Some time go, while reading Exodus, I 'got stuck' in chapter 34. Ever happen to you? You're reading something and all of a sudden you.are.stuck. No matter what, you cannot seem to continue reading but must keep reading and re-reading that same portion, verse, quote, whatever.
It happened to me when I came to this: "Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. "Oh Lord, if I have found favor in Your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance." " (Exodus 34:8, 9 italics added for emphasis).
Guess where I got stuck.
Yup. Where Moses pleads to God, to the one perfect, Almighty and all-knowing God to take this people, as sinful they are, as His own inheritance.
An inheritance. Something containing value. Something to be received or passed on from another person. As the first online definition to pop up states:
a thing that is inherited.
- "he came into a comfortable inheritance"
- the action of inheriting."the inheritance of traits"
synonyms: succession to, accession to, assumption of, elevation to "his inheritance of the title"
I got to thinking. Why such a fuss over Israel as God's chosen people, His inheritance? Just how does God view 'His people'? In cross-referencing this verse, what I stumbled upon transformed some of my thinking. If you read right through to the bottom you'll understand why I was so deeply impacted:
Israel...
- He has chosen you and taken you
- You are chosen to be God's treasured inheritance
- He has taken you out of harm
- You are holy to the Lord and chosen
- You have been redeemed by God's powerful hand
- You are holy to the Lord, you have been chosen out of all to be God's treasured inheritance
- You are declared as God's people, treasured, and are to keep His commands
- He will set you above all the nations, you will be a holy people to the Lord
- You are God's portion
- You are God's inheritance, singled out from all nations
- You will be blessed
- You are God's purchased people, His redeemed inheritance
- You are a people not rejected, not forsaken
- You are a prosperous, joyous and praise-giving inheritance!
"The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." " (Isaiah 19:25). As I read this verse, I am reminded that the earth is the Lord's and all that is in it! (Psalm 24:1)
"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance?" (Micah 7:18) Even though only a remnant remained, God pardoned their sin. He did not forsake or reject His people who are His treasured inheritance!
"I will take you as my own people, and I will be Your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians." (Exodus 6:7)
"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation..." (Exodus 9:5, 6a)
And to think we, WE who believe and receive this story of love God has laid out for all, we have been grafted in. Just as one grafts in one olive branch into another making them one, God has grafted US in to His holy inheritance. Romans 11 speaks about the gentiles being grafted in as a result of the unbelief of the Israelites.
So me - a gentile - has been grafted in to be part of God's holy inheritance, His treasured possession, His chosen one! I have been purchased and redeemed, I am neither rejected nor forsaken. I am part of a prosperous, joyous and praise-giving inheritance!
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9, 10
It's as simple as that. Believe Christ died on the cross for your sin (John 3:16) and receiving His love and forgiveness into your heart then confess your belief to another! (there's something about God's love that is just so difficult to contain!)
Thanks for reading - I pray you are blessed and encouraged and among God's treasured inheritance.
Exodus 6:7; 19:5; Deuteronomy 4:20; 7:6; 9:26, 29; 14:2; 26:18; 32:9; 1 Samuel 10:1; 2 Samuel 14:16; 1 Kings 8:51, 53; Psalm 28:9; 32:12; 74:2; 79:1; 94:14; 106:5, 40; Isaiah 19:25; 63:17; Jeremiah 10:16; 51:19; Micah 7:18; Zechariah 2:12
