It's Sunday night and I'm glad I have Mag holding me accountable to do my post about our readings. I really loved reading all of the details in building the Tabernacle, but his week Exodus Chapter 34 hit me the most.
"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, "maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7
As I was reading the bottom of my study Bible regarding these verses it talked about children suffering for the sins of their parents. They asked us to consider child abuse and alcoholism as well as selfishness and greed. This bothers me... a lot! I have always considered alcoholism as sickness; not sin. To me it is mental illness (that needs to be treated immediately!). Children definitely suffer because of these sins; there is no question about it. I know God is a forgiving, loving God and can handle any kind of stronghold, especially alcoholism, anxiety and addictions. To me it just seems children suffer enough when they have a parent who is hurting them as a result of their illness. I believe it is genetic (please don't judge me) and I just don't understand why it is treated as sin... that needs to be punished. And what if we are married to an alcoholic - and the whole "in sickness and in health" part? I feel so sorry for spouses, children of alcoholics and victims of child abuse. I have no words to describe how terrible this is for them. It was also interesting that selfishness and greed were compared to it; they just don't seem the same. Those don't seem to hurt my children and grandchildren the same; or is it just as serious? Yes!
"Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." (Exodus 34:14)
This verse helps me better understand the issue above. I love that He is a jealous God and that He does not want us to worship any other god than Himself. I think too many of us use alcohol, anxiety, people, money, food, addictions, etc. as our God. We trust these things for comfort more than we trust God to help us feel better. He loves us SO much that He wants/needs/requires us to trust Him to get us through the trials and storms in our lives. Life is hard; it's not supposed to be easy; this is not Heaven. We are to trust Him in these difficult times and totally depend on Him to get us through the rough times. I love that He is jealous... for us!
" But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out." (Exodus 34:34)
Moses' face was radiant after spending time with the Lord. Isn't that so cool?! He felt the need to cover it with a veil so he would not scare anyone. I love how he removed the veil when he was in the Lord's presence; when he was speaking with him. When we are desperate for God in our life it is necessary to be completely honest with Him and not hide behind anything. He already knows what's going on in our life, but it helps to be real and share our deepest worries and concerns with HIm. He can be trusted. I just love that; I just love Him.
6 comments:
Ex 15: I know the Lord is our Banner - Jehovah Nisi, but I think it is hard for people to grasp He goes out before us, He is the one who hurled Pharaoh's army into the sea not the Israelites. Moses stood in faith, but this time the people of Israel did not battle. The Lord's right hand shattered the enemy. It is important for us to know if we are to do battle over something or stand in faith while the Lord battles on our behalf.
Ex 18: It really jumped out at me this time, Jethro told Moses to take the people's petitions to the Lord, Moses was their advocate, he was a precursor to the Messiah in some ways for the people of Israel. We are so fortunate we have Jesus our Advocate and we pray in the authority of His Name.
We read much about the Sabbath this week as well as consecration and holiness, much of which has been lost in our culture. Keeping the Sabbath is hard to do in a 24/7 society.
Ex 23: The Lord drove the heathens out little by little, He established the borders. As a new testament girl, this is another example of letting God be God and doing things in His time whether it be a spiritual matter or something in the natural realm.
Ex 33:The Cleft of the Rock...He is our hiding place, we are to rest and remain under His wings which can be very hard to do at times.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts this week, Annette. I always need the reminder that He is capable of fighting our battles. I need to learn how to really relax on Sundays. For some reason I don't think we know the true meaning of it.
I want a trip to Texas!! February is quite busy but I would love to sneak away to see my friends! I'm going to keep trying!
Love you,
As I was reading your comments Annette I also needed to be reminded that He is capable of fighting our battles. It is so hard to remember when you are in such a dark place and feel like there is no way out. Thank you for posting this to remind us. Aunt Annie when I was reading Exodus 32 it stood out to me in a different way. All I could focus on was the slow to anger part of it. Its nice to have the same scripture stand out to us so that I can get a different focus on it. I agree with you about why do the children have to get punished. I guess I didnt understand that and that is why I skipped right over it. Thanks for your perspective on it.
ps what an amazing song. I love Kim Walker.
Ang, maybe it is not the end result (alcoholism for example) that is the sin, but times of drinking too much before there is a problem. I think this is an example of His ways are higher than our ways. My friend once explained to her husband his spending addiction was his mistress and he was breaking their vows with the "mistress", not sure if her priest agreed with her, but her husband did and they are about to celebrate their 27 anniversary.
Thanks for the last comment too, Annette. I was just convicted by it big-time!
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