Come to the Mountaintop

There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai, and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The Lord called him from the mountain and told him . . . EXODUS 19:1-3

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the LORD showed him the whole land. EXODUS 34:1

Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. MATTHEW 17: 1&2

God desires to work with His people at a higher level of intimacy than is obtainable on the level ground. He begins His relationship by inviting them to the mountaintop. Before we can really attain any meaningful heights in our relationship with God, we must climb to the top of the mountain. The level ground is too low for God to work with; we must climb up higher. This requirement is demonstrated at various times in the scriptures. Usually, in His relationship with Moses, God always required him to climb to the mountain. When the Ten Commandments were given to Moses, he had been to the mountaintop for 40 days and nights! Hear what God Himself says concerning climbing to the mountaintop: “But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the mountain” EXODUS 19:13.

While They Were Living There, Elimelech Died

^1-2Long ago, in the days before Israel had a king, there was famine in the land. So a man named Elimelech, who belonged to the clan of Ephrat and who lived in Bethlehem in Judah, went with his wife Naomi and their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to live for a while in the country of Moab. While they were living there, ³Elimelech died, and Naomi was left alone with her two sons, ⁴who married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later ⁵Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left all alone, without husband or sons. RUTH 1:1-5