Exodus 32:29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.
31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
34 Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.
35 And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
The world is steeped in sin. The world needs to know the truth. God saves people to be a light in a dark and dying world. Those who are saved need to be different from the world. According to God’s Word, they will be different from the world. That is what God does when HE saves a person.
In our text we read that Moses told the people to consecrate themselves to the LORD. The word “consecrate” comes from two Hebrew words, meaning to “be full” and “power, means (supply), direction”. Moses was telling the children of Israel that they needed to change their direction and be filled with the LORD. They needed to repent and get right with the LORD. This is a picture of what salvation is. Salvation requires repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not just taking Jesus, or trusting Jesus. Unless a person is willing to acknowledge their sinfulness and turn to God, trusting in His power to save them through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no salvation.
Moses wanted the children of Israel to know the blessing of the LORD that very day. God is good and He is willing to forgive those who will come to Him in humility on His terms. His terms are not difficult, but they are precise. The person must honour God as God. He is in charge. He sets the standard, not man. Too often smooth talking pseudo Christians try to water down true salvation in order to get more people to follow them, not Christ. When a person follows Christ, they follow what God’s Word says. God never white-washes sin. He never excuses sin. He offers forgiveness of sin to those who acknowledge they are sinners deserving of hell.
In verse 30 we read that the next day, Moses spoke to the people and told them they had sinned a great sin. They had rejected the true God. They had replaced the true God with a false god. Moses was speaking the truth to them. He did not know what God would do about this, but he told the people what they had done with God.
Moses again showed how he was acting as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He would go and plead with the LORD and see if he could make an atonement for their sin. Jesus Christ does not just see if He can make an atonement for our sin. Jesus Christ went to the cross and shed His blood there and He made the only way for man to be forgiven of his sin. Moses was not sure what he could do. Jesus knew what He would do.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He invites all to come to Him and be forgiven and saved. He has the authority from His Father to forgive sin, through His shed blood.
In verse 31 we see that Moses went before the LORD and pleaded with Him. The LORD knew all about what the people had done. Moses did not know the LORD that well yet. He did what he could to bring the need before Him. He did not whitewash their sin.
In verse 32 we see Moses’ love for the people. He truly cared about them. He asked the LORD to forgive their sin, and if the LORD would not do that, then he asked the he be blotted out of God’s book of the living. The book of the living here is not that of eternal life. No one can ever be removed from God’s book of eternal life. However, there is a book that records the names of all people on this earth. Three thousand had already been killed for this sin. They were removed from that book of records. God further stated that any others that remained and were guilty of sinning in this matter, would be removed from the record of the living. There were those who sinned and justified their sin even when confronted. They would be wiped out by God.
The Bible is clear that man should never make light of sin. Until and unless a person is willing to take God’s Word as their authority and accept God’s definition of sin, there is no hope for that person. The New Evangelical philosophy does not work with God. It may appease the seared conscience of people, but it does not satisfy the righteous demands of God.
In verse 34 we read that the LORD told Moses to go and lead the people to the place He had spoken to him about. The LORD would send His Angel before them. However, Moses needed to be assured that the LORD would deal with the rebels in His own time. God was being merciful to them.
The people were learning about God. He was going to give them further time to learn of Him. Those who would persist in defying Him would suffer the consequences.
It is important for people to understand that there is no benefit in fighting against the truth and living a long time. There were many Jews who never repented toward God.
We read in verse 35 that the LORD plagued the people for this sin. They would not all die immediately, but they would suffer. The reality is that the LORD has to get our attention so that we will deal properly with our sin.
There are people who become so proud in their sin, that they find a way to justify themselves in their sin. They are unreachable with the truth. It is a terrible thing to get to that place.
Hebrews 10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
There are far too many people today who think they are saved, but they are living in defiance of God’s Word. They have sinned, but they have twisted God’s Word to make it seem, in their minds, that they have not sinned. They have found a way to justify themselves even though they have no justification before the Lord. There are preachers today who are guilty of twisting God’s Word and who are telling their gullible followers that evil is good and good is evil. They tell people not to be so rigid. They tell people that God understands we are sinners and we fail. They tell people that God is the God of second chances and that even though He says many very clear things about His righteousness and what He requires of man, He is not all that serious about things. He allows for sin. He makes a way to keep the sin and still be righteous.
We have the Word of God. We need to be careful how we handle the Word of God. We cannot put our own spin on it and think that God will be pleased with that. Moses did not understand God all that well in our text. He told the people he would go before the LORD and intercede for them. He asked God to forgive the people, and if not, then he asked God to remove his name from the record of the living.
God told Moses that every person is accountable for their own actions. A God-fearing man cannot save the life of a lost man. A God-fearing man can pray for a lost man. He can speak to the lost man. He can show the lost man of the need to repent and be saved. He must also warn the lost person that God is the Judge. There are no short-cuts to salvation. There are no exceptions to God’s law. It is possible to live a righteous life. It starts with true Biblical salvation. Then it builds upon the sure Word of God. We must keep in mind that the way of life is the narrow way. It is the strait way. It is the blessed way. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the broad way is the good way. The broad way leads to destruction.
The wise person accepts God’s law and submits to His standard of righteousness. For the truly saved person, that way is the blessed way. It provides the way of forgiveness when the true child of God sins and it provides the power to say no to sin as well. For the lost, it also shows God’s way of forgiveness and salvation. Saved people will desire God’s “well done” and they will not try to write their own version of that “well done”.
Pastor Bartel
