Devotion:
Read Exodus 32:9-14.
Moses has been on Mt Sinai with God for forty days and nights receiving from God the terms of the Covenant and overview of the Tabernacle. God inscribes the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets. But while Moses is there before God, the people at the foot of the mountain have become impatient. They demand that Aaron make visible gods like they're used to. From their gold earrings Aaron fashions a gold calf.
God is utterly disgusted and filled with anger at who he calls, “stiff-necked people,” a reference to a mule or ox which would resist the lead rope and refuse to let its master lead it. Instead it would stiffen its neck against the reins. God vows to destroy them.
Moses appeals to God, boldly interceding for the people of Israel, pleading for mercy rather than condemnation upon them. Notice the basis of Moses' appeals:
· These are your people.
· You have great power.
· Don’t let the enemy, the Egyptians, call you evil.
· You made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.
And in the end God relents and responds positively to Moses' prayer. Because Moses was willing to wrestle with God in prayer, the Lord changes his mind. God spares his people because of his covenant faithfulness, because of his promises to his servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And it is the same with us today. God spares us, forgives us, and looks on us with grace and mercy. With Moses we learn that there is power in prayer. As James wrote: “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16 NLT).
Personal Worship Option:
In your prayer time today remember to praise God for his faithfulness, recall his promises, and ask boldly for God to do great things for you in accordance with his will.
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