Articles
Rejecting God No Matter What
This article expands on the thoughts begun on the front page. Most of us know this story well: the fearful Israelites accuse Moses of leading them from the lap of Egyptian luxury to a cemetery (Ex 14:11; 17:3). They murmured repeatedly about lack of water (15:24; 17:2) and lack of meat (16:2-3). Even after God’s dramatic appearances at Sinai they continued to gripe about His provisions for them: “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Num 11:5-6).
This is historic revisionism on steroids. Their cravings are so strong and narrowly focused as to block out reality: their firstborn sons were under a death sentence; they were miserably enslaved by their Egyptian overlords; the rigor of their work was unbearable. They “groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God …” (Ex 2:23).
Rebellion was always simmering in Israel’s heart. Moses was initially accepted (Ex 4:30-31), but this was a thin veneer that quickly eroded when Pharaoh balked at releasing his workforce (5:21). “So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they would not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage” (6:9). It was distrust of both God and Moses that exploded into sheer panic at the doomsday debriefing of the ten spies.
Their banishment to the wilderness was not a knee-jerk reaction but the last straw. God’s patience had run out because they were incorrigible. Unbelief is powerful. It can thrive in the very presence of almighty God. Men see what they want to see; they forget what they do not want to remember; they bend Scripture and wisdom to suit their desires.
It is tempting to read these accounts and think how carnal and blind and obstinate these people were – as if we are incapable of similar behavior. Is it possible for people today to be so enslaved to food or drink that sound reasoning against them will be resisted? Do some reject Jesus’ teaching on divorce in order to satisfy the body’s cravings? Do you think desire for comfort and convenience can outweigh exhortations to discipline and duty? Are we really Israel’s moral superiors?
“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin … For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? … So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Heb 3:12-13, 16-17, 19).
Do you want to believe in God? The pompous atheist bellows “NO!” The skeptic isn’t sure. The suffering may say “yes” but struggle to reconcile belief with pain. A believer may answer, “Of course I do” while wresting Scripture to suit himself. Disbelief is not based on a lack of evidence but rather a lack of desire to embrace the One to whom the evidence leads.
