Posted in Connecting with God
My wife and I have been taking the kids through Exodus, talking about plagues and manna, sacrifice and disobedience. Psalm 106 summarizes much of the story. Verses 19-22 recount,
These folks were eyewitnesses to God's miraculous deliverance, yet they chose to trade "their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull." Why? I believe they had the very human tendency to believe more in what they could see than what they couldn't see.
We see the same tendency today, even in our own lives. Who would not feel better with a fatter bank account? Behind every game show we watch is the subtle belief that we would be lucky (or blessed) to be in the winners' shoes. There is no doubt that the Bible considers abundance to be a blessing from God. Yet the trouble so often comes when, like Solomon, we forget the God who blessed us and begin to trust in the blessing itself. If I remember my history, the calf was traditionally a sign of opulence, among other things.
Additionally, I believe that they also felt more comfortable with a god they could control and make the rules for than a God who revealed himself on his own terms. Like all religions, they probably had at least the beginnings of their own rules for what the calf could and could not do. It was likely not a religion where man served the god, but rather like a genie in a bottle where the god served the man, in exchange for certain favors or other offerings. Likewise, we tend to prefer a God who fits nicely into our theological box, who we can predict and calculate to yield a certain result. "If I serve God, pray every day and do this and that, then I will be better off today than I was yesterday." Of course, we never admit to thinking this way, but it's an unspoken assumption that proves toxic to our relationship with God.
I think they also might have mistakenly ascribed human qualities like capriciousness to God. They saw the horrible plagues and other demonstrations of God's power and determined that he was dangerous and not really to be trusted. They likely borrowed qualities from the Egyptian gods which at best were poor copies of facets of the true God. They didn't truly know the Lord God, and you can't fully trust someone you don't know.
In my own life, being disabled, I have a tendency not to trust in myself but in people and organizations around me. My eyes move off my Creator and onto things and people he has placed in my life to help me. I trust in the things I can see. My mind attempts to figure out the "religion" of getting the things that I can see to give me what I need. I worry about other people's perceptions, especially those who don't know me or my character. They might be thinking, "he's just using his injury to cover the fact that he's lazy," or "Can't he just work through the pain or take a pill?" My gaze shifts and I lose sight of God, my true provider. I allow what I know about myself and my father to affect my perceptions of what I know about God, forgetting that his ways and his thoughts are higher than my own. I move from an innocent child, simply trusting and talking to him, to a conniving survivor, seeking to manipulate in order to preserve my interests.
I need to trust God as he chooses to reveal himself to me in his Word, the Bible.
Like Peter on the Sea of Galilee, I have to keep my eyes on Christ, not on the waves. I know that he will take care of me and protect my family. Oh me of little faith, why do I doubt?
The people made a calf at Mount Sinai;
they bowed before an image made of gold.
They traded their glorious God
for a statue of a grass-eating bull.
They forgot God, their savior,
who had done such great things in Egypt—
such wonderful things in the land of Ham,
such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
they bowed before an image made of gold.
They traded their glorious God
for a statue of a grass-eating bull.
They forgot God, their savior,
who had done such great things in Egypt—
such wonderful things in the land of Ham,
such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
These folks were eyewitnesses to God's miraculous deliverance, yet they chose to trade "their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull." Why? I believe they had the very human tendency to believe more in what they could see than what they couldn't see.
We see the same tendency today, even in our own lives. Who would not feel better with a fatter bank account? Behind every game show we watch is the subtle belief that we would be lucky (or blessed) to be in the winners' shoes. There is no doubt that the Bible considers abundance to be a blessing from God. Yet the trouble so often comes when, like Solomon, we forget the God who blessed us and begin to trust in the blessing itself. If I remember my history, the calf was traditionally a sign of opulence, among other things.
Additionally, I believe that they also felt more comfortable with a god they could control and make the rules for than a God who revealed himself on his own terms. Like all religions, they probably had at least the beginnings of their own rules for what the calf could and could not do. It was likely not a religion where man served the god, but rather like a genie in a bottle where the god served the man, in exchange for certain favors or other offerings. Likewise, we tend to prefer a God who fits nicely into our theological box, who we can predict and calculate to yield a certain result. "If I serve God, pray every day and do this and that, then I will be better off today than I was yesterday." Of course, we never admit to thinking this way, but it's an unspoken assumption that proves toxic to our relationship with God.
I think they also might have mistakenly ascribed human qualities like capriciousness to God. They saw the horrible plagues and other demonstrations of God's power and determined that he was dangerous and not really to be trusted. They likely borrowed qualities from the Egyptian gods which at best were poor copies of facets of the true God. They didn't truly know the Lord God, and you can't fully trust someone you don't know.
In my own life, being disabled, I have a tendency not to trust in myself but in people and organizations around me. My eyes move off my Creator and onto things and people he has placed in my life to help me. I trust in the things I can see. My mind attempts to figure out the "religion" of getting the things that I can see to give me what I need. I worry about other people's perceptions, especially those who don't know me or my character. They might be thinking, "he's just using his injury to cover the fact that he's lazy," or "Can't he just work through the pain or take a pill?" My gaze shifts and I lose sight of God, my true provider. I allow what I know about myself and my father to affect my perceptions of what I know about God, forgetting that his ways and his thoughts are higher than my own. I move from an innocent child, simply trusting and talking to him, to a conniving survivor, seeking to manipulate in order to preserve my interests.
I need to trust God as he chooses to reveal himself to me in his Word, the Bible.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
There is surely a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is surely a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Like Peter on the Sea of Galilee, I have to keep my eyes on Christ, not on the waves. I know that he will take care of me and protect my family. Oh me of little faith, why do I doubt?
