But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. And he reminded God of how He brought the troubled people out of Egypt with His Great Power and a Mighty Hand. Didn't God already know that? And Moses told God what the people would threaten and say: "It was plain wrong, just evil, that God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and now wipe them off the face of the earth. Why is he doing this to us?" So, Moses pleads: Turn your back on this, God. Don't let it happen. Remember your good servants. And then there it is in Exodus 32:14, the answer: "Then, the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened." Are God's thoughts or the determinations of His Mind alterable? "He can change the outward dispensations of His Providence, or His methods of acting with men" according to Henry's Commentary. But the thoughts of His Heart are fixed and firm to all generations. Matthew Henry. We understand from our perspective what it means to change our minds. God dispenses Grace here---no fickle change but He relents His Hand. May He do so on us this very day.
PHOTO: Stood on this spot and prayed for mercy in our stories.
Thanks for being patient. It didn't post at 10pm as planned. Having phone issues.
ReplyDelete7 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.
ReplyDelete11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
YOUR PEOPLE: whose are they? The LORD’s or Moses?
“Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.”
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
There is a lot a dialogue throughout this section that reminds me so much of Jesus.
Whose are we? The LORD’s or Jesus?
o The LORD gives us to Jesus, just as the Israelites were given to Moses.
o Jesus leads us through this wilderness of life just as Moses led them through the desert.
o Jesus begs us to come to Him so that we might be recognized as the LORD’s people.
o Moses goes to make atonement for “his” people just like Jesus made atonement for our sins at the cross.
My prayer today:
LORD, thank you that Jesus made atonement for my sin. Thank you that I am one of YOUR PEOPLE.