Year in the Bible Week 7
Moses Breaking the Tablets by Rembrandt, 1659
A lot of folks say that when Moses went up the mountain for forty days the people just instantly rebelled, but I wonder if it was more like a slow-boiling panic. Either way, they were unable to sit and wait on the Lord, so they succumbed to idolatry and the false sense of security it can bring. They broke rule number one and worshipped false Gods. and the one true God who claimed them as his own struck them down by the thousands in judgment.
At sometime or other we have all been guilty of utter inability to wait on the Lord, and the consequences can be very, very severe. Only when God dwells among us do we truly have the confidence to carry on. In Exodus 33, when the Lord said his presence would not go with them into the promised land, Moses panicked. He begged God to change his mind in one of the Bible’s most memorable verses, Exodus 33:15. Almost 900 years later God finally did exit the scene before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. and that spelled catastrophe and captivity for the whole nation. Let us never forget how easy it is to mess up, and let us always be thankful that our atonement and redemption has been provided through Jesus. Hallelujah!
Finally, here at the end of Exodus God instructs his people in appropriate worship, and his presence fills the tabernacle. Reading every detail of the building and consecration of this sacred space and its priests, we can feel the Israelites’ deep desire to be faithful and obedient to him. As the book of Exodus concludes we see a people relying on God, always watching him to see where he moves next, and following him closely. This close relationship will bring them victory after victory, but first, obedience!
For the next couple weeks we will read through Leviticus, and then we move on to Numbers. These books can seem tedious at times, but it might help to always remember just how big the nation was, and how God cared about every single one of them. I encourage you to read the details in Leviticus and Numbers carefully and thankfully, embracing the amazing strength of the covenant between God and his people. See you next week!