Exodus 34 begins with God telling Moses to return to the top of Mount Sinai with “two stone tablets like the first ones and I will write the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke“. Sometimes in our spiritual life we feel like Moses, but most often we are more like the Israelites back at camp. But God reminds Moses, HE broke the law AND God will rewrite it. It is when we feel lonely, broken and separated that God calls us to return to Him so He can rewrite His unconditional love on our hearts. Notice, we are not to wait, “Be ready in the morning“. God does not ever want us to delay coming before Him to be restored. God tells Moses, “No one is to come with you, not even the flocks… may grace in front of the mountain“. When we come before God in repentance, we must come on our own. No one can repent for you, nor can you repent for anyone else. Moses carried the two stone tablets back up the mountain, “And the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His name“. Listen to how God describes His nature, “The LORD, the LORD, compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Does that sound like the God of the Old Testament as you have been taught? God is the same yesterday, today and forever! Our God is a God of love, but He is also a God of righteousness. “Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of their fathers to the third and forth generation“. Sin entered the world through one man, Adam- and each of us have been blowing it ever since. But our compassionate God found a way to punish the guilty and yet restore His children. Romans 5:19 explains, “For through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of One, the many will be made righteous“. Just as sin came through Adam alone, salvation comes through Christ alone!
Moses’ reaction is just as ours should be when we come face to face with this truth, “Moses bowed to the ground and at once worshiped“. Moses asks, “forgive our wickedness and our sin and take us as Your inheritance“. When we understand how much we have been forgiven, we realize the only way we can repay Him is by living lives that are pleasing to God. The torture and death of Jesus Christ on the cross, paid the debt of our sins, and now we are called to allow God to work in our lives to reach others. “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1).
Carrying the stone tablets up the mountain is not enough. Acknowledging your own sin is not enough. Even believing that Jesus lived and died is not enough. We must accept by faith that Jesus Christ willingly died as payment for our sins. By God’s unlimited mercy we are forgiven, “if you confess with our mouth Jesus Christ as Lord and believe with your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Romans 10:9). “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved“. May you know the peace that comes through fellowship with God today.