Exodus (Lesson 63)

Welcome to the Preaching the Cross Radio Podcast, featuring the radio ministry of Pastor James W.

Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Delante, Florida.

Our prayer is that these half-hour Bible study programs will bring the lost to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the saved to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior.

Now here's your host, Pastor James W.

Knox.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you one more time in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This is the Preaching of the Cross radio broadcast.

I am very, very happy that you've tuned into the program today.

We are in the midst of a study of the book of Exodus, and we we landed several broadcasts ago in the 32nd chapter, and this is the horrid account of Aaron and the children of Israel making a golden calf, an idol, and worshiping that idol, and claiming that that idol delivered them from the bondage of Egypt.

And God on Mount Sinai, where Moses was receiving the uh the law of God on the tables of stone, he uh took one look at the situation down there at the foot of the mountain and just determined he's gonna pour out his wrath upon the nation of Israel and exterminate them for this idolatry.

And Moses stepped up and said, you know what?

Uh if you do that, if you do that, then the Egyptians will say that you weren't able to take care of your people after you redeemed them, and so your reputation is on the line, and you made some promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.

And if you destroy these people, uh that will result in your promises being broken.

And so, God, I'm asking you, for the honor of your name and for the honor of your word, I'm asking you not to destroy this people.

And God, God hearkened unto that prayer, that supplication of Moses, and spared the people.

And Moses comes down off the mountain, and when he sees firsthand what's going on, he is furious and takes that golden calf, uh, melts it down, beats that gold to powder, spreads the powder on water, and makes the people drink it.

And we discussed all of that on previous broadcasts.

We left off last time with Moses confronting Aaron about his part in this matter.

And we read in verse 21 that Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

And he clearly lays the blame at the feet of Aaron.

Even look, he didn't say uh he didn't say it wouldn't be your fault if they did something to you.

Regardless, whatever whatever brought this to pass, Aaron is responsible and he does bear uh his share of the blame, or or or that's that's how Moses views it.

Now, Aaron may not accept that, but uh that's that's how it goes.

And so this is where we pick up on the program today, Aaron's response to Moses, and it's shocking indeed.

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot.

Thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief.

Okay, so here's the classic dodge, here's the classic failure to repent.

Here is the classic non answer.

You ready?

Aaron is Aaron says to Moses, don't be angry.

Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot.

It's no big deal.

What are you so upset about?

Why are why are why are you so angry, Moses?

I mean, what's it's just it's just a little golden calf, it's just a uh a dance party, it's just a little uh noise that we call music, it's just the people letting off steam and having a good time.

Uh Moses, uh let not the anger of my Lord wax hot.

Second part of the reply reply.

Uh, you know, you know how these people are.

They're set on mischief.

Hey, Aaron, I got news for you.

Everybody's set on mischief.

That's why God gave them leaders to rebuke the mischief and keep the people in line.

That's why God gave them ministers to rebuke their mischievous ways and to keep them walking in the ways of righteousness.

Aaron didn't say I'm sorry.

Aaron didn't say I was wrong, Aaron didn't say I've done a terrible thing.

He he points the finger of blame away from himself and to the people.

Adam pointed at Eve and said, uh well, Eve pointed first, Eve pointed at the devil, said it's his fault.

Uh Adam pointed at Eve and said it's her fault.

Well, really, he said it's God's fault, the woman thou gavest me.

Look, nobody gets right with God until they own their sin.

Nobody, nobody gets right with God until they they face the reality of their transgression.

And Aaron Aaron doesn't do it.

He he passes the blame along to the people.

Verse 23, for they said unto me, make us gods which shall go before us.

For as for this, Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we what not what is become of them or become of him.

And look, he he repeats that, and at least he's telling the truth, but he repeats that as though that's a legitimate reason for making a golden calf.

Moses said, he said, What what did these people do to you?

And Aaron said, Why, uh, they they told me they thought you'd been gone too long and and and asked me to make them a golden calf.

That's it.

That's all it took for you to lead the nation into gross and horrific sin.

That's it.

No gun to your head, no knife to your throat, no threat against your family?

Aaron just repeats it.

Well, that's what happened.

Verse 24, and I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off.

So they gave it me, and uh, then I cast it into the fire.

And there came out this calf.

You you have got to be kidding me.

Now it's it it's it's almost look, you can picture the scene.

Aaron really doesn't grasp the serious nature of the transgression.

Aaron really doesn't see what the big deal is.

When Moses approaches him and Aaron says, Cool it, man, he said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot.

He Aaron is testifying, he he's stating he doesn't see this problem as a problem.

And when Moses said, Tell me what happened, as Aaron begins to give a faithful account of what happened, you can picture in your mind he he's almost certain that when he tells Moses what happened, Moses is gonna cool down and and everything will be alright.

And as he's telling this thing, you you you see Moses boiling with rage.

You see the incredulous look on his face.

You see his his eyes open wide, and he's staring at Aaron with this look that says, you have got to be kidding me.

And right in the middle of telling the truth, which he thought would suffice, Aaron realizes that the truth is not going to go well, and that the truth is making him look like an idiot at best and a gross sinner at worst.

And so he just just throws this lie right into the middle of the account, and what an absurd, what an obscene lie it is.

Well, Moses, here's how it went.

The people, they brought me this gold, and I took all these golden earrings and I and I cast the gold into the fire, and this calf came out.

Now, first of all, you know he's lying, and Moses knows he's lying, and he knew he was lying when he said it.

Everybody knows it's a lie.

There's nobody that believes that.

Second of all, to believe that, you would not only would you have to believe that the gold evolved into a calf, you I mean, you'd have to be, you'd have to be an evolutionist to believe this.

That that gold, without any human or divine intervention, just just turned into a golden calf is is beyond anybody's ability to believe.

Didn't happen, he's lying.

But but then he says, and out came this calf.

He didn't say, I took out the gold, and when I took out the gold, I saw it had turned into a calf.

He said the calf came out of the fire.

He is attributing a miraculous origin to this golden calf.

Then he is attributing life to this golden calf.

It came out of the fire.

Now, whatever excuses Aaron could have made, whatever alibis Aaron could have offered, the worst thing he could have done was to have made up a lie that puts him in agreement with the worst errors of the people against whom God's anger is boiling.

They attributed life, they attributed power, they attributed miraculous works to that golden calf, and Aaron is doing the very same thing.

And there came out, there came out this calf.

He's lying.

What a what a horrible day in the life of Aaron.

What a comedy of blasphemous errors in the life of Aaron.

Verse 25.

And when Moses saw that the people were naked.

Are you ready?

For Aaron had made them naked under their shame among their enemies.

Now, naked in the Bible, naked in the Bible is spoken of people who are completely unclothed, and spoken of people who have removed enough clothing to be, for all practical purposes, wearing nothing but their undergarments.

And Aaron, Aaron, in the absence of Moses, has decided not only to change the music, not only to change the form of worship, but to do away with the standard of dress that had been common among people gathered for worship as far back as anyone can remember.

Aaron decided that these people could worship immodestly dressed just as well as they could worship modestly dressed.

Aaron decided that these people could come into the presence of God naked and be just as fit to be in God's presence naked as they were clothed.

Now, you don't really need me to explain that to you, do you?

Have you not picked up the advertising section of your local newspaper on Saturday and watched the ads for churches?

And they don't say, if you come here, you could meet Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Excuse me.

They don't say if you come here, you could know the life-changing power, the grace of God.

They don't say, if you came here, you could be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ and receive everlasting life.

Oh no, oh no.

They say, Come casual.

They say clothing is not important to us.

Wear whatever you want.

Now, now look.

Let's suppose just for a minute that it didn't matter what you wore when you came into the presence of God to worship God.

Let's let's suppose just for a minute that God never wrote a Bible.

We had no scripture commandments, we had no scripture examples, we had no scripture instruction.

Let's suppose that it it really doesn't matter what you wear when you come to a place of worship.

Just just stay with, for the sake of argument, let's suppose that's true.

In the Bible, we read about the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, upon the cross to pay for sins.

In the Bible, we read about Jesus Christ rising from the dead.

In the Bible, we read about heaven, about hell, about the Holy Spirit of God, about the forgiveness of sins, about deliverance from the power of sin, about the joys and blessings of living the Christian life, about love and joy and peace, about being part of the body of Christ, we read a million things in the Bible of spiritual significance and value, of practical significance and value.

And when the leaders of a church sit down to prepare an advertising campaign and they say to one another, what do we want to tell the world that we have to offer them in our church?

The most important thing you can come up with to put in your ad is it's okay for men to come to our church in shorts, and it's okay for women to wear mini skirts and low-cut blouses.

That's the most important thing you've got to offer to a world that's lost its mind and a world that's going to hell?

Well, thank you, Aaron.

Thank you, Golden Calf worshipers.

We really appreciate you letting us know that the most important thing about your church is that you have no standard of holiness and no appreciation for how special it is to enter the presence of God to worship the Holy One, the high and lofty one who inhabited eternity.

Thank you, Aaron, for advertising for all the world to see that nakedness means so much to you.

More than your God, more than your Savior, more than his blood, more than salvation, more than eternal life.

You say, well, no, no, no, no, those, those, those things are far more important.

Well, really?

Well, when you wanted to tell the world what what you you had one shot in an advertisement to tell the world what you have to offer them, and you said, you said they can wear their bathing suit to church.

That's that's what you wanted to tell them.

Wow.

That's gonna that's gonna give you a congregation full of spiritual giants, isn't it?

That's gonna help you turn the world upside down for Jesus Christ.

Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna attract some real dedicated Christians with that junk, aren't you?

And so Aaron calls the people to be naked under their shame among their enemies.

You know what he said?

You know what the Bible just said?

The heathen knew better than that.

You know what he just said?

The people that never knew God had better sense than that.

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord's side?

Let him come unto me.

And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.

And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses, and there fell to the people that day about three thousand men.

You say that's a horrible thing.

Really?

More horrible than making an eye.

idol and calling it God, more horrible than dancing naked around a golden calf, men with men, men and women together, men, women and children together, a public display of flesh and carnality and wickedness, a rejection of the divine presence, a rejection of the holiness of God, a rejection of all God's miracles and wonders and deliverance and salvation on their behalf.

You think that's too strong?

Wait till you hit the white throne judgment.

Alright, let's go over it again.

I I know we we've said this so many times, but we got to keep going over it.

In the Old Testament, God is dealing with a physical kingdom, a material kingdom, with a physical group of people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He is giving them a physical piece of land on this physical earth.

And so when they keep commandments his commandments they get physical, material blessings health, safety, peace, food, good crops, good seasons.

When they disobey his commands, they get things like captivity, bondage, and death.

It's all physical.

Now in the New Testament, God gives spiritual life to a spiritual people.

We are born of the Holy Spirit.

Our blessings are spiritual.

We don't get land and money and cars and boats and never get sick and all that.

See that's that's the confusion.

We receive life life more abundant love, joy, peace, fellowship with God, part of the body of Jesus Christ, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, so forth.

And and when believers sin against God they are they are not killed but they are cut off from fellowship.

They are put out of that congregation that enjoys spiritual life and spiritual blessing.

Now why would Moses have all these people killed?

And why would a New Testament church put idolaters and fornicators and wicked people out of out of fellowship?

Why to preserve the whole why to salvage the future what would you do if you had cancer in your body would you say well I just think we have to be nice to all cells I know there's some cells that are cancerous and other cells that are healthy but but I think I think we it'd be wrong to judge those cancer cells.

I just think we ought to be nice to all cells no you wouldn't you would take that which would destroy your body and you would remove it for the preservation of the whole and so physically speaking in the Old Testament times with the nation of Israel God removed the cancer.

Spiritually speaking in the New Testament times with his church God removes the cancer.

That's how it must be when you cease to remove the cancer the whole will soon be corrupted or to quote the Lord Jesus Christ a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump purge out therefore that leaven.

Purge it out get rid of it before it destroys everything.

No matter what excuses were offered the scriptures reveal the extent of Aaron's sin.

Not only were the people naked but Aaron also had encouraged this shameful behavior.

All restraint was cast aside.

Now it's been argued the term naked simply means they'd cast away their gold ornaments or that they'd abandon their swords and defenses but but that's that isn't true anywhere the word is used in the Bible.

There's no shame in that these people were engaged in shameful behavior.

But days of crisis are also days of opportunity and Moses stood in the gate and said who is on the Lord's side it's not a call to those who are on Moses's side but those who are on prepared to stand with the Lord.

The tribe of Levi responded there's no indication they had stood aloof from the worship of the golden calf.

In fact there's nothing in the narrative to encourage this assumption.

It's already been noted in the open verses of the chapter it seems to indicate that all were involved.

The fact that Moses was of the tribe of Levi may have played a part in their decision, but there must also have been repentance for their sin.

If their fellowship with Moses had been the only factor they would have been rallying to Moses side and not the Lord's side Levi here displayed the features which made the tribe fit to be chosen for the high privileges they later enjoyed are you willing my friend to stand for the right to stand for what's true to stand for what's holy to stand for what pleases God?

Now this willingness to stand beside Moses was about to be put to the test it's one thing to make the gesture Levi made it's quite another to put into practice and pay the price for the stand which had been taken.

To the tribe of Levi now gathered round him Moses gave command that they take their swords go throughout the camp deal with the whole camp leaving no part untouched and slay every man his brother if need be and it was necessary and they did slay and three thousand were put to death my friend idolatry is a horrible sin false worship is a horrible sin rejection of a holy God and his truth is a horrible sin and the wages of sin is death it's ever been so do you treat it lightly sin that is does the church you attend treat it lightly do the friends that you spend your time with treat it lightly God would have you turn from that and live a clean life and attend a church full of people who are trying to live a clean life and make friends with those who are trying to live a clean life that's what the Bible teaches from cover to cover.

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