Breaking the Law

Exodus 32:19
19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.

Anger. It’s something with which I personally struggle. It may be something that you wrestle with as well. There are different types and degrees of anger. There is good anger and evil anger. I think the context of any given situation and the reason for the anger is what ultimately determines its validity.

In the case of Moses, this was a righteous anger. This was a holy agitation that welled up deep within him as he came down the mountain. Moses had just been face to face with God Almighty and had been given a strict set of rules for all of mankind to keep. He had spoken with the Creator. He witnessed Him (God) form tablets of stone and engrave with His finger the rules for righteousness, the Ten Commandments. The very first rule, the primary and most important rule, was to not make an idol or other god and worship it. More than that, God specifically told Moses, “I AM the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me!” Exodus 20:2-3 But what did he find as he came down the mountain? Not only had they made false gods, but they gave their gods the credit for the Exodus!

So what of it; where’s the parallel? Moses’ anger was, in essence, God’s anger. He was acting on behalf of the Creator. I’m sure we can all relate to taking up a fight or cause on the behalf of another. Well, the same was true for Moses. Moses burned with righteous anger towards the people of Israel. He was enraged and he threw the stone tablets down. He broke God’s perfect written word. After just playing mediator between God and Israel on the top of the mountain, he came down to find the entire nation acting like fools! Moses quickly gathered together a group of men who were for the Lord and they killed about 3000 people that day.

God in heaven is just and holy. He knows, as He did in the days of Moses, exactly what we are doing all the time. But we have a mediator, too. His name is Jesus. Long before coming to earth, He spoke to the Father on our behalf. Then He came, not to carry the law for condemnation, but to fulfill it. And just like Moses’ anger needed an outlet, so to did that of a just and holy God. So He, the Father, focused His anger on the law as well. This time instead of breaking rocks that had the word written in them, He broke His only Son who is the Word. Through God’s outpouring of wrath and anger on Jesus, through His breaking of the Law, we now have unmerited righteousness in the eyes of the Father.