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Shortly after crossing the Red Sea Moses led the Israelites to Sinai, the mountain of God. It was here that Israel entered into a covenant relationship with the Lord. (EX. 19:1-9). The people were terrified by the voice of God and they told Moses "speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." (EX. 20:20)

According to their request God called Moses to the mountain to receive the law. During his absence the Israelites began to waver in their faith. In our devotional passage we see that the people wondered if he would ever come back and thus asked Aaron to make a god for them. This was a violation of the first commandment and thus broke the covenant with the Lord. Notice that although God was very angry with the people He did not destroy the whole nation. He was entirely within His legal right to do so and He even proposed such a solution to Moses. But he subsequently relented at the intervention of Moses and in His grace and mercy He "did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened." Vs. 14

As you read the passage think about how fickle the Israelites were. They had only been in a covenant relationship with God for about one month and already they had broken the premier commandment. Are we not often as fickle as the Israelites? We go to worship on Sunday but it's not very late on Monday before we have sinned against God in some form or fashion. We must also keep in mind that sin has its consequences. Although God was merciful and did not destroy the nation, the people did suffer for their sin. Three thousand died that day by the sword and others later died in a plague. Discuss ways that we can suffer consequences for our own sin. For example, we can have health problems because of alcohol or tobacco use. Spend time in prayer thanking God for His grace and mercy because He continues to love us in spite of our shortcomings.

Jim Leadabrand