A VOLCANO IN A TENT Larry W Peebles July 2, 2021 21.25
If one wanted to experience a volcano in a tent, it is possible to camp on a volcano in Costa Rica, Iceland, and Hawaii. I’m not sure I could sleep lying on the ground with an active volcano rumbling beneath me.
The Bible also presents the story of a volcano in a tent. It comes from the 40-year journey of the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery into the land of Canaan, the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants. The journey is described in the Book of Exodus, beginning with the burning bush where Moses received the call to lead the people out of Egypt (Exodus 3). The miracles and plagues Moses brought to Pharaoh in order to convince him to release the slaves are recorded in Exodus Chapters 7-12. The reader is encouraged to review those for background, as they are not detailed here.
The final plague, the death of all first-born males in Egypt (while the Israelites were “passed-over”), caused Pharaoh to let the people go free. They did not travel far, however, when Pharaoh changed his mind and began to pursue with his army. Having left Egypt, the children of Israel (Jacob) would now have to escape the Egyptian army. With the army in hot pursuit, they came to the Red Sea. Once again, God’s mighty and miraculous hand protected them by splitting the Sea, allowing the Israelites to cross. He then brought the Sea back over the Egyptian army in pursuit, destroying it entirely (Exodus 14). Moses prophesied before the crossing that as bad it looked, they would “never see again” the enemy that pursed them. Exodus 13-14 is also the first mention of the supernatural pillar of fire God provided to lead them by night, and a cloud by day.
The pattern of God’s miraculous hand on this whole freedom march is further substantiated when God began to feed the several million Israelites with manna (bread) from heaven each day, and quail for meat (Exodus 16). He provided another necessity with water from a rock in Exodus 17. Also in Exodus 17, we see the first non-Egyptians to attack the Israelites were the Amalekites. Amelek was a grandson of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother who disregarded and sold his birthright. Although they were not trained for war, Joshua led the Israelites to defeat the Amalekites. God caused them to prevail so long as Moses arms were raised as a sign of where their help came from. The Amalekites would remain bitter enemies of Israel. See Psalm 83:5-8.
In Exodus 18, and at the advice of Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law), leaders were chosen to help Moses manage the people, settle disputes, and provide wisdom and counsel.
The journey was beginning to take shape. There was food, water, fire by night, and cloud by day. They were no longer being chased. Protection in the form of an army they didn’t know they had scored their first victory. Moses had recruited some leadership to help. God’s fingerprints were all over the miraculous story at this point. And all of this came within the first 90 days after leaving Egypt. What else could a new nation need for survival? They needed a structure of law. Theirs’ would be not just any law, but God-given law. They also needed to know more of the God who had saved them. Nations need laws, and God to lead them. It is one thing to know His hand of miracles, but it is another to truly know Him. Both the law and the knowledge of God had been lost during the 400 years under Egyptian culture and slavery.
After 90 days of travel, the Israelites arrived and camped at Mt. Sinai, the “mountain of God”. They were instructed to consecrate themselves for three days, to wash themselves and their clothes, and prepare to meet God. Moses was directed to tell them “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings, and brought you to myself. If you obey me fully…you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6). The people told Moses “We will do everything the Lord has said.” (Exodus 19:8) Unfortunately, they were not sincere.
On the third day, the people assembled at the base of the mountain, with careful warning to not touch the mountain. God decided this was to be a holy and solemn encounter, where He would display His sheer power with such volcanic force as to cause the people to be in awe. This approach became necessary because the people were not totally committed. They were a walking wonder, a nation created out of another nation, yet they had not lifted a sword to gain their freedom. They had witnessed first-hand and in a short period of time more miracles than any other generation to have ever lived. Yet they grumbled and complained against God when the Egyptian army got too close in pursuit, when they needed food and water, and when the food did not include meat. God intended to get their attention at Sinai.
Exodus 19: 18-19- “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace. The whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the [heavenly] trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke, and the voice of God [audibly] answered him.” I live on a mountain, with a view of another mountain in close proximity. I can’t imagine what I would feel if I saw the neighboring mountain covered in smoke and fire, and felt the ground trembling violently as if a volcano or an earthquake were happening. Add a trumpet blast from who knows where, and the thunder of God’s voice to the experience, and I would be in total fear and awe. God would have my full attention with a scene I would never forget.
In that setting, which did not subside, Moses went up Mount Sinai alone for 40 days and met with God, receiving the Law for the Israelites, including the Ten Commandments. Moses also received the instructions for building the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, where God’s Presence would abide. (Exodus Chapters 20-31) In spite of all they had seen and experienced, the people decided 40 days was too long to wait for Moses to return, so they built a golden calf, worshipped it and declared it had delivered them from Egypt. Then they sacrificed to the idol, and “indulged in [lewd] revelry.” (Exodus Chapter 32) God was furious. Their hearts were hard and their necks were stiff. They would not love and follow the Lord in gratitude for what He had done for them. Only Moses’ intervention and pleading before God kept them alive that day.
Then the following Chapter of Exodus, Chapter 33, presents one of the most interesting contrasts in the Bible. At Moses’ request, God forgave and sent the people on to the Promised Land. He agreed to send the Angel before them to drive out their enemies, and agreed His Presence would go with them. Astonishingly in verses 7-11 of Chapter 33, we read how The Presence of God would come as a cloud over Moses’ tent, set up outside the camp, and would linger while the Lord talked to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”
One moment God is a powerful, violent volcano who shakes the earth to its core, manifests as fire and smoke, and is accompanied by blasts of a heavenly trumpet. He speaks as thunder, intending to humble the proud with shock and awe. The next moment He is sitting in Moses’ tent chatting as a best friend. The question is, which is He? How does a volcano end up in a tent? Iceland, Costa Rica and Hawaii do not compare.
The answer is He is both. The choice is ours which one we will experience. Let’s review the alternatives one at a time. First, the children of Israel did not appreciate God. They did not really know Him. They saw what He could do—miracles for their release, food and water. They saw His protection. But they did not lift a finger for their freedom. When they saw the Egyptian army in pursuit, they said “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” Exodus 14:12. When they got hungry, they said “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt…there we had meat…and all the food we wanted.” Exodus 16:3 When they were thirsty they said “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Exodus 17:3 The pattern is clear–their ingratitude, grumbling, complaining and lack of trust in and love for God resulted in a fear-producing volcanic reaction from God. Their hearts were indeed hard, and their necks were stiff.
Moses, on the other hand, was searching for God. When he first saw the burning bush, he turned from what he was doing (tending sheep), and went to the bush. Nothing he was doing was more important than pursuing God. He met God at the bush, the first of many encounters with the Presence of God. He learned to trust and obey, to the point of confronting the most powerful man on earth (Pharaoh), and prophesying to him what God had said was about to happen. Trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptian army, he proclaimed the demise of the enemy. Where the Israelites complained about their circumstances in the natural, Moses looked to God for a supernatural solution, well aware that He was in control.
In short, the Israelites had eyes and ears, but they did not see or hear. Jesus spoke of this condition in Matthew 13:15-17, but David also wrote of it in Psalm 135:16. Jeremiah prophesied of it in Jeremiah 5:21. It is critical for our spiritual eyes and spiritual ears to see and hear what God is doing in our situation. Rather than react in the flesh to our circumstances, we must check our flesh, which tends to grumble and complain, and in faith ask the Lord what is happening. With that heart attitude, we are much more likely to see the Lord show up as a friend in our tent, rather than face His fury as a volcano.
When we react in fear and unbelief, accusing God of failure, we become His enemy, not His friend. God resists the proud, but freely gives grace to the humble. Our response to challenges will determine whether He greets us with the terror of judgment, or the grace of friendship and son-ship.
