“Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written” (Ex. 32:32).
Though God had already punished some of the Israelites, Israel still remained guilty of sinning against Jehovah. As a result, atonement had to be made for their crime. Therefore, Moses confronted the people, calling them to account. Some of them might have imagined themselves innocent or forgiven of their sin simply because a few of their most wicked brothers had been killed. But this was far from the truth, and Moses needed to remind them that they had sinned a great sin, and that they remained unforgiven.
To deal with the problem of Israel’s guilt, Moses volunteered to go before the Lord Almighty and atone for the people’s sin. He understood that sin cannot go unpunished, that it cannot be overlooked in a court of justice. Israel’s sin required atonement if the people were to be reconciled to the Lord. Moses was willing to go, to put himself at risk before the wrath of God, and to make atonement for the stiff-necked people. We should be struck by Moses’ love for his people. How many of us would rather have kicked the dust from our feet and turned our backs on Israel because of their great sin? Sadly, we are too quick to turn our backs on those in sin, to forsake them instead of loving them by confronting them with their sin and by going before the Lord to pray for their forgiveness, asking for God to show them mercy. When we see others in sin, we should be grieved and even angered by their sin, but we should also show them compassion by helping them to see their sin for what it is and by praying for them.
Moses went before God to atone for the sin of Israel because he loved his people. He stood in their place before the Lord, confessing their sin, not with apologies and excuses, but with honesty and forthrightness: “These people have committed a great sin.” He then asked God to forgive them, and if God would not, to blot Moses’ name from the book of life. So great was Moses’ love for his people (just like Paul in Rom. 9:3) that he could not bear the thought of their being cast out without him. God had said that, if Moses did not intercede, He would cut off Israel and build a nation from Moses’ seed. But Moses was willing to die with his people, as sinful as they were, rather than to receive blessing from the Lord. Like our Lord, he rejected his own honor for the sake of sinners who deserved nothing but death.
Can you imagine how great Christ’s love for His people must be? What was Moses willing to do for Israel? Why is it so hard to make sacrifices for other people? Is it because they don’t deserve it? Yet, Christ died for us even though we didn’t deserve it. Imitate the love of Christ by loving others sacrificially.
