an acceptable service

In Exodus 12 we read the story of how God appeared on Mt. Sinai in the presence of the children of Israel, in a mighty display of power, with smoke and thunder on the mountain. And it says that the people trembled at the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet. So fearful were they that they asked Moses to speak to God for them. They were afraid to hear God speak and preferred the words of Moses rather than the words of God. So Moses went up on the mountain in the presence of God for forty days and forty nights. During this time God gave Moses the Law. The very words of God were written by His finger in stone tablets.
When Moses finished receiving the word of God, he started to come down the mountain, having been warned by God that the people had defiled themselves. God said, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.” They said to Aaron, “Come, make us a god who will go before us, as for this Moses, we do not know what has become of him.” So Aaron asked for their gold and made it into a molten calf. And the Bible says that after they offered sacrifices to the calf, “the people sat down to eat and rose up to play.” Soon, they were out of control. Debauchery reigned in the camp. As Moses came down the mountain he heard the sound of singing and saw them dancing around the golden calf. He smashed the tablets of God’s word to the ground and called out to the people, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to me!” And Moses slew 3000 men that day with the sword for their rebellion against God.
This actual, historical event is also a prophetic picture of the church. We have been redeemed out of slavery to Satan as the chosen people of God. We have received the promise of eternal life in the promised land. But today, the church often finds itself like Israel, drawing back in fear from the holiness of God. We prefer humanness, fleshliness, rather than Godliness and holiness. Like with Israel, God has given to the church His written word, the very breath of God. Yet today the church has exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and prefer to read and listen to the foolishness of man, rather than the pure wisdom of the Word. In this present age, God has commanded us to offer to God the sacrifice of ourselves, taking up our cross, yet we have done like the Israelites and asked our leaders for a god according to our desires, made of what we value, which we can see and feel and touch. We often find we don’t really worship God in spirit, but we worship the spirit of this world, that which enables us to experience the desires of our flesh. And sadly, like ancient Israel, our attempts at fleshing out our worship often results in a corruption that is an offense to God.
“For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched....and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word should be spoken to them…but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God…See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.” Heb. 12:19-25
“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Heb. 12:28,29