Exodus 20:18-21 "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was."
It is impossible to understand anything about the depths of God’s love until we have a glimpse of His righteous power. Conversely, it may be difficult for us to imagine that God could possibly love us when we are first blessed to see His righteous power. Once we have been made to see our sinful nature, God’s righteous law and judgement is like seeing thunderings, lightnings, the smoking mountain, and hearing the noise of the trumpet. It is a fearful thing, and we do not feel that we could ever draw near to such righteousness.
In this instance, the fear felt by the children of Israel was not just reverence. They were afraid for their lives and the lives of their families. They did not want to be close to God or feel Him close to them. They did not even want to hear Him speak, asking that Moses would continue to speak to them the things of God. In this fear, they assured Moses that they would hear him.
Moses tried to comfort the children of Israel. He told them to put away their fear of God’s presence. God had come to try them so that His reverence might always be before their faces. God had come to them so that they would not be led astray. Then the scripture says something that almost seems contradictory: Moses went to be close to God in the thick darkness.
Dear ones, make no mistake: God is light. We often find Him in the midst of the dark places we find ourselves in. Remember that His word tells us that the light and the dark are the same to God (Psalm 139:12). What is darkness to us does not affect Him in the least. When He calls us, we can approach Him in the darkest of times, the most fearful of times, and find comfort in His presence through our Mediator, Jesus Christ.