Amonhi
A Friend
Page 2 God Agree To We Do
Along the topic.... Consider Moses... From Ex. 32
The situation:
QUOTE |
7 ¶ And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: |
The decision of God:
QUOTE |
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. |
The reference here that the Lord makes of making of Moses a great nation is a reference to keeping the promise made to Abraham, the Abrahamic Covenant or promise. If God were to destroy the Children of Israel, he would need a way to keep the promise made to Abraham.. He would need Moses to be willing to participate by keeping the promise through the seed of Moses.
Moses' Response: (Bad plan God)
QUOTE |
11 And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? |
Moses attempts to persuade God with logic:
QUOTE |
12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. |
Among other things, says Moses, this will really look stupid. Makes for bad stories, not the way to get followers...
Moses forces Gods hand:
QUOTE |
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. |
Now Moses pulls a power play. He brings up the promise that the Lord referred to about making a great nation of the seed of Abraham and tells the Lord that he will not be able to keep that promise if he kills the children of Israel. But interestingly, the Lord already gave Moses a way around that by making of Moses a great nation. Moses was telling the Lord that if the Lord did kill the children of Israel, that the promise would be broken making the Lord a liar. Moses was telling the Lord that his plan to make a great nation out of only Moses seed would not work. Why would it not work? Didn't the Lord have power to make it work? Yes, except for the one thing the Lord has not power over. The will of Moses who was telling the Lord he would NOT cooperate.
The results of Moses' attempt to strong arm God:
QUOTE |
14 And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. |
The word evil is not quite right here as the Lord does not really think to do "evil". It could easily say, "The Lord changed his mind and decided not to destroy the Children of Isreal."
How is that for disagreeing with the Lord?