Thursday, January 25
Several things stood out to me in these chapters.
God wants our devotion. He wants his people to be set apart from corruption. He wants to help us and equip us. He is willing to give us another chance.
God wants our devotion.
“(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),” Exodus 34:14.
God wants to be first in our lives. He wants our unwavering devotion. He doesn’t want to compete with the things of this world that we choose to make idols of. Notice that as soon as the people thought Moses might not return from the mountain that they quickly looked for something tangible to put their security in instead of trusting the God who led them out of slavery. It’s not really surprising that this offended God greatly.
God wants us to be set apart.
We are to be IN the world but not OF the world. Even Jesus went among the sinful and outcast people because he loved them and wanted to bring salvation to them. But, in a world of sinful enticements, God warns us to not fall into sin ourselves. He did not want the Israelites to compromise their standards by intermarrying and adopting the customs of those who disregarded God. “Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.” Exodus 34:12
God wants to help us and equip us.
He gives us ability to carry out his purposes just as he did Bezaliel :“and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,”Exodus 31:3
“And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you:”Exodus 31:6
God also promised to go before them and drive out their enemies.
God is willing to give us another chance.
When the people angered Moses by worshiping the calf, Moses broke the tablets that had the commandments of God. But, Moses pleaded with God to forgive the people who were willing to repent and give them another chance. God was willing to do that and he also wrote the commandments on the tablets again.
“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7
God is a righteous God who judges sin. He is also a loving, merciful, intimate God.
He is an awesome God who desires to do awesome things with the lives of those who worship and honor Him.
“And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” Exodus 34:10