Month: April 2023

44.t. “Wilderness” – 8.z. “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?”

Exodus 32:21  And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies),

 Deuteronomy 13:6-8    “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known,  some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other,  you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him.

Moses understood that this plan didn’t originate with Aaron, but that he allowed it and implemented it. Aaron essentially asked Moses to calm down, and to not be so angry. Aaron had no sense of the greatness of his sin. He had no significant sense of the fear of the LORD. Aaron quoted the people exactly. But he lied when he described his own actions. Aaron no doubt meant that this calf was produced by a miracle – it just happened. But Moses – and everyone else – could see the human engraving marks on it. Aaron claimed this was a miraculous work, but the evidence of his workmanship was all over it. Aaron did this evil thing and made his excuse because at that moment, it seemed harder to stand for the LORD than to go along with the people, and Aaron took the path of least resistance. Aaron’s sin was so great that only the intercession of Moses saved his life. And the LORD was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. (Deuteronomy 9:20) (Guzik)

Never did any wise man make a more frivolous and foolish excuse than that of Aaron. We must never be drawn into sin by any thing man can say or do to us; for men can but tempt us to sin, they cannot force us. The approach of Moses turned the dancing into trembling. They were exposed to shame by their sin. The course Moses took to roll away this reproach, was, not by concealing the sin, or putting any false colour upon it, but by punishing it. (Henry)

Moses was asking Aaron; what did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? as idolatry is, than which no sin can be greater, it being not only a breach of the first table of the law, but directly against God, against the very being of God, and his honour and glory; it is a denial of him, and setting up an idol in his room, and giving to that the glory that is only due to his name; and Aaron being the chief magistrate, whose business it was to see that the laws of God were observed, and to restrain the people from sin, and to have been a terror to evil doers; yet falling in with them, and conniving at them, he is charged with bringing sin upon them, or them into that; and is asked what the people had done to him, that he should do this to them, what offence they had given him, what injury they had done him, that he bore them a grudge for it, and took this method to be revenged? for it is suggested, had they used him ever so ill, he could not have requited it in a stronger manner than by leading them into such a sin, the consequence of which must be ruin and destruction, see Genesis 20:9 or else Moses inquires of Aaron what methods the people had made use of to prevail upon him to suffer them to do such a piece of wickedness; whether it was by persuasion and artful insinuations, or by threatening to take away his life if he did not comply, or in what manner they had wrought upon his weak side, to induce him to take such a step. (Gill)

Being mindful of how dependent we are on the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to stand and fight against the evil ways of society and culture that do not fear God is essential every single moment of every single day. It is when there is a soul-deep desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ that we find ourselves yielding to and listening more to the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit directing our lives.

44.s. “Wilderness” – 8.y. “herefore they shall eat the fruit of their way”

 

Exo 32:20  He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

 Proverbs 1:31   therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

 Proverbs 14:14   The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.

 Job 4:8    As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

 Isaiah 3:10-11    Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.  Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

 Galatians 6:7-8   Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Jeremiah 6:19    Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.

Ecclesiastes 11:9.   Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

 Proverbs 1:33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

There is much in the attitude of professing Christians in this day which fills me with concern, and makes me full of fear for the future. There is an amazing ignorance of Scripture among many, and a consequent want of established, solid religion. In no other way can I account for the ease with which people are, like children, “ tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” (Ryles)

“One great concern I have is that many of today’s Christians are not taking the Word of God seriously. For whatever reason, the Scriptures do not have authority in the Christian’s life in the way that is necessary for him or her to live a life to the glory of God.” (Tozer)

The longer I am in ministry, the more convinced I am that the church is filled with atheists. Now, I am not talking about theological atheists; I am talking about practical atheists. Many of us live our lives, conduct our relationships, and formulate our plans without ever once even thinking, “What would God have me do in this situation?” We live our lives as if there were no God. (Jeffress)

There is not much talk about sin and the sinfulness of man in light of the holiness of God. It is in this absence that a shallow approach is revealed to things of God and the wholeness of His Word. Where is repentance discussed? Where is sin called out? Where is holiness a pursuit? Where is the desire to live Holy? Where is the desire to be Holy Spirit led? Where is there separation from worldly and heavenly pursuits? Where is the desire to grow in understanding of God’s Holiness and our sinfulness so that we might repent and honor and glorify Him? 

There is so much more to a Christian life than living “Justified by Christ” – Granted all must come to the place of redemption through Jesus Christ, but the Christian life that begins (born again) as a baby is expected to grow and mature – “Sanctification”.  We can rest our salvation in our justification in Jesus Christ, but there should never be a moment where we are not seeking and desiring to honor and glorify Him in all we think, say, and do.  Being complacent and neglectful in this desire will leave us void of the Word of God in our lives and of little value to bringing honor and glory to Jesus. How empty is the appreciation that says; “I repent and trust you Jesus” and then does not seek to live each moment desiring to honor and glorify Him? 

We can rest in being justified but should never rest in our growth and desire to grow so that we can speak the word of truth and live so that honor and glory are given in all we think, say, and do, to Jesus Christ. Though we might start our Christian walk as a babe, let us not be content but rather seek to grow and mature in God’s Word. 

God’s Desire For Every Believer – Dr. Jeffress

Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
–Galatians 5:16

The foundational passage in the Bible about the filling of the Spirit is Ephesians 5:18: “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” We learn from this verse that the filling of the Spirit is a command, not a promise. It is also a continual experience, not a one-time event.

Remember, the Greek word for “filled” was used to describe wind filling the sails of a ship. Think about a sailboat going across the ocean. Does the wind come one time and fill those sails for the entire journey? No, the wind comes and goes throughout the journey; it may even change direction. It is the same way with the filling of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s command in the original language could be translated as “Keep on being filled with the Spirit.”

There is no one-time experience or one-time prayer that will forever free you from your struggle with sin. If you are skeptical, look at what Paul, one of the greatest evangelists the world has ever known, said about his struggle with sin: “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want” (Romans 7:18-19). The only day you and I will ever be free completely from our struggle with sin will be the day of our death.

Here is the good news: even though you and I will struggle with sin until we die, the struggle will get easier the more often we choose to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Choosing to be controlled by the Holy Spirit is a habit we develop. The more often we say yes to the Spirit and no to sin, the easier it becomes. It is a continual experience, not a one-time action.

Another truth we see in Ephesians 5:18 is that being filled with the Holy Spirit is God’s desire for every Christian, not just a select few. The truth is, most Christians are living so far away from the Holy Spirit that when anyone starts living under the Spirit’s control on a regular basis, people call them a fanatic or a super saint. It is hard to believe that that is God’s desire for every Christian. But in this verse, the verb “be filled” in Greek has a plural audience. If Paul were from the South and writing in English, he would have said, “Y’all be filled with Spirit.” He was not just commanding one or two groups in the Ephesian church to be filled; he was saying every Christian is to be filled. The filling of the Holy Spirit is not reserved just for a select group of Christians; it is God’s desire for every believer.

Will Graham Devotion: Think Your Sin Isn’t So Bad?

1 Peter 2:11-12

11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 

12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

 

I’ve noticed a trend in recent years.

Once upon a time, if a Christian came to the realization that they disagreed with what the Bible calls sin, they would merely walk away from the faith. They wanted to live life by their own rules without being anchored to the truths of God’s Word, so they split and no longer called themselves a Christian.

Lately, I’ve noticed a number of people—celebrities, politicians, athletes and even some in my everyday life—who make the choice to indulge in the things of the world, but still claim the Name of Christ. In order to do this, they often cherry-pick a Bible verse that they feel endorses their stance or twist Scripture to make it say something it doesn’t.

They may even be completely biblically illiterate, but in their mind, they’ve made Jesus or the Bible into some sort of sin-supporting entity. After all, if God is love, they reason, He must love everything they do.

I’m going to make this clear: Sin matters!

And what is sin? “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

Yes, Jesus paid the price for your sin on the cross, and as a follower of His you no longer walk in shame and guilt, but in the fullness of Christ. Even still, as children of God, we are called repeatedly throughout Scripture to pursue righteousness and turn from the pleasures of the world. Why? Because there’s still a spiritual cost to sin.

The apostle Peter, in his first letter (1 Peter 2:11-12), tells us why it is important to turn from the lusts of this world.

First, simply put, we are to turn our backs on evil desires because the Bible calls us to do so. Peter says, “Abstain from fleshly lusts” (v. 11). If we are truly followers of Jesus and pursuing a relationship with Him, then we must heed the Word of God. Peter is commanding the reader to live a life of transformation in Jesus.

When we sin, there is forgiveness. However, sinning should not be our default setting. Our desire should be to follow God’s Word and His righteousness.

Second, we should abstain from the pleasures of the world because we are “sojourners and pilgrims,” (v. 11) simply passing through on our way to our true and eternal home. In my part of the country, hiking the Appalachian Trail is a major event. It’s an arduous journey, stretching more than 2,000 miles.

When a person is hiking the trail, they don’t concern themselves with what is happening in the surrounding communities (of which they are not citizens), and they don’t accumulate things that will needlessly burden them. They have one goal, and their eyes are fixed on it.

The same is true for us. We are citizens of heaven. We should not immerse ourselves in the pleasures of this world—or weigh ourselves down with the junk of this world—because it hinders our walk with God. Rather, we should draw ever closer to God and follow where He is leading.

Third, we need to abstain from these fleshly lusts because they “war against the soul” (v. 11). One of the main goals of war is to inflict casualties on the opposing side. Even for followers of Christ, there is a battle raging, with Satan trying to harm you spiritually. These evil desires seek to destroy your testimony, your character, your family and your ministry—that is why we must flee from such things.

Finally, we are to keep away from such desires because it gives us an opportunity to witness to others (v. 12). When unbelievers see that we are living apart from the trappings of the world, it makes them question what makes us different.

I’ve always said that you can’t live a life that is good enough to save anybody. However, you can pursue God in such a way that others will see your faith, and this will give you an opportunity to share “the hope that is within you” (1 Peter 3:15).

My friends, it is a grave mistake to take sin lightly, or to believe the lie that—since Christ died for our sin—there are no consequences to our actions. There are spiritual and eternal (not to mention physical) costs to be paid when we ignore God’s guidance through His Word. Rather, I would encourage you to cling to Christ, and dig so deeply into the Bible that you can spot a truth from a lie.

Then pursue Him with all that you have so that others will see the Light shining through you.

The Filling Of The Holy Spirit – Dr. Jeffress

 

[Barnabas] was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.
–Acts 11:24

There are some Christians who just seem to live in a different realm. They have the power to say no to sin. They have joy no matter what is happening around them. They are the people you want praying for you when you have a need. These Christians have experienced something more than the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Nineteenth-century evangelist D. L. Moody had such an experience. He had been saved. He was preaching the gospel and seeing many people come to Christ, yet there was something missing in his life. Moody said, “I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York–oh, what a day!–I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. . . . I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world–it would be as the small dust of the balance.”

What is this experience that Moody and other Christians have had? Simply put, it is the filling of the Holy Spirit of God.

You might be saying, “Pastor, if the Holy Spirit is already inside of us, why do we need some additional experience?” Evangelist R. A. Torrey had a great analogy that applies here. He said it is one thing for you to have a guest living in a back bedroom where you hardly ever see him, and another thing for that guest to come in and take possession of your entire house. In the same way, you may have the Holy Spirit living in some remote corner of your consciousness, but it is another thing entirely for the Holy Spirit to take complete possession of your life.

When we talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit, we are not talking about getting more of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When you become a Christian, you have all of the Holy Spirit. The question is, does the Holy Spirit have all of you? Does He have possession of every room in your life, or is He stuck in some back corner? Being filled with the Holy Spirit means allowing Him to take full control of every part of your life.

Choosing What Controls You – Dr. Jeffress

Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.
–Ephesians 5:18

In Ephesians 5:18, Paul wrote, “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” This is the foundational verse in the Bible about being filled with–that is, being controlled by–the Holy Spirit. I want you to notice something important in this short verse: being filled with the Holy Spirit is a command, not a promise.

That is different than the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Remember, that is the process by which the Holy Spirit changes us from being guilty, disobedient sinners into forgiven, obedient disciples of Christ, as well as connects us to Jesus Christ and to other Christians.

But never in the Bible is the phrase “baptism with the Spirit” used as a command. Never does God say to us as Christians, “Be baptized with the Spirit of God.” Do you know why that is? Because there is nothing we can do to baptize ourselves with the Spirit. That is something God has to do. It would be like God saying to me, “Robert, have brown eyes.” Well, no matter how hard I try, I can never give myself brown eyes. That is something God does for me. It is the same way with the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the only one who can baptize us with the Spirit, and it happens at the moment of our salvation.

However, in Ephesians 5:18 we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. That is our responsibility, not God’s responsibility. You and I have to choose whether we are going to be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God.

For example, let’s say your colleague or your loved one says something that ticks you off royally. You have a string of words you are ready to unleash in response, but then you hear an inner prompting that says, “Hold back. Keep your cool. You are going to spend months cleaning up this relationship if you say that.” In that instant, you have a choice: Are you going to be controlled by anger, or are you going to be controlled by the Spirit?

Or maybe you are sitting in front of the computer screen, and an invitation pops up to join one of those sites you know you should not go into. You are tempted to satisfy your curiosity, but that inner voice is speaking to you: “Shut it down right now. Get up. Walk away.” In that instant, you have a choice: Are you going to be controlled by lust, or are you going to be controlled by the Spirit? Being controlled by the Spirit is a command, not a promise.

Turning Point – Dr. Jeremiah

 

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.
Psalm 145:3

Psalm 145 is a kaleidoscope of God’s attributes—“His greatness” (verse 3), “the glorious splendor of [His] majesty” (verse 5), His “goodness” (verse 7), His graciousness and “compassion” (verse 8), His “power” (verse 11), the “majesty of His kingdom” (verse 12), and His everlasting nature (verse 13). And that’s not all. The 21 verses of Psalm 145 are a virtual tour of God’s unsearchable personality, and when we see Him as He is, we realize we should approach Him with dignity, humility, reverence, fear, and awe. Too much of our worship is informal, subjective, and devoid of moments of silence and holy reverence. Certainly there’s a warmth and simplicity to worship, but let’s not lose the grandeur of God’s unsearchable greatness.

God is a sovereign King. His unlimited power and His endless authority demand our deepest reverence. How wonderful to be lost in the wonder of His Person and overwhelmed by the splendor of His majesty! That can best happen when we take time for stillness, survey His masterful creation, search His Book, and imagine His heavenly throne. May there always be a “holy, holy, holy” refrain rising from our soul.

Where there is no awe there will be little worship.
John Watson

44.r. “Wilderness” – 8.x. “It is not the sound of shouting for victory or cry of defeat”

 

Exodus 32:17-18  When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.”

Joshua went with him, and tarried in a lower part of the mount all the forty days until he returned, though not so low as the bottom of the mount where the people were, nor so near it as to know what they did there, for of their affairs he seems to be entirely ignorant; nor so high as where Moses was, or, however, not in the cloud where he conversed with God, for of what passed between them he had no knowledge, until declared by Moses: he said unto Moses, there is a noise of war in the camp; such a noise as soldiers make in an onset for battle; he supposed that some enemy was come upon and had attacked the people, and that this noise was the noise of the enemy, or of the Israelites, or both, just beginning the battle; or on the finishing of it on the account of victory on one side or the other; and as he was the general of the army, it must give him a concern that he should be absent at such a time.

It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery; that have got the better of it, and have obtained the victory, and shout on that account; or, “not the voice of a cry of strength”, or “of a strong cry”; that is, of men who have got the victory, and are in high spirits, and shout with a strong voice; and “not the voice of strong men that overcome in battle:” neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; which is not a voice of shouting, but of howling; or, “not the voice of the cry of weakness”, or “of a weak cry”; who being unable to stand their ground are conquered, and make a bitter outcry on falling into the enemy’s hands, or being wounded shriek terribly, and “not the voice of the weak who are overcome by the enemy in battle,” but the noise of them that sing do I hear; as at a merry entertainment, either on a civil or religious account: Moses, who knew what the children of Israel had done, and what they were about, could better judge of the nature of the sound he heard than Joshua could, who knew nothing of what was transacting. (Gill)

What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking.  (Henry)

While Moses was gone there was the first person by whom the thought was communicated; “Moses is more than likely gone and or dead. We will no longer have God leading us or before us. We should make us gods to go before us.” Soon as this was spoken for the first time others jumped on the idea as if the 10 commandments and the commitment to God which had just happened less than two months prior was no longer a part of their memory. This first person who communicated the thought of idol worship easily led others to the same thought. 

We need to be mindful of sin in our thought life as well as sin in what we speak. We may not think of ourselves as a leader of others, but surely others are watching and we do not know how easily our spoken word or actions might lead them away from God. Communicate your doubts, fears, anxiety, and worries to God, acknowledge them, confess them, and ask God to forgive them and fill you with more understanding and wisdom of His great power and might, so that you can rest assured on Him alone and not the circumstance(s) that give you reason to doubt.

44.q. “Wilderness” – 8.w. “The law of the LORD is perfect”

 

Exodus 32:15-16  Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Deuteronomy 9:15    So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands

 Psalms 19:7     The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

 2 Corinthians 3:3   And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

 Hebrews 8:10    For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 “For as he is the sole author of law and justice, so he alone can write them on the heart of man.” (Clarke)

All law and morality must come from God’s standard and character and not be up to the opinion or changing values of men. (Guzik)

Note what was the sin here. It is generally taken for granted that it was a breach of the second, not of the first, commandment, and Aaron’s proclamation of ‘a feast to the Lord’ is taken as proving this. Aaron was probably trying to make an impossible compromise, and to find some salve for his conscience; but it does not follow that the people accepted the half-and-half suggestion. Leaders who try to control a movement which they disapprove, by seeming to accept it, play a dangerous game, and usually fail. But whether the people call the calf ‘Jehovah’ or ‘Apis’ matters very little. There would be as complete apostasy to another god, though the other god was called by the same name, if all that really makes his ‘name’ was left out, and foreign elements were brought in. Such worship as these wild dances, offered to an image, broke both the commandments, no matter by what name the image was invoked. The roots of idolatry are in all men. (MacLaren)

What a change it is, to come down from the mount of communion with God, to converse with a wicked world. In God we see nothing but what is pure and pleasing; in the world nothing but what is sinful and provoking. (Henry)

The awakened conscience is said to “repent,” when, having felt its sin, it feels also the divine forgiveness: it is at this crisis that God, according to the language of Scripture, repents toward the sinner. Thus, the repentance of God made known in and through the One true Mediator reciprocates the repentance of the returning sinner, and reveals to him atonement. (Barnes)

44.p. “Wilderness” – 8.v. “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people”

 

Exodus 32:11-14  But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

 Deuteronomy 9:18-20    Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger.  For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also.

 Psalms 106:23   Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them

 Deuteronomy 9:26-29    And I prayed to the LORD, ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

In his prayer, Moses first gave the people back to God. “LORD, they belong to You and not to me. Moses then appealed to God on the basis of grace. “LORD, we didn’t deserve to be brought out of Egypt to begin with. You did it by Your grace, not because we deserved it. Please don’t stop dealing with us by grace.”  Moses next appealed to God on the basis of glory. “LORD, this will bring discredit to You in the eyes of the nations. The Egyptians will think of You as a cruel God who led your people out to the desert to kill them. Don’t let anyone think that of You, God.” Finally, Moses appealed to God on the basis of His goodness. “LORD, keep Your promises. You are a good God who is always faithful. Don’t break Your promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.” “Undoubtedly Moses was filled with compassion for the people, but his chief concern was for the honor of the name of God.” (Guzik)

Why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people? so as to think or speak of consuming them utterly; otherwise he knew there was reason for his being angry and wroth with them; but though they were deserving of his hot wrath and displeasure, and even to be dealt with in the manner proposed, yet he entreats he would consider they were his people; his special people, whom he had chose above all people, and had redeemed them from the house of bondage, had given them laws, and made a covenant with them, and many promises unto them, and therefore hoped he would not consume them in his hot displeasure; God had called them the people of Moses, and Moses retorts it, and calls them the people of God, and makes use of their relation to him as an argument with him in their favour; (Gill)

Do you ever wonder how often we may have displeased God with our actions? Do you ever think about how many times Jesus Christ, sitting at the Right hand of God, has interceded on our behalf? How many minutes and hours go by every day without a thought about Jesus Christ, God’s Word, and things of God?  We live free from the guilt of sin because of the substitutional death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are not set free to live as we will or according to this world’s pleasure.  We are to live in such a way that in all we think, say, and do, Jesus Christ is honored and glorified.