The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/exodus/32.htm

So much to contemplate in this chapter…

According to scripture, God has a lot of anger. According to scripture, God wants to kill the children of Israel. According to scripture, Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father”. And the only time Jesus was angry, that we saw, was when they profaned the temple and had turned it into a flea market (my words, not the Bible).

Did Jesus get angry with people? Did Jesus want to kill people? No. And that is why, even though I read the Old Testament language, I keep Jesus in mine, and frankly, I trust the words of Jesus before I trust the words of Moses, however inspired they might be believed to be.

For example, when Moses got to the base of the mountain, he commanded the Levites to slay by sword those who worshipped the golden calf saying that the Lord had commanded it, but I read no scripture in which God gave that command. Did Moses take it upon himself to direct that action? I most certainly understand the stress and frustration Moses was feeling, and remember, he was a mere mortal like you and I.

I can understand Moses frustration that while he had been on the mountain 40 days, he couldn’t leave them alone for a second without them sinning. Perhaps it was Moses that was angry with the people, and it was he that, stressed out, burned out, frustrated, feeling of helplessness, gave the command to kill those 3,000.

So, now that I’ve given my opinion that what sounds like vindictive God really isn’t, let’s start from the beginning.

The last chapter talked about the Sabbath Day, but the last verse says that God gave Moses to tablets of stone, with His commands, written in His finger.

Now we find out the children of Israel have become impatient with Moses. Moses was gone for 40 days, and they couldn’t control themselves. Some of us have waited a lifetime for the return of Jesus Christ, many sleeping in their grave still awaiting him, yet the children of Israel coudn’t wait a mere 40 days. And it just didn’t make sense.

Here they were, enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, and by all accounts were faithful to the God of Abraham, and now that God has freed them, they turn against Him. Is that like the people of today? What about those people who are, in my opinion, falsely taught that “Jesus died on the cross for their sins, and if they believe in Jesus, the Salvation is in the bank”, so they do as they please, believing they can still live a sinful life and that as long as they believe in Jesus, as long as they are covered by the Blood of Jesus, they’ll be saved. Sorry, I’m not a believer in that. But that appears to be what might have happened here. God “saved” the children of Israel, perhaps they can do what they wish.

Growing tired of waiting on Moses, and do not mistake, all of this is at the hand of Satan, still trying to turn everyone against God, so they decide to make their own God and worship it. And the pressure Aaron, who does not have the same intestinal fortitude that Moses has to lead the people.

Now, here’s is a sign of Satan if there ever is one. The Bible says that Aaron collected all of the gold jewelry, and when he threw it into the fire, out came a golden calf. Hmmm, let me see, wonder who did that? No other than Satan himself.

God knows all. God knew they were sinning, that they were bowing down and worshipping idols, so He sent Moses back down the mountain to take care of them. And yes, God sounds angry. But then again, God is angry with sin, not people. And God tells Moses, “that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may [c]consume them”. It doesn’t say “before I stone them to death”, or “before I carve them with my sword”, He says “before I consume them”. And if this is the first time reading my opinion, it is that the Glory of God burns so bright, that the wicked are not about to withstand it.

I believe God would have exposed Himself to them and let His Glory consume them. But God is a loving God and that is not what He wants. Even Moses wanted to see God’s face, and God told Moses it wasn’t possible, but if Moses turned his head away, the He would pass behind him.

But Moses interceded on behalf of the children of Israel, and God relented.

Now at the bottom of the mountain, Moses sees what they have done, and he throws the tablets containing the commandments on the ground, breaking them. Then he throws the calf back into the fire and burned it, ground the burned calf into a fine powder, and scatter it out across the water. He then made the children of Israel drink the water.

No matter how long we’ve waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus, we cannot grow impatient. We cannot say, “Why has Jesus not come yet. The Bible is just a fairy tale, there is no Jesus.” That is what Satan wants us to believe, and he wants us to turn against God and Jesus.

Don’t make the same mistakes the children of Israel did.