"Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them." (Exodus 32:10)
This was what the Lord said to Moses when Israel had "sinned a great sin;" (Exodus 32:30) but Moses did not let Him alone; he only pleaded the more earnestly for them.
It is evident that Moses did not regard these words as a positive command, for if he had, he would have obeyed. On the contrary, he understood them to mean that as long as there was any plea to be made in their behalf God could not destroy them. What assurance this is to us, not simply as to our own salvation, but as to the salvation of others. If we plead God's promise for them, He cannot cast away. So this incident is but an illustration of: "I have set watchmen upon my walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you that are the Lord's remembrancers, take no rest, And give Him no rest, till He establish and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." (Isaiah 62:6-7)
It was a most tempting offer that God made to Moses, when He said of Israel: "Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them, and I will make of you a great nation." (Exodus 32:10)
What an honor that would have been to Moses: to be actually the head, the father of a great nation,--to have a people called by his name. Moreover, it would have relieved Moses of a great load of care and responsibility. How natural it would have been to seize upon the opportunity! But Moses had more regard for the honor of God, than for his own. He would rather that the people should be called by the Lord's name, than by his; and he remembered that God had promised to make a great nation of Abraham: and he would not allow any consideration of personal ease or honors to stand in the way of the fulfillment of God's covenant. That was the unselfish faithfulness of Christ.
But we must not forget that this was "written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4)
We sometimes think that God is discouraged with us, and tired of our slowness and hardness of heart, and that He is about to cast us aside, if He has not already done so. We say that it would be easier for God to make entirely new men out of the original materials, than to make us new. Now this may be true; but we must remember that God does not necessarily always do the easiest thing, but that He always does the best thing. There is more glory to Him in restoring the soul of a sinner than in making a new man out of the dust of the ground; and since He has formed us for His glory, it is evident that is what He will do. "He shall not fail nor be discouraged till He have set judgment in the earth." (Isaiah 42:4)
Moses said to God, concerning the people in the wilderness: "Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?" (Exodus 32:12)
Now we must not suppose that Moses put something into the Lord's mind that He had not already thought of, nor that Moses had more interest in the people than the Lord had. No; the unselfish solicitude of Moses for the salvation of the people was but a reflection of the love of God that had been shed abroad in his heart by the Spirit of God. So instead of imagining that we must break down God's prejudices against us, and beg Him to deal favorably with us, we may be "confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)
To the prayer that God will sanctify us wholly, the assurance is: "Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:24)--Present Truth, July 10, 1902--Original title: Back Page--Exodus 32:10-12
E.J. Waggoner