O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the Law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
(LSB 357 st. 3)
And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”
(Exodus 19:9)
The Advent season of preparation and waiting is itself an echo of Israel in the wilderness. Our Lord gave His law to His people. Through it He chastened and prepared His people, Israel, for His presence among them in the wilderness by a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. That same presence of the Lord, which appeared to Moses in the burning bush, dwelt in His tabernacle through their wanderings and into the promised land with Israel, whom He redeemed out of bondage in Egypt.
So too, He suddenly came into His temple again and again through the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. By the incarnation, death, and resurrection of this same Jesus, we too are redeemed out of bondage to sin. Our Lord prepares us now for the return of His Son, our Lord. This Advent season reminds us too that He will return again, once for all on the last day in the Advent to come.
Let us pray: O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai: Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us. Amen.
(Jason M. Kaspar, Vicar)