When a Stubborn Heart Meets God's Mercy

One thing I’ve noticed while reading through the Old Testament is how easy it is to become frustrated with Israel.

But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel are of hard forehead and of a stubborn heart.

Ezekiel 3:7

They witnessed miracles most of us can barely imagine. They saw God’s power, His provision, His mercy and His presence. Yet page after page, they complained, turned away, doubted and repeatedly fell into idolatry…

Oftentimes, I wonder how could they behave like that when they had such examples and situations showing how God was with them and protected them and blessed them, which reminded me of Exodus - all the things that God had done for the people. Yet,

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him”

Exodus 32:1

While reading this passage - the prelude of the molten calf - it’s easy to judge the behaviour. Look, God saved them from slavery, gave them protection, guidance, food, wonders and provided even when they asked for meat while wandering in the desert, yet only after 40 days they turned astray. How could they do this!?

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down; for your people, whom you brought up upon the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them;”

Exodus 32:7-8

I shook my head and said to myself that if it was me, I wouldn’t have done it, not after seeing all the great things. Surely, with so much proof of how God loves His people, obedience would come easily.

But the reality is that I don’t understand what they have been through - often it’s easier to understand and judge when we look back. The people were alone, in the desert, the person who was guiding them, the one that God chose, instructed and spoke to, was gone for over a month.

They were probably anxious, lost.

They had no assurance that Moses would indeed come back - after all, it had been over a month.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9

Scripture shows that the problem is not a lack of evidence. But the condition of the human heart, being weak, fearful and prone to wander from God.

God continually guides, provides for, and protects His people. Yet even after experiencing His faithfulness, we can become impatient when His timing differs from our own.

Even when things go through a rough patch, eventually we realise why we had to go through it. Yet we are still stubborn, we don’t listen, we go astray. It’s easy to single out a group of people who had God and didn’t do the right thing. I realised that this is exactly what we do.

The apostle Paul makes this very point when reflecting on Israel’s wilderness journey,

Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction (…)

1 Corinthians 10:11

Israel’s story is not merely a record of the past. It is a mirror held up to every generation. Their temptation to distrust God, to seek security elsewhere, and to turn aside from His ways is a temptation we all face.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.

John 1:10-11

Even when God Himself came among His people in Jesus Christ, many still failed to recognise Him. Though He first came to His own people, Christ came so that the whole world might receive life through Him. So that all might know the truth and be reconciled to God.

Even so, we often repeat the same mistakes as those who came before us. Like Israel in the wilderness, we can become fearful, impatient, and prone to wander. The problem is not a lack of God’s guidance but the weakness of the human heart. Thankfully, God’s mercy remains greater than our failures.

But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandment; they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders which you performed among them; but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious, and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and did not forsake them. Even when they had made for themselves a molten calf (…)

Nehemiah 9:16-18

This passage was a reminder that I should not judge someone else’s struggles and wrongdoings, nor assume that I would have acted differently. As Jeremiah says, the human heart is deceitful and prone to wander.

Therefore, I pray that God guides my steps, keeps me close to Him, and grants me the humility to recognise my own weaknesses. Above all, I thank Him for the mercy He continually shows when I stumble, just as He showed mercy to His people throughout their history.