Prepare For His Visitation.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. – Exo. 19:10-11 NIV

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The Israelites after a period of approximately sixty days had arrived at the Desert of Sinai from Rephidim and they camped there whilst Moses went up the mount to meet with the Lord in fulfilment of the words of the Almighty God to him that he and the Israelites were going to worship Him at that location after their departure from Egypt, as a proof that He (God) it was that sent him – Exo. 19:1-2.

The Almighty God sent Moses back to the Israelites telling him to let them remember how He had carried them on Eagle’s wings to deliver them from the Egyptians and brought them to Himself. If they were therefore to obey Him and keep His covenants, He will;

1. Make them His treasured possession out of all nations.
2. Even though the whole earth belongs to the Lord He will make them a kingdom of Priests and a holy nation.

The Israelites and their elders on hearing the message of the Lord through Moses promised to do all that the Lord commands them and their response was equally conveyed to the Lord – Exo. 19:3-8. It was at this point that the Lord informed Moses of his intention to come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of the people, in a dense cloud, and communicate His instructions to them directly, and as a prelude to this visit, he was to go to the people and;

1. Consecrate them for two days in preparation for the third day.
2. Should also instruct them to wash their clothes in preparation for the third day.

Both actions were needed for them to be prepared in body and spirit to have the company of God. The Almighty God remains the same yesterday, today and forever and His standards remain the same. For what looked like a simple visit, He required the people to prepare to receive Him. That requirement remains valid today as anyone who intends to receive Him on a visit will be expected to observe and meet with the same conditions and that includes the Christian. Several sections of the scriptures describe Him as a Holy god who expects all those who intend to welcome Him into their lives to maintain a standard of holiness for them to be so positioned – Isa. 52:11; 2Cor. 6:17.

According to the foundation scripture for today’s devotion, anyone who intends to have God in his life must be;

1. Consecrated for the visit. To consecrate someone or something to the Almighty God is to declare or make such sacred or fit for His occupation. To be sacred to the Almighty God means to be available exclusively for His use. This is purely a personal decision with the individual devoting his/her life for His purpose only as it is the minimum standard in terms of purity that he desires. In order to be consecrated to the Almighty God, the following remains the irreducible minimum
   1. The Almighty God required that anyone who intends to host Him must have spent a minimum period of two days exclusively devoted to Him in thoughts. Thoughts on things that need to be done to please Him as nothing else should deserve the attention of such apart from satisfying His interest.
   2. Such will be expected to avoid any form of transgressions of his laws which will constitute a sin during this same period of consecration.

Success in this spiritual exercise will be one leg of two conditions that must be met for such to host Him.

2. Such must clean physically and well washed and clean clothes. Yes ! Clean washed and clean clothes. This is the physical component of the conditions to be met by the one that desires to host Him. He wanted the Israelites to wash their bodies and clothes in readiness for the meeting. A physically dirty person will not be acceptable to Him. It is completely wrong for anyone to conclude that the Almighty God is not interested in the physical state of the one who intends to host Him or the state of the environment where the meeting is to be held. It is simply a case of cleanliness being a requirement for the one that claims to be godly. It will be impossible for a clean God to operate in a filthy environment. Being clean is not necessarily being expensive but avoidance of filth.

Moses was to expatiate further on the manner of attaining the required standard of holiness when he advised the Israelites to abstain from sexual relations as part of the preparation – Exo. 19:15. For whatever reason, his advise suggests that having  sexual relationships, whether done illegally or legally will make such a person unclean and so such may not be eligible to host Him.

This preparation had to be made by the Israelites for them to be able to host a visit by the Lord. It implies that for the Lord to remain with them also or be in their congregations, the same conditions must be maintained. It is simply impossible for a filthy person in body and spirit or a filthy congregation to experience a visit from Him just as the scriptures advised, that all who desire to worship the Almighty God must be holy because He is a holy god – Lev. 11:44-45; Deut. 23:14.

Are you desirous of hearing His voice or hosting Him, then you need to prepare for that visit as He will not come into your space or allow you to come into His space if you are not clean in body and spirit. He will equally not come into your congregation if it is spiritually and physically filthy. Holiness and cleanliness remain a condition to be met by anyone who wishes for a visit by Him and it will definitely be a pre-requisite for His permanent residency in anyone’s life. He is so clean that no unclean thing can come near Him. Do all you can to maintain his standard of holiness as that remains the only way to retain His presence in your life. May God help us all to live a holy life so that His presence can remain with us all in Jesus name. Amen.