The people died

“The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.” (Exodus 32:28)

 

Punishment for wrongdoing should be done clearly. Understanding and tolerance are necessary, but those don’t mean you can’t just let go of your mistakes. For the sins of disbelieving and indulgence committed by the people of Israel, God punished them thoroughly. The punishment looked cold, disastrous, and cruel. For God the Lord punished so fiercely that He could not be regarded as the God of love. In order to truly be reborn as a Christian, you need to receive God’s love and grace, but it is also necessary a disciplinary process for wrongdoing. That is the same principle that pure gold is produced through smelting.

 

Israelite who had exited from Egypt stayed in the wilderness, and Moses climbed the mountain Sinai to bring a stone tablet of God’s commandment. When Moses’ descent from the mountain was delayed, the people were anxious and asked Aaron to have a god made for them. Aaron had let people to bring gold and gave them make a golden calf, worshiping it and giving a feast. They pretended to be the name Jehovah, but in reality they were far off the road that Jehovah commanded.

The stone tablets of the commandments carved in writing were made intend to convey to future generations what God Himself had said to Israel. Based on the Ten Commandments written on the stone tablets, the words of the Old Testament were delivered to us through the recording forms of history, law, poetry, and prophecy. God gave a commandment of blessing through Moses in order to save the lives of Israel. But Israel continued to play with impertinent behaviors of disbelief like Gentiles as usual. The unfaithful attitude of the people Israelite represents appearances of our lives. They had experienced to see God’s abilities and miraculous signs many times until then. When they had a special experience sometimes, they had temporarily an attitude looking like a sincere faith, but they soon acted without faith again like just before. The Bible is a book the word of God written in human language, so the written by human may not be perfect in expression. For instances, God’s wrath, Moses’ demand to rescue Israelite people, and terrible punishment, are records of the facts but expressions are bound to be awkward.

People’s sin was an impertinent act without faith. And the Levites played an actual role in fulfilling God’s judgment. Disbelief and impertinent behaviors are not separate, but relating closely each other, and are fundamental sins of all human wrongdoings. People often say, “What’s wrong with not believing in Jesus?” and “The matter of faith is free, so can’t you just act just morally right?” That words sounds plausible, but it actually can’t become like that. For man's attitude disbelieving in the lord, Jehovah and Christ, is equal to committing a fundamental great sin against God the Creator. And those who do not believe in Christ will become immersed after all into impertinent acts without their knowledge.

The Levite swung around with swords, killing about 3,000 neighbors, friends and brothers. The Levite were the workers of God taking the place of judge for all the tribes of Israel. The modern Levite who work for the gospel of Christ and for the church also work the pastoral duties according to Christ’s teachings. The bleeding of the people here means the dedication of sacrifice to Jehovah. Blood is life and the origin of life is God of creation. Solving the sin problem is done by blood of life meaning the sacrificial offering. Since Christ had given a sacrifice to God the Father through blood of life on the cross, He has been able to remove the sins of mankind. The blood loss of the people Israelite in the wilderness exemplifies the redemption of Christ that will be accomplished in the New Testament times. Essential theme we have to know, without Christ, there can't be redemption.

 

As I said above, the process of Christian’s life includes both wrongdoings and the punishment. If you believe in Jesus, you will have joy, gratitude, and peace in every life. But if you expect to feel such good things only, your thinking is very wrong. If you did a fault, it can’t be just buried, in case of having any wrong doings, it must not to be passed without punishment. A violation against God’s word requires an extreme sacrifice, like giving up own life. For only then can you gain again the joy and satisfaction of new and true grace.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Aug 29th 2021)