Found it quite interesting on how forgetful the Israelites were. It was not too long ago (in Exodus 19), where God told the people to not make idols. Aaron himself was there when the commandments were given. Yet, when the people lost their patience in waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain, Aaron seemingly gave in without a fight when the people suggested to Aaron to make an idol for them to worship. This seems so like us today...where at one moment, we've learned a truth from the Bible, but then, once we step outside the church building, we're back to living our life as if we didn't know God. In this passage, it seems the people rebelled simply out of lack of patience. They wanted a leader, a god they could worship NOW. But instead of waiting for Moses to return with additional instructions from God, the people decided to take matters into their own hands by creating a calf made of gold to worship. This seems applicable to today as well. While waiting on God to answer when we're face with decisions, we often lose patience....and then decide to take matters into our own hands by using our skills, knowledge, past experiences and human logic to cause things to happen. The offenders with Aaron were struck with a plague as a result of their lack of patience. When we rebel today, there might not be a visible plague that happened to the Israelites...but I believe we do bring a lot of disturbance and personal drama into our own lives when we try to take things into our own hands instead of waiting for the hand of God to direct us.
On a related note, Aaron acted in a way similar to us sometimes. When pressured to do what the crowd wants, even though he probably knew it was going against God, Aaron still gave in and followed what the people want (I didn't see in the passage anywhere that showed Aaron even had a 2nd thought about not making the idol). We encounter this in today's times too as Christians. Whether it's at work, home or at school, we are often in situations where we face situations where we have to make choices...either do what others want...or to follow the ways of God. How often do we enjoy victory through living out these moments by choosing God?
Finally, with regards to the question of rebellion, I can think of clear moments of rebellion during my latter high school/early college years (my pre-Christian years). But those times of rebellion weren't due to a lack of patience in God since I didn't know Him yet. I rebelled against my mom during those years because I blamed her for breaking the family apart when she divorced my dad. Anyways, in terms of rebellion against God, I'm not sure if I ever did anything so blalant as the Israelites in this passage. I thank God for helping me understand the Bible fairly well during my college years when I first became a Christian...so those truths were ingrained in me. There are probably many times where I was tempted to make choices to not live for Him...but that's when knowing the Bible became important as the truths helped me to see that making the "other" choice would lead me down a road of destruction. I can think of several times where I was in a prolong dispute with a sister and brother in Christ. I could have chose to hold a grudge, to not resolve it and let it stay the way it was and just avoid the persons...but I know that God didn't want me to have broken relationships as that often leads to more trials and drama. As painful as it was to have to face the people who have "injured" me seemingly intentionally, I knew I had to resolve the disputes. The whole process involved me and the other two persons meeting with the pastor as a mediator...so that we could talk out our differences...and use the Scripture as the standard in which everyone should relate to one another. Going through something like that was not easy...because I had to let go of the worldly thinking "that's not fair" or "I'm right and they're wrong". But...it's part of learning to live with sisters and brothers in Christ who are made uniquely and don't always think/act like we do. The ultimate standard though is the Scripture...which is why it's so great that the church and us are giving extra attention to that this year.
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hey Dom!!!i agree on how you said that we like to take matters into our own hands especially when we are impatient. i like how you said that we use our skills, past experiences, knowledge and etc to create something on our own and in doing that we have this plague of drama and disturbance. i can totally relate because there are times where i do rebel....well not big rebels...but small ones. reading on what you wrote made me realize it is because i was impatient. I guess i just got tired and frustrated waiting for something to happen. I guess in my mind it was like "if you want something to be done, you got to do it yourself." well...yea that is bad of me to think so mighty of myself and that i can do everything on my own.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle...patience is a "learned" thing...and patience in God's timing is an even more "learned" thing. Sometimes it's because we haven't learned how to "hear" God. Sometimes God is talking to us, just that we don't recognize His voice! One of the ways we can learn to "hear" God is doing what you and others have been doing...that is, to read the bible and to study it. By learning about the bible, we actually get a better understanding of God, what He thinks about, what's important to Him, what He's concerned about. So as we study the Bible, we start to understand His character and His voice more. One of the biggest way that God speaks to us is through the Scriptures. You wouldn't believe how often that, in the midst of my troubles or trials, as I'm struggling with something, a certain Scripture would come to mind...that is not an accident! More often than not, if I study that particularly passage closely that came to mind at that very moment, the answer to my troubles was in that passage. So one challenge for all of us might be to start doing Scripture memorization. That hasn'e been done in the high school class in a long time...and the last time I really did it was when I was in college Sunday School some 15 years ago :P Other ways to "hear" God's voice that I've learned is (1) seeking the advice of Christians who I consider spiritually wise, (2) by praying to God and being still to try to hear Him speak back (sometimes, in the midst of prayer, again Scriptures come to mind), and (3) also through something call providential circumstances (that's God opening up certain doors or closing certain doors to lead us a particular direction). These three things plus the studying the Bible, if all 4 of them are pointing in a certain direction, then there's a good chance that's the direction God wants you to head to :)
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