Contrary to most common religious expectations, a call to worship has never been a free pass to indulge in religious ceremonies. The God of Israel is no consumer of rituals and religious orgies.The last thing God is looking for when He relates with men and women on earth is religion. Unsurprisingly enough, where fellowship with God had vanished, religion and rituals occupy the stage to fill the void and promote man-made spiritual life saving jackets that cannot stand against death. Tellingly, common ritualistic demands of worship such as bowing and kneeling down, candles and incense burning, as mark of deference when we come into God’s presence, belong just on the periphery of the purpose of worship. They are incidental symbols of the real meaning of worship. A call to worship is not a showcase of religious well choreographed gestures and curiosities. It is a call to submission to God’s Word and Laws to accomplish His will. One who worships God joins the executive branch of divine government to bring God’s will to come to pass on earth as it is in heaven.

Thus, it’s never enough to emphasize the clear agenda that led Yahweh to come down in person on Mount Sinai to call Israel for worship. God came down to meet with a governing body or the executive branch of his government on earth to talk about government business, not to seek religious entertainment. The Sinai Summit was never a big event turned into a grandstanding elaborate religious pageantry to please God. As King, God's focus and concern are all about people and nations’ security in order to prevent death and chaos spilling over to his Kingdom. Rightly so, the Sinai Summit compact is a divine elaborate roadmap plan in partnership with mankind to protect and preserve life on earth. God's cabinet meeting aims to promote and achieve security and abundant life through divine Laws on earth. Threefold clear policy objectives inform the Sinai Summit compact. How have these divine policy objectives been articulated from Mount Sinai ?

THE SINAI SUMMIT COMPACT 

Doing religion is no substitute to God's Laws and Word. 

Again and again, when believers gather to worship God, it is imperative to let them know exactly what God has been expecting from them all along the way.The believers have to bear in mind these questions: worship as submission to God's Word in which specific area? What do we have to submit to? How does God want us to run the earth and our families to reflect heaven? What do we accomplish as related to God's will?  

Many believers have fallen into temptation to trade their religious routine and devotion as a substitute to worship. Take for instance the divine command to "Love thy neighbor or steal not, and lie not". This divine command has no substitute. No amount of religion can substitute God's laws and decrees. Constantine the Roman emperor is the only one who successfully played the worship substitute game. Keenly aware that worship of Yahweh was coming into collusion with his own kingdom and threatening the very survival of his pagan gods, Constantine infiltrated and hijacked the Christian movement to stop worship of the living God. He confined christians within the beautiful temples of his pagan gods by generously offering them an organized religion and a liturgical code dress. He then replaced genuine worship of God with religious pageantry. 

Unlike Constantine the emperor, King David remains the standard bearer of one who understood so deeply what worship implies and is all about. Worship could not be divorced from God’s will or Laws and government agenda. To such an extent that God said about David the king in Acts 13: 22: “ I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; He will carry out My will in its entirety.” To worship the living God is a mature response and readiness to carry His will or Laws on earth, not an invitation to join a religious club.

Indeed, divine Laws are appropriate measures to protect life. God wants to prevent nations and peoples charting their own course and ending up spiritually bankrupt and self defeated. The purpose of worship as a total submission to divine Laws and Word is to guarantee the flow of life against the floods of death and destruction on earth. Consequently, without fellowship and an intimate relationship with God, there is no worship. One cannot worship or submit to what one is ignorant about. Hence, fellowship with God is so central to worship to the point of becoming a self repeated pattern throughout the Bible.

In Genesis 3, God came in the garden in Eden, in the breeze of the day, to fellowship with Adam and inquire how well was Adam doing in his managerial skills on earth. In Genesis 18, God came to pay a visit to his friend Abraham by the oaks of Mamre and share his burden about the two surrounding cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that have been running on their inevitable death trip.

In Exodus 24: 9-10, God called Moses for a cabinet meeting on Mount Sinai to make known what kind of Life-giving Laws should govern nations and peoples if we want to see an overflow of the rivers of life running from heaven down on earth. That's why God met with a governing body or the executive branch of his government on earth to talk about government business. The Sinai Summit was God’s first recorded cabinet meeting on earth. It concluded with God sharing dinner with his cabinet members to seal the deal. Therefore, the Sinai Summit, as a call to worship, was not a call to do religion on Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai was not a religious symposium, but a government summit. A body of high- ranking top official leaders of the executive branch of Israel convened for the Sinai Summit with God. “ Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel."

The Torah was given for Israel and the nations to worship God or to submit to God'sLaws for the purpose of bringing down God’s heavenly government on earth. A call to worship is an invitation to submit to God’s Word in order to implement God’s will and government policies on earth. Understandably so, God is always looking for Man for fellowship to represent Him on a governing body to ensure peoples and nations are governed according to divine established Laws and principles for their well-being and prosperity.

Ezekiel 22:30 gives us a picture of a rebellious Israel of that time, where peoples were indulging into extortion and robbery olympics. The poor peoples were under the bondage of oppression and injustice. God was looking for a man or woman to stand in the gap of disobedience to his Laws to prevent destruction coming over the nation. God sought for a man “ to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it”.

A call to worship is not an invitation to do religious ceremonies. Rather, worship is a call to stand up for God's Laws and Word to prevent the permanent threat of destruction and evil moving to overpower the earth. If one is not ready to stand up and account for God's Word and Laws, there will be no worship whatsoever. To worship is to stand on the gap of disobedience and lawlessness to restore divine order and preserve prosperity and peace for nations on earth. A call to worship is to stand in the gap of corruption and arbitrary violence to guarantee justice and security for all to have abundant life in a nation. A call to worship is to stand in the gap against murder and killing of the innocent and the weak so that God's gift of life could bloom and blossom on earth. 

The Sinai worship compact is ultimately a call to become a watchman on the walls for others and nations to benefit from the flow of God's blessings. Worshippers of the living God are watchmen over cities and people. Indeed, God's blessings and overflowing life come through the channel of His Laws and Word. Broken laws have always consequences for nations and individuals. There is no other alternative. The Sinai Summit compact shows us the roadmap of worship. It speaks to the requirements about the Third Day worship.

MOUNT SINAI SUMMIT AND THE THIRD DAY WORSHIP MANDATE 

In Exodus 19: 10-11, God strongly insists on the specific demands of worship He had called Israel for. Opposite to pagan worship, Yahweh is not seeking people and nations who perform religious showtime in his presence. “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them Today and Tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. Be sure they are ready on the Third Day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as the people watch.” The Lord wants to come to his people on the third day. Why buy time till the third day?

God is looking for and expecting from his people and nations a Third-Day worship commitment. The Third Day worship speaks about individuals and nations that have been prepared, matured, ready and well able to meet God and work in tandem with Him to promote his government. This level of worship is government-oriented and submission to God to deliver results on earth. The Third Day worshippers speak about nations and a ruling body of peoples ready and prepared for God’s agenda on earth. It speaks about a resurrected body of people and nations for God's agenda on earth.

God is expecting to meet with a nation and a body of people that had been set apart today. A nation and peoples that have been prepared, cleansed and washed from their spiritual filth tomorrow. And ready on the third day to meet the King to advance the Kingdom mandate. One is appointed to governmental positions to advance policies, not to be consumed with ceremonial pageantry. The Third Day worship has no place for religious ceremonies. It is specifically focused on executive government. Nations and peoples are ready to receive, work, and implement divine plans. The Lord comes looking for mature people, mature nations that are ready to undertake governmental mandate with Him. It speaks about peoples who are obedient, ready for business and government.

The high mark of this kind of worship is all about how to accomplish and execute God’s plans here and now on earth. But in order to embark on this kind of worship, some necessary preparation is required. The parallel with the military mission could be helpful to us to fully grasp the meaning of the third day worship. In the army, training and obedience are prerequisite for swift and efficient actions. A soldier has to be trained, equipped, prepared before being dispatched on mission. It is no secret that obeying orders plays a big part of ensuring the success of military operations. On the battlefield, people are sent to execute and fulfill given missions, not to pick up arguments and have open-ended conversations about everything. Mature obedience and keeping God’s Word are the security checks that inform us that we are ready for the job. Your obedience and maturity establish you a faithful administrator of God’s trustee on earth, not your arguments and lack of preparation. You are running business according to the protocols of heavenly headquarter through demonstrated mature obedience and readiness. Now, let us expound the threefold objectives of God's cabinet meeting on Mount Sinai.

 THREEFOLD WORSHIP POLICY OBJECTIVES 

I. Divine Laws change Nations' identity from ungodly to Holy Nations

God's Laws and Word are given to teach, mature, and govern or lead peoples and nations to become gates of heavenly government. God's kingdom does not manifest when peoples and nations do religion, but when they abide to His laws and Word. We could dance and sing the more in churches as much as we please. As long as as corruption, killing, abortion, violence, injustice, and wickedness are rampant in a nation we are sabotaging God's kingdom on earth. Divine Laws are given to turn ungodly nations to holy nations on earth. Exodus 19:5-6 brings forth God's agenda for nations: If you obey me and keep my covenant, ...you will be my holy nation. Divine laws are gates of protection for nations and individuals as well. By abiding by God's Laws and decrees, death has no entry at the doors or gates of the nations and individuals' lives. Death stops at your gates because of the Laws of God ruling and governing your life and the life of the nation. Death, poverty, and destruction stop at your gates because you have chosen God's government to sit upon your life and your nation. The laws we submit to, dictate the kind of governmental power that rules over us and our environment.The state of a nation simply reflects the state of its laws. The state of an individual life is the sum of the laws that govern that life.Otherwise, individual lives run on laws that they have allowed to sit upon and rule over them. 

Yahweh wants to manifest for us his glory and life saving power on the earth by giving us His Laws and Word. Peoples and nations become the gate that reveal divine government on earth when they receive divine Laws and decrees. Yahweh wants nations that bear His name to administrate His Kingdom on earth.The Laws are given to bring about a change of identity. Nations' identities are fashioned and governed by laws. By accepting God’s Laws, Israel embarked with God on a redemptive mission for the world. Nations come to full maturity when they abide by God’s Laws. Peoples come to full maturity when God’s Laws or Word govern their lives.By changing Jacob's name to Israel, the nation of Israel becomes a governmental gate that stands against curse and death.

Israel as a nation was born and received a new identity and destiny the day Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai. This day marks the celebration of Shavuoth (Pentecost), precisely 49 days, after the first night from the Passover Seder. At Shavuot, the Jews are asked to bring the first fruits of their harvest to Jerusalem. The first Shavuoth is Israel’s national birthday. Israel accepted and received the Torah on Mount Sinai. This day also marked Israel’s national maturity and readiness to work and promote God’s agenda on earth. The 10 commandments become the moral compass by which the nation of Israel would walk and live by. Going to the Temple is always a step of obedience to God's Word, not an open door to do religion.

Where are we to find God’s nation and peoples ? God’s nation is to be found in the midst of a people who abide by God’s Word and Laws. Receiving and living by the standards of divine Laws make one God’s people and child, not doing religion. God's peoples are ruled by his Word and Laws. Indeed, there is no substitute to God's Laws and Word. Doing religion is no substitute or an excuse to steal and become rich by extortion. Religion is no substitute to the command "Thy shall not kill". It is when the Word lives in you, and you in the Word that we are made sons and daughters of God. The new birth is when we receive, abide, and obey the Word.

Equally noteworthy, after his resurrection, Jesus had a cabinet meeting with his disciples who have been prepared during three years of teaching and ministry. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit Himself imparts divine fruits to the believers to fulfill God's Word and Laws. The Holy Spirit brings the first fruits to offer to God and accomplish His will on earth. The believers were made ready to obey an take on God’s mission on earth. Their calling was not about going around the world from nations to nations to organize and promote religious ceremonies.The Church born at Pentecost, received her identity and mission: Go and teach peoples and nations to follow God’s Laws and abide by divine standards of righteousness and become holy nations. Make lawless and ungodly nations turn into virtuous and holy nations. Change sinners' identity to saints of God. Turn rebels into God’s sons and daughters. Make and transform prodigals into beloved children of the most High God. The Third Day worshippers bring divine Laws and decrees to change nations and peoples' identities.

II. God's Laws are Given to Make a Kingdom of Royal Priests

Going back to Genesis 22:17-18, God made the promise to Abraham that he will inherit two kinds of seeds on the earth. "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the gates of their enemies. And through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

III. God Gives His Laws To Change People' Identity

In Exodus 19: 5, God clearly promised that, "If you obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth." It is by keeping and obeying God's Laws that a group of people become exceptional and special to God. Why? The law of sin is the common norm rather than the exception on earth. The people who overcome the law of sin to come under the law of life and righteousness become exceptional in the eyes of the world. Consequently, God is looking for a family or people that bears His Name and His character. To bear God's name is to be holy, to demonstrate justice, and walk in righteousness. In other words, it is to function like God. The promise is made to anyone who is ready to keep and obey His Laws.

God wants to change our identity in order to give us a new destiny in Him. God's way of overriding our human limitations and sinful nature will take Him a detour to dealing with sin planted in our lives. When God entered into covenant with Abram, He changed Abram's name to Abraham, the father of many nations. Sarai, Abraham's wife became  Sarah, because Sarah was called to become the mother of nations and kings ( Genesis 17:15-16). Jacob's name changed from deceiver to Israel in order for him to have power in God. Simon the fisherman saw his name and destiny changed when Jesus renamed him Peter to become the pillar of his church. Moses renamed Hosea, the son of Nun to Joshua. Saul's name was changed to Paul.  

Beyond the name changing, we have been reminded that human DNA record is tainted by sin and iniquity because of the fall of Adam. By receiving God's Word and Laws, our DNA of sinful nature gradually changes into a DNA of righteousness and holiness. Our sinful DNA has to shift to a life and righteous producing nature. But here is the challenge. We cannot change outside of God's Word and Laws. God's Laws and Word have the power to gradually change us from sinner to saint, from an unruly and rebellious person to an obedient child of God, from a cold-hearted person to a loving person. When we interact with God, we have no other alternative left, but to be transformed to the image of His Son Jesus. We become the legitimate representative of God on earth when we reconcile and become one with his Laws and Word. We are back home with God when divine Laws and Word sound like home and not the voice of a stranger. We reconcile with Who God is. 

Narcisse Jean Alcide Nana