Image hiring a group of people and training them on how to do a specific job. And no soon as you turn your back, they disregard what you have instructed them to do. And instead, decide to do things their way. What would you do? Would you fire them and hire a whole new group of people, or would you re-instruct them?

We are continuing our examination of the Life of Christ and others from the perspective of Living in a Crucible.
Symbolically, a crucible is the fiery trials we experience as we grow and develop.
Crucibles are painful, they are uncomfortable, and they hurt, but they are beneficial in developing our character.

Holy Father, Thank You for your love. Often, we fail to do what you have asked us to do but you offer us your mercy and grace. Help us to better understand what it means for us to show that same mercy and grace. In Jesus Name Amen.

God through Moses gives his people specific instructions. Then he calls Moses, their leader to meet him on a specific mountain to receive further instructions. Instead of doing as they were instructed, while he was away, the people of God had a wild party and made a golden calf to worship. As their leader under God, what does Moses do? And how does God respond?
Exodus 32:1–14 gives us the answer.

1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
2 Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
5 Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”
6 So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
8 They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'”
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.
10 Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
11 Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'”
14 So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. (Exodus 32:1–14)

Angry at his people for what they have done, in worshiping the golden calf, God decides they have gone too far. He tells Moses that because of their rebellion and disobedience; He is going to destroy them and instead make Moses a great nation. However, Moses, rather than accept God’s offer, pleads for the people. He asks God to show grace to His people, and God agrees to do so.

Exodus 32:1–14 raises two important questions.
1. Why did God, tell Moses he was going to destroy His people, and instead, bless Moses and make him a Great Nation?
It was a test! God wanted Moses to demonstrate how much love and compassion he felt for these badly disobedient and rebellious people.
In Moses asking God to show mercy toward these rebellious Israelites, Moses passed the test. What Moses did in interceding for them is like what Jesus does for us. He stands before our Father and pleads for us.
What is interesting here is that this incident reveals that sometimes God allows us to face opposition. He may allow us to be in a crucible so that He, we, and everyone in the universe can see how much he hates sin but loves us sinners.

2. The second question this incident raises is: How does God respond to us when we fail or fall short of what He desires for us? Our failures call for God’s mercy and grace. Although we least deserve it when we fail, Grace and mercy are what we desperately need. People need mercy the most when they have acted the worst. But how often are we willing to give mercy to people who least deserve it. How much are we willing to offer grace and mercy to those who have willfully gone against our wishes.
Mercy and grace are what God gives us even when we do not deserve it. Moses offers another example of this.

It is found in Numbers 12, in which Moses’ sister Miriam says some mean and nasty things about him behind his back. What did Moses do? He shows her mercy. Moses asks God to heal her from her leprosy, a terrible skin disease.

As we look at Moses, we can see why he was considered a meek and humble leader. His meek and humbleness is shown again when God is angry with Korah and his followers and threaten to destroy them all. What does Moses do? He falls on his face and pleads for the lives of both Korah and his followers. If that is not enough, the next day, Israel complains against Moses. They complain and blame Moses for the death of Korah and his followers. God, again, wants to destroy the people.

What does Moses do? As before, Numbers 16 tells us he fell with his face to the ground. He tells Aaron to act quickly to make atonement, that is, perform a specific act to save the people. It is evident that Moses had a heart filled with humility and love. Moses had a heart void of pride.

Moses was a humble man; God called him the meekest man on earth. . . . He could successfully encourage those he was leading, because his life itself was a living representation of what humans can become and accomplish with God as their helper, of what He taught to others, of what He desired them to be, and of what God required of him. He spoke from the heart and it reached the heart. He was accomplished in knowledge and yet simple as a child in the manifestation of his deep sympathies. Endowed with a remarkable instinct, he could judge instantly of the needs of all who surrounded him, and of the things which were in bad condition and required attention, and he did not neglect them. . . .
. . . God talked with him face to face, as a man talks with a friend.—Ellen G. White Comments, in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1113.

Moses as a leader demonstrated patience, meekness, and humility. He did not respond with pride and selfishness. In his difficult tests, in the middle of his crucible, instead of invoking punishment, Moses asked God for mercy for the people who certainly did not deserve it.

Think about the people around you who have hurt you. Though they do not deserve it, they need mercy and forgiveness. How willing are you to show mercy and forgiveness. How can you show God’s mercy and forgiveness to them?

Some people that we thought loved us, hurt us deeply and the wound though healed hurts when agitated. How then do we love those who have hurt us so deeply?

Find out in Day 4: Loving Those Who Hurt

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 3: Sabbath.School

See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School