7 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
9 “I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
This is the 2nd time that it struck me how God is like us in some ways. While it is true that He is slow to anger, he still gets angry. Especially when people are stiff-necked as evidenced by the scripture above.
In the same way, our parents are similar to God. They love us, but when we continually offend, disobey them, or shame them by our actions, soil their reputations by what we do, we push them to the limits too. And they, out of anger and desperation, because we are stiff-necked, will do or say things they never really mean and will regret later. Which led me to the following scripture:
." So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." -- Matthew 15:16-20
But the beauty of all these is, God listens to reason. We just need to talk to Him. He listened to Moses when He reasoned with Him that His anger abated.
How many times in our lives we encounter "padrino" or "mediators"? My mom was always the mediator between Dad and us when we did wrong while growing up. Mommy always plead our cause and tried to reason with our Dad whenever he was angry for a wrongdoing committed.
Like God, we listen to reason, too! Especially if the mediator is one who has found favor in our eyes, like Moses was to God.
John 15: 7 says: " If you abide in me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
That was the 1st verse to strike a chord within me in the parallelism of God to parents. I even pointed this out to my Wednesday bible study group at the New Vision Methodist Church when we were studying the book of John.
Because of my work schedule, I almost missed all Wednesdays while we studied that book, but for whatever reason, God wanted me to be there when we read those verses. I even remembered explaining to the group how I always wondered where the reward system originally stemmed from. It became very clear to me then. For in all normal families, the ones who are always obedient always get favors. If you do your chores, then you can do things. If you excelled in school, you get a reward. If you helped without being asked, you get a treat. It has always been easier to ask something from our parents if we abide by them.
Conversely, a disobedience or any wrongdoing have consequences. Tots are being sent on timeouts, in the corner, and as children grew, the consequences adapt to the most effective like being banned from playing their favorite toys, watching tv's, early bedtime, no sleep over, being grounded, etc. Those are the punishments for kids here. In the Philippines, when we were growing up, there is one common form of discipline. The one called "rod" in the bible; or "palo" in tagalog, or whipping here. It was very effective to us. I remember trying hard to avoid doing wrong when I was little so I won't get whipped.
The Wisdom of King Solomon is clearly imparted in Proverbs 29:15, The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But the child left to himself brings shame to his mother. It can be interpreted any way you can, but to me, it means a stick. We were whipped when we were kids but because they were meant to teach us lessons, the sting of each of them we can remember no more. Just the reason why we got them and the lessons learned from them.
The evangelist John also wrote in Chapter 14:
12 Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father. 13 And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
When we were created in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27), God, apparently, was not only speaking of physical attributes. God is love. His physical repesentation on earth is Jesus Christ. If we believe in Jesus, we will strive to be like Him. In what ways?
Christ felt no guilt. God wants to banish ours. Jesus had no bad habits. He wants to remove ours. Jesus had no fear of death. God wants us to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased, mercy for the rebellious, and courage for the challenges. God wants us to have the same....
For God loves us the way we are but He refuses to leave us there. He wants us to have a heart like His. He wants us to be like Jesus. He wants us to be in His real image and likeness. Amen to that.
-- That in all things God may be glorified!
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