The Golden Calf

It's amazing how short our attention spans can be. I have definitely experienced this in my own walk with the Lord, so have no right to judge, but this rush to "make for themselves an idol" so soon after the miracles of the Exodus, is stunning. And that Aaron would go along with it, is even more stunning! We must remember though, that the Israelites had been living in a pagan culture for hundreds of years and we do not know to what extent they worshipped the Lord; i.e. how much of Jacob's example had survived the generations. So idolatrous thinking and worship would have been second nature. his is no excuse but certainly helps to put the behavior in context. I was amazed that God did not kill Aaron for his disobedience, especially since so many others died for theirs. Later on we will read that God only spared Aaron's life because Moses interceded for him in prayer.

In today's passage, we also read that Moses' intercession saved the entire nation from suffering God's wrath. In fact, the text says that "the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on His people". This brings up an interesting theological discussion. Does God change his mind? The Bible clearly says that "I, the Lord, do not change" (Malachi 3:6), but is that the same thing as changing His mind? Certainly his character and nature do not change. And neither does He change His mind, though it is often described as such for the purpose of human understanding. Since God has foreknowledge of how we will react in our circumstances, it can appear that we have changed His mind when really He simply knew how we would react and set up the situation accordingly. For example, it was not God's desire to destroy His people but it was his plan to prompt Moses' prayer on their behalf. He foreknew that Moses would intercede and therefore knew that He would not wipe out the entire nation. It was not God who changed but the circumstances. Initially, God was reacting to the disobedience of the people. But after Moses' intercession, God was reacting to the heart of Moses. His prayer did make a difference, but only because God knew that it would. Confusing. Another Biblical example of this concept lies in the story of Solomon's ruling between the two mothers. We'll be reading this account in a few months, but you may recall the story of the two women who were both claiming ownership of one baby. Solomon's solution was to cut the baby in half, giving each woman an equal share. This was intended to reveal the real mother, who immediately begged Solomon to give the baby to the other woman instead of hurting him. Did her plea change his mind? No! He was never going to harm the baby. He knew how the mother would react and knew that the situation would never come to such a conclusion. In similar fashion, God "changed His mind" about destroying the Israelites. It was never His intention to do so, but to elicit a desired response in Moses. This is described as "changing God's mind" for our benefit, because it is a concept with which we can relate. One of my books offerred a good analogy of a chess match between an expert and a novice. The expert modifies his strategy in response to the moves of the novice, but he anticipates them, such that the game is never out of his control.

While on the topic of heavy theological pondering, did Moses see God, "face to face as a man speaks with a friend?" In many places, the Bible speaks of no man having seen the face of God. This came up a few days ago when Moses and Aaron saw the feet of God and the place where he stood. This passage refers to Moses meeting with God inside the Tabernacle, but just a few verses later, Moses asks to see His "glorious presence". So something was different about the two references. If Moses had truly seen God face to face as mentioned in verse 33:11, then he would have already seen His glorious presence. It seems that this "face to face" meeting involved some kind of representation of God, maybe the pillar of cloud, but not the full glory of God. And this is what Moses wanted to see. He knew he had not yet truly seen God. Because no one could see God and live, God would not allow Moses to look at His face. The description of Moses hiding in the cleft of the rock while the Lord covered his face with His hand, is anthropomorphic, as is the description of seeing the Lord's "back". Scholars suspect that what Moses actually saw was the afterglow of the Lord's passing by. Knowing that Moses' face was "brilliant" when he descended the mountain days later, gives a impression of how luminous the afterglow would have been. And later, whenever Moses would speak with the Lord in the tent of meeting, his face would be radiant. So much so that he kept his face veiled in between meetings. It was apparently too much for the people to look upon. They could see God all over him.

I can't help but equate this with the notion that we are to be "light" in this dark world and that we are to "let our light so shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven..." Is God all over us? Is his light shining through us such that others would take notice, much less be taken aback?

Tomorrow's reading: Exodus 35-36