I’ve had a lot of dinners; friends,
family, some I am nervous to cook for and others I am somewhat comfortable
with. At one dinner, the one when I met
my in-laws to be for the first time (they didn’t even know we were dating until
we were engaged!), I was terribly nervous.
Little did I know they were just as nervous... Usually at our family
dinners, we say grace and I imagine God is there with us as we eat. But that is nothing like actually sitting
down and eating in visual sight of the Almighty
God, Creator of the Universe.
And Moses went up, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and
seventy of the elders of Israel.
And they saw the God of Israel. And there was
under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as the essence
of the heavens for clearness. And upon the nobles of the sons of Israel He did
not lay his hands. Also they saw God, and ate and drank. Ex. 24:9-11
God wanted to
meet with these 74 people (v.1) so it seems they went part way up the mountain
to meet with Him. There they saw God and
they ate and drank- how remarkable. (I’m
sure I would have acted goofy and spilled food all over myself like a two year
old!) God had had His reason for doing
what He did: perhaps to prove Himself to them, perhaps to prove Moses was
really His man, or just because He wanted to chill with them, but whatever the
reason, they must have been awestruck.
Dinner with the Almighty.
What would you do?
We shouldn’t
really think it strange, after all, it’s the same concept as when Jesus says in
Rev. 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me.” Dining together, especially at the evening
meal as in this Scripture, is an intimate, relaxed time of open, face to face
communication. Does the Almighty God
really want to be that intimate with us?
The Lord
walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8), many
others saw Him (some-Gen. 12:7; 32:30; 33:11; Jd. 6:12; 1Kn. 11:9; Is. 6:1; ), He
wants you to draw near to Him so He can draw near to you (Jm. 4:8) and He wants
to be in us (Jh. 17:22,23). Jesus sends the Spirit and will come to us (Jh. 14:17,18), the Father sent Jesus that we may
know Him (the Father) (Jh. 17:3), and we are told to perceive and experience-
taste and see- that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). We are called friends (Jh. 15:15), and friends hang out together, listen
to each other, confide in one another, and have fun together. They eat together, play together, work on
projects together and have the other’s back.
So, after all
that, does dinner with the Almighty seem implausible or possible? Well, whether or not we believe He wants to
be with us here as closely as possible, we do know that one day we will see Him
face to face and be with Him forever.
That is the promise of our hope eternal with the Almighty God of all the
universe.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not
yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He shall be revealed,
we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is. 1Jh. 3:2
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to
face. Now I know in part, but then I
shall fully know even as I also am fully known. 1Cor. 13:12
And they will
see His face, and His name will be
in their foreheads. Rev. 22:4
Blessed are
the pure in heart! For they shall see
God. Mt. 5:8
Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him… Rev. 1:7
Then we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we shall ever be with
the Lord.
1Th. 4:17