Exodus 32:7–14
The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt! The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’“ And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Reflection
They turned on God. They lost all hope and turned to something they could easily see and easily understand. They turned to something tangible, something made from their own hands. They backed away from the rich love of God and turned to what was easy for them. After all Moses had abandoned them and hadn't returned for a long time, so why not try something different that was easy to understand. This calf could be formed from their own hands. They could understand how this god began and how this simple little god could bring all of the people together as one, to celebrate their own accomplishments.
But the God of heaven and earth is far more mysterious and impossible to understand. So, why not make it easy on ourselves. Today, we turn to other gods as well. We turn to things that we can understand and lay our life on the line for, such as, money, prestige, power, wealth, boats, cars, houses, wine, alcohol, sex, drugs, parties and on and on. Things we can deal with. Things we can understand. Things that bring instant satisfaction. But, we only seem to turn to God if none of this works. That's wrong!
God wants us to turn to him in all things. Even if we can't understand God, we are to turn to God first and always. I hate the expression, "When all else fails, try God." I can't stand that statement. It develops an attitude that we can do most everything for ourselves and only need God as a last resort. We need God as the first resort, as the only resort, we need God in order to live and breathe. We need God first!
In this passage God refers to the people as your people. That is Moses' people. God does not claim their current condition. How could he? They don't claim God and he can't claim them. God once again has to start all over. Like with Adam and Eve, and the people of Noah's time, and the clay in the potter's hand, God has to start all over. And thus Moses turns to God first. Moses turns to God in prayer and conversation. Moses looks for God's mercy on the people. Moses comes to God for a new beginning for the people. Moses refers to these people as God's people. Just the opposite of God's reference to Moses' people above. So, we repent of our sin and come to God, humble and in need of God's saving grace.
And God changes his mind. Thank God that God changed his mind. God changed his mind yet still hated the actions of the people. God took that clay once again to form it into the image God chooses for it to be. And so it is with you and me. We come to God after having abandoned God for our simple little gods. We come to God and repent and seek forgiveness. We come to God and realize that God is not there for that time when all else fails, but rather God is there first and foremost and through all of our failure. God is there with us and for us to form us into what pleases God.
And we pray. We pray to God and with God and talk about it. We listen to God's advice and feel God's touch on our human clay to form us and reform us and mold us into what he wants. Yes, we turn to God to walk with God at all times. If all else fails, we look and listen to God throughout all of those failures all along the way, knowing for certain that God does not fail in the first place. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Prayer
Lord, when I get away with myself and my selfish thoughts and ideas of all sorts of "other gods," may I see you by my side to reshape me into what you would have me be... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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