Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” ”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, October 11, 2020
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: God’s and Israel’s newly re-formed relationship is a learning experience for them both. Both need to learn the ways of the other.
God’s passion is fierce when it comes to God’s people. Very shortly after God freed the Hebrew slaves in a magnificent display of power and mystery, the people were once again lost and afraid, and turned to the gods of Egypt that they were more familiar with than God.
God’s fiery response looks jealous and almost childlike in its whining, “Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them (32:7-8).” Moses turned the tables back on God—these aren’t Moses’ people, but God’s. “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand (32:11)?” Moses reminded God that these people—God’s people—had been through a terrible ordeal. What did God expect of a nation enslaved for 400 years? Moses calmed God’s temper and pleaded on the people’s behalf. God changed God’s mind about destroying them after all.
It seems that the relationship between Israel and God was a work in progress. God showed up in a big way, and the people responded in a big way. Now God has made God’s self responsible for a nation of people that had no idea how to govern themselves or behave in the context of a free life. It would be a learning experience for Israel and for God. Today, Moses would guide God in the ways of the people. Tomorrow, God would guide the people in the ways of God.
Guide me, O God, to slay my own golden calves. Amen.
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