Today we are reading Exodus 33. In this chapter we read about God commanding the Israelites to leave Sinai/Horeb. “The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.” Exodus 33:1-6 ESV It seems such an appropriate description to say they were “stiff-knecked”. We might say stubborn or rebellious. We have all had moments where we insist on our way instead of God’s way. Where does that get us? For the Israelites it meant that God would not abide with them. Do you ever feel like God has given up on you? May God make your heart soft toward Him. Pastor Tim
