Reflection - Idols III

By Steve Hall

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042421.cfm
Acts 9:31-42
John 6:60-69

In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Numbers there is an incident that is recorded but often overlooked or ignored. Those who had fled a life of slavery in Egypt had arrived at the border of their new God-selected homeland. At the direction of the Lord, Moses gathered a representative from each of the twelve tribes and sent them to scout out the land of Canaan. This was the land promised to them as the descendants of Abraham. The group did as commanded. When they returned after forty days they gave their report.

"We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.” (Numbers 13:27) Unfortunately, there was more.
”They brought to the sons of Israel an evil report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.” (Numbers 13:32)

What happened next had its own historical consequences:

“Then all the congregation raised a loud cry; and the people wept that night. And all the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why does the LORD bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?’" (Numbers 14:1-3)

Because of the report the people refused to follow the directives of God. They forgot the wonders of the twelve plagues. They forgot their peaceful exit and their eventual safe passage through the parted waters. They forgot the provision of the quail and the manna. They forgot the divine manifestations at Sinai and the Covenant the divine had made with them. As might be expected, bound by fear, they wandered another forty years in the desert.

For us, here, living today, this incident is an archetype in miniature of mankind’s persistence in balking at that last step. This is the step where we truly begin to live as if our God is the one God. Our God is the only God.

What the Lord asked of them was faith — faith that the Lord would continue to do what he had already done: namely, to provide them with protection from their enemies and the continuation of his presence. It’s probably the ‘enemies’ list which breeds the most anxiety and foments the deepest panic, for our enemies are numerous. The list, our list, may include foreign aggressors, stab-in-the-back colleagues, big government or minimal government, highway drivers, the mentally ill, socialists or communists or capitalists, thieves, murderers, gang members, a mother-in-law, etc., etc., etc. And our list may include more than people or powers or philosophies. Poverty, hunger, failure and difference, along with many other social circumstances, are all candidates for creating fear, and they can do so quite effectively.

As a consequence of our fears we seek a god to save us. Who will it be?