My first thought when reading Exodus 24 is that the Israelites had to have been a very faith-filled people to have listened to and followed Moses through all of this. I mean, Moses' behavior and instructions had to have been considered at least a wee bit "unusual" to at least some of the thousands who were following him. It seems like it would have not taken much momentum for mutiny to have occurred.

But God goes before. He paves a way. He showed Himself to an adequate number of the Israelites to provie that this really was true. It really was happening and wasn't just the wild imagination and ranting of an old guy and his brother. Today, we'd be sending Moses someplace for "testing" I am sure.

But then I got to thinking. Is faith not faith regardless of the exact circumstances? Is the faith we're called to live out today really any different than what the Israelites were called to? I am sure it's not. Yes, the Israelites were a people of great faith but it's no different than what is expected of us today.

God's unending and relentless love for us, as well as His faithfulness to us, is revealed to those who seek Him. It's no different today than it was with Moses and His followers. We're still called to be foreigners in a strange land ... to march to the beat of a different drummer ... to be in this world but not of this world ... to stand up for and be willing to die for what we know to be The Truth.

The circumstances may be different but our response should be the same as those following Moses.