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“The Presence of God In The Life of a Believer” Exodus 33:1-11

“Second Altars”

A Sermon Series on Idolatry

“The Presence of God In The Life of a Believer”

Exodus 33:1-11

Introduction

What if we wanted God’s presence in our lives as much as this little girl wanted her parents to be at that show? And when we realize He is there, will we have the same reaction?

The Presence of Sin Prevents the Presence of God (Exodus 33:1-3)

“The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Israel has experienced the consequences of their making and worshipping the golden calf – and now it is time to move on. God is still going to keep his promise of giving them the promised land, and would drive out their enemies so they would be safe. There would even be the power of an angel that goes before them.

But now, after the people have sinned, God’s presence would not be with the people. It’s not that God will lose His temper, but He is holy and will always respond with righteous anger toward sin. The fact that the people were “stiff-necked” (they had broken the covenant); this made it dangerous for God to be close to them.

The whole Exodus story up to this point was God wanting to draw close to His people. The law would allow Him to settle right in the middle of their camp. Exodus 25:8 “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” But at this point the tabernacle, God being with His people – all of that was on hold.

Also, there is the issue of ownership. Remember earlier there was a discussion between God and Moses about who’s the people were, 32:7 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.” Then in verse 11 Moses says back to God, “But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, . . .” God wants to be Israel’s God but instead they worship the golden calf. “To whom do the people belong? And to whom do they confess ownership? These are the questions of identity at the heart of the story of idol-making in Exodus 32. YHWH’s covenantal ownership of Israel is threatened by their attempt to grant ownership rights to the idols.”[1]

The law that Moses has received, much of it dealt with the tabernacle (God’s presence amongst His people). But, at this point, there would be no lampstands, no offerings, no pillar of smoke during the day, nor pillar of fire by night. There would be no place the people could go to interact or pray, or worship God, or have their sins atoned for.

God is offering them what they wanted when they made the golden calf – He was offering to bless them, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” to protect them, “I will drive out the . . .” to empower, “I will send an angel before you,” them, But there would be no relationship with Him. God was going to give them everything they wanted – except a relationship.

How Important Is It to You to Have A Relationship With God?

Do you expect Him just to take care of everything, give you everything, but to have no conversation?

If we go back to the opening video of the little girl seeing her parents at the show – this is the same saying, “I will take you to the practices, I will buy you the outfit, I will have your hair done, and I will make sure you get to the performance – but I am not going to attend, I will not be sitting in the audience” This goes back to ownership and identity – does it matter if strangers were sitting in the audience, verses your mom and dad sitting in the audience?

But isn’t this still true for many people? They want God to solve all their problems. They want God to give them what they want; they want to be protected from misfortune, and they will even pray asking for these things (“Lord give me, give, give me . . .”) – but they aren’t really interested in having a relationship with God. So how do you think the people responded?

The People Repent of Their Sin (Exodus 33:4-6)

“When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” 6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.”

This was a disastrous word that spread throughout the camp – “God is not going with us.” Their response is to mourn and to make an act of repentance. They took off all ornaments (earrings, jewelry, fancy clothes) anything that pointed back to their act of making the golden calf. Their response to God’s Word was “Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments.” They repented of making the idol, and they didn’t display anything that would point to that action, “from Mount Horeb onward.” This is similar to putting on sackcloth and ashes.

There is a similar situation in Genesis 35:1-4 where, “God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. 3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.”

Jacob knew that if he were going to genuinely worship God, and to lead his family in authentic worship, the idols and the things associated with idols (ear rings) had to go. The earrings led to worship of an idol – get rid of the idol, and the things that lead to something becoming an idol.

If we are going to have a genuine relationship with God,

the idols (and the things that lead us toward idols) have to go.

We can tell there is a heart change in God’s people because three things happen. 1) They are truly mourning over how they have broken their relationship with God, and 2) they are taking actions of repentance to get rid of the sin. In order for our relationship with God to be restored – there must be remorse (brokenness over sin) and repentance (taking action to ensure that it doesn’t happen again).

Paul compares this in 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” Godly grief is a brokenness and sorrow over our sin which leads to a turning from our sin. Wordly grief is a sorrow that you were caught. It is a displeasure at the circumstances that have resulted from the sin but you don’t actually change. Here are some statements to help us understand the difference:

Worldly grief hates the consequences of your sin. Godly grief hates the sin itself (see 2 Corinthians 7:9-11).
Worldly grief is how sin makes you feel. Godly grief grieves how your sin makes God and others feel (see Psalm 51:4).
Worldly grief hides sin until you get caught. Godly grief confesses sin before you get caught (see Proverbs 28:13).
Worldly grief makes no plans to change. Godly grief actively and practically wages war against sin (see Acts 26:20).
Worldly grief leads you to commit the same sin over and over again. Godly grief leads you to sin less over time (see 1 John 3:9).[2]

God has blessed us in countless ways, but the ability to experience His grace, and our ability to return back to Him through repentance and the forsaking of sin all of which leads us to know Him; to have a deepening relationship with Him, is priceless.

God’s most profound blessing to us to that he allows us to know Him. God’s presence in our lives means everything. God wanted to be at the center of the Israelite camp – God wants to remain at the center of our lives. If God is not present with His people – it is disastrous.

So what does it look like when we have a relationship with God?

God’s People Spend Time With God (Exodus 33: 7-11)

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

(v. 11) “Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting.” Moses had a time and place where he would go to spend time with God. It was intentional, deliberate, and it took effort on his part. Today we call this having a quiet time. You intentionally have a time and place where you open up God’s Word and you communicate with God.

How do we know the Israelites were truly repentant? 3) “And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door.” There was now a desire to worship God that was not there before. Before the Israelites were interested in safety, material possessions, being provided for, prestige among the nations, etc. (what they would get from God). Now, after their repentance there is a desire for God Himself, and for Him to be with them.[3]

(v. 11) “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Moses talked with God at the burning bush, he spoke with God in Mt. Sanai, and he spoke with God regularly at “the tent of meeting.” Face-to-face doesn’t meant Moses could see God because a few verses down, God tells him that man cannot see God and live. It was a way of saying that there was communication between them.

Moses and God were friends, and no one had (since Adam) enjoyed this kind of relationship with God. And if you had a question you would go to the tent and ask Moses, who would then talk to God on your behalf, “And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.”

God desiring to be with His people has been a process; 1. His presence among the people (pillar of smoke and fire), Mt. Siani 2. The eventual tabernacle, 3. The temple, 4. Jesus 1 John 1:1, 14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us,” 5. The Holy Spirit within the believer.

But today, through our relationship with Christ, we can have the same kind of relationship as Moses had with God (if not better). John 15:13-15 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” The conversation between the friend of God and God Himself involves knowing the plans of God. Today we have the Holy Spirit who is within us, so we become the tent of meeting.

God’s desire has always been to grow closer to His people – but there is sin that has to be dealt with. As a follower of Jesus, once you place your faith in Christ you are sealed for all of eternity. Your name is written in the lamb’s book of Life, and your eternal destiny is secure. Jesus died in your place on the cross, so that you sin can be forgiven.

So, with God having shown all through the pages of the Bible that God wants a deepening relationship with you – does it matter if I sin? Yes, Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Paul is echoing an Old Testament passage in Isaiah 63:10 “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; . . .” Isaiah is referencing our Exodus passage (ch. 33). Isaiah goes back to the Exodus account, how God brought his people Israel into a covenant with himself (v.8). v.9 states that it was the presence of God himself, not simply an angel, which saved his people in the wilderness. Israel then rebelled and grieved the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, the Lord placed his Holy Spirit in the midst of his people to deliver them and to give them rest (v.14).

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 uses the same language as Isaiah 63, to warn the new church not to grieve the Holy Spirit as Israel had done. To grieve the Holy Spirit in Ephesians deals with speech and not causing disunity within the body. But in a larger sense, “when His children refuse to change the ways of the old life for the ways of the new, God grieves.”[4]

When God’s people built a golden calf and proclaimed that this was what brought them out of Egypt – to abandon His Word, and to break their covenant with Him, he was grieved and removed His presence from them. Their repentance and willingness to obey God’s Word, God relented from destroying them and His presence returned.

For those who follow Christ, their souls have been secured – but sin in the believer’s life will grieve the Holy Spirit. “Grieving can lead to quenching (1 Thess. 5:19), and to a forfeiture of power and blessing.”[5] When the Christian sins, the presence of God becomes distant.

God will not dwell amongst an idolatrous people.

God is unwilling to empower the believer, so the believer then lives this life in their own strength, guided by their own foolish wisdom, and doing “what seems right to him.” The believer who does not have the presence of God in his life is disastrous because they cannot live the life they have been made and called to live (they are wasting their time).

If we are going to make a difference in this world, we have to take risks, pick up responsibilities bigger than ourselves, we have to carry loads beyond what we think we can carry, and do what only God can through us. In order to do this, we have to have God present and active in our lives – and He won’t be there if you are in sin. In time you become like the god/God you worship.[6] Holy, righteous, true, good v. stiffnecked, rebellious, hard hearted, ears but don’t listen, eyes but can’t see.

____________________

[1] Richard Lints, Identity and Idolatry, The Image of God and its inversion (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity Press, 2015) 92.

[2] https://www.jordanraynor.com/blog/5-differences-between-worldly-sorrow-and-godly-repentance

[3] W. Ross Blackborn, The God who Makes Himself Known, The Missionary Heart of the Book of Exodus (Downers Grove, Illinois, 2012) 188.

[4] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Ephesians (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1986) 189.

[5] MacArthur, 189.

[6] Lints, 93.

“You Are God’s Ambassador” Exodus 32:7-14

Drew Boswell Ministries

“You Are God’s Ambassador” Exodus 32:7-14

00:00 / 00:50:22

“You Are God’s Ambassador” Exodus 32:7-14

“Second Alters”

A Sermon Series on Idolatry

“You Are God’s Ambassador”

Exodus 32:7-14

Introduction

Genesis 18 – this is the passage of where Abraham pleads on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. God has told that He is going to destroy the cities, and Abraham says, “Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?” and God responds by saying, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham responds by saying, forty-five? Thirty? Twenty? Ten?

What if the city had no one righteous – no not one? (Romans 3:10)? What if you are called to represent a people who you know are guilty and whatever punishment God is handing out – they are justified to receive it? Today Moses is commanded to return to camp from the mountain in order deal with the golden calf and their rebellion against god. How would you lead them? They are stiff-necked and wicked?

God’s Reveals His Heart (vv. 7-9)
7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

“stiff-necked people,” – To be a stiff-necked person is to ignore all that God has done in your life, to reject God’s desire to be in your life, to resist submitting to His ways and teachings, and to even substitute known truth and to say you believe crafted lies.

They have been a people who cried out against God when the Egyptians increased their work load, they doubted God at the Red Sea, they complained in the wilderness for lack of food and water, they cry out against God in fear at Mt. Siani, and here so quickly turn from God’s Law after such a short time.

This sudden turning away[1], makes the sin all the more glaring – had they really ever even truly submitted to the Lord? There is no thankfulness or gratitude to Him for their freedom, His provision, or His wanting to have a relationship with them. God got His people out of Egypt, but getting Egypt out if His people was proving difficult.

These “stiff-necked people” would not bow down to God’s authority and direction for their lives, but immediately bowed to a golden calf. Why? The golden calf had no requirements, no commandments, no law to follow. Each person could whatever he desired with no fear of consequences. The fact that they so quickly turned to corruption shows that they never have truly followed. They seem to be a people who follow as long as they get what they want out of God.

God deliberately changed the possessive pronoun, thereby indicating that he was disowning Israel (in 3:10 “my people”). In Exodus 3:7 God says, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people,” and again, “”bring my people. The children of Israel, out of Egypt,” and in 3:10 before the pharaoh, “let my people go.” But here the pronoun has changed to, “your people,” as in Moses’ people. Moses responds back in (verse 11), “Oh no, these are your people, that you brought out of Egypt.” If the situation were not so serious, it would be funny. “Your people, oh no, your people.”

(v. 10) “I may consume them,” the word here is to completely destroy. Absolute destruction. God has shown the people nothing but love, provision, and His presence. It is completely justified and what they deserved was to be wiped off the face of the earth because of their being stiff-necked. This is true for all people, Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death,” and everyone who rebels against God is deserving of death. Romans 2:5 tells us, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

(v. 10) “in order that I may make a great nation of you.” God says that He will wipe out the Israelite people because of their sin, but keep His promise to the patriarchs by making Moses in a great nation. This was a great test for Moses, “whether he would be willing to give up his own people, laden as they were with guilt, as the price of his own exaltation. . . The preservation of Israel was dearer to him than the honor of becoming the head and founder of a new kingdom of God.”[2]

Forget the plagues of Egypt, the manna from heaven, the water from the rock, the gathering at Mt. Sinai – we will just start over. From now own you will have some kids and over hundreds of hears they will become the Mosesites. “To save Israel, Moses had to turn down the opportunity to make a name for himself.”[3]

Would he pray and stand in the gap and identify himself with the people or would he pursue making his name great? Moses puts God’s glory first, God’s name first, and responds by repeating the promises God had made, and how this would potentially affect God’s name.

God’s mediators always put God’s glory first, over their own.

Moses was called to be the mediator between God and Israel, not to build an empire in his name. He stays true to his calling – be mediates between God and the people. This is what God called him to do at the burning bush (Ex. 3). For Moses, what was more important; for his name to become great, or for the Hebrew people to remain God’s people?

Knowing Your Calling Keeps You From Giving Over To Temptation.

God does not call those who are fit and worthy in themselves, for the accomplishment of His purposes of salvation, but chooses rather the unworthy, and makes them fit for His purposes,[4] 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, . . .” One person said it like this, “God does not called the equipped, He equips the called.”

While Moses was on the Mt. with God, the teachings he was learning about was what a High Priest would wear, and what he would do. Aaron was going to be the High Priest, Moses was getting the instructions – The High Priest would stand before God and on behalf of the people present the people’s offerings.

Aaron failed the test of leadership, but God is a God of grace. Aaron wanted to be a leader, in front of God’s people – but he went about the wrong way; he made some really bad decisions. God was preparing for him to lead, but Aaron didn’t trust God, or His timing.

Moses Reveals His Heart (vv. 11-14)

11 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? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.”

Moses is pleading with God on behalf of his people. Deuteronomy 9:25 says, “So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you.” Praying for 45 days to hold off God’s judgement. “And the LORD relented” The Lord relented from judgement because of Moses’ intercession for his people. Some will use this passage to argue that God changes His mind. So, can a man change the mind of God?

Verses like Psalm 139 tell us that God knows everything, including the future. But He makes decisions on what a person does in the present (not what something you will one day do). So, when He says that he is going to wipe out the people, He is responding to their present condition.

But even in this pronouncement, there are hints of grace. There is a plan in place for their salvation. It was never God’s purpose to destroy the Israelites, but only to save them.[5] How do we know this? 1) Why send Moses back down the mountain? – he could have just wiped them out without getting Moses (and Joshua) involved. They knew what they were doing was wrong, they had just received (and agreed to follow) the commands to have no other gods, and not to make a graven image.

God’s plan was to save them through an intercessor. Someone who would stand in between the wrath of God, His judgement, and the people who are deserving of destruction. Psalm 106:23 “Therefore he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.” Moses was not changing God’s mind; He was carrying out God’s plan.

2) There is a pronoun shift, Moses these are your people – God is helping the mediator to understand and to be reminded of his role as the go-between. But don’t miss that the people had been dismissive of Moses “As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, . . .” The one they showed disdain for is the only man who could save them. But the intercessor has to identify himself with those he is called to represent.

3) (v. 10) “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them,” – God has called Moses to be the intercessor for his people. So, he says to Moses “step aside,” and let me destroy them.” God can do whatever He wants, whenever and to whomever He chooses to do it – He doesn’t need Moses to step aside. But this really is a question – will you stop praying for your people. Will you give up on your community? This is to push his mediator to keep going – but the mediator must own it.

God’s mediators love their people.

Moses says, “Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.” . . . (He owns his role as intercessor, “these are the people you have called me to, and I don’t want them to be destroyed.”) “And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.” (enacting His plan for salvation, because He wishes to give grace).

2 Corinthians 5:20 “All this (meaning salvation) is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” If you have received the message of God’s salvation, then you are also given the ministry of reconciliation, and you are Christ’s ambassador.

But in this role, God wants you to love the people you have been called to share Christ with. When God says, “let me alone,” It is a call to prayer, if my people will continue to pray, then God will hold back His destruction. The only reason you will pray for someone who has the wrath of God over their head is if you love them.

Conclusion

The prophet Jonah was given a message of reconciliation, but he hated the Ninevites – so he went in the opposite direction. He was swallowed by a large fish where he repented of his rebellion, and says, “Those who pay regard to vain idols

forsake their hope of steadfast love.” He was thrown up on the shore of where he needed to go. Then he went into the city, and spoke the absolute minimum required words given to him from God, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (A Hebrew 5 word sermon).

Then the entire city repents of their sin and turns to God, “And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.” The king demands that everyone put on sackcloth and ashes, and shows his faith in God by saying, “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish. . . When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relentedof the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” God in his mercy and grace, opens a way for an entire city to be saved – Jonah and his message.

So what is Jonah’s response as God’s ambassador to what may be history’s greatest revival? Jonah 4:1-2 “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”

You have been called to salvation and given the message of reconciliation – is your heart loving toward those whom you have been called to share that message with?

_____________________

[1] C.F. Keil and F. Delitzch, Commentary on the Old Testament In Ten Volumes, Volume I (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985) 223.

[2] C.F. Keil and F. Delitzch, 224.

[3] Ryken, 935.

[4] Keil & Delitzch, 224.

[5] Philp Graham Ryken, Exodus, Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 934.

“The Root of Idolatry” Exodus 32:1-6

Drew Boswell Ministries

“The Root of Idolatry” Exodus 32:1-6

00:00 / 00:52:25

“The Root of Idolatry” Exodus 32:1-6

“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