So God told Moses to lead the people to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. The Lord, however, will not go with them because they are a "stiff-necked" people and He might just be angry and destroy them on the way. It's quite distressing to hear of God's anger on the people!! But even though the people committed the greatest sin (worshipping man-made gods!) - God extended His grace and promised to send an angel to be with them to protect them along the way.
Now the tent of meeting is where Moses talked to God. it's quite amazing to see how God actually could talk to Moses "as a man speaks with his friend". Moses boldly asked God to continue to show him favor - and asked God to show His glory. God said that no one could see his face or they would die - but He would let Moses see his back...
God also told Moses to bring 2 more stone tablets so that He could write again the commandments. As God passed by Moses, He proclaimed his compassion and grace and love and faithfulness - but also stated that he would not leave the guilty unpunished.
Moses pleaded to God to forgive the people's sin and wickedness, to which God has made yet another covenant--that He would drive out all the pagans, but the Israelites were not to worship any other Gods, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (NB: I thought it was an interesting choice of word to describe God is a jealous God.) Then God told them how to celebrate the Passover, how to observe the Sabbath, and how people are to bring the first fruits of their soil to the Lord.
So Moses was with God for 40 days and 40 nights (without eating and drinking), writing down the 10 commandments. When Moses came back down from Mount Sinai, his face was radiant because he met with God. So he put a veil on him when he spoke with the people.
Moses told the people about the Sabbath, and he also told what God commanded: for all the skilled and willing-hearted to make the tabernacle the way that God has envisioned/designed. (NB: I didn't detail how the design of the tabernacle would be - but I did a Sunday school class before on the tabernacle, using this model: http://www.the-tabernacle-place.com/) It's actually quite amazing how every little thing has a meaning to it!)
I was curious about the jealousy thing too, so I looked up some interpretations. They say jealousy is only a sin when you're jealous of something that's not yours. If it's rightfully yours, then it's not considered a sin.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've heard that too. It's like it's only OK for God to be self-centered. Everyone else needs to be God-centered.
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