Thought for the Week 22 October 2023

Last week we looked at Exodus 32, which had some difficult things that gave us pause for thought. The Golden Calf story doesn’t end where we left it, the implications of the incident reverberate throughout the rest of the book. One of the reasons why Moses is considered a prophet is a prophet ‘stands in the gap’, they speak God’s words to the people but they also speak the people’s words to God. In chapters 33 and 34 Moses continues pleading the people’s case before God. For us who live in light of Christ’s saving work, this can sound a bit foreign to us. But we too have an intermediary. As Paul says to the church in Rome, Christ is in fact at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us (Rom 8:34).  Acknowledging where Exodus is in the story of God’s whole saving plan in Jesus can help us with some of the difficult parts of the text.

Passages like the Gold Calf can make us wonder sometimes if the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. Our passage today wants to say a resounding Yes! Straight after the Golden Calf, God reveals something deep about his character to Moses in seven attributes: compassionate, gracious, patient, loyal love, faithful, merciful and just. Sounds a lot like how we might describe Jesus, doesn’t it? This is how God describes himself, and it is also how many other Old Testament authors choose to describe God time and time again. By looking for these aspects of God’s character throughout scripture we can see how God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

What words would you use to describe God’s character?

What words would you choose to describe yourself?

Would you choose the same words to describe yourself now as you would have ten years ago? What about 20 years ago?…

Luke Blackbeard