After Moses returned from the mountain, he witnessed first hand the sins of Israel and the idol worship they had adopted. His anger was out of control. So, Moses breaks the 10 commandments of God. The Bible study lesson for today is about forgiveness.
Moses breaks the 10 commandments
In Exodus 32:19-35 – Moses Breaks the 10 Commandments of God – But Then…
In the last lesson, we learned about Israel and the golden calf and how the people replaced God.in Exodus 32, we see the reaction of Moses.
Taking into consideration that we all have a “breaking point“, Moses acted on his anger in a momentary fit of rage.
Aren’t we all guilty of unbridled anger at one time or another?
After Moses breaks the ten commandments, he decides to try and talk to God about redeeming the people of Israel for their sin.
Here’s what the Bible has to say about the stone tablet and the golden calf…
Anger of Moses – Breaking the 10 Commandments in Exodus
“It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.
He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.” – Exodus 32:19-20 NASB
Moses breaks the 10 commandments
The Ten Commandments – Movie vs Exodus
This is a well-known story although it is far and away from the dramatic breaking of the ten commandment tablets we saw in the epic movie.
But, we still can’t discount what happened when Moses saw that the people were now worshiping idols as God was writing his law.
Righteous Anger of Moses
In this Bible lesson, we see righteous anger in action.
It’s not unusual to become angry at sin but Moses let his anger get out of control.
He became so frustrated that he broke the two stone tablets in a fit of rage.
Hate the Sin – Not the Person
We sometimes become angry at the sins of others also. But, there are two schools of thought here:
1. Be careful not to displace your anger. We sometimes hate the person instead of seeing the sin as forgivable.
In fact, feelings can be redirected in a more positive way if we will only “count to ten” and take time out to evaluate the situation.
Then, we are more prepared to deal with it.
2. Remember that Christ died on the cross and rose again just so we could be forgiven.
In other words, God was willing to pay the ultimate price because He still loves us no matter what sins we commit.
Can’t we do the same for others who wrong us?
Love in Christ
– Bob
If you would like to learn more about Christ’s’ gift to you and how you can accept it, please take a moment to read this Scripture verse.