August 18

EXODUS 34

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. ³ No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. ⁵ The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ 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, ⁷ 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.” ⁸ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. ⁹ And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” – Exodus 34:1-9

EXODUS 34 THE NEW STONE TABLETS

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When Moses got mad at the idolatrous sin of the Israelites

He threw the tablets of stone at their unfaithfulness

The Lord God instructed Moses later to cut two tablets of stones after

Then God wrote again in those new stone tablets what was in the first tablets.

It is interesting to know that there was no mention of God confronting Moses when he threw the stone tablets at the Israelites upon the discovery of their worship of the golden calf. I would surmise that Moses’ anger was legitimate to God because he knew that they had committed a grievous sin. He hated that they were unfaithful to God when they idolized that golden calf. God showed his approval of his anger when he instructed Moses to get two new stone tablets so he could write again his laws on it.

REFLECTION

·       How does God manifest his mercy in this account?

August 16

EXODUS 33

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”  – Exodus 33:12-16

EXODUS 33 MOSES’ PRAYER FOR ASSURANCE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Moses trusted the Lord so much and asked for assurance

Because he had a relationship with God, he could ask him favor

Even if Moses didn’t know the rest of God’s plan

He was reassured by God that they will give them rest.

Trust is an important ingredient in a relationship. In Exodus 3, we recall how God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Moses was reluctant to go to Pharaoh to ask him to release the Israelites, but God also reassured him that he will be with Moses as he delivers the people from the Egyptians and lead them to the Promised Land. Moses was given all the powers and signs during the ten plagues in Egypt. From that time, we can surmise that Moses has developed his trust in the Lord by this time. Although this account happened after the great sin of the golden calf, we can still witness here God’s faithfulness. He could have just annihilated the Israelites for worshiping that calf, but the Lord still shows mercy and favor to his people.

The Israelites travelled 40 years in the wilderness and those number of years must have built that trust that Moses have for the Lord. In verse 13, Moses was still asking the Lord to make himself known to him. God’s ways are not our ways. He will reveal himself to anyone who would want to deeply know him, but not necessarily understanding God’s ways. It’s God prerogative how much understanding he wants to happen.

REFLECTION

• Why is it important to trust God even if we don’t understand things?

August 12

EXODUS 32

²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), ²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. ²⁷ And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” ²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. ²⁹ And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”– Exodus 32:25-29

EXODUS 32 MOSES CHALLENGES GOD’S PEOPLE

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When Moses witnessed that the people have gone against God

He challenged the Israelites to declare who was on the Lord’s side

The whole clan of Levi went to side with the Lord and the rest didn’t

So, Moses asked the Levites to kill all those who were not on God’s side

The Levites followed obediently and killed those against God

Whether they were their son, neighbor or brother, they were executed.

This account may sound harsh but I think Moses was led by God to expose those who were truly for him and those who were against him. God is a God of order and clarity. It is either you belong to him or not. Sadly, even in our current days, we see so many people live compromised lives. They say that believe in God but their lives do not seem to match their beliefs. This is why we are warned in the bible that we should never conform with the world, but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. We are also warned against following the world systems which to not glorify God but focuses on self-pleasure and gratification. Just like the Israelites decided that they will create their own gods when they couldn’t wait for Moses’ return from the mountain. It is good that Moses confronted their loyalties.

REFLECTION

• Why do you think the Levites didn’t have second thoughts to kill those even their closest family and friends who went against the Lord?

August 11

EXODUS 32

¹⁵ Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. ¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. ¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” ¹⁸ But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” ¹⁹ And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” ²² And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³ For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” – Exodus 32:15-24

EXODUS 32 MOSES’ ANGER OVER THE GOLDEN CALF

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

Coming down from the mountain, Moses brought down God’s tablet

Then he witnessed the golden calf they built

Moses’ anger grew and he threw the tablet and burned the calf

Then he threw the calf’s ashes in the water

Then he made the people drink the water with ashes

Finally, he confronted his brother Aaron who actually made the idol.

Was Moses’ anger righteous? Wasn’t he very harsh with letting them drink the water with the burnt ashes of the golden calf? I think that his anger was appropriate because the people of God actually broke their covenant promise to God in just those 40 days that Moses was gone. God tested them and they didn’t pass that test.

REFLECTION

• How was Moses’ anger towards the people building the calf justified?

August 10

EXODUS 32

⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”¹¹ But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ¹⁴ And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. – Exodus 32:9-14

EXODUS 32 MOSES INTERCEDES FOR THE ISRAELITES

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When the Israelites made the golden calf, it angered the Lord

He wanted to annihilate the Israelites for making an idol

But Moses interceded for the people of God

He reminded God of covenant promise to them

So, the Lord yielded to Moses’ request

He spared them the disaster they were to receive.

The Israelites deserved all the punishment for building that golden calf, and yet, when Moses implored God to spare them from his wrath, God listened and didn’t do as he planned. We often do not realize how God values our prayers. Because Moses had a big role to play in God’s salvation plan, he found favor from God.

REFLECTION

• Share whom you have interceded for and prayed to God for mercy and favor?

August 9

EXODUS 32

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” ² So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” ⁶ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

                                                             – Exodus 32:1-6

EXODUS 32 THE GOLDEN CALF

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

When God’s people became impatient waiting for Moses

They began grumbling and feeling hopeless

So, they asked Aaron to make them an idol

With their gold, they asked Aaron to make a calf

Aaron built an altar before it and rose up early the next day

They offered burnt and peace offerings to it then they rose up and play.

Moses was gone 40 days and the Israelites became restless and hopeless. It is interesting what “waiting” can do to us. In the bible the number 40 is a symbol of testing. Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights and was tempted by the devil. It is a good reminder for us that when things are taking longer, it could be a time of testing our faith for us.

We also witness how Aaron, who was given the responsibility to look after the Israelites when Moses was gone, was swayed to please the people of God who were getting restless and complaining. He gave in to their whining and so as not to look bad, he complied and entertained their requests to fashion a golden calf whom they can worship. He became a people pleaser and forgot his priority to please God. He wasn’t able to stick to the role of looking after God’s people so that they don’t grow weary and hopeless.

REFLECTION

• How can we avoid impatience and people-pleasing in our Christian lives?

August 8

EXODUS 31

¹² And the Lord said to Moses, ¹³ “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. ¹⁴ You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵ Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. ¹⁶ Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. ¹⁷ It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”¹⁸ And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. – Exodus 31:12-18

EXODUS 31 ON KEEPING THE SABBATH

A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses

The Lord gave us days so we can live our lives fully

He gave us six days to toil and one day for worship

Because he himself rested from work on the seventh day

He requires us to give that day to him to give him praise

Anyone who doesn’t keep the Sabbath is dishonoring him

That person is going to be cut off from among his people.

In our current world today, we are plagued with “busyness” and “workaholism.” It’s as if it is abnormal to rest and normal to just keep on and on with our work and whatever preoccupies us. These following verses remind us how God requires his people to keep the Sabbath day holy. It is easy for us to justify working on the Sabbath day and say to ourselves that “I am providing for my family.” But as Christians, are we not supposed to honor this stipulation that God expects from us? Why would anyone who claims they believe in God disregard this very important law? Why did God place a very harsh consequence against whoever will not keep this day to worship and praise him?

REFLECTION

• Why is it important for Christians to keep the Sabbath day holy?