Exodus 32, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God’s Heart - November 1, 2021

“Relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews” (Esther 4:14). Mordecai said those words. Though a holocaust had been declared, Mordecai changed from desperate wailing to issuing this bold statement. What happened? Well it dawned on Mordecai that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was alive and well and undefeated in battle. God had not forgotten his role as a covenant keeper. God’s heart was still attached to his people—a remnant living in exile in Persia. The Jews had no king, no temple, no priesthood, no sacrifices. No matter. God is to problems what a hurricane is to a mosquito – no match. Mordecai got this. Do you?

Yes, the journey ahead includes deep waters. But the scripture promises, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” (Isaiah 43:2).

Exodus 32

“Make Gods for Us”

When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, “Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what’s happened to him?”

2-4 So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” They all did it; they removed the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands and cast it in the form of a calf, shaping it with an engraving tool.

The people responded with enthusiasm: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from Egypt!”

5 Aaron, taking in the situation, built an altar before the calf.

Aaron then announced, “Tomorrow is a feast day to God!”

6 Early the next morning, the people got up and offered Whole-Burnt-Offerings and brought Peace-Offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink and then began to party. It turned into a wild party!

7-8 God spoke to Moses, “Go! Get down there! Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have fallen to pieces. In no time at all they’ve turned away from the way I commanded them: They made a molten calf and worshiped it. They’ve sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are the gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”

9-10 God said to Moses, “I look at this people—oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I’ll make a great nation out of you.”

11-13 Moses tried to calm his God down. He said, “Why, God, would you lose your temper with your people? Why, you brought them out of Egypt in a tremendous demonstration of power and strength. Why let the Egyptians say, ‘He had it in for them—he brought them out so he could kill them in the mountains, wipe them right off the face of the Earth.’ Stop your anger. Think twice about bringing evil against your people! Think of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you gave your word, telling them ‘I will give you many children, as many as the stars in the sky, and I’ll give this land to your children as their land forever.’”

14 And God did think twice. He decided not to do the evil he had threatened against his people.

15-16 Moses turned around and came down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of The Testimony. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. God made the tablets and God wrote the tablets—engraved them.

17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting noisily, he said to Moses, “That’s the sound of war in the camp!”

18 But Moses said,

Those aren’t songs of victory,
And those aren’t songs of defeat,
I hear songs of people throwing a party.

19-20 And that’s what it was. When Moses came near to the camp and saw the calf and the people dancing, his anger flared. He threw down the tablets and smashed them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, melted it down with fire, pulverized it to powder, then scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

21 Moses said to Aaron, “What on Earth did these people ever do to you that you involved them in this huge sin?”

22-23 Aaron said, “Master, don’t be angry. You know this people and how set on evil they are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.’

24 “So I said, ‘Who has gold?’ And they took off their jewelry and gave it to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf.”

25-26 Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. He took up a position at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is on God’s side, join me!” All the Levites stepped up.

27 He then told them, “God’s orders, the God of Israel: ‘Strap on your swords and go to work. Crisscross the camp from one end to the other: Kill brother, friend, neighbor.’”

28 The Levites carried out Moses’ orders. Three thousand of the people were killed that day.

29 Moses said, “You confirmed your ordination today—and at great cost, even killing your sons and brothers! And God has blessed you.”

30 The next day Moses addressed the people: “You have sinned an enormous sin! But I am going to go up to God; maybe I’ll be able to clear you of your sin.”

31-32 Moses went back to God and said, “This is terrible. This people has sinned—it’s an enormous sin! They made gods of gold for themselves. And now, if you will only forgive their sin. .?.?.?But if not, erase me out of the book you’ve written.”

33-34 God said to Moses, “I’ll only erase from my book those who sin against me. For right now, you go and lead the people to where I told you. Look, my Angel is going ahead of you. On the day, though, when I settle accounts, their sins will certainly be part of the settlement.”

35 God sent a plague on the people because of the calf they and Aaron had made.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, November 01, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 47
(NIV)
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

1 Clap your hands,y all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.z

2 For the Lord Most Higha is awesome,b

the great Kingc over all the earth.

3 He subduedd nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

4 He chose our inheritancee for us,

the pride of Jacob,f whom he loved.b

5 God has ascendedg amid shouts of joy,h

the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.i

6 Sing praisesj to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

7 For God is the King of all the earth;k

sing to him a psalml of praise.

8 God reignsm over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.n

9 The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the kingsc of the earth belong to God;o

he is greatly exalted.

Insight

Out of the 150 psalms recorded in the Bible, eleven are attributed to the “sons of Korah.” So, who were they? It appears they descended from Korah (which means “little bald head”), a Levite who joined three others (Dathan, Abiram, and On) in leading a rebellion against Moses’ leadership in Numbers 16:1–40. The consequences of that revolt saw Korah and his followers literally swallowed up by the earth (vv. 31–32). The Lexham Bible Dictionary suggests that “the manner of Korah’s demise likely influenced their (the sons of Korah) approach to composing psalms, which include many references to Sheol [the abode of the dead].” In addition to composing psalms, 1 Chronicles 9:19 says that the sons of Korah were also responsible for protecting the entrance to the tabernacle—Israel’s first “house” of worship and the center of their national life until the temple was constructed. By: Bill Crowder

Ring the Bell

Shout to God with cries of joy.
Psalm 47:1

After an astounding thirty rounds of radiation treatments, Darla was finally pronounced cancer-free. As part of hospital tradition, she was eager to ring the “cancer-free bell” that marked the end of her treatment and celebrated her clean bill of health. Darla was so enthusiastic and vigorous in her celebratory ringing that the rope actually detached from the bell! Peals of joyous laughter ensued.

Darla’s story brings a smile to my face and gives me a sense of what the psalmist might have envisioned when he invited the Israelites to celebrate God’s work in their lives. The writer encouraged them to “clap [their] hands,” “shout to God,” and “sing praises” because God had routed their enemies and chosen the Israelites as His beloved people (Psalm 47:1, 6).

God doesn’t always grant us victory over our struggles in this life, whether health-related or financial or relational. He’s worthy of our worship and praise in even those circumstances because we can trust that He’s still “seated on his holy throne” (v. 8). When He does bring us to a place of healing—at least in a way we recognize in this earthly life—it’s cause for great celebration. We may not have a physical bell to ring, but we can joyfully celebrate His goodness to us with the same kind of exuberance Darla showed. By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

How do you show your gratitude to God? What good work has He done in your life recently that merits celebration?

Thank You, God, for Your many gifts to me. I shout my praises to You and clap my hands in celebration of Your work in my life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 01, 2021
  
“You Are Not Your Own”

Do you not know that…you are not your own? —1 Corinthians 6:19

There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into intimacy with the gospel, and things happen that appear to have nothing to do with us. But God is getting us into fellowship with Himself. Let Him have His way. If you refuse, you will be of no value to God in His redemptive work in the world, but will be a hindrance and a stumbling block.

The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth. He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought into submission to His way for the purpose of His redemption. Why shouldn’t we experience heartbreak? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God’s purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our deathbed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, as if to say, “Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.” If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come.  Shade of His Hand, 1226 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 24-26; Titus 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 01, 2021

Dirty Dead, Clean Dead, Dead Dead - #9081

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and honestly, this is a true story. Friends of ours have a big dog. And their neighbor threatened them about that dog. She had this white fluffy rabbit and a rabbit hutch in her backyard. And she said, "I'll tell you, if that dog ever hurts that rabbit of mine, I'll sue you for everything you're worth."

Well, the friends of the friends had to leave a young man in charge of their house for one week, and the first couple of nights he came home from work and everything was fine. The third night he came home from work, and he saw the dog in the backyard playing with a dead animal. Yeah. He went over and he found uh-huh, the bloody, dirty, muddy remains of that rabbit.

He panicked. He ran into the house, he put it in the kitchen sink, he started to scrub it up, hoping somehow he could cover up what he felt the dog had done. So, he literally washed off all the mud, all the blood, he blew it dry so it would be all fluffy again. Can you imagine a blow dryer on a dead rabbit? Come on.

Well, he sneaked out in the middle of the night, put it back in the rabbit hutch and went back to the house. The next morning he heard a scream next door; he heard the woman screaming. He ran over there. He said, "What happened?" She's jumping up and down; she said, "Look! He's back! He's back! My rabbit died two days ago, and I buried him and he's back! It's a miracle!" No ma'am, this is not a miracle. Actually, there are lots of people trying to make that kind of miracle in their own lives, and it won't work.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dirty Dead, Clean Dead, Dead Dead."

Our word for today from the Word of God - Ephesians 2. I'll be reading in verse 1. "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. For it is by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works so that no one can boast."

Now, it's interesting that this passage says that the condition that we're in before we open our lives to Christ is we're dead. That means we don't need a bath; we need a resurrection like that rabbit. So, what does dead mean? Well, dead here spiritually means that you're separated from God by your sins. The "me first" way that I've lived my whole life; it's called sin. So instead of God being first, I've been first. The result is that the God you were made by and the God you were made for, well, you shut Him out and you're dead inside.

That house sitter had something dead to deal with. He did all he could. He washed it, fluffed it, put it in a nice setting, but it was still dead. See, dirty dead, clean dead, it's all dead dead. Oh, we laugh at his efforts, but it's possible you've been depending on the same approach to get to God to deal with your sin, to get to heaven when you die. Oh, you were a religious person; you've cleaned up the outside: maybe been baptized, or christened, confirmed, you joined a church, you read the Bible, you pray, you help people. It's all good, but it only cleans the outside.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says it's not about anything you can do to get to God. It's trusting in what Christ has done when He died on the cross for you. If there was some way, something you could do to get to God, He would never have allowed His Son to go through the agony and brutality of that cross. It took that to forgive you and to bring you back to life.

Oh, you could make a dirty person clean, but only God can make a dead person live. We try every way to make it on our own spiritually, but we can't. That's why Christ gave His life. If you die without Christ, you'll be separated from God forever. But He's in your reach right now. You feel that knocking on the inside? Let Him in. Tell Him, "Jesus, you're my only hope of being forgiven. your death on the cross. I am yours beginning today."

We'd love to help you begin this relationship with Him. It's what our website's all about. We can connect if you'll get to ANewStory.com.

Jesus won't just make a dead person clean; He'll make a dead person alive who can then live forever.