Exodus 32:7-14 (NRSV)
Read Exodus 32:7-14 on biblegateway.com
Verse 7The Lord said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; Verse 8they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" Verse 9The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Verse 10Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation." Verse 11But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, "O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Verse 12Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Verse 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" Verse 14And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Devotion
One day our new puppy got into some papers on the desk. I had left her unconfined, and when I got home, she was in her kennel and bits of important papers were on the floor. My husband didn’t need to say, "She is your dog!"
The Israelites got lost, confused and had made a mess of things. And then there was the wrath of God. God's anger, we are told, burned hot! As Moses received the heat of God's anger, he remained calm enough to remind God, "These are your people, Oh God! How would this look to the other peoples of the world?"
To those who believe that God’s mind is never changed, we have these words, "And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people." As Moses so carefully reminded God, they were God's people, God’s people even when they were lost and wrong and rotten. And after being reminded, God changed God's mind. That was not just good news for them.
Prayer
Loving God, thank you that we do not receive what we deserve from your hand, but instead we receive grace upon grace. Amen.