By
Melanie Rigney
Moses at
once knelt and bowed down to the ground. Then he said, “If I find favor with
you, Lord, please, Lord, come along in our company. This is indeed a
stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and claim us as your
own.” (Exodus 34:8-9)
Not according to our sins
does he deal with us, nor does he requite us according to our crimes. For as
the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward
those who fear him. (Psalm 103:10-11)
“The harvest is the end of
the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned
up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.” (Matthew 13:39-40)
Piety
Abba
Father, help me to overcome my fear and shame in coming to You with the dark
parts of my life. Help me to believe in Your forgiveness.
Study
It’s quite the intimate relationship
the Lord and Moses have as described in Exodus 33 and 34. The two of them speak
face to face, “as one man speaks to another,” we’re told. The Lord does just a
bit a whining about the people, and Moses acknowledges their flaws and in essence
says, “love us anyway.” And of course, the Lord does. And really, who could
resist Moses’ entreaties? “Come along in our company”; “claim us as your own.”
Such beautiful words, such touching sentiment.
So, why didn’t the Lord have that
relationship with the rest of the Israelites? Why was only Moss chosen to speak
one on one with the Lord at this point? Perhaps because the Lord knew they
weren’t ready for Him in that form, that they had not the faith to understand
His presence to their worship in a more transparent way than a column of cloud.
God’s a gentleman; He knows what we can handle, and some of us want the
Old-Man-in-the-Cloud type of God. Some of us best comprehend a jealous,
vengeful God, bent on retribution for our offenses against Him and each other.
And some of us, at least occasionally, if we are very open and trusting, desire
that easy back and forth the Lord and Moses enjoyed. We are unlikely to find
that intimacy unless we consciously pursue it and the Lord finds us ready and
open. But if Exodus is any indication, once we find it—in God the Father, God
the Son, or God the Holy Spirit, or any or all of the three—we will no longer
be satisfied with the concept of the Old Man in the Cloud.
Action
Ask God to come along with you
today, in your good moments and bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment