Exodus 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
What is the longest day of the week? Most people will answer something like, “Well, Monday. It is just a long day. I don’t want to wake up. I go to work, and the day drags on forever.” What would people say was the shortest day of the week? Most people would say, “Saturday. I feel like I just got off of work and then it is right back to Monday again!”
The fact is that every day has twenty-four hours, so when we speak of short or long days we are really talking about our perceptions of them. Some days seem longer than others based upon our age or on what we are doing any given day. This should show us that we are not to be trusted as to our perceptions of time. We don’t have a really good perception of time and that is why one day can seem longer than another.
In Exodus 32, Moses had gone up in to the mount to receive the Ten Commandments from God. Exodus 32:1 says, “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”
If I were to ask what one word described the way these people felt, the word would be “impatience.” Moses delayed, and however long it was that Moses was gone, it was long enough for Aaron to melt, mold, and make a golden calf. It was too long a wait for the people. They said, “Up, make us gods. We don’t know what happened to this Moses, but we are not going to wait around any longer.” They were impatient. They wanted a visible, manageable god. That was what the calf was to be. They were trying to impose their way upon God. They wanted to impose a form of their own making onto the infinite God.
In contrast, God said in verse 8, “They [Israel] have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.” On the one hand, the children of Israel thought Moses would never come back. They were impatient and just wanted a god. They made a god. They wanted to impose their way upon God. On the other hand, God said, “Very quickly they have turned aside.” The people felt like God was taking a long time, but God said that they had very quickly turned away. God’s perception of time was very different from theirs.
Impatience is not faith. To force timing is to impose my way upon God. Israel was confining God; God was not confining them. When the Bible says, “Wait on the Lord,” as it does frequently, it is not just saying, “Trust God,” but, “Trust God when you don’t know what the timing will be or the way in which God will provide.”
Wait on God. Trust His intentions. Moses asked for God’s mercy in light of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This prayer is found in verse 13. Moses’ prayer was a reminder of the promise God had made to the patriarchs. God hadn’t forgotten His promise, and God knew His intentions, good intentions. Trust God and wait on Him regarding His intentions toward you. They are good.
Wait on God regarding His knowledge. Israel didn’t know what was ahead, but God did. Their impatience was an indication of their trusting what they could see and not what God knew.
Finally, wait on God regarding His ability. God had parted the Red Sea, rained food from Heaven, and He was not about to let them down now. These were hard-hearted, stiff-necked people, and their faithlessness was indicated by their impatience. I’m not suggesting we be passive or that we not do what we should do now, but a faith that is not patient is not faith.