February 14, 2023
Scripture Reading: Exodus 24:12-18
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.’ So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, ‘Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.’
Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
I have repeatedly said patience is a fruit of the spirit I lack*. This is one of the instances I prefer the King James translation, which rather than using the word patience, calls it long-suffering**.
I finally realized that the word is fruit, singular, not fruits, plural. The fruit of the spirit is a package deal. Moses had to have possessed much patience to stay up on that mountain for so long. He did wait, and he received the laws of God and carefully retained the instructions for how to use them. Surely, he was consoled by the other parts of the Spirit’s presence. At the end of this sojourn with God, he carries the tablets with the commandments etched on them down the mountain when he discovered the Israelites worshiping a golden calf idol. They did not have the patience to wait for his return. He dashed the tablets to the ground and broke them; then, he destroyed the idol. His patience had run out.
As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. —Exodus 32:19-20
The laws were recovered and built into our understanding and worship of God to this day. We also learned that there is a time and place for patience and a time to express anger if appropriate.
Prayer: Lord, help us to maintain our connection with your Spirit so that we can correctly identify when it is time to be patient and a time to express anger ruled by the boundaries of love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Amen.
*Galatians 5:22-23–By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
**( https://biblehub.com/greek/3115.htm) Greek translation: 3115 makrothymía (from 3117 /makrós, “long” and 2372 /thymós, “passion, anger”) – properly, long-passion, i.e. waiting sufficient time before expressing anger. This avoids the premature use of force (retribution) that rises out of improper anger (a personal reaction).
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.