GREAT EXPRESSIONS OF GOD'S LOVE:
In the Law: Law that Surprises (Exod 34:6-7)
In the Law: Law that Surprises (Exod 34:6-7)
Dr. Paul Manuel—2005
What tests your patience? There is usually something that pushes you to the limit of what you will endure and causes you to say, "Enough!"
There is a peculiar notion among some Christians that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament or, at least, that God acts differently in the Old Testament than He does in the New Testament, that He is at first stern and vengeful but then becomes gentle and compassionate. Such a distorted view ignores passages in both testaments that show both sides of His nature. His love, for example, is evident throughout the scriptures and features prominently in each of the five major collections of holy writ. That attribute will be the topic of our next series, entitled Great Expressions of God's Love, first, In the Law, where we find Love that Surpasses.1
After the Lord graciously delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He brought them to Mt. Sinai, where He gave them the law, the regulations governing their behavior as the people of God. It is important to note the order of those two events. The Lord did not give them the law first and expect them to obey it before He would deliver them. He delivered them first and then told them what He expected. That has always been the order of God's dealing with man. Beginning in the Old Testament and continuing through the New Testament: It has always been grace, then torah.2
This order is not just what God does first to establish a relationship with man; it is what God does most to maintain that relationship, even when His people reject Him, which is what happened in...
I. The Sin of the Israelites
When Israel first reaches Sinai, God calls Moses to the mountaintop and gives him a preliminary version of His law, the regulations governing the people's responsibilities in their covenant with Him. Please turn to Exod 24, where we see that...
Unfortunately, below the mountain, the people grow impatient. More than a month has passed since they last heard from Moses. Perhaps they had acted hastily, and now need to reconsider their earlier agreement. After doing that...
The problem is that, apart from what Moses told them, they do not know much about the Lord. Their recent experience in Egypt told them He did not get along with the gods of that land. Perhaps he is the god of Canaan, and he rescued them to return them to their ancestral home. Others in Canaan call him Baal, but the name is probably not important. They should, however, portray him properly. The Canaanites use the image of a bull, so the Israelites here do the same. They may think: What better way to prepare for the return to Canaan than by worshiping the god of Canaan, a god who also enjoys a good time! It makes sense... except that Moses is not gone, the covenant is not void, and the Lord is not Baal.4
What starts them down this path is their impatience, "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain," they revised God's plan to fit their purpose. Can you think of other instances in scripture where human impatience attempted to revise God's plan?5
Do you ever feel that way about God? Do you ever try to hurry God along? Perhaps you pray for something and wait for the answer, only to see nothing change. You might be able to force the issue and speed things along, but, if it does not agree with God's timing, the outcome will not be to your advantage.
David, who was anointed as king but could not assume the throne until Saul, his rival, passed away, knew about patience and offered this advice in...6
The Israelites do not exercise patience. Quite the opposite: they are impatient and disobedient. God was very clear about His attitude toward idols, and it was not positive. He said in...
II. The Grace of the Lord.
Make no mistake. God is not pleased, and...
God is ready to destroy the entire nation, scrapping His plan and starting over with Moses.7 Only after Moses' urgent intercession does God agree to spare the nation.8 Nevertheless, there are still consequences for disobedience. When Moses comes down from the mountain and sees what the people are doing, he does not hide his displeasure.
Moses returns to the mountain. There, he receives a second copy of the Decalogue11 and learns that, though God earlier rejected the people...
The phrases "abounding in love" (v. 6) and "maintaining love" (v. 7) are especially important because they indicate that God's mercy (KJV) is both limitless and relentless. It can never be exaggerated or exhausted.14 In other words, however great the sin, God is both willing and able to forgive those who repent.15
We tend to skip the gruesome details in this period of Israel's history, but they underscore how seriously God takes His people's allegiance. They also underscore how graciously God accepts His people's repentance. If God's love is boundless enough to keep the nation intact despite the magnitude of its sin, that same love is able to keep you intact, and not just when you sin. Paul writes that God's love is what keeps us connected to Him no matter what.
How effective Moses is in telling the people about God's abounding love is evident in how often the phrase appears in later biblical books. From Numbers to Nehemiah, Joel to Jonah, as well as in the Psalms, the biblical writers repeatedly mention God's abounding love, Love that Surpasses.17 It is definitely not just a New Testament concept.
Veteran American League baseball umpire Bill Guthrie was working behind the plate one afternoon, and the catcher for the visiting team was repeatedly protesting his calls. Guthrie endured this for a number of innings, and then called a halt. "Son," he said softly, "you've been a big help to me in calling balls and strikes today, and I appreciate it. But I think I've got the hang of it now, so I'm going to ask you to go to the clubhouse and show whoever's there how to take a shower." (Hodgin 1998:15)There are many things that test our patience, some appropriately, others inappropriately. In the wilderness, the Israelites allow Moses' absence to test their patience inappropriately, which leads to one of the Great Expressions of God's Love in scripture.
There is a peculiar notion among some Christians that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament or, at least, that God acts differently in the Old Testament than He does in the New Testament, that He is at first stern and vengeful but then becomes gentle and compassionate. Such a distorted view ignores passages in both testaments that show both sides of His nature. His love, for example, is evident throughout the scriptures and features prominently in each of the five major collections of holy writ. That attribute will be the topic of our next series, entitled Great Expressions of God's Love, first, In the Law, where we find Love that Surpasses.1
After the Lord graciously delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, He brought them to Mt. Sinai, where He gave them the law, the regulations governing their behavior as the people of God. It is important to note the order of those two events. The Lord did not give them the law first and expect them to obey it before He would deliver them. He delivered them first and then told them what He expected. That has always been the order of God's dealing with man. Beginning in the Old Testament and continuing through the New Testament: It has always been grace, then torah.2
This order is not just what God does first to establish a relationship with man; it is what God does most to maintain that relationship, even when His people reject Him, which is what happened in...
I. The Sin of the Israelites
When Israel first reaches Sinai, God calls Moses to the mountaintop and gives him a preliminary version of His law, the regulations governing the people's responsibilities in their covenant with Him. Please turn to Exod 24, where we see that...
A. They initially accept the law (24:3-7).
Exod 24:3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the LORD has said we will do." 4a Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said.... 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey."The number of laws in that "Book of the Covenant" will eventually exceed 600, far too many to remember, especially in the absence of personal Bibles. So when God calls Moses back to the mountaintop for more instructions, He includes something else.
Exod 24:12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction."This second meeting, which is longer and more reclusive than the first,3 lasts "forty days and forty nights" (v. 18b). During that period, God also gives instructions for building the sanctuary and for the duties of the priests. Finally...
Exod 31:18 When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.On the tablets is a summary of the law, a ten-command digest that is easy to remember.
Unfortunately, below the mountain, the people grow impatient. More than a month has passed since they last heard from Moses. Perhaps they had acted hastily, and now need to reconsider their earlier agreement. After doing that...
B. They subsequently reject the law (32:1-6).
Exod 32:1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us [a god] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought its up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." ...4 [Aaron] ...made...an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "Th[is is] your god[], O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD[!]." 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.The people know they cannot not make it on their own. The only reason they have gotten this far is because of God's help. Moses, who once represented them before God, has disappeared, and the covenant he brokered is probably null and void. It is now up to them to establish their own relationship with this deity.
The problem is that, apart from what Moses told them, they do not know much about the Lord. Their recent experience in Egypt told them He did not get along with the gods of that land. Perhaps he is the god of Canaan, and he rescued them to return them to their ancestral home. Others in Canaan call him Baal, but the name is probably not important. They should, however, portray him properly. The Canaanites use the image of a bull, so the Israelites here do the same. They may think: What better way to prepare for the return to Canaan than by worshiping the god of Canaan, a god who also enjoys a good time! It makes sense... except that Moses is not gone, the covenant is not void, and the Lord is not Baal.4
What starts them down this path is their impatience, "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain," they revised God's plan to fit their purpose. Can you think of other instances in scripture where human impatience attempted to revise God's plan?5
- Sarah, impatient for the heir God had promised, decides to secure one a different way, a choice whose fallout her descendants are still experiencing.
- Saul, impatient for Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to God before a battle with the Philistines, decides to offer the sacrifice himself, a choice that costs him his throne and (eventually) his life.
- You wait for the grade on a school assignment.
- You wait for a response to a job application.
- You wait for the results of a medical test.
Do you ever feel that way about God? Do you ever try to hurry God along? Perhaps you pray for something and wait for the answer, only to see nothing change. You might be able to force the issue and speed things along, but, if it does not agree with God's timing, the outcome will not be to your advantage.
David, who was anointed as king but could not assume the throne until Saul, his rival, passed away, knew about patience and offered this advice in...6
Ps 37:7a-b Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him do not fret when men succeed in their ways.... 34a-b Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you....David's point, as well as the lesson here, is that when you wait for the Lord's response, you are guaranteed the best result.
The Israelites do not exercise patience. Quite the opposite: they are impatient and disobedient. God was very clear about His attitude toward idols, and it was not positive. He said in...
Exod 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,Israel's disobedience should cause God to wipe His hands of them. What we see instead is...
II. The Grace of the Lord.
Make no mistake. God is not pleased, and...
A. He initially rejects the people (32:7-10).
Exod 32:7 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'Th[is is] your god[], O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' ...10a Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."Is God right to be angry? Indeed, He is. However they try to justify their action, it flagrantly violates a command God repeats several times in the "Book of the Covenant." In...
Exod 20:4a You shall not make for yourself an idol.... 5a You shall not bow down to them or worship them...Many Israelites choose to ignore these warnings, and they pay a heavy price.
Exod 20:23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.
Exod 22:20 Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed.
Exod 23:24 Do not bow down before [pagan] gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.
Exod 23:32 Do not make a covenant.., with [pagan] gods.... 33b ...because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.
God is ready to destroy the entire nation, scrapping His plan and starting over with Moses.7 Only after Moses' urgent intercession does God agree to spare the nation.8 Nevertheless, there are still consequences for disobedience. When Moses comes down from the mountain and sees what the people are doing, he does not hide his displeasure.
Exod 32:19b ...his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.... 28 The Levites [put to the sword] about three thousand of the people.... 35 And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.While judgment targets those most guilty,9 it affects everyone, and Moses calls upon those who remain to repent,10 while he intercedes with the Lord.
Moses returns to the mountain. There, he receives a second copy of the Decalogue11 and learns that, though God earlier rejected the people...
B. He subsequently accepts the people (34:5-8).
Exod 34:5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." 8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.God's name, represented in many English translations by the word LORD (all caps), like most proper nouns, has no particular meaning, but in this passage God invests it with a meaning that describes His character:
The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love...This description explains why He spares and accepts the people, despite their sin.12
His anger prolongs itself and is not quick to inflict punishment on the sinner, in order that he [the sinner] may repent.13 (Cassuto 1983:439)It is what God wants Moses to understand and relate to the people.
The phrases "abounding in love" (v. 6) and "maintaining love" (v. 7) are especially important because they indicate that God's mercy (KJV) is both limitless and relentless. It can never be exaggerated or exhausted.14 In other words, however great the sin, God is both willing and able to forgive those who repent.15
We tend to skip the gruesome details in this period of Israel's history, but they underscore how seriously God takes His people's allegiance. They also underscore how graciously God accepts His people's repentance. If God's love is boundless enough to keep the nation intact despite the magnitude of its sin, that same love is able to keep you intact, and not just when you sin. Paul writes that God's love is what keeps us connected to Him no matter what.
Rom 8:38 ...that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.That is the love He has for Israel, and that is the love He has for you.16
How effective Moses is in telling the people about God's abounding love is evident in how often the phrase appears in later biblical books. From Numbers to Nehemiah, Joel to Jonah, as well as in the Psalms, the biblical writers repeatedly mention God's abounding love, Love that Surpasses.17 It is definitely not just a New Testament concept.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
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