One of the things that the Bible Recap (my designated Bible reading program through 2024) talks about daily is a “God Shot.” A God Shot is a glimpse of the Lord, drawn from the current day’s reading, and where He was in this particular bit of history and how He moved or impacted the people in the story. Throughout the Book of Exodus, I found that my God Shot often was His justice.
I’ve wrestled with God’s justice a lot in my life. This has shown particularly in my strong feelings and convictions about undergoing trials and tribulations, something that I still struggle with even now. But I hope I can show that, even with all my thoughts and feelings on the matter, I still want to know God’s justice even when it appears that He may not be moving. The Book of Exodus has been providing that.
Contrasted with that of two years ago when I last really dug into this particular book, my attention is less on the Israelites’ grumbling, complaining, and rebellion, and more on where God is in the midst of all the activity going on. (To be clear, I still notice their rebellion!) I’m seeing more and more of His longsuffering than anything. Already, just seeing that is helping me understand and apply His patience to my current circumstances in life, as well as some potential future circumstances.
There were a few passages I wanted to highlight in this post:
I’ve wrestled with God’s justice a lot in my life. This has shown particularly in my strong feelings and convictions about undergoing trials and tribulations, something that I still struggle with even now. But I hope I can show that, even with all my thoughts and feelings on the matter, I still want to know God’s justice even when it appears that He may not be moving. The Book of Exodus has been providing that.
Contrasted with that of two years ago when I last really dug into this particular book, my attention is less on the Israelites’ grumbling, complaining, and rebellion, and more on where God is in the midst of all the activity going on. (To be clear, I still notice their rebellion!) I’m seeing more and more of His longsuffering than anything. Already, just seeing that is helping me understand and apply His patience to my current circumstances in life, as well as some potential future circumstances.
There were a few passages I wanted to highlight in this post:
And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” Exodus 19:3-6, NKJV
When I read the above, it shows me that God has a plan and a purpose for those who love Him. And this is the old covenant! We haven’t even gotten to the new covenant yet, and His desire to have a close relationship with His people is starkly evident.
Further down the chapter, God spoke something to Moses that really stood out to me on the day this appeared in my reading.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. Exodus 19:9, NKJV
The underlines in the above passage are mine. This was a case of God really trying, really stooping, really wanting to get through to the rebellious, complaining, ungrateful Israelite people that God Himself chose to rescue them from captivity. These Israelites were not believing Moses generally, but here, after God had given the first of His commands (this took place before the Ten Commandments were revealed) and the people’s response was that they would obey whatever He tells them to do. The verse above is His response to that.
And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7, NKJV
The above passage states God’s justice quite clearly, I think. He’s a just God, and He’s also a God who is slow to anger and quick to mercy, as stated more succinctly here:
The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. Psalm 103:8-9, NKJV
My frustration historically has been why, to my perception, He doesn’t punish the evil. But the passage from Exodus clearly states that He does punish the evil, and there are countless spots especially across the Old Testament where he not only punished the evil individuals but completely obliterated them (Sodom and Gomorrah, King Belshazzar of Babylon, and Jezebel, just to name a few). However, what is also true is this:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9, NKJV
The other thing that stood out to me about God in Exodus was His holiness. A more in-depth analysis on His Holiness can be found in the link here.
The author and narrator of the Bible Recap daily videos also had this to say, specific to animal sacrifices (because God is holy), which I found quite helpful:
By the way, if the idea of animal sacrifice bothers you, here is something that may be helpful to remember: God isn’t the One causing it; man’s sin is. Hebrews 9:22 says: “under the Law, almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” This is His provision. We should never be angrier at God’s provision for our sin than at our sin itself.
The narrator went on to spell out how being holy means to be set apart. As I continued reflecting on this, I thought about the following Bible verse:
For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. Leviticus 11:45, NKJV
Another way to think of this is: “You shall therefore be set apart, for I (God) am set apart.”
The Bible Recap host continued, saying:
Nothing is going to stop Him from being near to His people, not His holiness, not their sin, nothing, because He made a way to draw near and for His people to draw near.
(At the time, that way was through the Ten Commandments (and other commandments), all the various animal sacrifices and other rituals, not to mention the construction of the Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Covenant, and all the clothing required of the priests. Today, it’s through Jesus Christ, specifically His blood sacrifice on the cross.)
Another part of recognizing God’s holiness is by honoring Him, specifically by giving Him our first and best:
“You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe produce and your juices. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. Exodus 22:29, NKJV
(Hint: here is where Cain initially went wrong, even before he went and murdered his brother Abel.)
To wrap up my thoughts on Exodus, I’ll share this passage:
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Exodus 33:19, NKJV
This was God’s response to Moses’ request to see His face. (Spoiler alert: God said no. But He did say the above instead.)
God is good. God is just. God is holy. And He is worthy of all our honor.
One of the best ways to honor God is by giving your life to Him by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior, Lord, King, and Master. Why not do it today?
