Inspired by Exodus 32:7-14.
Patient God, your guiding light shines before us, illuminating our faith, Illuminating our path, towards you. Amen.
Stories are told from different sides or perspectives. The really important stories are about conflict. It could be a marital disagreement. An argument at school. A law suit. Sometimes we are asked to be a fair and impartial judge in the matter. In this case we ask both sides for their perspective on the story and ponder the evidence. And so our scripture from Exodus clearly lays out the two sides to the story. God seeing wickedness in the people, and insisting that the wickedness is stamped out. And Moses asking forgiveness so that a great nation can be built.
(Lone voice) Excuse me, we have something to say.
Hello. Who are you, and what do you have to say?
(Lone Voice) We are the people that Moses brought out of Egypt. You need to hear our story. Then the words of God and Moses will be clear.
Thank you, people of Israel. I will explain your side of the story and shed some light on the argument between God and Moses in our scripture reading.
Their story begins when Moses leads the people out of Egypt. The physical journey is obvious, but this is also a spiritual journey. Our group leaves Egypt, where they are bound in slavery, but they knew what to expect from day to day. Their journey takes them to physical freedom, but they don’t know what the future has in store. Where will they find food or water? They are looking for something to provide that security. Their faith is not mature enough to trust that God always provides. And when God does provide bread and water from heaven, the people still doubt God’s power and grace. With little faith, they do whatever they believe is needed to survive.
Our group passed through many lands on their migration towards the Jordan, and they saw many types of people with different practices for worship: the Edomites, Canaanites, and Moabites to name a few. They saw practices that promised security or success by offering a sacrifice. How tantalizing that must have been. Why wait for God’s grace when we could take matters into our own hands and shape our own future? Scared out of their wits, desperate for security, this would provide comfort. What could possibly be the downside?
God knew what the downside was. The people in these lands worshipped their gods through abhorrent practices such as infant sacrifice and temple prostitution, plus a laundry list of occult practices (divination, interpreting omens, inquiring of the dead). This was selling ones soul, or selling someone else’s soul, to obtain a material benefit. God knew that His people must not be corrupted.
Moses made it clear to his people that these foreign practices would infuriate God. Stay away.
But our people of Israel were not overflowing with implicit trust in God or their leader Moses. They did not commit to God when Moses stopped the Egyptian army. They did not commit to God when provided with bread and water from heaven. They did not commit to God when Moses shattered the rock to provide clear water. They did not trust the countless pieces of evidence that God placed before them, evidence that demonstrate true power. They were not far enough along in their spiritual journey to have that much faith in God.
They felt abandoned when Moses was absent for 40 days, communing with God on Mt. Sinai. Their leader was not with them to provide guidance, and the people needed security.
This is when they turned to the false gods. This is when they constructed an alter of a calf, the symbol for the foreign god Molech. This is the type of alter that was used for child sacrifice.
Moses’ people constructed and worshipped the false idol because they were afraid: they needed security. This is why they strayed from the path that God illuminated. Their faith in God was not very mature and they were not confident that God would provide for their needs.
Moses’ people constructed and worshipped the false idol because they were ignorant. Did the people know the context of this idol? Did they stop to ask questions of the people they met, and learn something of these practices? Did they know all of the sacrifice behind it? Ignorance is bliss. Maybe.
God saw the practices that his people were engaged in and knew where this was heading. God saw only one person as the hope for a great nation; one person with unwavering commitment. Moses. God’s response to the idol was for execution of all of the people, and for Moses to create the great nation by himself. Ignorance is no excuse.
Moses uses a clever rebuttal. He suggested that God would look wicked in the eyes of the Egyptians, if He were to lead the people out of slavery, to the mountains, only to Consume them. Consumption might be a reference to the human sacrifice that God finds so detestable with the foreign worship practices. A nod to Moses for such a good argument.
At first blush, Moses’ response looked like forgiveness for the people. It isn’t. He does not forgive them. They were punished, and many were executed for this transgression. But Moses did not hold a grudge against the people. He supported them in their faith journey, helped them overcome their ignorance and impatience with God, and lead them to become a great nation that worshipped God.
Today we also journey through foreign lands and see people with many different worship practices. We see Baha’i, Muslim, Sikh, Pagan, Buddhist, Jewish, various Christian denominations, and we are blessed to share this Treaty Seven land with our Indigenous and Metis neighbours. We see all manners of worship practices that respect this land and the people that live on this land. Respect.
Our faith in God gives us the insight to see all of the wonderful practices that our neighbours engage in. A sweetgrass ceremony, a bat-mitzvah. We are honoured when we are invited to observe these practices.
We know that temptations of the occult, spelled out by Moses, still exist and will always exist. But God and Christ have given us the grace to simply ignore them. Our faith is much more robust than our ancestors who were lead out of Egypt. And our faith will continue to grow stronger as we continue on our journey.
Our faith in God keeps us safe. God and Christ will forgive us when we make inevitable mistakes. This is our blessing.
Thanks be to God,
Amen
