By God's grace, you're different than the world. So separate yourself from it.
Exodus 34:1-16 (NIV)
CONTEXT: After a long time, Moses had returned to Israel carrying two tablets of Law, written with God's own finger. But he smashed the tablets in anger when he saw the Israelites 'worshipping' a golden calf.
The LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”
10 Then the LORD said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. s 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15 “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 28: The Obligations of Church Members
We believe that
since this holy assembly and congregation
is the gathering of those who are saved
and there is no salvation apart from it,
no one ought to withdraw from it,
content to be by himself,
regardless of his status or condition.
But all people are obliged
to join and unite with it,
keeping the unity of the church
by submitting to its instruction and discipline,
by bending their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ,
and by serving to build up one another,
according to the gifts God has given them
as members of each other
in the same body.
And to preserve this unity more effectively,
it is the duty of all believers,
according to God’s Word,
to separate themselves
from those who do not belong to the church,
in order to join this assembly
wherever God has established it,
even if civil authorities and royal decrees forbid
and death and physical punishment result.
And so,
all who withdraw from the church
or do not join it
act contrary to God’s ordinance.
Summary
Once again, God called the representative of His sinful people back up the mountain to meet with Him, and once again the holiness of God is made evident. No one - neither man or beast - could be anywhere near Mount Sinai when God's presence descended upon it. The primary definition of holiness is separated, and our Holy God must be totally separate from sinful people.
As the LORD makes Himself known to Moses, He announces both His mercy and justice: He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Yet, the LORD says, speaking of Himself in the second person, He does not leave the guilty unpunished. In fact, the punishment for one will extend to subsequent generations.
The Israelites definitely deserve the latter half of that arrangement. Their story is one of constant rebellion and back talk, culminating with their replacement of their invisible God with a very visible image of a calf, before which they bowed down and then "got up to indulge in revelry" (Exodus 32:6).
But yet these are not ordinary sinners. They're God's covenant people, and although He's justifiably furious with them for their sin, but rather than giving them the punishment they deserve, God renews His covenant promises to them (v10).
Dig Deeper
It's v12-16 that catch our attention today. Although there's hundreds, if not thousands of daily devotionals like this one published on the internet, my guess is that very few, if any, have focused on Exodus 34:12-16 for their daily inspiration. These verses are not popular, and some of the most popular evangelical speakers declare that Christians ought to "unhitch" themselves from these type of Old Testament passages.
But you must pay attention to God's commands here, because as a Christian, you too are part of God's covenant people. You have a special relationship to Him that others do not. Through Christ, you have been made holy, so therefore you must be separate from the pagan world around you.
Certainly your circumstances are far different from those of these Israelites making their way through the desert. You're not likely going to be tempted to enter into national treaties and you're no longer called to smash sacred stones.
But as a member of Christ's church and a covenant child of God, the principles God set down for His people then remain just as relevant for you today as they did then. You must, as our Confession puts it, "separate yourself from those who do not belong to the church in order to join" the Church. Know that this will be massively unpopular, and in our secular society that's becoming increasingly hostile to Christianity, it may even be deemed illegal.
Yet, be reminded that you have confessed to do so "even if civil authorities and royal decrees forbid and death and physical punishment result."
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Spirit will help you identify areas of your life that need more separation from the world;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 1 Timothy 3
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