Exodus 32:1-14
One of the most intriguing themes in the story of Exodus is the role that Moses plays as an intercessor. Throughout the story, the Israelites continue to fall short of God’s plan. They complain, they wander, they disobey. And in a strange recurring episode, God swears to destroy them. And then, as we see in this story, Moses intercedes and convinces God not to the destroy them!
Yes, I know, sometimes the Old Testament is weird. Reading this, we may think that God is simply capricious – changing his mind on a whim. It seems to take Moses to calm Him down. But we need to allow Scripture to speak for itself. These stories are a foreshadowing of the need for a ‘mediator’ in our relationship with God.
God allows Himself to be presented as changeable in order that we may see him more clearly – as a God who punishes sin, but also turns away his wrath because of a mediator. How else will we see a God is both perfectly just and perfectly merciful.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for your gracious word to us – although we are deserving of your wrath, you allow yourself to be persuaded otherwise. Remind us to take sin seriously – that without the mediation of Jesus Christ, we would be utterly lost. Thank you for our redeemer.
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