Written with the Finger of God

Ex. 31:18

"And He gave to Moses, when He had finished speaking with Him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God."

In the midst of this holy time, of God recording His covenant with Israel came sin.  It was not enough that the people had seen God deliver them from Egypt, that they had seen the Red Sea parted and become a walking path, and that the Egytpians had been destroyed in that same sea. It was not enough that God had miraculously provided their food and meat on the journey, or that they had made a covenant with God. Impatience carried the day! Without Moses physically there, they sought their own way. Even though Aaron could speak, he obviously wasn't the strong leader that Moses was. When the people came to him, he caved and did what they requested building them a god in the form of a golden calf. He even went so far as to build an altar to the Lord in front of it. How like man to justify his disobedience! 

Moses was on the mountain with God receiving the tablets of testimony written with the finger of God. Even there God knew of their great idolatry and wanted to deal with it harshly, but Moses intervened for them. Yet, when Moses came down the mountain and witnessed the debacle, his anger burned hot and he threw the tablets and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Moses' response mirrored God's and his breaking of the tablets mirrored the horrible effect of the sin of idolatry. The people had broken the first law of God, there shall be no other gods before me! They had violated God's directive!

The situation ended with the question, "Who is on the Lord's side?"  That day 3000 men were slain because of their disobedience. Moses pleaded with God to blot out the sin of the people, but God said He would visit their sin upon them which came in the form of a plague. Sin is no laughing matter with God! "And this is my covenant...I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people." God's law is written on my heart, and these laws I must obey. Do I obey even when the wait is long and my impatience cries out? Do I create idols of my own making? Do I try and pollute the worship of God by mixing in my own ideas, my own values? Do I try and hide my sin like Aaron who claimed that the calf jumped out of the fire? Do I justify making my own decisions apart from God? I must ask myself, am I truly on the Lord's side?

Father,

Teach me how to obey the laws that You have written on my heart. Expose my stubborn will and the creations it crafts to pull my spirit away from You.

In Jesus name,

Amen