January 13, 2021
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Reading along with us in some Exodus? Here’s today’s reading:
Exodus 34 (NIV)
The New Stone Tablets
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.......Continue Reading
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;”
Moses’ words here are so true. God is so good. Amazing that after spending another 40 days with God Moses needed to cover his face in front of people because he was so radiant just from talking to God!
Exodus 34
I admit that my first thought in reading was how heavy those tablets were and how hard it must have been to climb a mountain with them. But meeting with God must have made it easier. It is neat that God is willing to do a redo and one can’t help but be struck by what God calls Himself….the compassionate and gracious and forgiving, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness and yet not leaving the guilty unpunished. All these certainly explain why God dealt with His people as He did and also reveals what they and future generations (us included) can expect from God. It also explains why God is willing to make a covenant with Moses and takes time to reiterate both the promise and responsibilities that would be part of it.
What a promise He gives to give victory and protection and provision to them. How faithful God was to do His part to reveal Himself in glory and do various miraculous things to fulfill the promise here. And He warns them about the very thing that we know they later will get tripped up on. Don’t intermingle. Don’t follow false gods. Drive out the people from the land and cast down their idols. God knows what they will struggle with most and He reminds them of the standards He wants them to follow. So much of it is about honoring and trusting God, recognizing Him as the provider and the One to Whom they owe their lives.
And how fitting that being with God would make Moses face radiant! May we too reflect the presence of God in our lives that people would see a difference in us because we have spent time with God!
Exodus 35
Exodus 34
Exodus 32-34
The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.
This scenario is yet again a perfect pre-cursor to the gospel. God is mercy and justice. And forgives iniquity. He gives the Israelites a do-over. Jesus allows us a do over…and over….and over. God does not excuse sin nor “clear” the guilty. Jesus himself is the sacrifice which allows us sinful men to be in continual relationship with the living God.
An interesting note about Moses’ glowing face. In Enduring word it noted: “The Hebrew verb for shone literally means, “shot forth beams.”
10Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.