Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." – Exodus 32:10

Today's Scripture Reading (October 19, 2021): Exodus 32

I think my theology is about 90% right. I know that some are offended by that number, they would argue that we should be 100% sure in our theology, but I am not sure that is true. There are no theologians that I read or listen to with which I agree on every point, and only rarely do they agree on every issue with each other. But I really think that is the way that it is supposed to be. I think my theology is 90% right, but my biggest problem is that I don't know where the 10% might be; I would correct it if I did.

But I am sure that God is love. It is a theme that is repeated throughout the Bible. But, if that is true, then it causes us to rethink how we read some of the passages in the Bible, including this one. What do we do with the biblical passages where God says that, in his anger, he will destroy the world or some specific portion of it? Because destruction doesn't sound like love, at least not love as we understand it.

However, part of the problem with the Bible is that we often input both the circumstances and the interpretation. Consider the familiar passage in Matthew where Jesus says that "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left" (Matthew 24:40-41). In our thinking, we have come to believe that the ones who will be taken will be good, and the ones left will be bad. But that value judgment isn't expressed in the passage. We have placed that value judgment on Matthew's words, and there are more passages just like it.

God telling Moses of his anger over Israel might be one of those passages. Consider the story of Noah. God comes to Noah and says that the world is evil, but Noah has found God's favor. So God declares that he will destroy the world and start over with you. So, build an Ark as I will instruct you. And, as a result of the word of God, Noah builds an Ark.

In Genesis 18, the angels come to Abraham and declare that God will sweep away or destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain. But Abraham defends the cities. He argues that if there are fifty, or forty, or finally ten righteous people, will God still destroy the cities of the plain. Of course, there aren't even ten righteous people in the cities of the plain, and the cities are destroyed.

God does something similar again here with Moses. God tells Moses that the Israelites are a stiff-necked people, and I will destroy them and start over again. Moses doesn't say go for it. He argues with God that such an act would cause dirt to fall on his name (basically, that God would be taking his own name in vain, violating the third commandment.) God agrees and follows the suggestion of Moses. These passages are descriptive; they simply tell us what happened without giving us a moral imperative. Considering that I believe that we serve a loving God, my question is this; Is it just possible that the reaction of Moses was the reaction that God hoped for from both Noah and Abraham.

I don't know the answer, but I think that Moses reveals the loving heart of God as he responds to God's desire to destroy the children of Israel and replace them with the children of Moses. And in the end, it is the love of God that is shown to the world.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 33