Exodus 32:14: “And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”

Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

In my latest book God’s Heart is Broken, Not Angry, my first chapter deals with Exodus 32 where God and Moses are sitting on the mountain top and God is giving out all his rules and regulations when all of a sudden He is aware of the fact that the people in the valley have built a golden calf and were worshipping it. Well, that was all God could take.  After taking the people out of slavery, parting the Red Sea, giving them a victory over the Amalekites, water from a rock, and manna from heaven, they turn around and start worshipping an idol and God is just beside himself with anger. Well, won’t you be?  He tells Moses to stand back because he is going to destroy these good for nothing stiff-necked people and Moses has to jump into the fray and cool down this irrational God who has gone totally out of control.  “God, God, stop a moment, now calm down, count to ten, Aleph Beth Gimmel, think what you are about to do, what will the rest of the world say that you took your people out to the desert just to ambush them? Now let’s just think about this, cool down, here have a piece of my bagel, you’ll feel better.”  Well, good old Moses was fortunately able to calm God down enough where God repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.  “Oh, Moses, when you’re right your right, I don’t know what came over me. No I shant destroy these people.”

I mean I dare you, read Exodus 32 in any modern English translation and tell me if it does not depict an angry, irrational out of control God who needs a mortal human to talk sense into Him. Of course you will have to wait for my book to come out to find out how I deal with this passage in the original Hebrew but without any spoiler alert my position is that God was not angry but grieved that He could not keep His hand of protection over Israel because they turned to another god.  God’s declaration of destroying the people is really in a Hiphal jussive form and really means that he must allow the people to be destroyed.  I mean there were a couple million people in a desert, no food, no water, facing the harsh elements of a desert, without God, they would not last.  God didn’t need to destroy them, all He had to do was sit back and do nothing and they would all quickly die off.  God was saying that He could not violate the free will of man and thus He could into intervene.  Moses pleads with God and when he does God repents.

Ah, look at that word repent. It is nacham which in its very Semitic root means to breathe or let out air. In other words, it means to give a sigh. Why do you sigh, it is usually an expression to show resignation, frustration, disappointment, or relief. Nacham could mean any of these and it is up to the context to determine which English word you will apply.  In the context that I present this story it would be a sigh of relief. God was grieving over the fact that because of His holiness he could not protect the people who would surely die without His protective hand and provision.  However, Moses is righteous and God can build a nation from Him as he declares in verse 10.  But Moses would have none of it.  He loves the people just as God loves them and He pleads or intercedes on their behalf and when he does God gives a sigh of relief.  Because Moses was willing to stand in the gap before God for his land or nation God was able to prevent their destruction.  We have in Exodus 32, not a picture of an angry, irrational God ready to potty train his people with lightning bolts but a grieving God looking for someone to stand in the gap so He can save and protect His people.

This picture of standing in the gap has its origins in ancient times when an army would besiege a walled city.  Their primary goal would be to create a breech or hole in the wall large enough for the army to enter into the city. Once they managed to breech the wall a warrior defending the city would volunteer to stand in that breech or stand in that gap, a gap big enough for only one man to stand in. He alone would defend that city until he was killed and another would take his place. It was a suicide mission so it would be done by volunteers, volunteers who were ready to stand and defend the city with their very lives.  They would do this to protect those that they loved. Their love for them would be so deep, so fierce that  they would fight to their last breath to protect their loved ones.

Moses was righteous and gave his will to God. When a man does that God is able to do whatever he wants for He will face no danger in violating one of his key laws, that of free will. When you surrender you will to God, He can do what He wants. Because he loves us, just as He loved Moses He wanted to do whatever was dearest to the heart of Moses and Moses showed that his heart’s desire was for his people.  God was able to say, “Ok, Moses, I cannot violate the will of the people but for you sake, knowing the grief you would feel if the people were destroyed, the only way I can protect you is to protect those that you love. In that God  was able to exert His will over the people for it was not the people he was protecting it was the heart of Moses.

Note God sighed over the evil ra’ah that he thought ‘asah to his people. Interesting that earlier in verse 7 God speaks to Moses referring to the people as your people.  Now they are again God’s people such that He ra’ah.  Ra’ah is translated as evil here. In Psalms 21:1 it is rendered as shepherd and later in the Psalms as friend.  Ra’ah is simply a consuming passion. It could be evil if you have a consuming passion for drugs, alcohol or sex, but if you have a consuming passion for your family, hey, that is not so bad.  Then ra’ah becomes a friend or shepherd. The word thought is ‘asah which also has multiple meanings. In this case I would use one meaning of the word which is to use.  Thus, God gave a sigh of relief over His consuming passion which He sought to use upon His people.

As I said there is a very powerful lesson in this passage if you wish to follow my rendering.  Because one man, Moses, who had submitted and surrendered his will to God, who stood up and declared his love for his people, God was able to protect an entire nation in order to protect the heart of his servant.  Because one woman named Esther declared her love for her nation to the man she loved who loved her, that man was able to protect and save a whole nation.  Esther stood in the gap for her.

This Sunday we will celebrate the death and resurrection one Man who stood in the gap for all of us because He loves us and because of one Man being the Son of God Himself standing in that gap for us, we are all protected from the penalty of our sins.

How about you?  Do you have an unsaved spouse, family member, family or friends that you love. If you surrender your will to God and love Him with all your heart as Moses did and love your family with all your heart like Moses loved his people and God knows your heart will be broken if anything happens to that loved one of yours, like with Moses He will protect that one that He cannot protect because of their sins, but He can protect them because it is not them He is protecting, it is you, your heart.  He cannot violate their free will but he can protect them in order to protect your heart.