MOVE ON
Exodus 33:1 – “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’”
One of the biggest blunders Israel ever made (and boy did they make ‘em!) is in the previous chapter. Exodus 32 details the painful disobedience of Israel while Moses was on Mt. Sinai meeting with God. Verse 1 tells us that when Moses delayed to come down the people decided to take action. They made a golden calf to take place of Jehovah. God sent Moses to the revelry and had purposed to judge them by giving Moses a different group of people to lead. Moses interceded and changed the destiny of Israel. When Moses arrives to the camp and sees the calf and the dancing, verse 19 says that his “anger burned hot.” He destroys the calf, rebukes Aaron and then calls the people to a decision: “Who is on the Lord’s side?”
It is certainly a defining moment in the early history of this infant nation. Their sin would come at a high price. They forfeited the nearness of God’s presence (33:3). Even though they will have to pay for their sin, Chapter 33 verse 1, our text above, opens with hope for the future. God tells them to leave their sin and defeat behind and get to the place of promise.
The enemy would love nothing more than to paralyze you and hold you in the place of defeat and shame. He desires to immobilize you that you would feel the weight of your sin to the point of giving up. However, Jesus paid that price for you. There is forgiveness. There is life after sin…as long as you and I are humble and repentant. Once you’ve prayed that prayer of humility, don’t stay in the same place. It’s time to MOVE ON.