There’s part of me that just doesn’t get it . . . and part of me, unfortunately, that does. I read something in Exodus this morning that kind of blew me away. One of those things that, although I know I must have read it before, I never noticed it until today. One of those things that has me scratching my head as I think ahead to what I know is going to happen. I’m amazed this morning by the thought of the forty day fade.

Check it out! I never knew this . . . After Moses receives from God the ten commandments and the other laws covering altars, slaves, restitution, social justice, the Sabbath, and the festivals (Ex. 20:1-23:19) . . . after he is told to exhort the people to faithfully obey the voice of God (23:21, 22, 25) . . . after he is promised God’s presence and power in the conquest of the promised land (23:23-32) . . . after Moses comes and tells the people all the words of the Lord and the people respond, “All the words the Lord has spoken we will do” (24:3) . . . after the covenant is sealed with blood (24:8) . . . then Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel are invited up on the mountain to seal the deal with a meal.

“Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:9-11)

Okay . . . so they saw the God of Israel. Don’t know the exact form . . . obviously not the full out glory of God or they would have been dust . . . but the fact remains . . . they were in the presence of God . . . they knew it. The vision they had was clear . . . they saw His feet on a pavement of sapphire stone . . . they knew the ground they observed was holy ground. It says they beheld God, and ate and drank . . . talk about your up close and personal communion. Sensory overload? Perhaps. An out of this world experience? Literally. Life impacting? I’m thinking.

But as I read this my mind goes into “fast forward” mode. Zoom ahead forty days from this “wine and dine with the Divine” encounter . . . and there’s this same Aaron fashioning a golden calf to represent “your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (32:4-5). This same Aaron who had been one-on-one with God, and had beheld the sapphire-like glory of His dwelling, has the gall to cast Him as a cow . . . an inanimate cow. That’s not the One he had supped with!

And what amazes me is that the failure occurs less than six weeks after the feast . . . that he caves to the peer pressure only forty days after visiting the courts of God Himself. During that time Moses had been called back alone to the mountain for more “teaching time” (24:12-18) . . . and during that time the people had forgotten their covenant . . . and Aaron had lost site of his encounter. Talk about the glory fading . . . and in just forty days.

And that’s the part I just don’t get . . . and yet, do. While I want to show righteous indignation at how quickly Aaron goes from the mountain top of blessing to the pit of sin and stupidity, I can’t . . . ’cause I kind of get it. I don’t exactly know what it is about this human condition, but I don’t get very good “gas mileage” on past “encounters” . . . they seem to fade way too quickly . . . and what I need to do is keep “topping up the tank.” Sure Moses had been gone for over five weeks . . . but all they needed to do was look to the mount and see the cloud of the glory of God still hovering over it . . . and know that God was present and working. I too know what it is to get distracted . . . or disillusioned . . . or derailed . . . but I also can look to where I know God has said He’ll be found. I can look to His Word . . . I can look to His people . . . I can go into my closet knowing that He has promised to be found in “the secret place” (Matt. 6:6).

The trick, it seems to me, to avoiding the forty day fade is to not go forty days without beholding God . . . to not allow four days to pass without knowing communion with Him . . . to, by His grace, not go four hours without hearing His voice through His ever-indwelling Spirit. It’s to see His feet on a daily basis . . . to behold the sapphire pavement of His presence . . . to take a bit of time to go back up on the mountain and dine with Him . . . for our perseverance . . . and for His glory . . . amen?