Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Exodus 34 before reading the devotional below.
When you break your stuff when you’re mad, it just means you have to go through some difficult steps to get new stuff. Moses has to climb back up Mount Sinai to chisel out some more stones to have God write his Ten Commandments on for a second time. (And by the way, he had to cut the stones at the bottom of the mountain and climb up with them without help. He’s probably going to stop throwing things after that…)
God gives Moses a hopeful message after sin had separated God’s people from him. He tells Moses that he doesn’t stay mad, and that he is eager to forgive. However, the consequences of rebellion are generational. Sin can’t be ignored or it will fester and take over the people. Imagine what might have happened to God’s people if he had not responded to their idol worship. Eventually they would be no different than any other people who have never known God and the life he offers. Moses returns to the bottom of the mountain after another 40 days has gone by and this time his face is glowing because he has spoken to God. The effects of God’s presence are so strong that Moses has to cover his face with a veil so as to not blind those around him.
Here’s your freedom for today: the presence of God changes you. We don’t get a description of Moses’ climb up the mountain carrying two heavy stones, but I imagine that he had a lot of things to think about on that uphill journey. Surely it changed parts of his heart and mind. He was carrying the weight of the sins of the people, which brings up images of Jesus carrying the cross up a hill. More obviously, Moses is physically changed as his face begins to glow after talking with God. We know that today all of us who follow Jesus have this privilege of direct communication. What does that mean about the way God’s presence changes us? In what way is he burning his Spirit into you in a way that is supernaturally brilliant?