The Written Word

When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 32:19. NIV 1984).

My Musings – There’s a lot to take in here.

The Calf – “They gave me (Aaron) the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” Exodus 32:26, NIV 1984). Not exactly. “He [Aaron] took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.” (Exodus 32:2, NIV 1984). When confronted with the truth, how often do we try to spin it to shift our guilt?

The Dancing – “The next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” (Exodus 32:6, NIV 1984). As Moses came down from the mountain, having received the tablets from God. Joshua, Moses’ aide, “said to Moses, ‘There is the sound of war in the camp.’ Moses replied: ‘It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.'” (Exodus 32:17–18, NIV 1984).

The Tablets – “Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.” (Exodus 32:15–16, NIV 1984). These were the tablets that Moses threw down in anger. Later, “the Lord said to Moses, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.'” (Exodus 34:1, NIV 1984).

The Result – “The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.'” (Exodus 32:30, NIV 1984). Sin always has consequences. Moses could not atone for the sins of the people. “‘Please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me [Moses] out of the book you have written.’ The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book…when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.’ And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.” (Exodus 32:32–35, NIV 1984).

My Advice - We no longer have God’s Word on the written tablets. But we do have God’s Word written in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament – the Holy Bible. And for those without access to the Bible? God’s Word is written on their heart. “What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19–20, NIV 1984).

So, no one has an excuse for not obeying God’s law. And, when the time comes, “whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book…when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.” Unless someone who is worthy redeems sinful man. “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law.” (Galatians 4:4–5, NIV 1984).

This is not a blanket redemption. “Jesus [declares], ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God [be redeemed] unless he is born again.'” (John 3:3, NIV 1984). Otherwise, God says, “whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.” Once again, sin always has consequences. “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life [my book], he was thrown into the lake of fire [Hell].” (Revelation 20:14–15, NIV 1984).

The obvious question is, how does one get born again [redeemed]? “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:17–18, NIV 1984). For those who believe, Jesus took the consequences of their sins. No more danger of being “thrown into the lake of fire.” Instead, when the time comes, “I [Jesus] will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am [Heaven].”

Now, why wouldn’t anyone not want to believe?