And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the LORD relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
The question before me here is whether or not Moses could have effectively debated with the LORD before his sojourn on Mount Sinai? The Israelites have violated the first two commandments by having another god before the LORD and by worshiping a graven image. Granted before they were given the Commandments of the LORD, but ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law. Especially the Law of the LORD.
No, he could not have done so, but on the mountain he entered into the presence, the Glory of the LORD. He was one who was the antithesis of Proverbs 28:9, he became one whose prayers were not abhorred, but one whose prayers were treasured.
Today's readings in the Psalms:
Morning: Psalm 27
Mid-day: 119:41-48
Evening: Psalm 102
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