“Second Alters”

A Sermon Series on Idolatry

“The Root of Idolatry”

Exodus 32:1-6

 Introduction

In the early chapters of Exodus, the Hebrew people move from being slaves to God’s chosen people. Moses was called at the burning bush and his brother Aaron were commanded to go and talk to Pharoah. These brothers saw God devastate the mightiest power on the earth; mighty Egypt fell at the hand of the Lord. They gather at Mt. Sinai starting in chapter 19 and up to this point they have seen how God has provided freedom, seeing the Red Sea split open, where they had crossed on dry ground, bitter water turned to sweet water, bread from heaven called manna, water from a rock, they defeated another major enemy (Amalek), and now have gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

They are given instructions from God that they need to consecrate themselves, they are told not to touch the mountain, they have stay a certain distance away because God is holy and if they come too close they would be wiped out. There were dark clouds and lightening and God descends in fire – the people are terrified. They tell Moses, “you go.”

Exodus 19:20 “The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”

In chapter 20 Moses receives the 10 commandments. Then in the following chapters outline how they are to live and specifically to worship the God who has done all these mighty things before them. There are laws about Sabbaths and festivals, laws about restitutions like if a man accidentally kills another man’s oxen, laws about social justice, etc.

In chapter 24:3 “Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” He wrote it all down and read it to the people. 24:9-11 “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.” This group of elders (including Aaron) saw God in a way no one ever has in the biblical story.

In Ex. 20:18 Moses goes back to talk with God specifically about the tabernacle (and was there forty days and forty nights). Chapters 25-31 tells us the additional laws that he received from God, things like the building of the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle, the pieces of the tabernacle (the bronze basin, the lampstands, etc., how the priest’s garments were to be made, etc. These writings were focused on how God would be with His people. All of which God wrote in in His own hand onto two tablets of stone (front and back).

If you were a leader in this group, how would you feel? What would you be thinking about? You have seen and experienced all these wonders of God, you have beheld God, you among all the peoples of the earth were chosen to experience these wonderous events.

The People Reveal Their Hearts (v. 1)

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.”

When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and then told Moses to return to Egypt, it was Moses that (in the eyes of the people) brought a God to the people. Exodus 3:16 “Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ They wanted a new leader who could also give them a new god.

Why didn’t they send Aaron to go see if Moses was still alive?

What was wrong with the God they already had, who had done so much for them?

They wanted a new leader and a god that new leader would bring. The presence of God would have still been there – they could just glance up and see the dark clouds, the claps of thunder, and that sense of powerlessness, smallness, – weakness.

When you stand next to your god, are you big or are you small?

 (v. 1) “the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him,” This statement is false in that God brought them out of Egypt, not Moses (a man cannot save them), so replacing the leader and expecting him to do something miraculous is poor understanding of what has happened to them. Also, they know exactly where Moses is – he is up on the mountain talking with God.

“This Moses” is dismissive and disrespectful. They don’t like Moses because God chose him, not them. They didn’t trust God and his plan – what they didn’t know was the plan that was being given to Moses would bring them closer together – but they didn’t trust God because they couldn’t control him, they didn’t trust His leader because he didn’t give them what they wanted, and they didn’t trust God’s timing (forty days was too long).

Aaron Reveals His Heart (vv. 2-6)

2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Aaron instinctively knew what kind of god would make them happy, so he crafts that kind of god for them. He gives them the god they want, and he fashioned worship of that god in such a way that would please the people.

Beware of leaders who always give you what you want.

 Aaron and the people take it upon themselves to pick who will lead the people; they are looking to him to stand before them to their god. But the god that Aaron is the mouthpiece for is nothing in comparison to God of Moses. Aaron’s god is made by his own hands – he literally made it up.

The one true God commands an offering. In the law they would have to give animals to have their sins atoned for, and eventual coins would be placed in the temple as an act of worship. Aaron’s false god also demands an offering, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” All gods require an offering – the difference is that the One True God gives you what you need to worship Him.

Where do escaped slaves, living in the wilderness, get gold rings and earrings? Exodus 12:35-36 “The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.”

God had given them this gold so that they would have something to offer in the building of the tabernacle (like the kid whose parents given him a dollar to put in the offering plate), but instead they used the gold in their possession to craft their own god. The One True God was making a way for Him to be brought close to His people – He was setting up the way for them to be together (through the law).

The things you possess are to be used for the glory of God.

(v. 4) “And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf,” The process would have begun as a wooden carving of the calf, then it would have been overlayed with gold and for the final details a graving tool would be used to push and move the gold into the details carved into the wood. Aaron was an artist, and woodworker, a carver and goldsmith – all these skills and talents were used to support an idol instead of being used for the glory of God. Aaron perverted his gift.

The gifts we possess are to be used for the glory of God.

Then Aaron says “And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”  This is a direct violation of the first and second commandments, which was just given to them.  He had just made this chunk of metal with his hands – and this is the God that made him tremble before Him?

Psalm 106:19-20 is talking about how we should give thanks to God for all that he has done for us, and the psalmist references Exodos 32, “They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. 20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.” The people were commanded by Aaron to give him gold rings and ear rings – an ox is controlled by a ring in its’ nose – Powerful but controllable. They wanted a god that was powerful enough to give them what they want, but is also controllable.

(v. 5) Aaron then established “a feast to the Lord,” – Aaron then uses the name that was given to the people by the One True God, “Lord,” He is saying that this golden calf is for the glory of the Lord. He is using God’s name to endorse his agenda. Quoting a Bible verse, being emotional, and adding Jesus to an agenda does not make a person’s worship true or glorifying to God.

The feast led to “offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings,” – They are using the name Lord for their golden calf worship, they are going through the motions of a worship service, offering burnt offerings, and having peace offerings. All false worship will lead to immorality (true worship will lead you to repentance) – “and rose up to play,” in the original language it carries the idea of sexual immorality. This wasn’t for God’s glory at all, it was for their own sinful pleasure. They wanted a god that would let them live as they wanted.

After making a phony attempt to worship their god, they then “indulge in revelry.”  This is how it is when we want to worship the god that we make with our own hands. We make God in the image that we would like, we can control this god, we can give our fake reverence towards this god.  We can choose to worship it however we please – but the worship will be focused on how it makes us feel, not true worship where God actually receives the worship of His people by the repentance of sin by His people.

Remember God devotes 15 chapters of Exodus and the whole book of Leviticus to how He is to be worshipped.  Now man should chooses to worship however they see fit.  The cow was blind, deaf, and powerless – “The cow gave no law and demanded no obedience. . . it could not intrude on their fun and call them to judgement.”[1]

Why did they worship a cow? “Because they had never entirely forsaken the gods of Egypt.[2] They had promised to serve the Lord, but in their hearts, they still cherished their old idolatries.” Acts 7:39 says, “. . . in their hearts they turned to Egypt,” When Moses went away, it gave the people an opportunity to openly worship what they had been quietly worshipping in their hearts.

Could they really fool themselves into believing this lie?  Yes, many people do fool themselves or choose to believe a lie that the god they follow is the one true God. Why? Because the alternative is that if it is not, then God still has to be followed His way. Idolatry is all about us, and our wanting to do what we desire (our depraved hearts desires to sin). The Israelites cast off restraint that is found in the law, and indulged in sexual immorality. In the supposed restriction of true worship there is life, if one casts off restraint in a worldly false worship, there is only death.

Another reason they worshipped the golden cow is because they did not trust God. “The Israelites had every reason to believe that God knew what he was doing. He had brought them out of Egypt. He had saved them in the desert. He had given them the law. Every day he provided bread from Heaven. And if they needed any further reassurance that he was there for them, all they had to do was look up and see his glory on the mountain. God was not absent; he was right there with them in their situation.” Yet they doubted, . . .

But even if this god of gold was visible, and present, and controllable; where would it take them?  Was this the God of deliverance from Egypt, the God who separated the Red Sea, the God who appeared on the mountain?  This false god would take them nowhere! This god would provide no water, no manna from heaven, there were over a million people in the wilderness, what would they eat or drink?  Who would protect them from invaders? To follow a false god will eventually lead to death.  They are blind to see how this decision leads to destruction.

Idolatry can overpower the ability to predict consequences.

So what is the root of idolatry? How do we define idolatry in our lives? In the next few verses God call them a “stiff-necked people,” – To be a stiff-necked person is:

• to ignore all that God has done in your life (slavery, defeating the Egyptian army),
• to not be thankful for all that He has done and given (manna from heaven, water, the Word of God),
• to reject God’s desire to be in your life (they didn’t want a big God, they wanted one they could control),
• to resist submitting to His ways and teachings (broke the first and second commandments),
• to use their gifts in way that perverts them (being an artist and making a false god),
• and to even substitute known truth and to say you believe crafted lies (the false calf god).

God wants to have a relationship with, but it has to be on His terms.

 An Indian folktale tells of Four royal brothers who decided each to master a special ability. Time went by, and the brothers met to reveal what they had learned.

“I have mastered a science,” said the first, “by which I can take but a bone of some creature and create the flesh that goes with it.” “I,” said the second, “know how to grow that creature’s skin and hair if there is flesh on its bones.” The third said, “I am able to create its limbs if I have flesh, the skin, and the hair.” “And I,” concluded the fourth, “know how to give life to that creature if its form is complete.” Thereupon the brothers went into the jungle to find a bone so they could demonstrate their specialties. As fate would have it, the bone they found was a lion’s. One added flesh to the bone, the second grew hide and hair, the third completed it with matching limbs, and the fourth gave the lion life. Shaking its mane, the ferocious beast arose and jumped on his creators. He killed them all and vanished contentedly into the jungle.

We too have the capacity to create what can devour us. Goals and dreams can consume us. Possessions and property can turn and destroy us–unless we first seek God’s kingdom and righteousness, and allow Him to breathe into what we make of life.[3]

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[1] Ryken, 925.

[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word, Exodus (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 922.

[3] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/i/idolatry.htm