God has quite literally moved oceans for the Israelites. He miraculously delivered them from 400 years of slavery, provided literal bread from heaven, parted the ocean to create a safe getaway path, and even presented them with a pillar of smoke and fire (His presence) to go before them as Moses leads them according to God’s direction. This has all led them to this moment in history- God giving Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.
This experience wasn’t insignificant. Humanity was created with a sense of moral right vs. wrong in our hearts, but these commandments; these good, helpful, loving commandments, were going to be the first step toward a covenant relationship with the LORD God! God had gone above and beyond to prove His faithfulness to the Israelites and had shown time after time that:
1. He is all-powerful
2. He loves us and is faithful to fight for His children.
As if His miracles weren’t enough confirmation that God was with them, God revealed the commandments to the Israelites by literally addressing them with His own voice from heaven. They’re standing at the foot of a mountain, His presence equally awe-inducing and terrifying, and He reminds them verbally, “I am the LORD your God who delivered you from Egypt.” How much more confirmation could they need?!
He addresses the Israelites, the elders of the nation are invited to spend some time with God, and then after the covenant between God and Israelites is made, God calls Moses up to the mountain once more for further instruction to be given. Moses asked his brother Aaron to be in charge and left to go be with the LORD. Seems like the Israelites finally got it together! (lol)
Let me remind you - the Israelites had just heard God’s voice, saw multiple miracles occur, and even witnessed God’s very essence manifest as a burning mountain while He spoke to Moses. But their minds aren’t focused on the miracle - being allowed to experience God’s presence - they’re focused on how long they’ve been waiting for Moses to come back down the mountain so they can get moving again.
They knew the promise God had made them, their only responsibility was to patiently wait and serve God with grateful hearts, but impatience got the best of them and they decided to take matters into their own hands.
The Israelites got together and told Aaron they were tired of waiting, so they decided to call on "God" themselves. Aaron took their gold jewelry and made a golden calf for them to worship. Then, even worse, they got drunk and had an orgy, all while claiming the golden calf was a physical representation of the LORD?! Not their best work.
Even knowing the past history of the Israelites (who are used by God as an illustration of all Christians,) reading about them having a drunken orgy, while worshipping a false god, even though the real presence of God was still visible to them had me scared for the Israelites!! Like, guys!! Be fr.
When God saw what they were doing, He sent Moses back down to stop them. And their excuse?
“You were taking so long! We didn’t know the reason why it was taking so long!” They couldn't wait for God's timing, so they decided to try and figure out a workaround. Those are ok as long as you're claiming it's for God's glory, right?
In all honesty, I found myself in the same spot this past week. I know God's promises, His spirit is within me, and He loves me and has never allowed a waiting period without a purpose. But how many times do we, as Jesus followers react to a period of waiting like the Israelites?
We experience the glory of God and submit to His authority, only to get impatient when things don’t happen immediately. Then, we try to speed up the execution of His plan with actions of false worship. “Worship” with the intention of getting God to do something isn’t worship, it’s manipulation. And that’s not how Yahweh rolls!
We want everything to happen right now. All of our questions answered, all of our problems solved, all of our heart issues fixed, our dream job, dream relationship, we want it now!! Or at least, we need to see a timeline to prove it's all going to happen eventually. But if we're getting silence from God on an issue, we start to let our minds wander.
Usually, if God’s timing isn’t aligned with our timing, that's when let the lies start seeping in. The lies tell us that it’s okay to settle for a gold calf because God “isn’t doing anything” in our waiting period. All the while, God is watching us with a broken heart because He knows His plans are perfect, and we’re creating more heartbreak, further separation from Him, and even prolonging His process when we refuse to submit.
The best news is, God gives us a choice in the matter. I don’t know what you’re waiting on, but I do know if you’ve been settling for a gold calf (or having a drunken orgy) God’s mercies are new every single day. He wants this period of waiting to draw you near to Him. He wants to show you just how fulfilling His presence can be. He wants to teach you, shape you, and love you into being the person equipped to handle the answer to the question “Why is it taking so long?”.
What if, just like the Israelites, God is a million steps ahead of you with the answer, the provision, the guidance, and even making ways for you to be blessed and glorify Him according to His word? All He needs is for you to be faithful, listen and obey, and seek Him above all else. Fight the lies, and the temptation to try and speed up His timing, because it’s gonna be such a sweet moment when your waiting is over, you start to see everything come together, and He can tell you “This is what was taking so long!".