Title: Don't Test the Lord!
Do not test Jehovah!
Exodus 17:1-7, Third Sunday in Lent, March 27, 2011
need for survival
Exodus 17:1-7, the text of today's sermon, is a kind of episode that Israel experienced in the wilderness. The Israelites came to a place called Rephidim and pitched their tents. When you think of Mongolian nomads, you can imagine their life. It is a wandering life in the wilderness in search of places to eat and drink. There was no water at Rephidim when they arrived. The Israelites quarreled with Moses. The quarrel is repeated twice. Once in verse 2. “Give us water to drink.” It means taking responsibility. But Moses replies to the people: “Why do ye quarrel with me, and why do ye put the Lord to the test?” The other is verse 3. It seems that more time has passed. The water problem is not solved and people are thirsty. The people questioned and listened to Moses. It is said that he resented Moses. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, that we and our children and our livestock die of thirst?”
As we read this series of stories, it is very easy to assume that the people of Israel lack faith. We are different from them because our beliefs are clear. But Israel's behavior should not be taken as strange. Rather, it is natural. The same is true even if we change our position and think. Right now we are all focused on economic growth. It only cares about producing and exporting more and earning dollars than any other country. That's the case with nuclear power plants. We are sticking to nuclear power plants because we don't know what kind of disaster it will be to our descendants, and it's economically helpful right now. Korea is taking the lead worldwide in the construction of such nuclear power plants. Money making has overtaken all values. It is no different from the Israelites 3,500 years ago, who complained that they had no water to drink, that they had no food, and that Canaan was too strong.
How should Moses handle this situation? You can't convince people. Some things are possible by persuasion, and some are not. The current situation is not possible. It is said that Moses cried out to the Lord. “What shall I do to this people? They will throw stones at me in a little while.” The Lord said to Moses: He told them to take the staff that struck the Nile and strike the rock of Horeb. Moses did exactly what the Lord commanded. The problem must have been resolved. I don't know what kind of water stream on Mount Horeb was discovered. It may have been Moses who had personally visited, or someone familiar with the area might have helped. According to Numbers 10:29 and below, Moses' brother-in-law Hobab served as a guide in the wilderness. Anyway, the people who got water must have liked it. They may have sang hymns as evidence that Jehovah is alive.
The biblical writer views the event quite differently. The name of that place was called Massah, or Meribah. It means that the children of Israel quarreled, or that they tested the Lord. If you get water in a desperate moment right before you die of thirst, you should name it the Fountain of Miracle or the Fountain of Life. However, it is remembered as the site of the most unbelieving event in Israel's history. Moses recounted the Massa story in his sermon just before his death. “Do not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massa” (Deuteronomy 6:16).
target faith
In Matthew 16:1, the following story is found. The Pharisees and Sadducees tempted Jesus. The content of the test is to show the target. You are asking for a sign that you are the Messiah. Here the sign is an amazing miracle. This request is a bit odd. Jesus originally healed many people, caused five diseases, and cast out evil spirits. The Pharisees, who must have known these things, are talking about miracles again. It's hard to know for sure whether he asked for a greater miracle than Jesus did, or if Jesus didn't have many of those things. You can see this indirectly from Jesus' answer. “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but there is no sign to show except the sign of Jonah.” (Matthew 16:4) Jonah's sign covers the events that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a large fish. This was not the answer the Pharisees expected. The 3 days in the womb refer to those 3 days in the story of Jesus resurrected after 3 days. There is no sign that Jesus is the Messiah other than the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This is the spiritual task that we Christians must face today. The cross and resurrection are absolutely not the signs the world demands. The cross is a stumbling block and foolishness. Paul has already pointed it out clearly. How can the fact that the Messiah died helplessly as a sign of proof that he is the savior of life? Resurrection is an eschatological life event that is not experienced by the world. It is not an experience for those outside the church. It's like the experience of a young man and woman falling in love is dry to others. It is very dangerous to base the most important faith on the shunned cross and the impossible resurrection. It's less dangerous to focus on psychotherapy or morality than that. That's because everyone thinks it's good. But we cannot live a life of faith like that. Because we don't go to church as a hobby. Because faith is a matter of death and life, not a matter of taste in life.
Look again at Massa's story of testing Jehovah. Israel in the wilderness wanted to make sure that Jehovah was with them. As I said earlier, it is understandable that they wanted to check their future as a target because they were always in danger of survival. Their thoughts are the same as those of the Pharisees who asked Jesus for a sign. These are all representatives of the sign faith. At this point you may be a little confused. Why is it wrong to ask for a sign that God lives? There are thousands of such signs all over the Old and New Testaments. Even during Jesus' public life, signs appear indicating that he is the Messiah. That's right. There is a target. But don't ask for a target. The target will be revealed later. You can't predict it in advance. It is unbelief to require that sign in advance. Do you understand the difference? God intervenes in our lives. It appears as a target. Knowing the target is necessary. But to ask for the signs you expect is a false sign faith.
How can we go beyond the target faith? The answer is obvious. Don't look for targets. The signs you ask for and expect are, at best, only the best that you know from your brief experience. We don't even really know what's good for us. Still, he is unconditionally expecting something based on his own standards. To live a life of faith leaning toward such demands and expectations is to bring God down to one's own level. That is the test of God. Would a life of faith without seeking signs be boring and helpless? no. If you notice just a little bit of how new and amazing what God is doing, you cannot think like that. It is true faith to entrust your destiny to God's level, not mine. Even Jesus prayed that he wanted it to be “according to the will of the Father, not mine.” Do not bring God, his deeds, his providences, or his rule of life down to your own level. Do not test Jehovah. Amen.