A Good and Gracious God
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Big Idea: For those He loves, God is good and gracious
Big Idea: For those He loves, God is good and gracious
Years ago, when I managed some retail stores, I learned something about the patience needed to train someone. People have very different learning curves, so when a new employee started, I realized that there were seasoned employees that I should never assign to be a trainer. However, I found that there were some people who were excellent trainers. They were excellent in part because they knew the store, what needed to be done, how to use the equipment such as cash registers, and so on. But the ones I did not want training knew these things as well. The ones who were great trainers had the quality of longsuffering. Patience.
They could explain something again and again without getting frustrated. And sometimes there were people who needed things explained again and again. They needed someone to stand next to them for quite a while before they were comfortable with the job. Some new employees caught on very quickly, and in a matter of days were able to do most of the things we required with hardly a second explanation. One of the people I realized should not be training was me. I did not have the patience to explain multiple times a concept of process to someone who needed a little more time. And thankfully, I had a couple employees who had patience far beyond mine, who could calmly and kindly show that person once again how to push the total button or find an item in the stockroom. So even though I was the manager, I delegated almost all of the training to others. One lady in particular, Myrta, was able to patiently teach, with graciousness and a smile.
This quality, being long suffering, gracious, and even kind to someone who has to be continually taught the same thing again and again, is one of the characteristics of God. And thank goodness! Because he is so much more patient than I am, so much more gracious, and merciful, and I rejoice in that, because no one needs more patience and mercy from God than I do. When I see the stories in scripture, such as we are studying in Deuteronomy with the Israelites, I can see myself in the stiff necked people. I know how much I must try the patience of God, who has proven himself faithful to me, and yet I continue to fall short of his glory, to fail at walking in a manner worthy of my calling. So I can also rejoice in that big idea: For those He loves, God is good and gracious.
I don’t deserve the many chances he has given me. His patience is above and beyond mine by an infinite amount. So when I look at a passage like we are about to this morning, I marvel and have such gratitude that God’s salvation is, for the believer, in every tense. Past tense, present tense, and future tense. God has saved me from my sins, God is saving me from my sins, and God will save me from my sins. If I am His, I can rest in knowing that though I know what I ought to do, I often don’t do it, and what I ought not to do, I often do. If it were in my own strength to disqualify myself form his salvation, I most certainly have done so, and would have lost my salvation minutes after receiving it.
But thanks be to God, that He is gracious and merciful and good to me, so that it is not by my own efforts. It is not by my efforts that I was saved, it is not by my efforts that I maintain my state of salvation, and it will not be by my own efforts when my salvation is complete on that blessed day! But it is God’s mercy. This morning we reflect on his mercy in giving to the people of Israel a second set of tablets with his law, after the first was broken by Moses in response to their blasphemy and wickedness in making the golden calf.
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood.
And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’
So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.
And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.
Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”
(The people of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his place.
From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water.
At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day.
Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)
“I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you.
And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood.
The first tablets were made by God and written by God: Exo32.16
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
But the replacement tablets were to be cut by Moses. God himself made the first, but after Moses broken them, God had Moses cut the replacements. Scripture does not explicitly tell us why, but we may just note that there are consequences to our actions. We never see Moses condemned for breaking the first tablets, but we do not see him commended either, so we dare not make too much of this either way. The greater point is that God clearly wanted the people to have tablets with his writing on them. He is not obligated to do things the same way twice. He is not a tame God.
Moses also mentions the ark here. We know from scripture that Moses himself did not build the ark, but Bezalel the craftsman made it. Critics who say this means scripture errs do not understand a basic premise, that leaders are often attributed to projects they directed. For example, people often say President Trump built the wall at the border, but no one saying that means that President Trump himself conducted the actual work. It is obviously absurd to think that a President, or even a governor or mayor personally erected a wall or building. But we know that when someone says they built it, they mean that under their leadership it was built. Same here with the ark.
And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’
So here God promises to restore the tablets, which will then be put in the ark. From the Reformation Study Bible (RC Sproul):
It has generally been assumed that the law was written once, the extent of the material requiring two tablets or a double tablet. More recently, some have suggested that there were two tablets, each a separate copy of the law. This reflects the ancient practice of providing each treaty partner with a copy of the agreement. Because the ark was both the place of God’s presence with His people and the focal point of Israel’s worship, it was appropriate for both copies of the covenantal terms to be housed in the ark.
Matthew Henry:
And it is observable that for this reason the ark was the first thing that God gave orders about,
So Moses follows the instructions from the Lord: Deut10.3
So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.
When we are given second chances, those second chances are for the sake of our future obedience. May we never take for granted the mercy of God, but when we have been given a chance to learn discipline, we ought to gratefully accept it.
And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.
This is pretty neat. The first tablets were the work of God alone. A monergistic effort. Just as our salvation is a work of God alone. Now Moses is given opportunity to be a co-laborer in this project, just as after God has called us to himself, we also are given the privilege to partner in his works of evangelism and sanctification. God is the author and finisher of our faith, but he allows us to be a part of the work he is doing. So Moses brings the tablets up the mountain, and God writes on them. Abraham brought Isaac up a mountain, and God provided for him. When we are obedient to God, we can expect to see his gracious action on our behalf. Yet even our obedience is empowered by Him, so in the end, he gets all the glory and honor and praise. We indeed have a good and gracious God.
Now Moses places the tablets into the ark. The commandments, the covenant, is a treaty, and copies are kept for both parties of a covenant. But since the ark was to be the very seat of God, both copies being kept here was a reminder and a strong one that God himself will oversee how the terms of the covenant are being kept. On his part, there will be no unfaithfulness, no breaking of the treaty. On the part of mankind, sadly, we fall short of keeping our end of the covenant, but we can rejoice that it was always God who would see the thing done, and He never fails.
Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”
So Moses is confirming to the people that he has done what he was commanded to do. The tablets are in the ark, and now we will see that the priesthood has been established in order that the ark and the tabernacle and the worship of God as properly assigned to the priestly clan of Levites.
(The people of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his place.
From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water.
At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day.
You will recall from last week that Moses had prayed for the people of Israel, and also specifically for Aaron, that God would show mercy, and certainly he did. Aaron lived many years after, but he did die, and his son took his place. The Levites were set apart by God himself to carry the ark, to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name.
Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)
The Levites were not allotted land like the other clans. The Lord himself was their inheritance. The Levites were supported through their work in the tabernacle and did not own land, but in each city were given property to live on.
“I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you.
And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’
This is a recap again of Moses telling the people how he interceded for them for 40 days and nights, and how the Lord had heard his prayer.
This narrative is about the character of God. He is good and gracious. And we know that God likewise has been good and gracious to us!
Tit2.11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Those who are saved are being trained by a very patient and gracious and merciful trainer. We are being trained to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, we are being trained to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. We are being trained for these things while we await our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who is preparing us for himself. He gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify us for himself.
Paul continues in his exhortation to Titus: Tit3.4-8
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
For the Israelites to receive the law was a great and wonderful gift. It taught them how God expected them to live, it guided them to righteous ways. Yet the law had no saving power in itself. It only showed each person how unrighteous they were. But then came Jesus, God with us, and he lived the first perfect life in accordance with that law, and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice so that all who believe in him do not have to die for their sins as they rightly deserve, but can have eternal life, because one came and died as a substitute. When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things!, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
Do you remember the story of Peter, when he asked Jesus how many times he should forgive? He thought seven times was quite generous. But Jesus said he should forgive 70 times seven. This seems like a very difficult thing to do. Someone who we need to forgive is someone who has done something against us. If someone were to keep doing things against us, how could we possibly continue to forgive them? Only through the empowerment of God. And only with the attitude that we ourselves need forgiveness again and again, and we who are in Christ have a Savior, a God, who forgives us again and again.
How can we live like this? Because he showed us how, and he tells us how. We trust God and we rely on him. It is not an easy thing for us. I hope that now that I have been around a little longer, I would have more patience to train people on the cash register than I did back in those says when I managed a store. But much more than that, I desire that I can forgive and be long suffering and endure any hurt or hardship that comes when someone lets me down, because I am reminded daily by scripture of my own need for kindness and long suffering.
We have a good and gracious God who has forgiven us.
Our trials are opportunities for growth and are worthy of rejoicing over.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
