O Lord, Forgive our wickedness!

Exodus 32:1-34:28

Key Verse 34:9

"O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."

This passage reminds us of Jesus' prayer on the cross, praying for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. From this passage we also can learn how we should offer prayers to God not only for us but also for others, just as Jesus taught us in the Lord's prayer (Luke 11:1-4), for it is expected of every Christian and certainly every shepherd living as a member of the kingdom of priests and a holy nation to offer prayers. 

1. Read 32:1-6. What caused the people to make an idol god (1)? What is an idol (Col 3:5)? What was wrong with worshiping an idol like this (24:8; Jer 3:20; Psa 115:8; Rm 1:21)? What can we learn from their failure (Mat 25:5; Luk 12:45)? 

** Impatience.

** It is to love creations more than the Creator, whatever the creations might be.

** It is an act of unfaithfulness to God, for they breached the covenant with the Lord (Exodus 24:7,8). It is like a bride sleeping with another man, even during her honeymoon trip with her husband. 

Plus, worshiping an idol like this makes the otherwise crown of creation fall below the animal level. Lamentations 1:1 compares   God’s child to a queen, but idol worship turns a   queen-like daughter into a harlot-like slave (Lam 1:1-2). Lamentations also compares God’s children to fine gold, sacred gems, or sapphires (4:1,7), which due to idol worship were turned into a worthless chunk of clay or soot (1,7). 

** The members of a church are called "a bride" in relation to Jesus, the husband. He promised to come back. Even though he is long in coming back, we still need to be faithful to him, and we must be faithful "until" he comes. 

2. Read vs. 7-14. Upon hearing Moses' prayer, the Lord "relented". What does this show us about the Lord? What can we learn from Moses as a shepherd?

** The Lord is different from man in that he has complete mastery over himself. 

** He has Jesus' image in that he "hated" sins, and yet he "loved" his sheep, so he stood on the side of sheep, and prayed for sheep, by coming up with wise and reasoned logic  logical enough to convince the Lord God to change his mind. We learn from Moses then the wisdom in "peace-making" between God and men. This requires maturity, knowing how to get out of oneself and put oneself in the position of each of the two parties he desires to reconcile. 

[Advanced study] In fact the Lord knew that Moses would respond to him like this (even when Moses was in his mother's womb), and according to his foreknowledge the Lord God prepared an environment in which Moses could come to him praying like this.

3. Read vs. 15-30. Moses helped people repent. How did he do it? What can we learn from him (Lev 19:17; Pro 28:23; Mt 18:15; 1Ti 5:20)? 

** He did it by:

1) Teaching them that an idol is as lowly as food for the stomach (and this is perhaps why he ground the idol into powder, and asked them to mix it in a drink, and consume it). 

2) Teaching them  spiritual order, that is, God first, men (family members included)  second, and  material (idol) third. Also read Mat 10:37. 

** We learn that a shepherd must help each sheep repent of their sins, and turn to God. This is an act of true kindness. We should not be like Aaron who compromised with the sins of sheep. 

4. 32:31-34:9 describe Moses' efforts to make "atonement" for their sin (32:30). What do the following actions tell us about Moses as a shepherd?

1) "But now, please forgive their sin, but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written (32:32)." 

2) "Moses used to take a tent and pitch it...calling it the 'tent of meeting' (33:7)."

3) "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face...(33:11)."

4) "[T]each me your ways so I may know you...(33:13)."

5) "Now show me your glory (33:18)."

6) "O Lord...let the Lord go with us (34:9a)."

7) "Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance (34:9b)." 

** Moses loved his sheep more than his own life.

** Moses opened up the communication line, so that the Lord and sheep would continue to converse.  

** Moses himself kept coming to the Lord, so that he would figure out how to ease up the situation, especially to turn the Lord's heart back to the people. 

** Moses desired to know the ways of the Lord, so he would not misrepresent the Lord to the people. 

** Moses wanted to see the Lord's essential characters (which are what the glory is all about), so he would figure out the way for the Israelites to be reconciled to the Lord, and the Lord to the Israelites. 

** This is what Moses ultimately had in mind in approaching God. What Moses wanted was the Lord himself, not some goodies like the Promised Land. He knew that the Lord is the best possible gift, and all other blessings without the Lord are nothing.

** This time he asked for the forgiveness of not only the sins of people but also of his own. Compare the word "our" repeated twice in 34:9 with "their" in 32:32. 

5. How did the Lord bless Moses' efforts? What does this episode teach us about the need for a mediator between God and men (Gal 3:20)? What does Moses' example teach us about the efficacy of Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant (1Ti 2:5; Heb 4:15; 8:5; 9:15)?

** The Lord reissued a marriage certificate (i.e., two stone tablets). He changed his mind  and decided to go with them and have  a life-together with them in the Promised Land.

** The need comes from the disparity between the Lord God and us, a sinful bunch. Because of the disparity, without a mediator reconciling the differences, it is impossible for the two to come together under the same roof. 

** As the passage shows, Moses is merely a human being with weaknesses and flaws, like the lack of knowledge of the Lord, his own sinfulness, etc. and so forth, but unlike Moses, Jesus is sinless, so he is a perfect mediator, for he having been in the flesh understands us and at the same time being the Son of God, knows God fully, so that through his blood sacrifice, he was able to perfectly reconcile the two, bringing the two to perfect peace. 

The end. 

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