Exodus 24:8-18—God appears to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It was an experience with God revealing His glory. What is the significance of the mountain? A mountain is generally the site of a religious experience. It was, at least, for Moses, Elijah, Abraham and Jesus. There is symbolism to a mountain. It is high. Above the valley of the mundane. It is s solitary place away from people. It is a silent site where God’s voice can be heard without the distractions and confusion of human voices. A mountain also speaks of stability, permanence and strength.
Moses’
experience on Mt. Sinai was for the purpose of both making a covenant and the
receiving the Law. The covenant came first; the work of God grace of offering
to make a covenant. The Decalogue consists of the human conditions or
counterpart of the covenant. The laws are not primarily to please God but they
are given for our good. The Law is an expression the grace of God. It is significant
that the Ten Commandments are not developed but they come from God as depicting God’s will for our well-being.
O God, in the glorious transfiguration of Your beloved Son You confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah. In the voice that came from the bright cloud, You wonderfully foreshowed our adoption by grace. Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King in His glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in heave; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives, and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.[2]
Collect for Wednesday of the week of Epiphany 6: Not our thought of Thee, O God – let Thy thought for us hold our eyes and keep us steadfast. We do not ask so much for the strength which Thou has promised as for the grace to use what Thou hast already supplied in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen [3]
[1]
The Transfiguration of our LORD © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[2]
Collect for Transfiguration, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing
House. St. Louis
[3]
Collect for Wednesday of the week of Epiphany 6, For All the Saints, A Prayer
Book For and By the Church, Vol. III ©
1995, The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
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