The Good Lion

 As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

Exodus 20:21 NLT

I wonder what it was like to be a recently freed Israelite slave preparing to receive God’s law in the wilderness. Can you picture the scene? Camped at the base of Mount Sinai in the middle of the desert, waiting anxiously to meet your Deliverer? Moses gives everyone strict instructions not to even touch the base of the mountain under penalty of death until after the ram’s horn is blown (Ex. 19:12-13). Suddenly the ground begins to shake violently as a thick cloud of fire and smoke, thunder and lightning swallows the top of the mountain. Then a voice from inside the burning cloud begins to speak, introducing itself… I’m pretty sure I would have passed out by that point.

This passage is a perfect example of the difference between holy fear and craven fear.  We are taught throughout Scripture that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). This is of course referring to holy fear: the kind of fear that draws closer in awe and reverence when experiencing the glory of God, like Moses did at Mount Sinai. Moses had already encountered God many times by that point, and so he knew God could be trusted.

The children of Israel, however, had the exact opposite reaction. Even after the ram’s horn was blown and they knew they could approach the mountain, they did not want to be anywhere NEAR God… they did not even want to hear His voice (Ex. 20:18-19)! Their craven fear evidenced their lack of relationship with God. Even though they had worshiped Him their entire lives and had witnessed His holiness displayed in powerful ways… They did not know Him.

I find the symbolism of the ram’s horn in this story particularly beautiful. This is referencing the ram Abraham found in the thicket when he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac (Genesis 22:13). God provided the ram as a replacement for Isaac, just like He provided Jesus as a replacement for us. Even at Sinai, God was loudly sounding the horn of His love and mercy as a beacon for the clueless children of Israel. They did not know Him yet… but over time, they would come to recognize that He could be trusted. As C.S. Lewis so famously wrote of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, “He is not a tame lion… But He is good.”

Hannah