Exodus 32

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, "O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?"

Exodus 32:11

The people of Israel have made a golden calf their God. They have worshiped another God, and as we know from the commandments, this is idolatry. We should not raise anything up to the level of our God, who made the heavens and the earth, because nothing deserves the same worship as an all knowing, all powerful God who created everything. Nothing should be worshiped at the same level as Him because He is of so much more worth and value and generosity. He can move mountains, and we worship something like a golden calf. Moses questions why God's wrath burns so hot when He has clearly loved the people and brought them out of Egypt.

It is a question that we often ask when we ask why a good and loving God would create a place like hell. We question why God would let people experience hell for eternity, because we assume that since He is loving, He would put everybody in heaven, and we don't understand His wrath.

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.

Exodus 32:19

Moses didn't understand God's wrath until he saw what the people were doing, and then Moses burned with wrath. There are things that will make us so angry and upset, but we don't understand why God would be angry and upset. It's like we assume God is above anger because He is an all powerful being who is good, but we forget that even we as people have sides where we are kind and full of wrath, loving and hateful, generous and sinful. God has created heaven and hell, and He is generous and kind and loving, and He is also willing to forgive all of our sins except for one.

The only sin that God will not forgive is laid out in Matthew 12:31-32, where it says, "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come."

God is a loving God who is willing to forgive all of our sins, except for the sin that determines where we will be for eternity, and that is the willingness to accept the Holy Spirit given to us by Jesus. If we deny the Holy Spirit and we deny faith, then we will go to hell, and that is by our own will. If we choose the Holy Spirit at any point in our life, every single one of our sins will be forgiven and we will go to heaven and be with God for eternity.

So the next time I think, why would God do this, or why is there hell, or why is there evil, or why is life hard, may I remember that I feel anger too, and may my anger be righteous anger, like Moses burning hot because there is evil in the world. But may this not cause me to misunderstand the character of God, because even though He has anger and burns hot, He will still spare His people for eternity out of His love for us. He has still saved us.