The people were deeply dismayed that YHWH was not going to "tabernacle" among them on this journey. They may have thought that the God who delivered them from slavery in Egypt would be "afar off" now because of their idolatry. How little they understood of YHWH at this time. The Angel would be YHWH's Representative among the people, the Mediator between His sinful people and Himself. Here we may have a statement concerning the role of the Son of God, pre-incarnate. He is eternally the Mediator between God and Man. Otherwise, there would be no interactions between the Father and humanity other than judgment. But we do not know for sure if this Angel was, indeed, the Son of God.
The sinfulness of these people who had consecrated themselves to YHWH required a "go-between". Let us remind ourselves how serious sin is to God. We cannot approach Him without a Mediator, and that Mediator is only Jesus. YHWH stepped out of the people He had saved as an act of mercy and grace to prevent them being consumed by Him.
It says that the people mourned and did not put on their ornaments, as YHWH had instructed them to do, thus showing repentance. I do not know what these ornaments were; perhaps jewelry from the Egyptians. These ornaments would remind them of their sin of idolatry because the calf was made of such ornamentation. They stripped themselves of any such self-adornment. They instead took the dress of one who is penitent, remorseful, in mourning. There, at Mt. Sinai, otherwise known as Horeb, where the Decalogue was given, and the people were soon rebellious against it, they stripped themselves of what was valuable to them in the carnal way, and then turned from wearing them again. They did not put these ornaments back on.
We would be wise to do likewise. when we confess our sin to Jesus, we are to do so with repentance, with the intent of not returning to these sins, divesting ourselves of all that entangles us in sin, avoiding such snares.
The people were deeply dismayed that YHWH was not going to "tabernacle" among them on this journey. They may have thought that the God who delivered them from slavery in Egypt would be "afar off" now because of their idolatry. How little they understood of YHWH at this time. The Angel would be YHWH's Representative among the people, the Mediator between His sinful people and Himself. Here we may have a statement concerning the role of the Son of God, pre-incarnate. He is eternally the Mediator between God and Man. Otherwise, there would be no interactions between the Father and humanity other than judgment. But we do not know for sure if this Angel was, indeed, the Son of God.
The sinfulness of these people who had consecrated themselves to YHWH required a "go-between". Let us remind ourselves how serious sin is to God. We cannot approach Him without a Mediator, and that Mediator is only Jesus. YHWH stepped out of the people He had saved as an act of mercy and grace to prevent them being consumed by Him.
It says that the people mourned and did not put on their ornaments, as YHWH had instructed them to do, thus showing repentance. I do not know what these ornaments were; perhaps jewelry from the Egyptians. These ornaments would remind them of their sin of idolatry because the calf was made of such ornamentation. They stripped themselves of any such self-adornment. They instead took the dress of one who is penitent, remorseful, in mourning. There, at Mt. Sinai, otherwise known as Horeb, where the Decalogue was given, and the people were soon rebellious against it, they stripped themselves of what was valuable to them in the carnal way, and then turned from wearing them again. They did not put these ornaments back on.
We would be wise to do likewise. when we confess our sin to Jesus, we are to do so with repentance, with the intent of not returning to these sins, divesting ourselves of all that entangles us in sin, avoiding such snares.
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