the Third Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 1 of 5
Exodus 32:21-35
Moses was filled with indignation. Just before zealous for the people towards the LORD, now he is zealous for the LORD towards the people. He takes aside Aaron but he makes excuses instead of humbling himself. Then a terrible task is imposed on the sons of Levi to show us that the glory of God must always take precedence before the ties of family or friendship. The sons of Levi are faithful, and the LORD will take account of that later by entrusting them with the service of the tabernacle (Deuteronomy 33:9-10). God will not use us for Himself without having first put our faithfulness to the test.
Finally we find Moses once again in the breach, in the position of an intercessor. He lays bare the facts, unlike Aaron, without hiding anything. But he hopes to be able to make propitiation for the people and offers himself for punishment in their stead. In this he resembles the apostle Paul, who could wish himself "accursed from Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh" (Romans 9:3). But such a sacrifice is not possible. The Scriptures declare that a man can by no "means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him" (Psalms 49:7) and that "every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Romans 14:12). Christ alone could make atonement for the sinner, because He himself was without sin.
