Do you ever find yourself reading the Old Testament and
thinking, “Wow, how dumb can the people of Israel get?” Now, come on. Be
honest.
It’s amazing, isn’t it, how the Israelites could be saved by
God working through Moses and yet they grumble about not having food. I mean,
they don’t even ask for it, for goodness’ sake! They just whine to Moses. Or
how they could make a covenant with God, promising to do “all that He has
commanded”, and then as soon as Moses’ back is turned break the first and
second commandments to create a calf out of gold. It’s no wonder God tells them
in Exodus chapter 33 verse 3 that He’s no longer going to be with them.
I guess, in a way I can understand them. For 400 years they
lived as slaves, not making their own decisions, feeling like the God of their
fathers has abandoned them, and being treated almost like cattle. Then along comes
a man named Moses who was adopted into the kind of privilege they can only dream
of with some “magical” powers that he claims
are from this invisible God that’s been so long absent. I think that by the
time the plagues are done with, they’re probably following the man more than
the God he represents. So when they don’t have food, of course it’s his fault
and he needs to fix it. And the calf thing? They’ve just come out of a land
where everyone worships multiple gods and there are statues everywhere of what
they look like. Surely God didn’t really mean that He was the only one? And if He is, then he needs a
body, right? Some way for the people to truly love what they worship and
something they can focus on. That they can see
and touch. (Exodus 1-32)
So when we look at things in that light, I guess we can
understand their momentary insanity. Maybe not overlook, but at least understand.
And maybe if we can give them grace, we can give ourselves and those around us
a little as well.
After all, we live in a time when God is “seemingly silent”.
There are no audible words, no prophets, no amazing “magical” works of power.
All we have that we can base our belief in God upon is personal experience and
relationship. It’s all based on faith.
It’s no wonder unBelievers think we’re crazy. And it’s no wonder that sometimes we act
like it.
I think it’s because we don’t have a god that we can see and touch that we go through spiritual ups and downs. One day we’ll totally believe that Jesus
saved us and the next we do something that, if we thought about it, seems out
of sync with that belief. But does that mean that we don’t believe? Does
that mean that we should just give up, that we are unworthy of God’s Love and
therefore are not truly His?
No!
It just means you’re having a bad day. That you’re human,
just like the rest of us. You’re no more, nor less loved than you were
yesterday, the day before, or even the day you first believed. God does not look at you and say, “You
know, I don’t think this relationship is going to work out.”
“But He did with the people of Israel!” you may argue.
Hm. Let’s look closely at that for a moment. Did God say He
would stop being their God? No. Did He say He would not go with them? Yes. And it’s the same with us. Do you honestly think God is going to bless you if you are walking in sin? Is He going
to guide and be with you if you are not acting like His child? Or is He going
to wait until you wake up to just how much He loves you and submit yourself to
Him again before going with you? God will not prosper those who use His
name- and try to use His power- for personal gain and sin.
When the people of Israel were first told that God would not
go with them, He commanded them to take off their ornaments, all of those fancy
things they had received from the Egyptians as a “going away” present. For
hundreds of years they had watched the Egyptians have everything while they had
nothing. So I’m sure they were very proud of their plunder and probably wore
lots of jewelry and fancy clothes all the time as a point of pride. But then
God gives them a simple, yet difficult, command: “Take it off. Strip yourselves of everything that you think makes you
worth something. Come spiritually bare before me.”(Exodus 33:5)
And they did! Why? Because
they were truly repentant. So what was God’s response?
Not only did He “relent” and decide to go with them, but He
presented Himself every day in a way that was visible: a pillar of cloud. And
the people worshiped. Instead of giving up on them He gave them a second
chance.
Just like God’s love for them was not based on their
performance (and let’s face it, this is not the last time they receive a “God-check”),
His love for us isn’t either. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we cannot earn that Love, that it’s a gift entirely
based on faith (not performance) (Romans
3:21-28). It also tells us what true
love is: a choice.
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)
It’s something God chooses
to do for us every moment of every day in the past, present, and future.
So no matter how “messed up” you think you are, please, don’t ever think God doesn’t love you or
has given up on you because He doesn’t work like that. He is the same yesterday,
today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Accept His love and grace for what they are:
constant and who He is. (1 John 4:8)
And then extend that
love and grace to those around you.
Think about it.
“Beloved, let us love one
another, for love is from God, and
whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does
not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son
into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we
have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one
another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know
that we abide in him and he in us, because he
has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of
the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in
him, and he in God. So we have come to
know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever
abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love
perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment,
because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For
fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
We love because he first loved us.”
(1 John 4:7-19)
