Exodus 34

Holy Spirit, we welcome Your presence here as we read and share this post with loved ones In the name of Jesus. We also welcome Your presence into hearts and minds, may we decrease so You can increase In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 34 begins with the LORD instructing Moses to come up to the mountain with fresh tablets of stone to write the ten commandments again (Exodus 34:1-2). As you may recall, Moses broke the first stone tablets that contained the ten commandments when he found the children of Israel worshipping the gold calf (Exodus 32:19).

Previously, Moses inquired of the LORD in chapter 33 but he does it again here and said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance." The LORD God granted His request and also give them a few guidelines on how they should live their lives during their stay in the promised land. For example, the LORD commanded them not to make covenants with the inhabitants of the land where they were going (Exodus 34:12). The LORD commanded the people instead to destroy their sacred pillars and destroy their wooden images for the LORD whose name is jealous is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:13-14). I find it fascinating that one of God's names is jealous. It goes to show how much God hates anything that would take His place in your heart. It is no wonder that the first and greatest commandment that God gave us is, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37).

In case you are wondering, an idol is anything that you put your hope and trust in outside of God.

In the book of Exodus and the Old Testament in general, we see that idols were created either from wood or precious stones. Today, not all idols are birthed from wood or precious stones for instance, a relationship, jobs, kids, ministry, etc can be idols. At the end of the day, the underlying intention is the same as an idol is usually created to gratify the flesh where your 'worship' is turned to your personal works or efforts as opposed to worshipping the creator of all things which is the God of heaven and earth. I believe one of the reasons that God does not want His children creating idols in their lives is because idols destroy identity and purpose where one may find comfort with the 'identity' the idol offers them as opposed to beholding their true identity in who God has created them to be in Christ Jesus. At the end of the day, you are only able to fully know yourself, your identity and purpose as you yield your life and surrender it to God in Christ Jesus.

The LORD said in Jeremiah 17:7, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD."

Our job is solely to put our trust in God who is our source of hope and love people. Often times, it maybe easy to confuse these two where one may find themselves, loving God and trusting people. No wonder society is sometimes plagued with 'trust issues' because no where in the Bible does God ever tell us to trust people because He knew that only Him is trustworthy. Numbers 23:19 reminds us, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

During Moses' time at the mountain, his face started shinning the more time he spent in God's presence. Exodus 34:30 says, "So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him."

In the new Testament, because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we, God's children, are bright shinning lights. "We are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill that cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:14). Unlike Moses that had to hide his face with a veil to preserve the shinning face when he was away from God's presence, we don't have to hide our faces in fear, regret, shame for our light is a bright light that cannot be dimmed. John 1:5 reminds us of the light that we carry as God's children - as the light shines and the darkness did not comprehend it. Hallelujah, glory God.

Prayer: Father God, we thank you for making us the light of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. We thank you that in Christ Jesus we are bright shinning lights that will never be dimmed In the Name of Jesus. Thank you LORD for Your light that is shinning in our hearts, minds, souls and bodies In the name of Jesus. Thank you LORD that You are permanently uprooting and destroying every idol and darkness far from our lives for it is not by power, not by might but by the Spirit of the LORD In the name of Jesus. Thank you LORD God that You are firmly establishing us in our identities and purposes as we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith. Thank you Abba that we are moving from glory to glory as Your sons and daughters and the light shines surrounding our lives and the darkness did not comprehend it In the name of Jesus. Amen. GLORY TO GOD!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Invitation to salvation: If you would like to know the LORD God who from the beginning of creation has always desired to commune with you, dwell on the inside of you to provide wisdom, knowledge, light and be included in the blessings of Christ Jesus as His son and daughter with Him as your loving Father - I invite you to make this confession, "I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that; Jesus Christ, the Son of God came in a human body to die for my sins so that I could have a new life where I am dead to sin and alive to God. I repent of my past sins and enter the Kingdom of light where I choose relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour today and forever." AMEN.

Congratulations, by grace you are saved and are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old life has passed away and you have received the free gift of salvation into your life (2 Corinthians 5:17). To the glory of the Almighty God. Amen. Feel free to reach out to us on info@bibleversionoflife.com. We would love to hear your story! God bless you.