So after the Israelites escaped from the Egyptians, God had them take a stop at Mount Sinai. From there, he was going to give them some guidelines to make them His holy nation, the greatest nation to walk the planet. (Needless to say they never managed it. It would have been awesome if they had managed to live in that promise for more than 40 years, but unfortunately humans will be human...)
But that's just the thing. He Himself gave the instructions. The whole mountain was smoking, lightning struck, and there was a sound like a trumpet going on behind the scenes. If you'd just escaped from the Egyptians and had seen that, I bet you'd be scared witless too. The Israelites cowered in fear, and Moses told them the above.
After witnessing that, I bet the Israelites figured it would be impossible to sin. But it wasn't. See, we humans have a standard attitude in life, and while circumstances fluctuate that standard, we always return to it. Living in Christ is to change the standard - a long process that doesn't happen perfectly in a day. In any case, fear here is probably reverence and respect, and is one effective way to keep from sinning. Think about it, if you respect someone, you will defer to them, yes? And if they are God and deferring means not sinning then you wouldn't sin, right?
In any case the point of this article is to remind you that God in His glory didn't disintegrate His people by speaking directly to them. He shook them. And even when God is bumping the table upon which your snowglobe of a life sits, it doesn't mean He's trying to hurt you.
He's just trying to make you the best person you can be.
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