Once More on God’s Anger

Numbers 16-18

            As I read today’s chapters, I was struck at the familiarity of it all: another rebellion, another punishment. Once again, the Lord wants to go nuclear. “Back away, Moses, and I’ll wipe them all out” (16:21)! Once again, Moses is the one who pleads for the people. It struck me: is the Lord’s vicious anger more apparent than real? Is the Lord purposefully exaggerating His threats as a sort of test to Moses? Here’s what I mean. Moses has certainly had his frustrations with the people he is leading. What if the Lord’s test is, “OK, Moses. I agree these people are awful. I’ll wipe them out and start over.” Suddenly Moses is confronted with the consequences of his own anger and thinks, “Hold on there, Lord! I mean, yeah, they’re awful, but let’s not get hasty!”

            Don’t you think sometimes when we’re angry someone agreeing with us and maybe even going further than we would calls us back to our senses? It can make us see our own lack of mercy.

            Another thing to see in Moses’ pleading for Israel is a foreshadowing of Jesus. Paul says in Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” And John says, “If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). Sometimes we think of Moses as the great lawgiver, and we see the parallel with Jesus only in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7). But Moses is Israel’s great intercessor, too, and that is an even better parallel to Jesus—the One who pleads for us that God would be merciful and count His sacrifice toward us.

            Both ideas provide food for thought!