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Moses Mountain Climbing Meter: 7️⃣

Hang in there, Moses. This is the last one til Nebo.

Chapter 34 seems to be the bookend for chapter 24. In both, God calls Moses up alone for 40 days. In both he ends up with a set of stone tablets.

But this time Moses has asked to see God’s glory, so when he gets up on the mountain…

“the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” And Moses hurried to bow low toward the ground and worship.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭34‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

God’s name (which reads to us like a description) is 34 words in Hebrew. This is Who the Almighty is. But. We need to balance this proclamation with the whole of scripture. Because there’s this one:

“You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭5‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

And this one…

“You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

And this:

“The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.” Ezekiel‬ ‭18‬:‭20‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

I bring these texts up because if you took 34:7 in isolation, one might mistakenly think that God wants the godly and repentant children of wicked parents to suffer for their parents’ sinful actions. Not so.

But what I really want to drill into is the problem in God’s name.

A problem? Lacy, how can you dare to make such a statement?

Look at it yourself and tell me this isn’t a problem. Let me break it up so it’s easier to see:

compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin

yet…

He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished

🤔

Let me get this straight…

1. Yahweh MUST forgive sin. It’s Who He is. It’s His name. He must be compassionate and merciful. If He does not forgive sin, He is no longer Yahweh.

2. Yahweh MUST punish the ones guilty of sin. He cannot leave the guilty unpunished. It’s Who He is. It’s His name. If He lets the guilty off the hook unpunished, He is no longer Yahweh.

See what I mean?

To Moses’ credit, he responds the only way a human in such a situation can respond: he immediately falls on his face in worship of this Infinite Being Who is perfectly balanced in Truth and Love, Justice and Mercy.

We tend to lean more towards one or the other.

You’ll have your hell fire and brimstone churches who lean heavily into God’s punishment of the wicked. I can’t blame them. I want the wicked to be punished too. I want every murderer who has brutally snuffed out the life of a beloved child to be punished. I want those grieving parents to get justice. Sometimes, though, the punishment-churches get out of balance. Like when all the clothes in the washer get on one side in the spin cycle. They make a racket and shake things apart. They don’t want to preach the Gospel to homosexuals or child predators. They’d just as soon see them burn at the stake.

But there are also churches that lean more into God’s mercy and forgiveness. (Pretty sure there are way more of these). And I can’t blame them. The grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ is described by the Apostle Paul as “scandalous.” It’s the Greek word skandalon, translated here as “offense.”

“as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” Romans‬ ‭9‬:‭33‬ ‭ESV‬‬

But it’s possible to tip so far over into the grace and forgiveness of God – to the exclusion of His justice – that you end up an All-Dogs-Go-To-Heaven Universalist. There’s no need to repent or stop sinning. God forgives and you’re fine like you are. #LoveWins. Taken to its extreme you get polyamorous and other sexually aberrant “Christians” in churches where they feel comfortable and all the texts about God punishing sin are ignored. They’re not worshipping the biblical Yahweh. They’re worshiping a god made in their own minds.

Neither one is correct. They are both out of balance. You know, balance? Also called “temperance” or “self control.” It’s a fruit of the Spirit.

BOTH justice and mercy are perfectly balanced in Yahweh.

But how does He do it? How can He simultaneously punish the sinner and yet forgive sin?

Here’s your answer.

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Cross was not a Plan B or a Divine knee-jerk reaction to the sin of mankind. The Cross was always – from eternity past – in the very nature of Yahweh Who does not change.

By pouring out the punishment for sin upon the head of the sinless Son of God, God’s justice and commitment to punish sin are satisfied. And it’s not symbolic. Jesus became sin and took it upon Himself so sin could actually be punished.

By making forgiveness of sin freely available to all who come to Christ, God’s mercy and commitment to forgive sin are satisfied. This is also not symbolic. Those who repent and believe the Gospel ARE actually forgiven. We have the spotless record of Christ applied to our accounts.

Salvation can only work this way. There is no other solution because only God can solve His own “problem.” There are plenty of other salvation theories out there but I have yet to see one that takes God’s whole name into account.

There is no forgiveness of sin apart from Jesus Christ because only Christ took the punishment for sin.

Oh- and that punishment is death by the way.

You can pay for your own sin. But then there’s a problem. You’ve paid the price but now you’re stuck. Dead.

This is why the bodily Resurrection of Christ is critical to Christian doctrine. Jesus took the punishment for sin: death. But because He was not actually guilty of any sin, it was illegal for Him to die. So He had the right to reclaim His life.

And to those who come to Christ by faith, and who take up our crosses and follow Him, identify with Him in His crucifixion by crucifying our sinful natures and receiving God’s forgiveness…

We also get to share in His resurrection. And we are promised by God that because our sins have been paid for in Christ, it is now illegal for death to have any claim on us. The debt collector has nothing to collect because the debt has been paid.

If God’s name is true- and it is- those who come to Christ MUST rise from the dead and have a real life in a real body. God has staked His name- His Divine reputation on it. He WILL forgive. He MUST.

This is HUGE. And this is the Gospel. And humans didn’t come up with it. It’s far too stupendous an idea. And it’s all right there in God’s amazing name.

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I’m gonna stop right there. No commentary on chapter 35 today. I’ll see ya in chapter 36 when the tabernacle construction begins.