At a time when the Israelites were afraid they would die if God ever spoke to them, Moses went to the mountain to listen to God for them. On the front and back of two stone tablets, God wrote, carved by his own finger, laws to guide their behavior so they could have long lives on the earth.
But when Moses took too long coming down the mountain, they turned away from God.
Exodus 32:7-14 (NIV)
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 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, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’”
“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 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.”
But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “O Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a might hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
It takes a close relationship to put aside all the barriers and allow yourself to be completely vulnerable to someone who is obviously and overwhelmingly powerful. Moses didn’t try to be brave before God. He made himself vulnerable and accessible to God.
Numbers 12:3 shows us that Moses was more humble than anyone else. When you’ve spoken face-to-face with God and felt the weight of his presence, can you find room for anything but humility and vulnerability? Laying our souls bare before God helps humble us. Allowing ourselves to be real before God without any pretense of bravery humbles us.
When a humble man who cares enough for the people he’s been leading turns away God’s wrath with a vulnerable heart, he shows his heroic side.
No comments:
Post a Comment