We are nearing the end of my posts from the book of Exodus, but there are a couple more things I want to point out to you about who God is and how He keeps His promises. Today, we will rediscover something each of us has experienced with our loving, merciful God. He is a God of second, third, fourth, and infinite chances.
I have chosen Exodus 34:1-2,4, 27-28, and 35:1 to illustrate how God offers the obstinate, rebellious Israelites a second chance to fulfill their role as His chosen people. If you haven’t read last week’s post entitled “Heroic,” please do so now to contextualize today’s beautiful story.https://www.cosdavis.com/heroic/
God gives Israel a second chance.
As the curtain closes on the drama in Exodus 33, God has granted Moses’ request to know Him more deeply by revealing more of His glory. Chapter 34 opens with what must have been a great surprise to Moses! God has a way of delighting His servants with things too good to imagine! So, what is God going to do? He will re-establish the covenant with Israel.
“Now the Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to me on top of the mountain.'” Exodus 34:1-2
Moses had shattered the original covenant tablets, symbolizing Israel’s literal destruction of the covenant through their idolatry. God had initiated the original covenant with Israel, calling them to be His special people through which He planned to bless all nations. So, what does it mean that He now tells Moses to bring two more stone tablets for a second set of commandments? Despite the evil, rebellious spirit of the Israelites, He wants to give them another chance to be the people He had chosen them to be. He is a God of second chances!
We may be quick to criticize the Israelites for their stubbornness and unfaithfulness, but how many times has God given us another chance to start over or pick up where we left off after disobeying Him? His love for us is so deep and unshakeable that He doesn’t give up on us. Jesus’ death on the cross tells us how far He was willing to go to rescue us from our sin and pride. Thank you, Lord, that you are a God of another chance. Help us understand, love you in return, and not use your mercy as an excuse to sin.
Moses’ prayer for a second chance was answered.
Can you imagine how Moses’ heart leaped in his chest, how excitement and energy coursed through his body upon hearing this word from the Lord! How did Moses respond to God’s offer of mercy and grace? He didn’t delay, didn’t question God, but did exactly what God told him to do.
“So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he took the stone tablets in his hand.” Exodus 34:4
This second chance for Israel was what Moses had been pleading with God for, and now it was happening. What does this tell us about the importance of persistence in prayer? We need to keep asking the Lord for His will to be done in what we are praying about. It may take only a short time for Him to answer, or it may take weeks, months, or years, but God will answer your prayer if your request is within HIs will.
Please understand, prayer is not about asking a stubborn, unloving God to do what He doesn’t want to do. God answers when we, and the conditions we pray about, come together in a way that will honor Him.
God keeps His word about a second chance for Israel
One of the many wonderful things we have learned about God through our study is that He keeps His word. He told Moses to get the tablets ready and come up the mountain. Moses did as he was told, and now we see what God did:
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.'” So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, and he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” Exodus 34:27-28
If there is something you have done or said that has disrupted your fellowship with God, there’s an important promise God has made to you about that. It is found in 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
What do you do with a second chance?
The wise thing to do is to do what you should have done and stop doing what you shouldn’t do. Here is what happened when Moses returned to the Israelites with their second chance.
“Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them. “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.” Exodus 35:1
When God grants us another chance, we need to repent of the wrong we have done and do what His word tells us.