By Sarai Williams
25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.
27 Moses told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” 28 The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.
29 Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”
Exodus 32:25-29
Today’s devotion is focused on Exodus 32:25-29. The people had sinned against God; verse 25 tells us that they were “completely out of control”. Moses stands at the entrance to the camp and surveys the scene before him. Exodus 32 verse 6 tells us that there was feasting and drinking, and the people were indulging in pagan revelry. Not only had the people sinned, they were now audacious enough to be celebrating their accomplishments. Moses simply stands at the entrance to the tent and addresses the people; not to wholly condemn them, but to give them a choice- “all you who are on the Lord’s side come here and join me”. That’s the initial focus for today’s devotion.
We were born into a world of sin. Psalms 51:5 says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me”. Humans are innately sinful, and we crave carnal things. Romans 3:23 reminds us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Often, we mess up, we do things wrong, we sin against God. But our God is a merciful Father and it is not His will that any should perish. He sent His Son to die so that we could be reconciled to Him. So, when we mess up, when we fall into temptation, like Moses, God stands, and beckons to us and gives us the opportunity to return to him. Isaiah 1:18 implores us, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” God wants us to be reconciled with him.
In Exodus 32:27-28 those who have chosen to stand for the Lord then have to do the unthinkable. The Lord orders them to go and kill everyone that remains on the other side. Verse 27 explicitly says “even your brothers, your friends and your neighbours”. That is the second key point of today’s devotion; reconciliation costs. Being reconciled back to God can require you to cut off things that used to matter to you a great deal, such as relationships, jobs, opportunities for financial gain etc. Whilst God is more than happy to receive us unto Him, we have to be willing to repent; and repentance means acceptance of our sinful state and nature, and a commitment to living a life which is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord. There are things that we have been carrying for far too long which have caused us to be unable to draw nigh to God.
In Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus says to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” The cost of being reconciled to God is great; you must deny your own self, your own life; but fear not, because in Christ, we will have new life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Ask – How do you think the Israelites felt when Moses ordered them to kill their loved one? Do you think they all obeyed willingly?
Seek – Whilst God may not be calling us to kill our friends and family literally, what is it in our life that we need to forsake, to leave behind, in order to fully be reconciled with the Master? Colossians 3:5 implores us “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” What things do we need to “put to death”, so that we can be fully surrendered to God?
Knock – Today, ask God to reconcile you back to Him.
(Upper Photo by Alex Green from Pexels)
(Inner Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash)
