Now I have the readings. Monday focuses on the Old Testament reading: Exodus 24:12-18. Let me generate the chapel devotion.
---
template: "chapel-mon"
title: "Monday Chapel - Exodus 24:12-18"
date: "2026-02-15"
reading: "Exodus 24:12-18"
---Opening Prayer
Dear Jesus, thank you for this morning. Help us listen to your Word today and know that you are with us. Amen.
Scripture: Exodus 24:12-18
The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there. I will give you tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written.”
So Moses set out with Joshua his helper. He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back.” Moses went up on the mountain, and a cloud covered it.
The bright glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain. On the seventh day, God called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the people of Israel watching from below, the glory of the LORD looked like a blazing fire on top of the mountain.
Then Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And he stayed there forty days and forty nights.
What This Means
Imagine you’re standing at the bottom of a very tall mountain. Way up at the top, there’s a light so bright it looks like the whole peak is on fire. The ground is shaking. Thunder is rumbling. Would you want to go up there?
Moses did. Well — actually, Moses didn’t want to go. God called him. “Come up to me,” God said. That’s important. Moses didn’t climb the mountain because he was brave enough or good enough. He went because God invited him.
And here’s what’s amazing: God covered the mountain with a cloud. Why? Because God’s glory is so big, so heavy, so bright, that no person could survive seeing it with bare eyes. The cloud was like God putting on a blanket — not to hide from Moses, but to protect him. God wanted to be close to Moses, so God made a way for Moses to survive being close to him.
The people down below saw the fire and they were scared. But Moses walked into the cloud. He walked toward the fire — because the God who is a consuming fire is also the God who says, “Come up to me.”
That same God still comes to us. But he doesn’t ask us to climb a scary mountain. He comes to us — in water, in bread and wine, in words spoken right into our ears. The God of the blazing mountain became a baby in a manger so that getting close to him wouldn’t destroy us. It would save us.
Let’s Talk About It
Eberley: Why do you think God covered the mountain with a cloud instead of just showing his full glory? What does that tell us about how God meets people? Where does God “cover himself” to come close to us today?
Sonja: Moses had to wait six whole days before God spoke to him from the cloud. Have you ever had to wait a long time for something? How do you think Moses felt during those six days of waiting?
Dahlia & Freddy: Did Moses go up the mountain by himself, or did God call him to come? What did the top of the mountain look like to the people watching?
Remember This
God comes close to us — not to hurt us, but to be with us.
Closing Prayer
Lord God, your glory fills the whole world. Thank you for not staying far away on top of a mountain, but for coming down to us. Thank you that in Jesus, we don’t have to be afraid of you. Help us trust that you are always calling us closer. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Memory Verse
“Come up to me on the mountain and wait there.” — Exodus 24:12