us holy, and He is our atonement. And it says that Jesus doesn’t merely sympathize with us but He went through all the temptations and trials and hard times we went through. He was tested and tempted like us, though He did not give in, or give up, and did not sin. So we can know that God has compassion on us, and He does very much understand or hardships, problems, temptations, and situations. So now that we know that we can boldly come to God and to His very throne, which is full of grace, and receive His mercy, grace, and help, when we need it

In the Old Testament the people could not come close to God because they had sin, and were not holy and righteous. And sin and holiness cannot be together. So the people could not be near God, and they could not come close to Him. The people also did not see God as a loving and kind, full of compassion God. They thought of God as a mean, hard to please, powerful, impersonal being that would kill them if they did something wrong.

Moses was the exception. He saw God as his friend, and He saw God as a loving and compassionate God who loved the people, and loved Him. So because of Moses’ faith God accounted Moses’ faith as righteousness. Moses, Abraham, David, were some of the few people in the Old Testament before Jesus came, that saw God as their friend, someone who loved them, instead of a mean and cruel God. And God revealed Himself to them because they believed.

When Jesus came, everything changed. God came down to earth to die for our sins and trade places with us so we can be reunited with God and see God for who He really is, to see His love, life, hope, mercy and goodness. In the process Jesus went through trials, hardships, temptations, bad situations, and all the things we go through. And when Jesus died on the cross, He took the sins of the whole entire human race; the sins of the past, present, and future. He traded places with us so we could come near and face to face with our Heavenly Father God. He came so we could freely and fearlessly come to God and talk to Him and have a close personal and intimate relationship with Him. Through Jesus we are righteous, so we do not have to worry about being super perfect and not sin at all in order to talk to God and hear Him talk back. Jesus died for us and switched places with us, so when God looks at us He sees Jesus’ righteousness in us, so God does not see our sin anymore but He sees us a righteous, holy, and worthy to come before Him

God wants us to come closer to Him, and be near to Him. He wants us not to be afraid to talk to Him, or approach Him with our problems and hardships. He wants us to come boldly and confidently to Him, knowing that He loves us, understands us, and wants us to come to Him. He is not an angry and harsh God. He is not a sadistic or stony-faced God. He is Love, He is Peace, He is Passion, He is Mercy, He is Forgiveness, and He is God, our God.

Do not be afraid to come to Him, and tell Him your problems, temptations, struggles, joys, about your day, or simply rant to Him, ask for advice, and ask for His help. He is not mad at you. He is not angry at you. He loves you, understands you, knows you, wants to help you, and is happy to talk and listen to you.

Come boldly, fearlessly, and confidently to God. Receive His love, mercy, help, and forgiveness. He loves you! 

“God, I pray that I will walk with You, and I will not be afraid to come and talk to You, and to hear You speak back to me. Father God I ask that You will be with me when I am going through hard times and difficult places, that You would protect me, give me help, and that You will show me Your love for me. Thank You for sending Jesus as my High Priest, and that I am free and welcome to come to you because I am righteous and holy through Your Son. Jesus, I invite you into my life as my saviour, friend, Lord, and King. Thank You for dying for me I believe that You died for me, and that You are the Son of God. I believe that You rose from the grave and through that I have victory over every problem in my life. Amen.”

Shalom, and may our heavenly Father show you His love and passion for you.
R