Judgment

I just finished off the portion of Exodus that details the tale of the golden calf (Exo 32). There was a lot we all know. We know that the Israelites who affirmed mere days before "All that the LORD has spoken we will do" (Exo 19:8) didn't do what they affirmed. We know that they "coerced" Aaron (Moses's question was, "What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?" Nothing. They simply asked.) into making a golden calf. And I'm sure we've all been amused by Aaron's response, "I threw [their gold] into the fire, and out came this calf." Nice, Aaron. Of course, we all know that "that day about three thousand men of the people fell" (Exo 32:28). Something that struck me this time around, however, was a small verse at the end of the chapter that I never seemed to notice before: "Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made" (Exo 32:35).

Frankly, I find the verse a little unnerving. We already had the event where Moses "persuaded God" (yes, I know, that's not actually what happened, but that's how it appeared) not to entirely annihilate Israel (Exo 32:7-14). Moses was so angry himself that he threw down the tablets that God wrote (Exo 32:16, 19). And we already had the "judgment" of 3,000 people put to death for the crime. But here we have something ... ominous. "The Lord sent a plague." Now, we don't know what kind of plague. Israel suffered several plagues, among other things, as judgment. And we don't know how many died. Israel has a history of losing lots of people to God's plagues (see, for instance, in 2 Samuel 24 when David numbered the people and 70,000 people died). So an unnamed plague killed an unknown number of people on top of the original 3,000 for this sin.

The concept of God's justice is largely pushed away from 21st century America, including the Church in America. We just don't like to talk about it. We don't think about it. We like the "good news", the "salvation" thing, the whole "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" approach, but this whole "fire and brimstone" thing is out. As a result, when we talk about things like adultery, fornication, sexual relations between same genders (for Von's benefit), dishonoring the Sabbath, dishonoring parents, and so on, well, we're against it, sure, but we don't generally think of it in terms of judgment. Paul offers a variety of lists:

... covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless ... (Rom 1:29-30).

... sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these (Gal 5:19-21).

... the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers ... (1 Cor 6:9-10).

... lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power (2 Tim 3:2-5).

The people that fall in these lists are not merely "bad people", "immoral", "in need of salvation". Oh, they are all that, but not merely that. These people fall under the just wrath of God. They are the ones through whom God is "desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power" (Rom 9:22). They're the ones with a plague, so to speak, hanging over their heads.

There is a tendency among Christians to ignore God's judgment and focus on a "kinder, gentler" version of God. This wasn't the God of the Old Testament and, therefore, is not the God of today. Yes, He has prepared a way of escape, a method of salvation, and that is truly good news. But the good news is minimized when we minimize the wrath of God against such things. On the other hand, for those Christians who "cry out against the evils of this world", there is another problem. These people tend to feel a sense of superiority. "You see, we see the true nature of their evil and call it what it is. Thank you, Lord, that I'm not like them." Me? I'm thinking that if I care at all about my fellow man, I need to avoid the two errors. I must not ignore God's judgment. We don't even know what it cost Israel that day in the Sinai desert. What will it cost us? On the other hand, it isn't superiority that would make me stand on these issues. It is genuine concern. It's more like fellow soldiers: "Hey, hey, buddy! You're standing in a minefield and you are ready to step on a mine! You really need to stop and follow my directions to get you out of there!" To me, neither "God loves you and it's all good" nor "Repent in dust and ashes, you wretched heathen!" will get across what I'm trying to get across. I think I'd prefer a middle ground that recognizes both the seriousness of the problem and the predicament my fellow humans are in.