Ramblings from Retirement – Disagree with God?

 Ramblings from Retirement – Disagree with God?
By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen
March 30, 2021

Can you disagree with God? Some folks erroneously think that you can never disagree with God but this is simply not true. Why would I say such a thing? As I was sitting here watching two raccoons trundle by my living room window I starting thinking about how raccoons are often seen as rascals and this probably is more about their natural masks and antics than their actual inherent behavior. But it also got me to thinking about how we can be rascals with God and if we can disagree with Him.

We first find Moses arguing with God in Exodus 4:1 when he begins to argue that he is not the man to be used by God to turn the Hebrews back to Him and lead them out of enslavement in Egypt. Moses whines that the people may not listen to him, that he doesn’t have any skills, and that he has no proof to show the people that God really did entrust him to lead them into freedom. God gives him answers for every argument and gets a bit testy with Moss and finally tells him that his brother will be the one who will speak and all Moses has to do is show up and be obedient.

In Exodus 32 we find Moses up on Mt Sinai receiving the Commandments of God written on stone and while he is doing so the Hebrew people back at the camp are melting down their Egyptian loot and making golden calves to worship. God’s anger burns towards them and He basically tells Moses to leave Him alone so He can think about how He would punish them for their insolence. Moses has to quickly argue that why would God lead these people to freedom and then let the Egyptians and other nations see that He is not a loving God by destroying those He rescued: “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' (Exodus 32:13 NIV)” I believe God did this so that Moses would remember what his purpose as leader was all about and that the Hebrews would become a great nation because eventually the Messiah would come from them: “Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. (Exodus 32:14 NIV)”

Later in Exodus 33 we find Moses goes to the tent of the meeting where he meets with God personally. There begins an argument again about how would the people follow Moses into the Promised Land, can Moses please see God’s face, and on and on. God passes by Moses allowing him to see His backside, which I find kind of hilarious and it is not just a blessing but kind of an offhanded in-your-face kind of answer by God to Moses. God tells Moses that he is pleased with Moses the man but I think God was also using his humor to show Moses who He truly is.

So can we disagree with God? I believe yes we can but we need to realize that our disagreement should lead us to maturity and a greater understanding of who God truly is, like it did with Moses. And there is a huge difference between disagreeing with God and being disobedient to God. As children we can disagree with our parents but we dare not be disobedient. I learned one leads to greater understanding while the other could lead to personal suffering. When you disagree with God make sure you are willing to listen to what He will try to teach you and how he desires to mature you in Him.

This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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