After a four-year-old boy accidentally broke a rare 3,500-year-old Bronze Age jar displayed at a museum in Israel, he received a kind and surprising response. The museum staff forgave him and invited him back. Roee Shafir, speaking for the Hecht Museum, said doing so heightened global interest in the restoration process and might serve to inspire the boy’s interest in history and archaeology—a healing and positive outcome.
The story brings to mind God’s compelling declaration of His forgiveness after rebellion by the Israelites. They’d rebelled against Him by begging Moses’ brother Aaron to make a gold calf for them for idol worship (Exodus 32:1). “When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets [of covenant law] out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain” (v. 19).
At God’s instruction, “Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning” (34:4). When God came down, He “passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God . . . maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin’ ” (vv. 6-7).
What a profound reminder. Despite our worst sins, God still forgives. He yearns to restore us.
What sins of yours has God forgiven? Why is His forgiveness an amazing gift of grace?
When my sin angers or disappoints You, dear God, please invite me back into the compassion of Your love with forgiveness.
At the heart of the book of Exodus is the question whether God’s presence can dwell in the midst of a sinful people. In chapter 33, Moses petitions God to go with him and the Israelites: “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?” (v. 16). God responds by saying that He will indeed do what Moses asks (v. 17).
This conversation takes place immediately after Israel sins with the golden calf. Would their betrayal of God prevent Him from ever dwelling in their presence? God’s answer is clear: He shows compassion and grace and abounds in love and faithfulness (34:6-7). He’d go with them no matter what. The same is true today for believers in Jesus. God forgives our sins and yearns to restore us.
