Turn with me to the book of 1 Kings, and the 19th chapter. 1 Kings, chapter 19. I wonder if you can imagine how discouraging it would be to believe that you are on the cusp of a real, genuine spiritual awakening. An awakening that would bring a fresh, renewed sense of outpouring a sense of the provision that God has made for that sin in Christ, a humility that breaks out among people as they humble themselves before the Lord, to believe that that's just about to happen, and then to have your hopes dashed on the rocks of reality. Elijah has just returned from Mount Carmel, where both through fire and rain, God has proven once again that He is Israel's God. He is left hearing the chants of the people in his voice, Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is our God. Baal has been thoroughly discredited. The prophets of Baal are now corpses that are lining a creek bed. It appears as Elijah makes his way to the city of Jezreel from Mount Carmel. that real revival is coming to Israel and that this is just the first in a renewal of real genuine worship that is about to take place in the land of Israel. Ahab the king has obeyed every command that Elijah has given him. He has seen the Lord break the three and a half year drought that has engulfed the country. Surely the covenant renewal ceremony that Elijah conducted on Mount Carmel will bring about real revival in Israel. But then we read these words, beginning in verse 1 of chapter 19. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Now just pause there for a second and ask yourself, if you're Jezebel, what are your possible responses? You have learned all the things that have taken place on Mount Carmel. found out that all of the 450 prophets that you have been feeding at your own table, they've been living on the government payroll, have now been slaughtered. The people have responded to this divine display of pyrotechnics by confessing that Baal is not their God, Yahweh is their Lord. Now, if you're Jezebel, how do you respond? Well, you might respond in fear. After all, The thing that happened to her prophets should now happen to her. She ought to lose her life. Or maybe you could respond in humility and repentance, knowing that you have introduced false worship and idolatry into the land. You have been chiefly responsible for leading the people away from the worship of Yahweh. And now you are going to repent and adopt Yahweh as your God. That might be something that you could do. In reality, she responds in neither of those ways. She responds in rage and she's going to get even. Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods, notice plural there, she's still very much a polytheist, so may the gods do to me and more also if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow. So far from responding in repentance, she responds in rage and retaliation and she sends a message to Ahab that you can fight the law, but the law ultimately is going to win. So beginning in verse three, we see the response of Elijah to this threat. And the English translation that I'm reading from, the ESV, says this, then he was afraid. I think, by the way, and I'm going to talk about this in just a moment, that that's an unfortunate translation. And he arose and ran. The Hebrew word for ran can mean he just left, he walked, It can also mean that he ran. He ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which is 100 miles south of Jezreel, which belongs to Judah. So he leaves the northern kingdom and goes into the southern kingdom of Judah, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there. Now, let's pause for a second and let me tell you that it is natural and normal for you to read the story that we're going to be looking at this morning in the lens His fear The Hebrew here that is translated fear Probably doesn't mean that there are a few isolated manuscripts that say he was afraid and The Septuagint written many centuries later, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew picks up on those small number of manuscripts and Translates it that way as well but the Hebrew verb for fear is also very, very similar in look to the Hebrew imperfect verb for to see. So that you might have a textual note at the bottom of your Bible that says that it could mean or he saw this. And I think that the textual evidence leads us to believe that way. Now, why is that important? Because the traditional interpretation of this story of Elijah and his flight to Beersheba and later to Horeb is a story that leads you to believe that all of the courage that Elijah had on Mount Carmel has now vanished. And he is now so engulfed in his own fear that he becomes almost psychotic and suicidal and depressed and despondent because of what potentially could happen to him. And if you read a lot of commentaries, that's exactly the way they present this story. But there are textual reasons and textual clues that indicate that that is not what's taking place here. He is, I think, despondent. But not because he is spiraling down into some form of self-pity, but because he is despondent over the cause of God in the nation of Israel and the neglect of God's cause among those people. He comes to Jezreel, where Ahab and Jezebel are both, thinking that revival is about to take place. He's seen Ahab being very compliant on Mount Carmel, doing everything that he told him to do. Ahab has witnessed all of the divine pyrotechnics that took place there. Surely Ahab is ready to lead the nation into a spiritual renewal. But then he sees that it's not Ahab who is really controlling the nation of Israel. The one who really wears the pants in the kingdom and on the throne is Jezebel. And she has absolutely no desire whatsoever to become a worshipper of Yahweh and she is not going to give up her control over the spiritual life of this nation. Seeing this and hearing that she is going to kill him, and knowing that if he dies at her hands, it's a victory for Jezebel and it's a victory for Baal, Elijah leaves and he heads south, due south, first to Beersheba and later to Horeb for, I think, some very important reasons. Now, I don't want to suggest to you that Elijah here is not despondent. I think that he is. We begin to read about it in verse 4. He leaves a servant in Beersheba and he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree and He asked that he might die Saying it is enough now. Oh Lord Take away my life for I am no better than my father's Now again, you could read this in one of two ways You can say Elijah is now kind of wallowing in his own self-pity and wanting to die and he's becoming almost suicidal Or, you can say, Elijah is despondent, because thinking that God had anointed him to lead the nation into true worship, he now realizes that his ministry is going to bear very little fruit. Just as those who came before him preached to an obstinate and stiff-necked people, so he is now preaching to a group of very stubborn people who are not going to repent of their sins, and they are not going to follow his lead, and they are not going to return to the true worship of Israel's God. And in that despondency over the fact that Israel remains an idolatrous people and an unrepentant people, and that Jezebel is really controlling the strings, if you will, in the life of the nation, he says, my ministry is over, You might as well now take my life." And it's at this moment that God shows himself once again gentle, in mercy to his despondent servants. And so he falls asleep under this broom tree. Verse 5, he laid down and he slept under the broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him. Verse 7 says he was the angel of the Lord, probably a theophany, this is a pre-incarnate appearance of the second person of the Trinity, the Lord himself comes to him and says, arise and eat. So just as he had been miraculously provided for by the ravens and by the widow, now once again under the broom tree the Lord is showing himself gentle and full of mercy to his faithful servant by providing for Elijah here this food and drink. And he ate and drank and lay down again. Verse 7 says, And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you. He doesn't mean the journey that Elijah has already completed. He means the journey that Elijah is about to take. Now, what is this journey? And why is it important? And what is the significance of it? Well, this is what we read. Verse 8. He arose and he ate and he drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. Now, I've said repeatedly in this series that I'm asking you to read these stories and reread them and reread them. And that when you do, you should have a piece of paper and a pencil in your hand And you should ask questions of the text. Because when you ask questions of the text, it's amazing what you discover. And when you get to verse 8 there, there's some things that you should ask of the text. When you read the words, 40 days and 40 nights, if you know anything about the scripture, there's something in the back of your mind that a buzzer goes off. And you go, what's significant about those numbers? Why 40 days and 40 nights? Where have I read that before? And then, when you read that he goes 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb, the second question that you should ask is, what is this mount? It's called the Mount of God. And when you find out that Mount Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai, and now you realize that the writer of 1 Kings tells you that he goes 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Sinai, the pieces begin to fit together. And you realize that Elijah isn't going because he's trying to get as far away from Jezebel as he possibly can. He's going to Mount Sinai for a very specific purpose. And the textual clues are there to grab your attention and drive you back to Exodus 32-34, to Sinai again, many hundreds of years before, where another man for 40 days and 40 nights met with the Lord on that mountain. Now, you remember the story. Mount Sinai is the place where God first gave to Israel her national chartered covenant, what we call the Mosaic Covenant, the Old Covenant, the Sinaitic Covenant, the covenant that is encapsulated in the Ten Commandments. So, if you remember the story, and I alluded to it last week, Moses goes up to Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai, and he receives from the Lord this covenant document that God is making with the nation of Israel. And as Moses and Joshua are coming down off of the mountain, he hears the sound of music and discovers that the people in his absence have fashioned a golden calf and are now beginning to march and dance and worship this particular golden calf. Now, he's holding in his hands a summary document of that covenant. And the very first commandment on that summary document says, you will have no other gods before me. And the second commandment says, you shall not make unto yourself any graven image. So, just at the moment when God had given to Israel her covenant, she has broken that covenant with God, by breaking the very first two commands of the Decalogue. So, what does Moses do? He symbolizes what Israel has done in breaking that covenant by breaking those stone tablets on the ground. This is what you have done. And then, he has 3,000 people who are chiefly responsible for the idolatry slaughtered, just like on Mount Carmel many hundreds of years later, Elijah slaughters the idolaters there. 450 of Baal's prophets. So what does Moses do? Moses, you'll remember, melts down the golden calf. Boy, if your mother ever made you wash out your mouth with soap, how'd you like this to happen? He melts the golden calf, he takes all the gold that's in it, he puts it in the water, and he makes everybody come and drink from it. Reminder of what they have done. He then goes up on the mountain and he is there for how long? 40 days and 40 nights and what does he do? he renews the covenant with the Lord and receives once again from God's graciousness and his mercy a Renewed covenant document that he would take back to the nation of Israel Now with that in mind, and with these kinds of textual clues in front of you, what do you think Elijah is doing? He too has watched the idolatry of a people. He too has seen them break covenant with God. So where does he go? He heads south. First 100 miles to Beersheba, and then another 200 miles all the way to Sinai, called Mount Horeb here, where he is going to go to the Mount of God, where the covenant was originally met, and he is going to go as a second Moses to make complaint against the people of Israel. So he finally gets there, and in verse 9 we read these words. There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah? Now again, if you think Elijah's engaging in a pity party, this sounds accusatory. But if you believe Elijah is coming to meet with the Lord in his role as prophet and as second Moses, then this is an invitation from God to Elijah to tell him what is his reason for being there, why is he standing before him on his mount on this day. I believe the second. And Elijah said, verse 10, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. He's not wallowing in self-pity, he's making a statement of fact. He has really been jealous for the Lord, God of hosts. He saw the Baal worship introduced into the land of Israel. He realized that Baal-Markart, this particular Baal they were worshiping, was the God of rain, the God of thunder. So he goes to the Lord, and according to James, he prays fervently that God shuts up the heavens and doesn't let it rain for three and a half years to prove that it isn't Baal who controls the weather patterns, it's Yahweh. At the end of that three and a half year period, he goes up to Mount Carmel, he withstands 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of Asherah, King Ahab, all of the people, and demonstrates powerfully, as we saw last week, that it is Yahweh, not Baal, who is the God of Israel and should be worshipped. He has been jealous for the people, for the cause of God among the people. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, the covenant that was first given and ratified on this very mountain that he now stands. They have thrown down your altars, they have killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away." Now, he isn't saying he's the only prophet of God who is left. He knows Obadiah, the servant of Ahab, has squirreled away 100 prophets and is taking care of them in the caves, right? So he's not exaggerating here. Again, he's not saying, I'm the only one who is still faithful to you, Lord. And yet that's the way this gets preached all the time. He's saying, I am the only one who now can stand before you and bring this accusation against the people. I only am left. And as further proof that they have broken covenant with you, not only have they slaughtered other prophets, but they are seeking my life as well. It's a statement of fact. At which point, God does something really, really remarkable. Do you remember the first story of Moses on Mount Sinai? Do you remember what his great wish and desire was? Not only did he want to renew the covenant with God, but he wanted to see with his own eyes the glory of God. Remember that? So the Lord hides him in a little cleft inside the rock, And he says, don't look on me with your eyes, because if you do, you'll die. But look at just the hind parts of my glory as it passes by. And then the Lord gives that great statement. I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious and full of loving kindness for giving the iniquity of my people to a thousand generations as an inducement for Moses to seek forgiveness. I am a merciful God, Moses. And Moses does, in fact, seek the mercy and grace of God toward this idolatrous people. Elijah won't do that. Elijah doesn't come requesting mercy. Moses did. But Elijah doesn't. But something similar happens for Elijah. Elijah is taken into this cave and he's told to come to the mouth of the cave and stand there. And then God gives him a display of his grandeur and his power like the witch at which he would never forget. And behold, we're reading in verse 11, the Lord passed by. And a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord. Now, just take your eyes off of that two-dimensional space that we call the paper. and try to enter into the three-dimensional space that was Elijah on Mount Sinai at this point. What must he have experienced? In a moment, suddenly, wind comes roaring at him with a ferocity that he had never seen before. His hair is blown, his body is being thrown. He watches as boulders begin to roll down the mountain, not just one or two, but many of them, and they're crashing all around him. He sees trees bending in this wind and hears the sound of their roots being pulled out of the earth. He's watching all of this. Will he survive? He does. But then the writer of 1 Kings makes a very interesting statement. But the Lord was not in the wind. No sooner had the wind stopped that all of a sudden the ground underneath him begins to roll. An earthquake occurs and he listens as the plates of the earth begin to grind against each other and one side of the mountain shoots up and the other side of the mountain begins to fall away. More rocks, more trees, more debris come tumbling around him. Will he survive? He does. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. No sooner had the earthquake stopped Then he takes a breath, and he smells smoke. Now this same mountain is beginning to be engulfed in a great fire. He feels the heat of it against his face. He's trapped inside a cave. Will he survive? He does, but the Lord is not in the fire. And then the text says, After all of this noise and chaos and confusion, he hears a low whisper. What a contrast to everything that he has just seen and heard. A low whisper. We're not told what the words were. Evidently, it isn't important. What is important is for you to understand that now the text doesn't say, but the Lord wasn't in the whisper. It was the Lord speaking. Now this is bizarre, isn't it? It's strange. How do you make heads or tails out of this? Why all of these displays of natural calamities around Elijah? Well, there are a couple of at least possible answers to it. First of all, Elijah has just come from Carmel, where he has watched fire fall from heaven and absolutely not only burn up the sacrifice, but burn up the altar and all of the water that had been poured on it. Maybe Elijah now thinks that that's the normal way in which God is going to come to him. Maybe he gets around to look and see the kind of wild calamity and displays of natural power that God has. And God is saying to him, don't expect the signs and wonders. I am more closely associated with my word. With my word. It may be that God is doing all of this to say, if I preserved you in the face of earthquakes and tornadoes and fire, don't worry about Jezebel. I can take care of her too. Listen and obey my word." We frankly can't be sure what it was that God was saying to him in all of this, but both points are true, right? Now think about this for a moment. If the display of God's power in nature could bring about revival, then Mount Carmel would have certainly issued itself into all kinds of spiritual awakenings. The fact that Jezebel in verse 2 wants to kill the prophet indicates the incorrigible nature of man's heart. I'm reminded of what Jesus said in the parable in Luke chapter 16 of the rich man and Lazarus. Both of these men, Lazarus being the poor man, the rich man, die these. They both die. They go to their respective places. Die these. The rich man goes to hell. Lazarus, of course, goes to paradise where he is in Abraham's bosom. And in the story, you can look across from hell and see paradise. And the rich man sees the bliss and the enjoyment and the prosperity of Lazarus at this point, while he himself is engulfed in awful misery. And so he says to Abraham, I have brothers who are still living. Please send Lazarus back from the dead to proclaim to them what they are facing. I don't want them to suffer the torments that I'm now suffering. And what does Abraham say to Divies? He says, they have Moses and the prophets. They have the scripture, God's word. If they will not hear the scripture, why do you think they would believe even if someone was raised from the dead? As a matter of fact, that's exactly what happened, wasn't it? There was a man named Lazarus, a dear friend of our Lord's, who dies as laid into a grave is there for four days where his body is all decaying and smelling. And the Lord comes up to his grave and he says, Lazarus, come forth. That body is suddenly animated with life and he rises out of his grave clothes and to the shock and amazement of everyone who was there, including our Lord's enemies, Lazarus is raised from the dead. And then the gospel writer says revival broke out all through Bethany and into Jerusalem and the kingdom came. Is that what the scripture said? Just a few short verses later, Jesus is nailed to a cross and is crucified. That's the hardness of our hearts, my friends. Signs and wonders aren't sufficient to bring people to saving faith. Only the Spirit of God can do that, working through His Word. Now, sometimes He uses tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes to be a secondary means of awakening people to their mortality. But in the final analysis, far more people go through those experiences and come out just as hardened against the claims of the Gospel as they were when they went in. the Spirit of God, working through the Word of God that brings about spiritual life. And that quiet, low whisper reminded Elijah of that. Don't expect the signs and wonders. Listen and depend upon the Word. At this point, the Lord is ready to hear the formal complaint of Elijah. who in his capacity as prophet is also the Lord's counselor. Now, when I use the word counselor, don't think modern therapeutic kind, okay? As though God's reclining on a couch somewhere and Elijah's sitting there saying, tell me your problems. How can I help you? And don't think counselor in the way that the President of the United States is surrounded by political advisors. who were there to give him information to help him make decisions. Because God doesn't need those kinds of counselors either. Who are you going to tell an omniscient God who is all-wise that he doesn't already know? Your prayers don't inform the mind of God to change his mind and say, I'm not sure if you've thought about this, Lord, but here's plan B. You might want to think about that. He doesn't need one of those kinds of counselors either. And if you think your prayers are that way, you need counseling. Think counselor in the terms of an attorney, who is a counselor at the bar, who, if he is a prosecuting attorney, is there to bring certain formal accusations against the one who is charged of particular crimes. That's the role that the prophet played in the land of Israel, to stand before the people and to say, this is what the law says and you are guilty of that law. or to go before the Lord and to say, the people have broken your law, broken your covenant, and here are their crimes. Now, Moses, when he does this, pleads for mercy, and he gets it. But what we're going to find here is that Elijah, as a counselor, is more in the role of a prosecutor, and he is telling the Lord what the people have done as the Lord's representative, as the Lord's counselor, He is defending God's cause and telling him how the people have broken the covenant and indirectly asking for justice And you know what we're gonna find It's exactly what they're going to get now read The end of verse 13 Let's just read verse 13 Elijah heard all of this this low whisper He wrapped his face in his cloak, knowing what God had said to Moses. He wrapped his face in his cloak and he went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah? Like a judge saying to a prosecutor, Why are you standing before me today? Elijah said, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. That's his qualifications. That's what allows him to be here. Now here's the accusation, the formal complaint. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. And I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away. This is the formal complaint before God at the place where the covenant had been originally given. Elijah, God's counselor, now stands before the bar of His justice and says, the people have broken your covenant yet once again. Now, what is God going to do about that? When Moses asked for mercy, God gave it to the people of Israel. What will He do now with this? We read, beginning in verse 15, And the Lord said to him, go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. Remember that name. It's going to come up again in the biblical text. And Jehu, the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be the king over Israel. So I have heard your complaint. Ahab will be taken off of the throne. And you were to go and anoint Jehu to be his replacement. Just as Samuel went and anointed David to replace Saul, so Jehu is going to be anointed by Elijah to replace Ahab. And then you're going to anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abel, Mihalo. You shall anoint to be a prophet in your place. One believer out of three men, all of whom are going to be anointed, Because justice is going to come. Read the next verses. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death. And the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. And then there's a postscript in verse 18. I'm so glad he said this. Here's a note of grace. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him. See, God always has an elect remnant, always a remnant of His grace as a testimony that when He executes justice, He also at the same time shows mercy. Now let me bring all of this together in terms of three lessons that I want to leave with you this morning. First and foremost, While there is no room for God's people to slide into self-pity, it is natural and right to mourn over the neglect of God's cause in this world. Let me say it again. While there is no room for God's people to slide into self-pity, it is natural and right to mourn over the neglect of God's cause in this world. And let me ask you a very searching question, and it isn't an easy question, but I want you to be truthful for yourself, with yourself. What do you mourn over the most? What causes you the most despondency? What tends to lead you into depression? Is it you? How you're treated? The things you've gone through? The life you are now living? or look around at a world that is full of idolatry, full of Jezebels, and you mourn that so few people understand and appreciate and worship the true God of Israel. Think about Paul. He walks into Athens, that great Greek city, and on every street corner, There is a temple to yet another God. And at the end of the road, there's a statue to the unknown God, just in case they missed him. And he looks around, and Luke tells us he is grieved in his heart at this. When Jesus said in the Beatitudes, blessed are those who mourn, he wasn't just talking about mourning over the loss of a loved one. He was talking about spiritual realities because of the nature of the spiritual kingdom that he has brought into this world. He's talking about mourning over sin. First in yourself, and then in the sin that you see around, like Isaiah said, he said, woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. He was mourning. Jesus says, those that mourn in that way, they will be comforted. Elijah mourned in that way. And so the Lord comforted him with gentle mercy. Jezebel did mourn in that way. And ultimately, Jehu, who rides his chariot furiously, is going to hunt her down in the streets of Jezreel and say to those who are there, throw her out of the window. She wouldn't be comforted. Judgment would come. The second lesson is to always remember that the answer to our despondency is to remember that God always, always has a remnant of grace. This last note in verse 18 is meant to bolster Elijah's confidence. I know that you alone are standing before me this day. You alone are qualified to bring this accusation against Israel. But let me tell you, you will not be alone in Israel. I will preserve 7,000 who will not kiss Baal or bow their knee to him. I am a God who controls all things. And I will have my remnant. Here's the last lesson, and it is by far and away the most important. If you unfolded everything that protects people from seeing your true self, your real heart, guess what? You look more like Jezebel than you do Elijah. Your heart is an idol factory. It produces idols. all the time. It's the way we are. It's who we are naturally. That means that the accusation brought against Israel, that they have broken covenant with you, should also be laid at our table. And here's the most important lesson that I can give you. The God who hears the accusation and who displays His justice with Elijah also shows his mercy with Moses. And he has done this in a wonderful way. Because a greater than Elijah and a greater than Moses has come. And on another mount, this One who was the Word of God in flesh, spent 40 days and 40 nights Himself in a wilderness being tempted to covenantal unfaithfulness. And He proved Himself righteous. And then on a mountain, that One, who was greater than Moses and Elijah, was flanked by both of them. And they were suddenly evaporated. And a voice came from heaven and said, this is My beloved Son. Hear Him. And the justice associated with Elijah and the mercy associated with Moses have in this one kissed. Because he has received the justice of God in his own body, not for sins that he had done, but for our sins in order that he might display to us mercy. And that's why the Scripture says he is the mediator of a new covenant. A covenant ratified in his own blood. A covenant that gives what it requires. Because we have been brought to a new mountain. No longer do we go to Mount Sinai. Now we are brought to a new mountain. The mountain of God, which the writer of Hebrews says is the heavenly Jerusalem. To blood that is sprinkled over us that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Because the blood of Abel asked for justice. His blood asks for mercy. And have you come to the Lord Jesus? Have you been made partakers of His covenant? Have you found yourself washed in His blood, forgiven of your sins, and credited with His righteousness? Mourn over your sin. Look deep into your heart. And then run to His cross. Because if there's one idol you should put away, it is the idol of your own self-righteousness. Stop kissing it. Stop kneeling to it. And prostrate yourself at His feet. And I'll tell you something. Never in the history of humanity has God ever turned away a broken and contrite heart. Never. You will find that he will abundantly pardon. Let's pray. Our dear Father, we thank you that you are the God of Moses and Elijah and the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have never changed. You showed yourself kind and merciful and gracious in Moses' day. You've shown yourself gracious and merciful and kind in Elijah's day. And our Lord Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that grace. For the law came through Moses, but grace and truth have come to us through Jesus Christ. We praise You Mount Sinai no longer holds threatenings to us because someone has already climbed that hill and has proven his covenantal faithfulness in order that he might take covenantal faithless people like us and give to us his righteousness. We thank you that our sins have been forgiven and that our Jezebel heart is being transformed. We praise you and we ask you to continue to knock down the false idols that surround us in this world, and show yourself powerful to save. For it is in Christ's name that we ask this, and for His sake. Amen.