March 12, 2024
A God We Can Trust
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So, the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. Exodus 32:1-14
Many believers worry that God might reject them if they sin too much, fail to read the Bible daily, or displease Him in some other way. But our salvation and trust in God is based upon His unchanging character.
The false notion that God would reject a person He has saved springs from a simplistic view of His nature. We tend to attribute one emotion to God at a time–for example, we might assume He is either angry or loving. In reality, the Father’s nature is far more complex than that. Think about our own simultaneous emotions: Just as we can love a child unconditionally while feeling upset over his or her actions, God can too—but with omniscience and perfect motives. And remember, the righteous anger that led Him to threaten the Israelites with punishment did not replace His care for them.
Some people point to passages like today’s reading to try to prove that God changes His mind, and therefore He could reconsider what He’s promised us. But God knew Moses would intercede for the people, just as He knows when we will fall short of His standards for righteousness. The Father rescued us from death anyway and refuses to turn His back on His children for any reason. The immutability of His nature means that God will love us forever, even when we fail.
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