YHWH says He will consume them with His wrath. I wonder if God said this because His will was to do this and then Moses persuaded Him to relent, or if He told Moses this so that Moses would know that these people deserved nothing but wrath to emphasize the seriousness of sin. I tend to think it is the latter because I do not think God can be talked out of what He intends to do. The Word says He will accomplish whatever He wills to do and no one can stay Him.
But Moses intercedes for his people-just as Jesus intercedes to the Father for all of us, for we are no different than these Israelites, completely unable to keep His law perfectly, quickly falling into error in our beliefs, trying to substitute something more acceptable or less disturbing to our sensibilities for God's way.
YHWH would have been perfectly just to consume the Israelites with his fiery wrath, but at Moses' pleading, He shows mercy. He does the same for us, not bringing upon us the destruction and torment we deserve, but instead, He continues to be gracious and forgiving to us despite our sinfulness.
Moses then proceeds down the mountain, knowing that YHWH will not destroy the whole nation for this sin. He carried with Him the two tablets of the Decalogue made of stone that YHWH inscribed by Himself, not chiseled by Moses. These tablets of the Law were sacred and good, untainted by human hands and thoughts.
At some point Moses meets up with Joshua on the Mount, most likely where Moses had left him to wait. Interesting to think that Moses was on the Mount 40 days and nights, and so was Joshua, waiting for Moses to come back down. Joshua did not give up hope of Moses coming down again. He had faith in YHWH and was obedient. Joshua tells Moses, "There is noise of war in the camp." The Israelites must have really been raising a clamor. But Moses correct Joshua, saying that the noise is not of victory, defeat, but singing.
YHWH says He will consume them with His wrath. I wonder if God said this because His will was to do this and then Moses persuaded Him to relent, or if He told Moses this so that Moses would know that these people deserved nothing but wrath to emphasize the seriousness of sin. I tend to think it is the latter because I do not think God can be talked out of what He intends to do. The Word says He will accomplish whatever He wills to do and no one can stay Him.
But Moses intercedes for his people-just as Jesus intercedes to the Father for all of us, for we are no different than these Israelites, completely unable to keep His law perfectly, quickly falling into error in our beliefs, trying to substitute something more acceptable or less disturbing to our sensibilities for God's way.
YHWH would have been perfectly just to consume the Israelites with his fiery wrath, but at Moses' pleading, He shows mercy. He does the same for us, not bringing upon us the destruction and torment we deserve, but instead, He continues to be gracious and forgiving to us despite our sinfulness.
Moses then proceeds down the mountain, knowing that YHWH will not destroy the whole nation for this sin. He carried with Him the two tablets of the Decalogue made of stone that YHWH inscribed by Himself, not chiseled by Moses. These tablets of the Law were sacred and good, untainted by human hands and thoughts.
At some point Moses meets up with Joshua on the Mount, most likely where Moses had left him to wait. Interesting to think that Moses was on the Mount 40 days and nights, and so was Joshua, waiting for Moses to come back down. Joshua did not give up hope of Moses coming down again. He had faith in YHWH and was obedient. Joshua tells Moses, "There is noise of war in the camp." The Israelites must have really been raising a clamor. But Moses correct Joshua, saying that the noise is not of victory, defeat, but singing.
And so Moses and Joshua came near the camp...
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