July 23, 2021
I greet and bless you in the name of our Creator, Maker, and ever unforgettable Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed word that the Lord has given for you today is from the book of Exodus 33:19, “And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. “
Moses pleads with God, “Show me thy glory!” And God answers, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, Yahweh. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”God’s Glory and God’s Name are significant according to God. When Moses asked God to reveal His Glory, God proclaims to him his name. In other words, if you grasp the name of God, you will see his glory.
God uses His name to denote certain aspects of his Glory and Power. The name Yahweh represents, “I am who I am. But in the above context His name denotes His merciful nature. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. In the first case the focus was on the existence of God —determining his personality or power. In the second case the focus is on the gracious action of God — that he does what he does determining his choices. This is what God reveals about himself when Moses asks to see God’s glory. The Glory of God Is His Sovereign Freedom. It is the glory of God to be gracious to whomever he pleases. His will moves in directions that he alone determines. And to change his will are influences, which ultimately he has ordained. His choice to show mercy to one person and not to another is a choice that originates in the mystery of his sovereign will, and not in the will of his creature. And the above context teaches us that this self-determining freedom of God is his name and his glory.
God says to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them.”But Moses responds to God with a desperate prayer for the people. He makes his case not on the basis of Israel’s worth but on the basis of God’s worth. “Your name will be profaned among the Egyptians, and your word to the fathers will fall.” So God relented. Having heard the prayer of Moses God resumes his purpose to send the Israelites to the Promised Land. God said to Moses, “But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you.” But Moses was not satisfied with an unknown angel. Moses said, “If thy presence will not go with me, do not carry us up from here.”This is an astonishing request. For God had said earlier said, “ I will not go up among you, lest I consume you in the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” But Moses says that if God will not go up with them, he won’t go either. Moses is holding out for something unspeakable — that a Holy God will have so much mercy upon a stiff-necked people that He will not only go up with them to the promised land, but also, that God would make them distinct among all the peoples of the earth. Moses’s request was unthinkable, So God said, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do; for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name.” In other words, God agreed to go up with this stiff-necked people. This decision of God to go with the people is pure grace.
To those of you reading this message I wish to say, that we too are stiff necked people like the people of Israel full of pride, arrogant and disobedient to God. We always look for blessing without realizing our wicked and crooked ways. We never wish to mend our ways. We think we are too great and boast of our personality, our beauty, our status in the society, our achievements without realizing that they are gifts given to us graciously by God. Though the people of Israel were stiff necked, God had been merciful to them, and led them to the Promised Land as a pillar of cloud during the day and as a pillar of fire during the night. His presence went before them. God will be merciful to you also in spite of your wrong ways, provided you humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Be hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober minded, just and self controlled. Speak the things which are proper. Then God will bless you for God blesses those who fear the Lord, and delights in His Commandments. God Bless you.
Prayer: Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Loving Lord Jesus, we thank you for speaking to us through your word. Lord help us to be like Moses not to do anything, or go anywhere without your presence. Teach us to intercede for others like him. Be merciful to us Oh God. Help us to live a righteous life. Meet our day to day needs. Thank you for the blessings you have showered upon us. Take care of us under your mighty hands. Protect us and guard us.
In Jesus Name We Pray.
Amen.
