Come on, God!

I'm fascinated by this dialogue between Moses and God in Numbers 14. God is really hacked off (and I'm sure, hurt) by the boneheadeness of the Israelites. God is ready to pull the plug. But Moses uses some psychology on the Lord; almost shames God into changing his mind. "What will the Egyptians think?" And God repents, as if God is worried that the Egyptians might thing less of God. That is hilarious to me. It makes me really, really wish I had been there. I'm so "Thomas" about stuff like that. Is that what really happened, or did Mose frame it that way? Talking about the bible stories in this manner is really threatening to some. I'm taking the viewpoint of skepticism. A whole lot of the world comes at the bible with a viewpoint of assent. They take on face value what the bible recounts as factually true. That is a valid viewpoint. The way it would be expressed in this case is that God always knew what God was going to do and was playing with Moses, and the people, to make a point about the power and soveriegnty of God. That is a valid interpretation. But it is not the only one. A perspective of skepticism is not a perspective of faithlessness. It is an attempt to find the true faith in what is being recounted. In this case it is the faith that God would not have acted that way. God is God and the will of God will by God be done. This must be a literary way of telling what happened, and how the people of Israel blew it with their faith. I take the perspective of skepticism because those who are outside the Jesus following life honestly and earnestly looking in have a low b.s. tolerance level, and because of how the bible has been used to club and shame them, they take a perspective of caution (and skepticism). It's not a perspective of pessimism, but of a deep desire to connect authentically and transparently-or not at all. I take that perspective for them. And to be authentic and transparent, it also happens to be my natural perspective. I want a real relationship with a real God; not one somebody hands me and asks me to swallow. That's why I always ask my real God-Jesus-to sit with me as I read the bible and interpret it to me through the prism of his life and teaching.