“For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.”
For the Lord had said to Moses: tell the Israelites, you are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you. The conditional phrasing — I will decide — holds the future open. The stripping of ornaments is an act of submission and lamentation that creates space for a new decision. God's withholding of judgment pending Israel's response is characteristic of the prophetic dynamic throughout the Old Testament. Ezekiel 18:30–31 says repent and turn from your transgressions so that sin will not be your downfall — the stripping of ornaments at Sinai is the covenant community's first act of what Ezekiel commands.
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