The LORD’s anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 11‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- 12not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.’
I am a sewer. I really really like fabric! In fact, just today I was looking over some fabric dreaming of a pattern I might use to sew it up into something wearable or useful. I have my favorite patterns too. The ones that fit ‘just right.’ The ones that are easy to make but can be modified to look different with different fabrics or embellishments. I think God likes patterns as well. Let me explain.
In this passage of scripture Moses had just received the Ten Commandments on stone tablets, written by the hand of God himself! However when he was finished, He looked down the mountain at the people and saw them ‘corrupting’ themselves by worshiping a golden calf. He became angry and wanted to destroy them for their sin of idol worship. Moses intervened! He reminded God that He himself had chosen these people to be ‘as the stars in the Heavens.’ God listened to Moses! Once again God ‘changed His mind’ and instead of destroying them, He listened to the impassioned plea of Moses, and relented. Remember God used this same pattern of a mind change when Abraham begged for the people in Sodom? Unfortunately, there were not even 50 people in that city that were righteous, so the plan went as scheduled, excluding most of the family of Lot (remember his wife turned around to see her home again and turned into salt?).
In the situation with Moses, the people were spared their ives, but as their punishment they wandered needlessly for 40 years in the desert, rather than a direct path to the Promised land. I call that ‘taking the scenic route!’ In this one move all of the grumblers, idol worshipers and others died in the wilderness before entering the promised land.
We as God’s people need to pay attention to God’s ‘patterns.’ They are telling us, you might think you got away with that sin, but I saw it and I will respond at the appropriate time, in the appropriate way. I consider it a ‘pattern’ if we see God has responded in the same way to a situation more than once.
Can you find any ‘patterns’ in the Bible? How should we respond to them?
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