LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Presumption of Israel
Despite the condition of slavery to which God had to lead his people, there was still something missing that Israel needed to learn. In the book of Exodus, on three occasions, Israel still boasts of an obedience and fidelity that it did not have.
“And all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah has spoken, we will do… And Moses came and told the people all the words of Jehovah, and all the laws; and all the people answered with one voice, and said: We will do all the words that the LORD has spoken... And he (Moses) took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, who said: We will do all that the LORD has said, and we will obey” (Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7).
How could a people that has just come out of slavery make such promises? Certainly they did not know themselves; they still had a very high opinion of themselves. For this reason, and so that they finally knew each other, God allowed them to fail over and over again. After every promise came a failure.
After the first promise, they saw that they were not even qualified to stand before God on Mount Sinai, for which they asked Moses to be their interlocutor. After the second and third promises, said on the same occasion, they faced the hardest setback in their history as a people – they set up the golden calf, with which they prostitute themselves next to the mountain of God.
After this fall, God decided to separate himself from Israel, not accepting to walk with them, but to be His Angel in His place. Only that day Israel realized its sorry condition. Then they seemed to understand that they had no competence to make promises to God, but that they had to walk, hoping only for his mercy. They had not been chosen for their virtues, but for being a "rebellious" and "stiff-necked" people.
In Exodus 33:4 it says: "When the people heard this bad news, they dressed in mourning, and no one put on their adornments". And then it is added: "Then the children of Israel stripped off their finery from Mount Horeb". This shows us that they no longer used their normal clothes, as a sign of mourning for having offended God. This act was worth more than a thousand promises. Promises are the product of self-righteousness; instead, an act of contrition reveals the humiliation of those who recognize themselves as incapable, and who have no other recourse than to appeal to the grace of God.
When God saw this noble act of Israel, he modified his sentence and agreed to go with them. He tells Moses, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Ex. 33:14). The humiliation of Israel, his silence regarding new promises, moved the merciful hand of God, and favored him with his presence. And not only that; shortly thereafter God was to reveal to Israel one of the great purposes He had in store for them. Blessed grace of God!