Reading
- Ex. 32:1-34:16, 27-35
Devotional
As Moses was on Mt. Sinai listening to GOD the children of Israel grew impatient. They asked Aaron to make an idol for them to bow down to, which Aaron did, creating a calf of gold. The people then said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Ex. 32:4b) Then Aaron made an altar and the people proclaimed a feast unto the idol. The next day they got up early and offered burnt and peace offerings to the idol and they ate and drank and played. GOD was extremely angry.
And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.
(Ex. 32:7-8a NKJV)
Why was it important to GOD that the children of Israel not bow down and worship other gods? Because we are important to GOD. He places a high value on each of us, and it is important to GOD that we place the highest value upon Him—that He has all of our devotion, affection, and love. Later on GOD told Moses:
“Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD [Yahweh], whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)…”
(Ex. 34:12-14 NKJV)
Moses understood the personal relationship GOD had with him, and he valued it.
“Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. … If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. … Please, show me Your glory. … Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. … So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
(Ex. 33:18-34:8 NKJV)
GOD wants this deep personal relationship with you and me, just like He had with Moses. It is just as important for us to value GOD as most important in our life today as it was for the children of Israel then. GOD wants a family of people who love Him and seek Him diligently everyday.
