This observation probably seems a little “off topic”, but I don’t know that I had ever thought about it before…
I’m speaking of the number of times that Moses spent 40 days on the mountain. I counted at least 3, maybe 4 times that he was there alone with God. In the first part of the reading he says he was there without food OR WATER for 40 days, which makes it a supernatural event.
And this happened several times, not just once.
Moses might seem to have an unfavorable opinion of the people, given the way that he talks to them… for instance he says “you have been rebelling against the Lord as long as I have known you” and “change your hearts and stop being stubborn”. But it isn’t dislike, it’s just honest concern and blunt truth.
Moses is about to leave the people, and the time for politics is over. He is free to say whatever is on his heart without fear of dealing with the fallout later. And from what I can see, Moses is concerned that the people are prone to wander away at the first sign of trouble, and when things are going really well. What must have it been like to lead a people who had such great potential and yet didn’t seem to want to do anything with it? If you are God’s chosen race, then why wouldn’t you ruthlessly root out all idols, sacred poles and false gods from your country? Why wouldn’t you say “I am God’s person, and He has a new way of doing things that doesn’t include false worship”. The Israelites heard God’s voice, they saw many miracles and they ate miracle bread every day. They saw water come out of solid rock, they saw enemies fall before them…and don’t forget that the visible presence of God in the cloud and in the fire were with them every day. How does someone who has that level of relationship with God wander off?
I suppose we could ask ourselves the same question. How does a person who has experienced the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit wander away from God? Some believe that it isn’t possible. Not that you can’t wander once you have God inside you, but that if you wander God was never really inside you. It’s just another way of saying that they can’t imagine how a person encountering the Holy Spirit could then reject Him.
I believe it happens by degrees. A degree is a very small deviation from a fixed point, say, North. There are 360 degrees in a circle, meaning that direct opposite is 180 degrees. One degree is such a small deviation that you cannot notice it when walking unless you go for a mile. But one degree today, and one next week and then another….over time will put you farther and farther away from truth. Small compromises eventually lead to large problems.
Moses knew that the people wanted to serve God, but they also hadn’t learned to avoid small compromises, which meant that they would eventually drift away. They would keep a little of the gold meant for destruction, they would allow someone to live who should have died, and they would punish and forgive a person that God wanted shunned or put to death. They were compromisers…not huge compromises, small ones, almost indistinguishable from the truth.
You know where I’m going next, right?
What about us? What about you? You have felt the urge to compromise before, I know you have. So have I. What we do when that urge overtakes us will determine our future, and the future of generations to follow.
Pray intelligently. Choose wisely. Serve wholeheartedly
Faithfully,
PR