We have come to Elul Meditations – Day 27 for the month of Elul.
AN AGONIZING TIME OF WAITING
Moses loved God with all of his heart. He also loved his people very much. His heart’s desire was for God to dwell among his people. Moses wanted his people to always follow the ways of God. This determined and compassionate leader spent many long hours up on the mountain interceding with God for the sake of his people.
Afterward, Moses and Joshua returned to the camp together. Moses braced himself to face the problems in the camp. He must have felt anxious because God warned Moses ahead of time that the people sinned greatly in his absence.
AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN TIME
I think the conversations Moses encountered with God during this time are well worth pausing to remember. Let’s stop to consider some of these words Moses received from God before we go any further. Working together, we will try to digest exactly what these words meant.
Below is the scripture passage which records the conversation.
(Exodus 32:11-15) 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? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth?” Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
SHOULD A MAN ARGUE WITH GOD?
Very few people have ever argued with God like this, much less changed His mind. Apparently though, Abraham was successful in asking God to save Lot and his family from what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah. That is the only example that comes to mind.
Here we see Moses was successful in asking God to spare the people’s lives after their sins of worshiping the golden calf. Not all of the people were spared in the end, but many of them did survive that day. It seems that God has a very soft spot for humans after all. So much so, that He will overlook things that make Him very, very angry. He will often decide to show mercy.
It is interesting to note that both Abraham and Moses followed the same pattern of negotiating when they were trying to persuade God to have mercy. First, they respectfully approached God. Second, they reminded Him of His own words and His own promises. That seems to be the only way to win an argument with God.
Also; it really helps if you have a skilled negotiator like Moses , or in the case of Christians, like Jesus.
GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES
God promised Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky. He promised to give Abraham’s ancestors the promised land, and to make it their inheritance forever. These are sure promises the children of Abraham can all look forward to forever. If you are following Yeshua Messiah, you are considered one of Abraham’s children.
One day all of God’s people, whether spiritual or physical descendants of Abraham, WILL be as many as the stars of the sky. Someday they WILL inherit the land promised to Abraham forever and ever. God said it, and the word of God cannot be undone. God always keeps His promises, but stiff-necked people often create unnecessary complications along the way.
Many lives have been spared because of the faithfulness of Abraham and God’s promises to him. Also; many lives were spared and changed because of the faithfulness of Moses.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF A STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE
Moses, however, still had a lot of work to do with those who were left in the camp. All sins carry consequences. We may be saved from our sins, but that only assures our eternal life. It doesn’t remove the consequences of the sins that were committed. Moses had a lot of “consequences” to deal with.
Moses had to deal with Aaron’s carelessness. He had to rid the camp of the abominable idol. Moses had to deal with those people who totally refused to change, those who wanted to remain in their wicked sins forever.
Next, Moses had to seek atonement to cover those who HAD decided to turn from their sins. Moses tried to offer himself as a sacrifice to blot out the sins of the people, but God said “no.” Let’s read the scripture passage below for a clear picture.
Exodus 32:33 – 34: The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
IDOLATRY CANNOT EXIST IN GOD’S KINGDOM
Though God was willing to show mercy to those who would repent, He was not going to let the names of those who sinned against him without regret remain in The Book of Life. If they would not repent or turn, they could not be allowed to stay in the Book of Life. Their names would be blotted out, meaning they would be spending eternity separated from God and His people.
Idolatry can never exist in the midst of God’s Kingdom. Not now, not ever. It is forbidden. This is for the sake of retaining the good.
Many died because of the sin of the golden calf. Those who were left standing in the camp did not go unpunished. There were “consequences.” On top of all the other things that happened, the people had to deal with a plague. God sent the plague as an alternative punishment. It was mercifully used as opposed to blotting this leftover remnant of a nation out of the Book of Life forever.
I have to wonder if that is the case every time we see a plague?
Is God being merciful instead of punishing us for our sins? Are we getting off easy with only one little plague to endure instead of having our name removed from the Book of Life forever? I wonder.
If you ask me, the plague was not a very bad deal. Especially when you consider the alternative.
LISTENING FOR INSTRUCTIONS
Moses was left to deal with those who survived. He waited on God to tell him what to do next. Soon God spoke.
Exodus 33:1-4 – Then The Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an Angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
So God was going to keep His promises to Abraham after all. It would just happen in another and different way than Moses had expected. God was going to let the people who were left live However, He was simply not going to come to live among them as He had originally planned. Can you blame Him?
We humans would still be fuming with anger, but this was God. Most likely, God’s anger had passed. His refusal to come among them was for a different reason altogether. This refusal to dwell among them was actually an act of mercy. Apparantly, God was afraid of what He might be tempted to do should they slip up and sin in such a way again. Stiff-necked people usually do repeat the same mistakes. God called them a “stiff-necked” people.
MOURNING THE ABSENCE OF GOD AMONG THE PEOPLE
So Moses relayed this message from God to the people in the camp. When they heard God was not going to be living in the midst of them, they all began to mourn. The people spent years and years under Egyptian rule without being allowed to publicly and openly worship their God. Now they were finally been free and able to live with God in their midst. God had delivered them and performed miracles for them. They wanted to feast and celebrate before Him. That had been their original plan and their first intentions. However, things went terribly wrong.
Suddenly they realized how much calamity they had brought upon themselves by not staying true to God. He had always loved them. God even put His name on them. He had called them His people. The One who loved them WAS The One True God of Heaven and Earth. How foolish they must have felt.
Many of the people were forced to give up their family members because they would not turn to God and walk in the paths of God. Now they were left standing alone, except for God. Suddenly they realized nothing else mattered to them BUT God. He was enough.
WHAT HAD THEY DONE?
Would God forsake them now? What had they done!
There at Mount Horeb they took off their ornaments (as God had commanded) and never put them on again. These were the ornaments of paganism they had used and now regretted. Together they waited to see what God was going to do with them next. The people taking off their ornaments would have reflected their earnest desire to leave the sin of idolatry behind. The gold of their earrings often contained carvings of pagan gods. They had received these golden earrings from the Egyptians who worshiped idols. Removing them illustrated they were serious about leaving that lifestyle for good.
The fact that they never put these ornaments back on again illustrated how deeply the people were committed to a permanent change.
PUTTING OFF THEIR ORNAMENTS
This act of “putting off their ornaments” was an honest effort of repentance on the part of the people. They were going to be travelling into a land of people who probably would become very hostile towards them. The Israelites were now strangers in a foreign land.
Before they had all confidence in making this move. However, it was because they had seen the mighty miracles of their God in their midst. What would happen now?
HARD BATTLES AHEAD
No other people groups wanted these former slaves of Egypt called Israelites. No other nation wanted to see them come into their inheritance of the land of the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizites, Hivites and Jebusites. These people all claimed the land as their own. The Israelites knew they faced the possibility of some very hard battles. The situation looked much more grim now. Now God decided He would not be in their midst. How would they win those battles now?
Joshua was a great leader. When it came to military combat, he was the best. This was because Joshua knew where his strength came from. Without God; Joshua would not be at all confident about the outcome of any battle with the enemy.
This new development in the plan changed everything for everyone.
A VERY SAD DAY FOR ISRAEL
God did promise to send an Angel before them. However, He had not committed to going any further with them. Moses spent a lot of time learning how to prepare a place for God to dwell among the people. Now it seemed that was not going to happen. So, as the people mourned and wept for their sins against God, Moses pondered what to do.
With this sin of paganism Israel had brought great trouble upon their nation. God would keep His promise to Abraham. That promise would never be broken. Now this sinful generation would live long enough for another generation of Abraham’s descendants to be born and raised up. Their children would become the ones to see the land of promise.
That terrible mistake with the golden calf might have cost the people about 40 years of wondering. This would give enough time for God to raise up another generation of Abraham’s children.
NATIONAL IDOLATRY CARRIES GRAVE CONSEQUENCES
People today look at the map and see how the Israelites could have reached the promised land in a very short time. They shake their heads and wonder why these people wandered around in the wilderness for so long. It is because the sins of a nation in idolatry carry very grave consequences.
What would happen to them now?
As the people mourned and stripped themselves of any remnants of Egypt’s idols, Moses still pondered what to do. It was a very sad day for Israel. Of course, this was also a terrible time for Moses. Most of all, it was a heart-breaking time for God. There were no winners in the camp of Israel during this period of time. They sat in mourning and waited on their next instructions.
The sins of many had affected the whole nation.
NO WINNERS IN A SAD PLACE
Have you ever been in such a place as this? Do you think this could be the state of any nations of today? Many times have proven that waiting to hear from God is not the easiest thing to do. Sometimes though, it is the ONLY thing to do.
This story reminded me of a conference I once attended. It was a time when we studied a course called “Experiencing God.” The lessons were created by a good and faithful man named Henry Blackaby. One of the first questions we were asked was: “What do you do when you come to a place where you don’t know what to do next?”
We learned the answer was always the same. You sit still and wait until God shows you the next thing.
AN AGONIZING TIME OF WAITING
This was exactly the place where Moses was. Moses was in one of those agonizing times of waiting on God to reveal His next step. Moses knew with all of his heart he could not make it on his own without the help of God. He wasn’t about to move to the right or the left. Moses would not move at all. Not until he could find a way to get God to change His mind and go with them.
This seems to be the same dilemma we face in today in America. We need for God to show us the next move. There should be no movement either to the left of the right until this happens.
Who will step up and lead us back to God?
VERSE
EXODUS 32:1 – When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
PRAYER
Father, Like that wicked generation of old, we too have sinned against You. It has happened over and over. Idolatry spreads across our nation. Those who once were true have swallowed the lies of the enemy. The whole nation sufferes together. Please save us from ourselves. We plead for divine mercy and forgivness. We repent and offer to turn away from anything that would be displeasing to You in the future.
Help us to stand strong together in Your Word and Your ways. May we worship you in truth and holiness until we are blessed with Yeshua’s return. Then, let us cast our crowns before Him and serve Him forever as our King. Only You will be our God forever. Only Yeshua can save us from where we have gone astray. Please do not leave us out here to die in the wilderness without You. Amen