Have you ever found yourself having a detailed conversation with someone while simultaneously watching something else happening in the background? If you are a parent, I’m certain you know what I am talking about; any conversation you have at a park takes place while observing your child’s activities. I imagine it is similar for those of you who are teachers as there are inevitably students who will be doing things other than listening to you teach.
I recently read through the book of Exodus and it appears the same thing happens to God at Mt. Sinai. Moses records the extensive laws and regulations that God gives him while up on the mountain and then records the disobedience of the Israelites. As you read the text (transition from chapter 31 to 32) it is easy to think that they are happening in succession rather than simultaneously. Basically, this would mean that the sin of the golden calf happens as Moses is making his way back down the mountain. It seems unlikely, however, that the Israelites just woke up one morning and realized, “Hey, Moses sure has been up on the mountain for awhile and he’s probably never coming back. Can you make us some new gods, Aaron?” The text says that Moses had been gone “so long” but the repeated impatience demonstrated by the Israelites suggests that it did not take them 40 days to begin this process; the collection of the gold earrings themselves would have taken time based on the large number of people in the nation.
So, although God took 40 days to give Moses the 11+ chapters of rules, regulations and worship instructions that does not mean He was oblivious to what the rest of the Israelites were up to during that time. His omniscience means He knew even before their first conversation of rebellion that the Israelites would replace Him with the golden calf. He was not surprised by their unfaithfulness; He just chose to delay His response to it. This highlights two important truths to me: firstly, God’s will takes precedence over our expectations and secondly just because He does not always immediately punish our sin does not mean that we have gotten away with it.
It is clear in this section of Exodus that God’s will is to instruct Moses in His Law…nothing more and nothing less. So, as He sees the Israelites beginning to go down their path to idolatry, He does not feel compelled to speed the process up. The amount of detail given to Moses in every section is down to the minutia; even the colors of curtains are communicated. Only once God had communicated everything that He ended to communicate regarding the Law did He transition into telling Moses about the golden calf. As I have read this passage previously, I have found myself questioning why God didn’t intervene and stop the Israelite’s sin earlier. He surely could have pressed pause on His instructions to Moses and finished once the idolatry was addressed…and maybe even saved a couple of stone tablets as well. This time through the passage the Holy Spirit really stressed to me that I am sometimes guilty of casting my expectations on God and acting as though they are His will.
An even easier trap for us human beings to fall into is the lie that if I don’t see consequences for my sin immediately then it must not be sin. This is how habitual sin can take root in our lives, especially secretive sins like adultery, embezzling, jealousy, or pornography. God knows our sins fully, so please don’t confuse His patience and mercy for repentance as ambivalence towards them or unawareness of them. As Jesus more completely explains 1500 years after this, even thoughts of sin are just as wrong as the physical manifestation of the sin (anger=murder, lust=adultery, etc.) This only makes sense for Jesus to say if He can know our thoughts which means there is no pulling a fast one on God. If you are in the midst of unconfessed sin right now, please stop reading and confess it to Him; don’t wait for the consequences to come due before you repent.
I am always amazed at how the Holy Spirit can take Scripture that I have read numerous times and continue to give me new insight. My prayer is that you would never tire of reading His word, even the old stuff. As Paul reminds us, the Scripture is given “so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:17) May you be equipped likewise for His good works!
