When
Moses arrived in Egypt after the Burning Bush, God gave great Demonstrations of
His Mighty Power and Authority over all the ‘gods’ of the Egyptians. Every one
of the plagues upon the Egyptians was a judgment on the gods of Egypt. They worshipped
the Nile river. It turned into blood. They worshipped the frog god called “Heki”
and mummified frogs; so God said, “You like frogs? I’ll give you lots of them!”
Every plague showed them that the Jehovah God was the true and Living God and
that the gods were idols. Then there was the Death of all the ‘first born’ males
of man and beast. Eventually Pharaoh let the people of Israel go. Jehovah is
awesome in His power and holiness. He is a jealous God and will not countenance
any other god beside Him.
JEHOVAH
IS A HOLY GOD.
In
Exodus 31 the Word of God describes the Israelites experiences in the
wilderness when they arrived at Horeb, the Mountain of God. Here God gave Moses
the Ten Commandments but He stayed 40 days up on the Mountain. The people
rebelled when they saw Moses delayed coming back down from the Mountain. They said
to Aaron, “ Up make us gods, which shall go before us; as for this Moses, the
man who brought us up from the Land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of
him.”Ex 32:1
God
was very angry and told Moses, “Get down there! I am disgusted with this
people.” In His righteous indignation,
God was revealing Himself as JEHOVAH. He is absolutely pure, righteous and
Holy.
Lev.
19 :2 “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am Holy.”
This means 'I, JEHOVAH your ELOHIM am holy'. It is Jehovah Who must pronounce judgment that
condemns sin. Here He pronounces judgment against the Israelites for
worshipping the ‘gods’ of Egypt.
Exo
32:10 And now leave Me alone, so
that My wrath may become hot against them and so that I may consume them. And I
will make of you a great nation.
Exo
32:11 And Moses prayed to Jehovah his
God, and said, Jehovah, why does Your wrath become hot against Your people whom
You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a
mighty hand?
Moses
said, ‘these are not My people but Yours oh LORD.’ He was actually arguing
with the LORD over the actions of the Children of Israel. Then Moses says in
Exodus:
| Moses on the Mountain with God |
Exo 32:12 Why should the Egyptians speak and say, He
brought them out for harm, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them
from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and be moved to pity
as to this evil against Your people.
Exo 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your
servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, I will multiply
your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of
will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
Exo 32:14 And Jehovah repented (changed His Mind) as to
the evil which He spoke of doing to His people.
Moses
had interceded for the Israelites and they were spared.
God loves sinners but hates their sin. He must
pronounce judgment on sin for He is the Holy One of Israel. What a slaughter
too place at the end of this chapter of disasters. See Exodus 32:27-28
 |
| Moses and the Idolatrous Israelites |
Applications.
1.
Jehovah is awesome in His power and holiness. He
is a jealous God and will not countenance any other god beside Him. There must
not be any other god in our lives beside the True and Living God or disaster
will strike us.
2.
“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am Holy.”The
Holiness of God separates Him from every sin and defilement. This is how
Jehovah wants us to live. i.e. separated lives unto Him.
3.
God will change His mind when Christians
intercede with Him on the basis of His Word and promise.
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