Exodus 32:9-10;19 ESV

 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that  I may make a great nation of you.” And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

People often think that the only emotion God possesses is love. They believe Him to be a kind and gentle grandfather who only wants the best for you and that any crime committed is benevolently overlooked. They say, “God is love, and love allows anything regardless of individual acceptance. Thus we can do anything to anybody, anywhere, under any circumstance, and God will overlook it. In fact, you don’t have to believe in God; you believe in other gods, and He doesn’t mind.” This is how the world thinks about the Almighty. However, they misunderstand that God is a being, a personality, i.e., a person, and possesses more than a general feeling of kindness towards His creation. As a divine Being, He loves this world and its citizens in the purest form. His love is such that the Father not only desires the best for you but also is against what would bring you to ruin. As a result, we should expect Him to feel a certain way concerning the things that would produce destruction for humanity. Therefore, He has divine anger and displeasure toward these things; He hates those attitudes, actions, and devices that encourage and increase sin. 

However, more than the fact that God hates sin and wickedness is the display of emotions Moses portrays as he arrives closer to the camp. What disparity it would’ve shown after having “calmed God down” from His just anger if Moses were to approach the camp and feel indifference toward the idolatry of Israel. Worst still, what if he found pleasure in the debauchery on display? How incongruent it would’ve been if Moses didn’t, as God’s representative, feel some way God did. I believe this is the confusion in the world today concerning Christians and their beliefs; we don’t appear to feel the same way God does. God, in His wisdom, adequately revealed His will and thoughts about many things and preserved the same in the Scriptures. Neither Moses nor any of us can claim ignorance because God’s displeasure, particularly against Israel, was heard and felt. What picture are we painting when we do not agree and align with God and His word? What confusion are we creating when we are indifferent, at best, and, at worst, enjoying the very thing He condemns? It’s no wonder our generation is unclear about how to live for God. It becomes puzzling when unbelievers don’t see believers loving what God loves and hating what He hates. 

As visible representatives of the invisible God, we are to be similar to His passions. In Leviticus 19:2, Moses, instructed by the Lord, admonishes the Israelites to be holy because God is holy. Child of God, this is more than outward observance and ritualistic worship; our characters and behaviors are to reflect His – even down to our emotions. God forbid we fail to accurately represent Him because we see it that way. Moses was enraged because God was wroth. That is to say, Moses identified with what angered Him and also became angry. Not to be preachy, but I invite us to self-reflect. Are we laughing at things God frowns upon? Do we take delight in that which God is displeased? Have we embraced the very thing God would have us reject? If yes, we must search the Scriptures on these issues and ask God to give us a heart like His so that we may feel like Him and properly portray His characteristics to the world. After all, God isn’t the author of confusion; He wouldn’t display something in the Scriptures for you not to exhibit the same to society.