Day 41: Exodus 33-35

Welcome to five -minute Bible your daily guide for your daily reading today's February the 10th

And we'll be looking at Exodus 33 through 35 Now today's reading takes place in the aftermath of covenant betrayal

Exodus 33 through 35 asks a devastating question Can a holy

God continue to dwell with the stiff -necked people the golden calf has shattered covenant loyalty has

Provoked divine judgment and it's placed Israel's future in jeopardy Now what follows is not a reset of the law

But it is a revelation of God's character and the costly gracious terms on which his presence will remain

With this sinful people now Exodus 33 opens with both fracture and fear

God announces that Israel will still receive the promised land, but his presence will not go with them

Which means that there's gonna be victory without God which is exposed as nothing more than hollow and the people mourn over this and they strip off their ornaments and they realize that Blessing without God is no blessing at all.

And then God relocates the tent of meeting outside of the camp and Moses alone goes out to meet with the

Lord while the people watch from a distance and this shows us that fellowship is possible, but it is strained and it has to be mediated and this withdrawal

Intensifies Moses's intercession He pleads not for success or for safety or for prosperity for this people because he knows they don't deserve it

But the thing he prays for is God's presence his prayer reaches its boldest point when he says

God show me your glory and Then in Exodus 34 God answers that prayer and God reveals his name not as raw power but as mercy the

Lord proclaims himself gracious and compassionate and slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love and truth and mercy and yet unwavering in his justice the covenant is renewed not because Israel has improved but because God is faithful and when

Moses descends his face is shining with reflected glory and the people are afraid a

Veil is even required on Moses's face because God's presence is shining so brightly through him and To the people the signals that God's presence has returned, but it is still being mediated

Then in Exodus 35 we see how repentance takes shape the people respond freely generously and joyfully bringing offerings for the tabernacle and we see here what

Idolatry was shattering worship begins to rebuild and God will dwell among his people again

Not because they're flawless, but because mercy has prevailed now as you read today

I want you to ask the following question What makes God willing to remain with people who have failed him so deeply and even over and over and over again?

And in Exodus 33 through 35, we see an answer to that question God gives his presence not because of human ability or resolve but because of divine mercy

The central pattern in Exodus 33 through 35 is the presence is restored through mercy

God doesn't ignore Israel sin, but neither does he abandon his people? Fellowship, yes, it's interrupted

But then it's cautiously restored and finally renewed on God's terms The tent outside the camp the renewed covenant the veiled glory all teach the same lesson that God is willing to dwell with forgiven

Sinners, but never by pretending that their sin is small This speaks directly to our life as well because the greatest danger is not discipline or hardship or even delay

These are gifts from God the greatest danger is a life outside of the presence of God a life without God and his presence is a

Catastrophe true repentance therefore is not frantic self -improvement

But a humble recognition that you have failed and that you're desperately Asking the Lord for his mercy and in that sense grace does not produce passivity in God's people it produces willing hearts open hands and obedient lives who throw themselves at the father and say

Father forgive me for I've sinned Now Exodus 33 through 35 also points powerfully to Jesus Christ because Moses pleads to see

God's glory and is hidden as the glory of God passes by and In Christ that glory is revealed fully and safely in human flesh the

God who once withdrew now draws near Also Moses mediates temporarily between God and man and it points to Christ who mediates eternally

Furthermore Moses reflects glory, but he must veil it Christ is the glory of God unveiled

Where Israel's covenant is renewed after catastrophic failure Christ establishes a covenant

It cannot be broken because it rests not on human faithfulness, but on his finished work on the cross in Jesus mercy does not merely restore

God's presence. It secures it forever Now as you read Exodus 33 through 35 today,

I want you to listen carefully to how God names himself Mercy is not an exception to his nature.

It is his glory and tomorrow We're gonna see how renewed hearts produce careful

Obedience as Israel begins building the dwelling place where their God is gonna live and dwell among them

And with that read your Bible carefully devotionally and joyfully and may the Lord use his word to sanctify you