A Grace-Filled Future
Opening Prayer
Lord, truly the compassion for Your people is beyond our comprehension.
Read EXODUS 34:1–14
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. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”
10 Then 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. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be 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. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:27,28).
Think Further
What an amazing passage! Or rather, an amazing God! After unfettered sin corrupted the earth, although still “every inclination of the human heart is evil,” God makes a covenant with Noah and the whole earth (Gen. 6:5; 8:21; 9:9). He then calls into being a people to be a blessing to all the earth, but they become “stiff-necked” (32:9). Despite that they remain stiff-necked (9), God reestablishes a covenant with them (10). “Humanity’s sin severely endangered the existence of the creation; Israel’s endangered God’s covenant with Israel. But… humanity’s or Israel’s sin no longer can endanger the very existence of the creation or the covenant because God himself guarantees its continuation, despite sin, because of his grace” (Rolf Rendtorff, J Biblical Literature, 108 (1989), p390.).
Our hope for the future of either the world or the church hinges not on humans getting better but on God remaining faithful. The New Testament phrase “God is love” is commonly used to describe God’s character. The extent of “love” is expanded in this culmination of the previous two chapters, as God reveals his “name” (5–7) in terms the Old Testament often recalls (Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Psa. 86:15). Does it surprise you that the first is tenderness? “Compassionate” (“merciful” in some translations) describes a mother’s tenderness (a related word is “womb”). Along with “gracious,” it is generally associated with forgiveness. God’s unstinting “love” (also “mercy,” “kindness”) and “faithfulness” are expressed in the contrast between “thousands” (or “a thousand generations,” as in 20:6) and “third and fourth generations.”
The juxtaposition of forgiveness and punishment has been evident in these chapters (as later with the exile). Forgiveness can be instant and restore a relationship, but it does not remove all the consequences of sin. Sin is not a light matter, and a wound takes time to heal; but the promise is that the consequences are short compared to God’s “everlasting kindness” and “compassion” (Isa. 54:7,8).
Apply
In the light of Christ, dwell on each of the words in verses 6 and 7.
Closing prayer
Lord, help us to remember the balance between the goodness and the severity of God.
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