The love of Moses towards his people

[paul]

I would just like to share this i read the other day

The first epistle of Saint Clement to the Corinthians Chapter LIII.—The love of Moses towards his people.
Ye understand, beloved, ye understand well the Sacred Scriptures, and ye
have looked very earnestly into the oracles of God. Call then these things
to your remembrance. When Moses went up into the mount, and abode there,
with fasting and humiliation, forty days and forty nights, the Lord said
unto him, “Moses, Moses, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people
whom thou didst bring out of the land of Egypt have committed iniquity. They
have speedily departed from the way in which I commanded them to walk, and
have made to themselves molten images.”And the Lord said unto him,
“I have spoken to thee once and again, saying, I have seen this people, and,
behold, it is a stiff-necked people: let Me destroy them, and blot out their
name from under heaven; and I will make thee a great and wonderful nation,
and one much more numerous than this.”But Moses said, “Far be it from
Thee, Lord: pardon the sin of this people; else blot me also out of the book
of the living.”O marvellous love! O insuperable perfection! The
servant speaks freely to his Lord, and asks forgiveness for the people, or
begs that he himself might perish along with them.

It's easy here to ask was Moses more loving than God, but i think if we truly examine this, we will find as always God is Love.

I believe God may have been proving Moses, maybe to all who will hear of this.

God chose Moses, and i believe God wants His Love to be in our hearts, as it was in Moses towards his people.

And if we even examine this further, we can see the spirit of Christ even, and a similarity.
Who was prepared to die for His people for the forgiveness of their sin.
And cried out forgive them for they know not what they do.

What can we say today, i sometimes see what a wicked generation, what a thoughtless people we are, seeking after so many vain things daily, and neglecting the Love of God.
But if we examine our own selves, we find we are lacking, we fall to sins as others, maybe we grow out of a lot of our old ways, but we were once as bad as others, maybe even worse than most.
We still fall to sin, hopefully recognize more, aknowledge more our own error, and are more humble and repentant before God and man.

In this i find as we examine our own selves, our own weaknesses, even the worse lives we've lived in the past, and even now with maybe more knowledge, still fall short of the Love of God continually.

I think more in that we grow in knowledge of the Love of God, and our own sin, instead of maybe once wishing evil on another for their sins, we have to recognize our own weakness in them.
Instead of crying out what a wicked people - world, it should more be have mercy on us all, bring your love to us all, help us be a beacon of your Love to this God forsaken world.
Has there are so many suffering in this world, help us to bring them light, to be your Love to them.

I think it's always needful to aknowledge sin, but of ourselves first, so we can deal lovingly, patiently with others.
It is important to rebuke sin, but in the right manner.
Wisely, even cunningly, it is written, be as cunning as a serpent, but as gentle as a dove.
I think there are many examples of this in scripture, it's often we have to hear the stories of another in a similar situation, and when we comprehend suddenly it becomes apparent to us the similar situation in our own lives, and we comprehend the righteous way to deal with it, or the unrighteous way we have.

Got to go now, maybe i'll finsh, or edit or tidy this up later if needs be.

 

[Dondi]

This is what is known as intercession.

God had every right to harbor wrath against His people. For God is just in His Judgement of Sin. The Israelites were a rebellious lot. They disobeyed God consistently.

But while God is Just, Moses appealed to God's mercy. Moses fully knows that Israel deserves God's Wrath. But Moses also knows that God has displayed Mercy upon Israel in the past. Moses, being sinful himself, agrees with God that justice ought to be served, but he appeals to God that the Egyptians will speak evil of Israel that after escaping Egypt, they were laid to waste in the desert, and thus bring shame to name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

You will notice that God isn't going to destroy them completely. In Exodus 32:10, He says:

"Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation."

God will always leave a remnant in Israel.

But dispite this reprieve, the Israelites ended up disbelieving God anyway, when they heeded to the reports of the ten spies that the giants in the Promised Land were too big, resulting in that generation dying off, and a new generation under Joshua leading the people into Canaan.

To summarize: God's wrath was abated because of Moses' intercession. Moses recognize the mediation between God's justice and God's mercy. And like Christ, stood in the gap for his people.