Exodus
33:4-34:8: “The Consequences Of
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study in the book of Exodus, we looked at Exodus 32:1-33:4.
1.1.1. We saw that while the children of
1.1.2. It was amazing to consider that in spite of the fact
that Israel had seen all of the incredible works of God in the ten plagues that
brought her deliverance from Egypt and slavery, witnessed her miraculous
crossing of the parted Red Sea, and had God speak aloud to her all of His
commandments, for which she had agreed to the covenant of Moses to keep all of
its commandments, the children of Israel could now turn completely away from
the Lord and begin transgressing the first and second of God’s commandments.
1.1.3. We saw how that Moses reacted in anger when he found
the Israelites worshipping the golden calf which Aaron creates. Moses then ground up the calf into power and
threw it into the water and made the children of
1.1.4. We saw that 1 Corinthians 10:6-8 was written to state
how that we are to learn from these Old Testament stories as they are to be
types and examples to us: “Now these
things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as
they also craved. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it
is written, “The people sat down to eat
and drink, and stood up to play.”
8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three
thousand fell in one day.”
1.2.
In our study
today, we are going to study Exodus 33:4-34:8.
1.2.1. We will see that though Moses has successfully interceded
for the children of Israel keeping the Lord from destroying them completely for
having created a golden calf and worshipping it, that none the less there will
be consequences for this action because the Lord tells them that He will not
dwell among them any longer. Moses then
pitches the tent of meeting outside of the camp so that the Lord comes to him
in a pillar of cloud whenever he enters the tent.
1.2.2. We will discuss the consequences of sin that occur in
our lives.
1.2.3. We will also see that Moses requests that he might be
able to see the Lord’s glory. The Lord
then reveals Himself to Moses, and causes all of His goodness to pass before
Moses as Moses is hidden in the cleft of the rock.
1.2.4. The Lord then reveals His character to Moses.
1.2.5. As we begin our study, I want to ask you if you
believe that the Old Testament God is different than the New Testament
God? Do you see Jehovah of the Old
Testament as being harsh and always condemning and judging people and Jesus
Christ of the New Testament, God the Son from all eternity, as being merciful
and full of grace? The Lord’s
description of His character to Moses reveals that the God of the Old Testament
is identical to the God of the New Testament, and the character of Jesus Christ
as revealed in the New Testament.
2.
VS 33:4-10 - “4 When the people heard this sad word, they went into
mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the sons
of
2.1.
What these verses
speak of is the consequences of
sin. The children of Israel had sinned
horribly against the Lord in the previous chapter when they had turned away
from the Lord and all that He had commanded them and had Aaron create for them
a golden calf, which they then worshipped.
Eventually, 3,000 of the people were slain by the Levites because of
this sin. The Lord wanted to completely
destroy the nation and start over with Moses, but Moses interceded to the Lord
for this sin and God repented from destroying the people. However, the Lord said that though He would
send His angel to go with the Israelites into the land of Canaan, that He would
now no longer dwell in their midst. The
reason that He said that He would not dwell with them is because He knew He
would end up killing all of them. This
was then a ‘sad word’ as is mentioned in verse 4. The people were filled with remorse and
repentant for their sin at this point, but unfortunately they still were going
to have to face the consequences for their sin.
The Lord would not dwell with them.
2.2.
But now, since
the Lord will not dwell among the people any longer, if Moses is to meet with
God and himself dialog with God and have God lead him, he must put up his tent
‘outside the camp.’ The tent that
we are referring to is the Tabernacle or “Tent of Meeting.’
2.3.
Whenever a person
turns away from the Lord there is a process of spiritual cooling off and
hardening that occurs in their life.
Backsliding doesn’t have to involve beginning to commit big sins such as
adultery, getting drunk, using drugs, or whatever. It can start very innocuously by, for
instance, not bothering to start your day by prayer, neglecting to have quiet
times, etc. Then, the things you begin
to do in a life of compromise slowly creep in.
Continuing to be rebellious to the Lord you will begin to go further and
further into a life of sin, and eventually you will find yourself committing
big sins. All the while your heart is
gradually hardening.
2.4.
The sins of the
children of
2.4.1. 1 Corinthians 10:9-10:
“9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were
destroyed by the serpents. 10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and
were destroyed by the destroyer.”
2.4.2. Philippians 2:14:
“14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”
2.4.3. James 5:9: “9
Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves
may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”
2.5.
I want to ask you
if you have been griping and complaining about anyone, or maybe towards the
Lord for the things He is allowing in your life? If so, I encourage you to confess you sins to
the Lord right now and repent of that.
2.6.
The Lord had told
the people to strip off their ornaments because He was angry with them, and in
obedience to Him and as a result of their great sorrow, they humbled themselves
and took them off. However, the Lord
still would not dwell in their midst and thus they suffered the consequences of
their sin.
2.7.
As you progress
through the Old Testament history from this point, you see initially that the
Lord’s presence filled Solomon’s temple.
However, the people again backslid and turned away from the Lord into
idolatry. Thus,
2.8.
The Abrahamic
Covenant was unconditional. However, the
covenant that
2.9.
It ought to be a
sobering to us that the Lord tells us in His word that if we sin that
regardless of who we are that we will suffer the consequences of our sins: “25 For he who does wrong will
receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without
partiality,” Colossians 3:25.
2.10.
My wife knew a
Christian woman who had in rebellion against the Lord drank heavily for many
years, and though she eventually got right with the Lord and repented of that
sin and had a wonderful relationship with God after that, she still suffered
from the damage she had done to her liver.
I have know others who have committed adultery, and even though they eventually
repented of their sins and got right with God, nevertheless they still lost
their marriage and in some cases lost the relationship with their kids that
they once had.
2.11.
I think that all
of us today are suffering in some ways from various consequences of our sins of
the past. We are seeing God do great
things in our lives and He even uses us, however we still are suffering from
some consequences of our previous sins.
As far as God goes our sins are covered and God does not hold them
against us, yet still we live with some of the consequences.
2.12.
It is a beautiful
picture here reading of the Israelites worshipping the Lord when the pillar of
cloud descends upon the tent of meeting where Moses, their mediator and leader,
dwells. They weren’t commanded to do
this it was just sort of a spontaneous response for them to recognize the
presence of God in the tent with Moses and to worship themselves. When God’s people see their spiritual leaders
truly worshipping, and as they sense the presence of the Holy Spirit upon their
lives, this then draws their hearts to also bow in worship before the Lord.
2.12.1. This is why it is so important for worship leaders to
truly enter into worship, and for pastors and leaders to be worshippers. What people see us do in our lives will cause
them to do likewise.
3.
VS 33:11 - “11
Thus the Lord used to speak
to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned
to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart
from the tent.” - The Lord would speak face to face with Moses,
and when Moses would return to the
3.1.
Moses had such a
unique relationship with the Lord. He is
the only Old Testament figure with whom the Lord would continually dialog
openly, or face to face. God spoke to
many other men in the Old Testament times, but it was only with Moses that He
would always dialog and speak face to face.
3.2.
We see here how
that Joshua shows the Lord’s hand upon his life preparing him to be the leader
who will replace Moses when it is finally the Lord’s timing for the people to
go in and take possession of the
4.
VS 33:12-17 - “12
Then Moses said to the Lord,
“See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me
know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by
name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ 13 “Now therefore,
I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I
may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this
nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My presence shall go with
you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your
presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 “For
how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your
people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be
distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the
earth?” 17 The Lord
said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you
have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”” - Moses
intercedes for the people asking the Lord for His presence to go with them, and
the Lord agrees
4.1.
Moses is
concerned because though the Lord had told him that He would send one of His
angels with the children of
4.2.
Moses also asks
that the Lord would reveal to him His ways so that He might know the Lord.
4.2.1. We Christians should truly desire to know our Lord,
should we not? I am surprised when a person
who has been redeemed for all eternity through the grace and mercy of God does
not now want to read his/her Bible and pray and get to know this wonderful God
they now have relationship with.
4.3.
Moses tells the
Lord that if He does not go with them, that He not take them from that place at
all. The Lord agrees that He will do
this thing which the Moses has spoken and go with the children of
5.
VS
33:18-34:8 - “18 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show
me Your glory!” 19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness
pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” 20 But
He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” 21 Then
the Lord said, “Behold, there is a
place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it
will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft
of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 “Then
I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be
seen.” 1 Now the Lord
said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones,
and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which
you shattered. 2 “So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning
to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. 3
“No man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the
mountain; even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of that
mountain.” 4 So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones,
and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took two
stone tablets in his hand. 5 The Lord
descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of
the Lord. 6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and
proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who
keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and
sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the
iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and
fourth generations.” 8 Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth
and worship.” - Moses asks the Lord to show him His glory,
and the Lord has Moses chisel out two stones so that the Lord can write His Law
on them again, then the Lord puts Moses in the cleft of the rock and passes by
in front of Him so that he can see His back side, and the Lord reveals His
character to Moses as He passes by him
5.1.
It is interesting
that Moses is intent upon seeing the glory of God. With all he had experienced with the Lord
Moses believed that God was great and magnificent beyond imagination. With the Lord daily speaking to him face to
face, with day that passed Moses desired more and more to know the Lord as He
really is.
5.2.
To the Lord, His
goodness is what defines His character, and thus He tells Moses that He
will: ‘make all My goodness pass
before you.’
5.3.
In the present
renewal movement, there was a televangelist who was continually begging God to
show us His glory, yet what this televangelist was looking for was not what the
Lord reveals Himself to be in this passage.
This man was not looking for God to reveal His goodness, grace, and
lovingkindness, he was wanting God to reveal His glory in tremendous powerful
works. This man and his popularity for a
season just reveals how little Christians today understand about the true
nature of God.
5.4.
We read about how
that we are not to take the Lord’s Name in vain, and that we are to lift up the
Name of the Lord. Well, as we will see
here with the Lord’s description of Himself, He defines what His Name
means. We can take the Lord’s Name in
vain then just by believing in Him and yet not recognizing His character as He
has revealed Himself to us.
5.5.
The Lord tells
Moses that He will be gracious to whom He will be gracious and show compassion
to whom He will show compassion. This is
a statement of the sovereignty of God and the choices that He determines to
make.
5.6.
The Lord tells
Moses that since no one can see His face and live that He will show Him only
His back as He holds His hands over Moses’ eyes, and then He will remove His
hand from Moses until He has passed by so that Moses might see His back side.
5.7.
The Lord tells
Moses to cut two stones like the ones he had smashed in anger when he found the
Israelites worshipping the golden calf, eating and drinking alcohol, and
committing sexual immorality. The Lord
tells Moses that when Moses has cut the stones that He will again write His Law
on them.
5.8.
This revelation
of Himself which the Lord proclaims to Moses as He passes by him in the cleft
of the rock is the greatest and clearest Old Testament declaration of who God
is: “The Lord, the Lord
God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness
and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity,
transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,
visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to
the third and fourth generations.”
5.9.
This revelation
of God to Moses shows that the Old Testament God is the same God as the New
Testament God. Some people miss this
truth and believe that the God of the Old Testament is always mean, angry, and
condemning, and opposed to that Jesus Christ in the New Testament is full of
grace and mercy. However, this is a
misunderstanding of the nature of God, as He has revealed Himself. ‘Compassionate and gracious’ are the
first two words which the Lord uses to describe Himself.
5.10.
We have to realize
that the Lord gave the Old Testament covenant of Law not to be an end into
itself, but rather as something that was meant to be temporary and for the
purpose of revealing to mankind that they are weak and in need a savior in
order to be able to know and please the Lord.
The Lord wanted to reveal to mankind His grace and mercy but they
wouldn’t be able to appreciate it if they didn’t first know the Law their own
sense of unworthiness and failure that trying to keep that law brought
them.
5.11.
Let’s look at
some of these adjectives and descriptions by which the Lord describes Himself:
5.11.1. ‘Compassionate.’
5.11.1.1.This Hebrew word “rakhume” is sometimes
translated “compassion” and sometimes “merciful.”
5.11.1.2.This aspect of the Lord’s character was most likely a
revelation to Moses, even though it was the case that the Lord spoke directly
to Moses within the tent. God had
accepted Moses’ intercessions for
5.11.1.3.People often think of Jesus as being ‘compassionate,’
and the gospels are full of stories revealing the “compassion” of Jesus
in His healing and forgiving people, and miracles He performed. However, people often think that Jesus Christ
is very much different than the God of the Old Testament. This aspect of God’s very character shows
that in fact the ‘compassionate’ nature of Jesus Christ was merely
further revelation that Jesus was the book of Hebrews explains Him as “the
exact representation of His nature.”
5.11.1.4.A friend of mine once wrote a song in which he asks
the Lord over and over to give him compassion for others, the same kind of
compassion that the Lord has for us. God
has shown each of us great compassion and we also ought to have compassion on
others in their hurts and failures. We
have all failed the Lord many times so we ought to be able to understand and
have empathy for others in their failures.
.
5.11.2. ‘Gracious.’
5.11.2.1.This word is translated from the Hebrew word “khanoon”
which means and is translated just as it is used here: ‘gracious.’
5.11.2.2.Mirriam Webster’s Dictionary translates this word ‘gracious’
in this way:
gra•cious \ˈgrā-shəs\ adjective
[Middle English, from Middle
French gracieus, from Latin gratiosus
enjoying favor, agreeable, from gratia]
(14th century)
1 a obsolete : godly
b archaic : pleasing, acceptable
2 a : marked by kindness and courtesy
b : graceful
c : marked by tact and delicacy : urbane
d : characterized by charm, good taste, generosity
of spirit, and the tasteful leisure of wealth and good breeding 〈gracious
living〉
3 : merciful,
compassionate — used
conventionally of royalty and high nobility
— gra•cious•ly adverb
— gra•cious•ness noun
synonymy gracious,
cordial, affable, genial,
sociable mean markedly pleasant
and easy in social intercourse. gracious
implies courtesy and kindly consideration 〈the gracious award winner thanked her
colleagues〉.
cordial stresses warmth and
heartiness 〈our
host was cordial as he greeted us〉. affable
implies easy approachability and readiness to respond pleasantly to
conversation or requests or proposals 〈though wealthy, she was affable to all〉. genial
stresses cheerfulness and even joviality 〈a genial companion with a ready quip〉. sociable
suggest a genuine liking for the companionship of others 〈sociable
people who enjoy entertaining〉
5.11.2.3.This aspect of God’s character may also have been a
revelation to Moses. Speaking face to
face with the Lord, Moses may still not have realized that God is generous of
spirit to all. Time would eventually
reveal to Moses his own sinfulness and thus the fact that God’s choice of Him
was totally of God’s grace and not because of anything he had done or any
inherent goodness within himself.
5.11.2.4.We Christians ought to ask the Lord to help us to have
the same generous spirit and graciousness towards others that the Lord has
shown to us. None of us have deserved
God’s being so gracious to us, thus we ought to be willing to extend grace to
others who likewise do not deserve this.
5.11.3. ‘Slow to anger.’
5.11.3.1.The Hebrew word that is used here is “awrake”
which is translated “longsuffering” or ‘slow to anger.’
5.11.3.2.Nehemiah reveals how God’s dealings with Israel in
spite of their continual disobedience and hardness of heart demonstrates that
He is ‘slow to anger’: Nehemiah
9:13-20: “13 Then You came
down on
5.11.3.3.Aren’t we glad that the Lord’s temper does not have
the short fuse that our tempers sometimes have.
We ought to ask the Lord to help us to have patience with others and not
be get angry at the drop of a hat.
5.11.4. ‘Abounding in lovingkindness and truth.’
5.11.4.1.This word that is translated ‘lovingkindness’
is “khesed,” and it is most often translated as “mercy” or “lovingkindness.” It also implies “goodness,” “kindness,”
and “faithfulness.”
5.11.4.2.There are a number of passages in the Old Testament
that use this word, including:
5.11.4.2.1.Psalm 77:8: “8
Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to
an end forever?”
5.11.4.2.2.Psalm 103:4: “4
Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness
and compassion.”
5.11.4.2.3.Psalm 25:10: “10
All the paths of the Lord
are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.”
5.11.4.2.4.Psalm 26:3: “3
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your
truth.”
5.11.4.2.5.Psalm 5:7: “7
But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your
house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.”
5.11.4.3.There are a number of passages in the Old Testament
that illustrate this truth, including:
5.11.4.3.1.The relationship of Jonathan and David is one of
lovingkindness and faithfulness as revealed in 1 Samuel 20:10-19: “10 Then David said to
Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” 11 Jonathan
said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” So both of them went
out to the field. 12 Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of
5.11.4.3.2.Lot says the following to the Lord in Genesis 19:19: “19 Now behold, your servant
has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness,
which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the
mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die.”
5.11.4.3.3.Jacob says the following in Genesis 43:14 to his
sons: “14 and may God
Almighty grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release
to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my
children, I am bereaved.”
5.11.4.4.The Lord states that He abounds also in ‘truth.’
5.11.4.4.1.The scriptures tell us that the Lord does not lie and
in fact that He cannot even tell a lie.
5.11.4.4.2.The law of the Lord condemns “bearing false witness”
and He Himself has given hundreds of promises to His people, all of which He
can be counted upon to keep.
5.11.4.4.3.The Lord reveals to us the true nature of things and
gives to mankind objective truth which we can count upon and live our lives
about.
5.11.4.4.4.The Lord promises to give “wisdom” to the
believer in the book of James, if we will ask Him for such in faith.
5.11.5. ‘Keeps lovingkindness for thousands.’
5.11.5.1.The Lord may visit the iniquity of the father upon his
children to the third and fourth generations, but in contrast He keeps
lovingkindness for ‘thousands.’
5.11.5.2.The Lord shares this liberal aspect of His character
of keeping lovingkindness for thousands with Moses in part to contrast the fact
that the curse of the father because of his iniquity passes on to his children
to the third and fourth generations.
5.11.6. ‘Forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.’
5.11.6.1.The Lord had told Moses about sin offerings and that
the sin offerings were to be offered upon the brazen altar. However, the fact that the Lord desired to
forgive iniquity, transgression, and the sin of men most probably was a revelation
to Moses. Moses may have seen the anger
of the Lord rise up so many times that he thought that the Lord only tolerated
extending forgiveness to men.
5.11.6.2.The Lord always provided for men’s sins to be
forgiven, if they were willing to repent and offer the proper sacrifice.
5.12.
When the Law was
first given to Moses and the children of Israel in Exodus 20:1-6 we saw that it
was the making of a graven image that came with the promises of generational
curses upon the children of the fathers to the third and fourth generation,
that which is mentioned in verse 7 here:
“1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I
am the Lord your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You
shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for
yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth
beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship
them or serve them; for I, the Lord
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but
showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My
commandments.” This promise of “generational
curses’ is repeated a number of times in the Old Testament.
5.13.
One of the things
that I have heard many people state who had come to Christ later in their life
after raising or partially raising a family, is that their greatest regret and heartache
in life is that they see their rebellion in the lives of their children. They see their children walking away from the
Lord and arrogantly living selfish and self-centered lives, and they know in
their heart that their children are simply following the very same pattern that
they had taught them by their own example.
5.14.
I want to speak
about the prevalent Pentecostal teaching today about “generational curses.” In verse 7 we see that the Lord says that He
will not let the guilty go unpunished, and then He states that He will visit
the iniquity of the fathers to the children to the third and fourth
generation. This teaching speaks about
the consequences of our sin being great and affecting both our children as well
as our grandchildren and even their children.
The idea is that our children usually pick up our bad habits and then
also mimic those in the raising of their children, and the principle of “like
produces like” The aberrant
Pentecostal teaching is that it is not good enough to simply receive Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior to give you victory in your Christian walk and
keep you from succumbing to Satan and even becoming demon possessed. If your ancestors to three and four
generations sinned certain sins then you are under their curse. But, what does the Bible really teach?
5.14.1. The Old Testament teaches that a man will only be
judged for his own sins, for instance:
5.14.1.1.Deuteronomy 24:16:
“16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons,
nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put
to death for his own sin.”
5.14.1.2.Ezekiel 18:19:
“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the
father’s iniquity?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has
observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live.”
5.14.1.3.Ezekiel 18:20:
“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment
for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the
son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and
the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”
5.14.2. Right here in Exodus 34 we see that the Lord first
tells us that He is ‘the Lord
God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness
and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives
iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,’
and then He goes on to say that He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on
their children and grandchildren. This
indicates that He is first of all a God of ‘compassion’ who majors in “forgiving
iniquity.” But, people who take His
goodness and grace for granted will be punished for their sins and suffer the
consequences for their sins even upon their very own children and
grandchildren.
5.14.3. In Numbers 14:17-20, we see that Moses’ intercession
for the Lord to forgive the iniquity of His people is accepted by the Lord,
superseding the curse that the people had deserved: “But now, I pray, let the power of the
Lord be great, just as You have declared, ‘The Lord
is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and
transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’
“Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your
lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from
5.14.4. In Galatians 3:13-14, we read that Christ redeemed us
from the curse of the Law and of sin by becoming a curse for us: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in
Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we
would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
6.
CONCLUSIONS:
6.1.
Is it your desire
to know the Lord more and more? The
apostle Paul said that he counted everything in his life as dung in view of the
surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ and the power of His
resurrection. Oh how we ought to learn
from Joshua, who never left the tent when the Lord’s presence was there, to try
to spend as much time as we can with the Lord.