Mixing God's Words

            Another day, another rich text!  Exodus 32 begins with an important warning.  Israel’s problem was rarely outright rejection of the Lord their God.  Most often the problem was syncretism.  That is, the Israelites would mix elements of pagan idol worship and elements of true worship.  Notice that even as he fashions the golden calf, Aaron announces a festival to the Lord (32:5).  Understand that the Lord finds this every bit as offensive as outright idolatry, maybe even worse.  “I am the Lord; that is my name!  I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols” (NIV; Isaiah 42:8).

            People sometimes wonder why I’m so hard on things like angels, end-time speculations, and other sundry topics.  I’m hard on them because true faith grows from God’s words.  If we mix God’s words with things He hasn’t said, well, that’s syncretism.  If we mix our take on Jesus with a little dash of Buddhism, so that Jesus becomes anything less the absolutely unique God-man, who alone atones for sin, that’s problem.  If swallow that old bit about ‘all religions basically worshipping the same god,’ and minimize the uniquely triune God of the Scriptures, watch out!  If we buy New Age garbage about angels, danger looms large.  We might not have a golden calf in front of us, but we live in a highly syncretistic society.  If there’s one thing we do well, it’s synthesize diverse ideas without any sense of the inherent contradiction of it all.

            The Lord can’t stand it.  He tells Moses to get clear so He can wipe ‘em out and start over.  (I wonder if He was serious, or if He was testing Moses.  He sure seems serious.)  Moses, though, makes an interesting move.  Moses tells Lord that He can’t do that, because 1) He’d look bad in front of the Egyptians, and 2) He promised to prosper Abraham’s children.  God’s people have a hard time with God’s words, but Moses quotes God’s words back at Him!

            You know, we use the word ‘confession’ for two different things.  We confess our sins, and we confess the Lord before the world.  Two different activities, but the same basic thing—we are repeating God’s words back to Him.  In the first case, He says, “You’re a sinner,” and we say, “Yes, we are.”  In the second case, He says, “This is who I am,” and we say, “Yes, you are.”

            What the Lord says is what matters.  He says He is a jealous God, who wants all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind.  He says He won’t share His glory with another.  And, most importantly, He says that He is the God who relents from bring calamity (Joel 2:13).