“Oh Ye of Little Faith!”

Scripture: Exodus 32:1-14

News anchor and journalist William Boggs writes:
What passes for faith in our time is not much different from that experienced at the orchard. So often we stay right around the edges, not trying very hard to deepen our understanding, content to lead unexamined lives where we know ourselves very little and God even less.
No wonder the fruits of religious experience taste so bitter in our mouths and bring so little nourishment to the lives of people who are otherwise quite famished and searching for something that will fulfill the deepest hunger of their souls.
-William Boggs, in his book, Sin Boldly: But Trust God More Boldly Still (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), 101-102.

Why, indeed, is a deep faith so difficult? Everyone wants to believe in something that is greater than themselves; no one wants to think that this is all there is and there is no more! So, when the truth of a greater and more powerful Being is offered to them, why do so many reply “No Thanks!”? It really makes no sense!

We all want to look upon something with admiration and awe, as long as it satisfies our own desires, of course!

Read Exodus 32:1-4

Moses is still on the mountain with Almighty God. The Lord has just finished giving instructions to Moses regarding the design and construction of the Arc, the Tabernacle, and the priestly robes. (Exodus 25-31) God has just finished emphasizing the importance of keeping the 7th day in a holy way - that it is to be Sabbath. It would be a sign to the rest of the world that the nation had a special relationship with the Almighty, and also that they would come to know Yahweh in a new way. (Exodus 31:12) And even while Moses is receiving divine and vitally import information for the people, they deny their God and turn to worship a device of their own making.

They had become impatient. Moses had been gone for about a month and a half, and with all the vapor and fire and thunder that was coming from the top of the mountain, they just knew that the one who had been leading them would never appear again. (Exodus 24:15-18) And they decide to make their own god to replace the One who had destroyed their leader.

But to be perfectly honest, it’s tough to be patient with the Lord! His ways are not our ways, his timing is not in our time, and his thoughts are never ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), and unless we have an overpowering trust and confidence in the Lord’s ways, our life in him will never be satisfying. That, I believe, was the problem at Mount Sinai – too little faith in God, and too much trust in themselves.

Who was it that first said “Some things never change!”? Whoever it was, they had perfect insight into the human condition! Our nature seems to be that if we can’t see it, then it can’t be all that important! So we make gods that we can see and understand – gods like money, jobs, activities, position, and so on. We trust them, we follow them, and we give them all the credit for the goodness we experience.
So did Israel! They had seen the Almighty God in action, and still they felt that they could make a better god with their own hands and by their own means, and that this would be the god they should honor.

Read Exodus 32:5-6

The nation not only gives their new, man-made god the credit for leading them out of Egypt, they begin to worship and celebrate this new “force” in their lives. If they had just waited a little longer, they would have discovered that the first two commandments that Moses had just received were “You shall have no other gods before me.” and “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” (Exodus 20:3-4) Without knowing it, Israel had just trampled all over the true image and nature of their God! Did they really think that he would let this pass?

Even today, with all the history behind us, we still think that the Lord is so gentle and loving that he will overlook anything and that we can get away with everything! But our God is jealous of the relationship that he has created for us – a relationship in which he calls us to put him and his ways first in our life. And when we decide that our way is just as good as his, and maybe even better, there must be consequences. It’s one thing for us to turn away from the Lord, but it’s an entirely different thing when he turns away from us. And it isn’t good!

Read Exodus 32:7-10

The scene shifts from Aaron and the deceitful nation, back to the Lord and Moses. And God is not happy! He disowns the people when he tells Moses that they are now “your people”, and that Moses is the one who has brought them out of slavery. God has just washed his hands of the rebellious nation. He calls them “stiff-necked” – that they are obstinate, arrogant, stubborn individuals, and is prepared to withdraw the covenant he made with Abraham years before.
Now before you think that the covenant is binding and can never be broken, remember that there were two parts to the covenant – Jeremiah 7:23 – “Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.” Obedience was, and is, and always will be the caveat in our relationship with Almighty God. He will give us the chance to mend our ways, but he will never relent on this expectation.

Relationships are two way. We can have a deep and heart-felt desire to be with another person, but until they return the sentiment, or at least have a similar feeling, there is no relationship. If we care about them, but they feel nothing in return, how can we possibly have any bond, any connection with them? The truth is that we can’t, and that is also true with the Lord. The connection that had existed between Israel and Yahweh has been severed by the thoughtless act of the people, and in response, the covenant is about to be withdrawn, and the nation is about to be eliminated from the face of the earth.

God is about to begin again, not with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but with those of Moses. But quite honestly, would Moses’ family have been any better? The truth is that humanity always did, and always will, disappoint God. We are imperfect beings, and will never be able to fully “obey” him. And the penalty for failure is death.
So I expect that God’s intention wasn’t so much that he wanted to, and would, destroy Israel, but that he was trying to impress on them the seriousness of their sin. Death would still be the penalty, but that was going to be cared for one day by the Second Person of the Trinity – by God Himself in Jesus Christ. He would take the death sentence that our sin demands, and he would willingly suffer in our place. Of course neither Moses nor the Israelites could possibly know this, but the Lord had to let them know just where they were headed if something didn’t change. And since humanity can do very little about it, God would.

Read Exodus 32:11-14

Moses intervenes with God, and the death sentence is reserved. It is only a temporary reprieve, though, but this is only a precursor to the permanent one that is on the way. Jesus would soon be on the scene, to be the once and forever intercessory for our sin, and what would be required on our part? Only faith, and not a huge amount, either - just our best offering.
Throughout the Gospels, we read of the importance of faith. Jesus told the Parable of the Mustard Seed (e.g. Mark 4:30-32), that the smallest amount of faith can grow and do marvelous things. In Matthew 17:14-20, the disciples were unable to accomplish any miracles, and Jesus tells them that it is because their faith is too weak, and that just a little more would allow them to do anything in his name. When Jesus was preaching in his home town of Nazareth, he, himself, was limited to only a few minor miracles, and why? Because the faith of the people was inadequate. (e.g. Matthew 13:54-58)
True faith in Christ can accomplish all things, but a weak faith can do nothing.

Over and over, Jesus chastised his followers for not believing, and it always seemed to be in the context of their failure to succeed. Israel didn’t trust Yahweh enough to endure the waiting, and Moses interceded on their behalf. The world doesn’t trust God enough to survive our death sentence, and Jesus interceded on our behalf. What does the Lord have to do to get our attention? The truth is that there is nothing else to do – he has already done it all, and all we have to do is believe in him as “the Way, the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:5-6).

When the Judgment Day arrives, and the sentence is pronounced, will we hear “O Ye of little faith.”, or will it be “Well done, good and faithful servant.” It’s all up to us now, isn’t it?