On the morrow after the slaughter among the people, Moses spoke faithfully to the children of Israel, telling them how greatly they had sinned. He also told them that he would go up unto, the Lord for them, The Lord had given Moses instruction to do this; He had told him to hew two tables of stone like the ones he had broken, and said He would write upon them the same words that were upon the first tables. And He told Moses to be ready in the morning to go up to Him to Mt. Sinai; there he was to present himself before the Lord in the top of the mount. No man was to be with him. Neither must any man be seen throughout all the mountain; and no herds or flocks should feed before it.
All this speaks to us of the holiness of God, and shows us how unapproachable He is until a way is opened up. But now with glad hearts, we can praise Him that Jesus is the way to God the Father.
Moses rose up early in the morning and took in his hand the two tables of stone that he had hewed, and went up into Mt. Sinai. There the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him; and in that holy spot, so full of awe and terror, Moses made haste and bowed his head to the earth; and he fell down before the Lord, as he had done the first time, for forty days and forty nights. In all that time he neither ate bread, nor drank water, because of the dreadful sins of the people; and he was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure of the Lord, who was so angry with Aaron and the people that He was ready to destroy them. And had not this faithful servant “stood before Him in the breach,” the Lord would have brought destruction to them. But Moses pleaded for His people and His inheritance which He had redeemed by His greatness, and which He had brought out of Egypt by His mighty power, and by His outstretched arm; and in his zeal he even went so far as to asks the Lord to blot him out of the books He had written, if He would not forgive them. But the Lord said, “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.”
Moses had found, grace in the sight of God, and the Lord told him of it; and not only so, but He made all His goodness to pass before Him.
What a strength and comfort this must have been to this faithful man in this time of deep distress! All God’s goodness made to pass before Him! And yet he could not see the face of the Lord, for none may see Him and live. Moses had besought the Lord to show him His glory, and the Lord hid him in the cleft of a rock while His glory was passing by; He covered Moses with His hand while He passed by, then He took away His hand, allowing Moses to see His “back parts,” but “My face shall not be seen,” He, had said.
Yes, Moses had found grace in. God’s sight; but could God show mercy to a people who had so grievously sinned? Could He bless those who had rebelled against Him, and turned away from Him? Surely not on the ground of anything in them; but according to His sovereign grace and mercy He has a right to bless; He can have compassion on whom He will, and He can be gracious to whom He will. And so, in the wonderful grace and goodness of His heart, He listened to the pleadings of Moses, and has mercy on the people.
He bids Moses to lead them into the place of which He had spoken to him; and He gives the blessed assurance that His angel shall go before him, and the nations shall be driven out, and he will give to the people a land flowing with milk and honey.
This was great grace on the part of the Lord, but He adds, “In the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.” And although He would send His angel before them, yet He says, “I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people; lest I consume thee in the way.” This was evil tidings, and made the people mourn.
Let us learn from this that while God is full of grace and compassion, yet it is a sad thing when His people go astray, or do their own will, for they will surely have sorrow to reap later on.
ML 11/29/1903