Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. ~ Exodus 32:12b
Today’s selection from the Book of Exodus is one of the most extraordinary moments recorded in Scripture: God and Moses engage in a debate and God’s mind is changed as a result.
Moses is a reluctant liberator who helps free Israel from Egyptian slavery. His story doesn’t follow the typical hero trajectory. There’s the Moses who protects the Israelites from the dangers of the wilderness, standing in the breach (Psalm 106) between the dangers of the desert and even between his people and God’s wrath. And there’s Moses, who loses his cool, angrily striking a rock with his staff, and never actually entering the Promised Land.
The memory of Moses transcends his time, and he becomes the archetypal liberator for later generations. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is described as a new Moses, leading humanity out of the slavery of sin. More recently, Harriet Tubman was called “Moses” for guiding enslaved people as they escaped north to freedom. Reflecting on Moses reminds us of the fact that our faith is, at its core, about freedom. Freedom from slavery. Freedom from sin. Freedom from fear. May Moses’s example continue to guide our way.
Today’s readings
As we reflect on the iconic figure of Moses and his role as a liberator, how does the concept of freedom resonate with your spiritual journey and understanding of faith?
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