EXODUS - Idolatry, Death Before God - Exodus 32:1-35

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Today's reading is Exodus chapter 32 starting at verse 1 to 35. Exodus chapter

Exodus 32 · chapter mention Exodus 32 · chapter mention

32 starting at verse 1. When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming

down from the mountain they gathered around Aaron and said, come make us gods

who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt we

don't know what has happened to him. Aaron answered them, take off your gold

earrings that your wives your sons and your daughters are wearing and bring

them to me. So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.

He took what they had handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape

of a calf fashioning it with a tool. Then they said these are your gods Israel

who brought you up out of Egypt. When Aaron saw this he built an altar in

front of the calf and announced tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord. So

the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and

presented fellowship offerings. Afterwards they sat down to eat and

drink and got up to indulge in revelry. Then the Lord said to Moses go down

because your people whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt. They

have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves

an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to

it and have said these are your gods Israel who brought you up out of Egypt. I

have seen these people the Lord said to Moses and they are a stiff-necked people

now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy

them then I will make you into a great nation. But Moses sought the favor of the

Lord his God. Lord he said why should your anger burn against your people whom

you bought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the

Egyptians say it was with evil intent that he bought them out to kill them in

the mountains to wipe them off the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce anger

relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham

Isaac and Israel to whom you swore by your own self. I will make your

descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give you your

descendants all this land I have promised them and it will be their

inheritance forever. Then the Lord relented and did not bring on the people

the disaster he had threatened. Moses turned and went down the mountain with

the two tablets of the Covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both

sides front and back. The tablets were the work of God. The writing was with the

was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of

the people shouting he said to Moses there is a sound of war in the camp.

Moses replied it is not the sound of victory it is not the sound of defeat it

is a sound of singing that I hear. When Moses approached the camp and saw the

calf and the dancing his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his

hands breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain and he took the

calf the people had made and burned it in the fire. Then he ground it to powder

scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. He said to Aaron

what did these people do to you that led you into such great sin? Do not be angry

my Lord Aaron answered you know how prone these people are to evil. They said

to me make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us

up out of Egypt we don't know what has happened to him. So I told them whoever

has any gold jewelry take it off then they gave me the gold and I threw it into

the fire and out came this calf. Moses saw that the people were running riled

and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so had become a laughing

stock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said whoever is for

the Lord come to me and all the Levites rallied to him. Then he said to them this

is what the Lord the God of Israel says each man strap a sword to his side go

back and forth through the camp from one end to the other killing each each

killing his brother and friend and neighbor. The Levites did as Moses

commanded and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses

said you have been set apart to the Lord today for you were against your own sons

and brothers and he has blessed you this day. The next day Moses said to the

people you have committed a great sin but now I will go up to the Lord perhaps

I can make atonement for your sin. So Moses went back to the Lord and said oh

what a great sin these people have committed they have made themselves

gods of gold but now forgive their sin but if not then block me out of the book

you have written. The Lord replied to Moses whoever has sinned against me I

will blot out of my book now go lead the people to the place I spoke of and my

angel will go before you however when the time comes for me to punish I will

punish them for their sin and the Lord struck down the people with a plague

because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made. We pray Lord in

your mercy with the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be

pleasing in your sight our Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. Well last week was

half term for my kids they were off school and so my middle son Zach and I

went away for a few days. Now we did lots of fun things over those couple of days

but one of the highlights for me at least was we went to a planetarium give

me a nod if you know what a planetarium is. Not many of you okay this this is a

picture of it on the screen behind me it is basically it's a building that has a

big dome roof and the dome roof is used as a projector screen to show movies

about space. I can see you all think that sounds terribly boring but for a space

nerd like me that's pretty much the coolest thing you can do. Anyway we

watched this film and the film was about the solar system what the solar system

is and where the solar system has come from. Let me explain let me give you a

quick lesson on the solar system okay the solar system is called the solar

system because at the centre of it is the Sun okay and round the Sun in orbit

going round and round are the planets and then round a lot of the planets go

moons orbiting the planets. So moons orbit planets and planets orbit the Sun

okay that's how it works so far so good right yeah everyone following me okay the

thing I learned last week that I didn't know beforehand was where moons come

from in the first place. Apparently apparently moons were either part of the

planets and they they used to be part of the planets orbiting the Sun but then a

meteor hit knocked them off and then they started orbiting the planet instead

of the Sun or else they were asteroids that were orbiting the Sun but somehow

went out of orbit and ended up orbiting planets instead. Now you're sitting here

and you're thinking goodness this is boring why is he telling me all of this

not just because I want you all to be space nerds as well but because I

realized watching this film that it is an excellent excellent illustration of

the human condition. But what are human beings? We were made by God for God. We

derive our life and our health by orbiting our lives around him but but

sin came into the world human rebellion and it knocked us out of orbit. Instead

of having God at the center and orbiting our lives around him we've started to

orbit our lives around other things things that God has made whether it be

sex, money, power, good looks, family or success. We human beings we are planets

who have become moons, dead moons. Anyway with that in mind let's turn to to

Exodus chapter 32. Just a reminder of where we're up to in the book of Exodus.

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

The Israelites they were slaves in Egypt that's what it was at the beginning

Exodus chapter 1 but God miraculously rescued them out of Egypt. He led them

Exodus 1 · chapter mention

through the parted Red Sea out into the wilderness there in the wilderness he

fed them he gave them water to drink from a rock he defeated their enemies

and he led them to Mount Sinai. Moses goes up onto Mount Sinai to receive the

law and the people are left waiting. Which brings us to Exodus chapter 32 and

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

our first point today what are you orbiting your life around? What we read

in verses 1 to 6 of Exodus 32 it's it's shocking isn't it?

Remember the Israelites had only just received the Ten Commandments just

months earlier. Exodus chapter 24 verse 3 tells us that after receiving the

Exodus 24:3

commandments Moses came down from Mount Sinai and gave the commandments to the

Israelite people. So they knew the Ten Commandments they knew commandment 1

you shall have no other gods before me. They knew commandment 2 you shall not

make yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven or on earth below. In

other words you are only to worship me as I say I am to be worshiped and the

people heard that and according to Exodus chapter 24 verse 3 they said the

Exodus 24:3

people everything the Lord has said we shall do. And then here in verse 1 of

Exodus chapter 32 the people gather around Aaron they say come make us gods

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

and so Aaron replies okay strip off all of your bling verse 2 let me smelt it

down and then he takes out his little chisel and he chisels out of this this

collection of bling a golden calf saying behold these are your gods Israel who

brought you out of Egypt. It was great to have City Church youth up here reading

the passage for us because they've been going through the book of Exodus

alongside attending these sermons and a few weeks back the group came together

and they they said about writing a list of questions that they wanted to have

answered in this sermon series and one of them was this okay I'm quoting

questions this the golden calf how could the people turn away from God so quickly

when they could see God's presence on the mountain and when they'd only just

committed themselves to the Ten Commandments. That's a pretty good

question isn't it? Exodus 32 it it almost sounds unbelievable doesn't it? Well let's try to

dig down into the psychology of the Israelites at this point in time what

was going on in their heads and in their hearts. Well look at verse 1 verse 1 we

find them grumbling why are they grumbling? Well because Moses was so

long in coming down from the mountain. Now Exodus chapter 24 verse 18 tells us

Exodus 24:18

exactly how long Moses was up on the mountain for it was 40 days and 40 nights

now granted that is not a short period of time but it's not that long either is

it is just over a month and the people would become impatient. Now I want you to

think what is impatience? What makes you feel impatient? When patience happens

when when something you want depends upon someone or something other than you

and you are not happy with the time frame in which is happening. That's what

impatience is. I know what impatience is because I get impatient pretty much

every single weekday morning okay I'm stood down there by the front door

waiting to go on a school run and I am impatient because one of my children has

forgotten a piece of their school uniform or forgotten to pack their school

back. That's impatience. Impatience happens when we're not in control and we

want to be and that was what the Israelites were experiencing at the

start of Exodus chapter 32 and it led them to seek to wrestle back control and

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

to make things happen on their own time frame. Now the Bible commentators they

disagree about precisely what command the people were breaking at this moment in

time. Were they breaking the first commandment or were they breaking the

second commandment? So were they making, were they asking Aaron to make them a

different God, a better God? Or were they asking him to make them a way to

worship God in a different way? It's hard to know for sure. I mean verse one makes

it sound like it's a first commandment issue. They want verse one God's plural

who will go before them just like Yahweh only better. But then Aaron's reply it

makes it sound like it's a second commandment issue. He makes him an idol

verse four and he says to them these are your gods who brought you out of Israel.

This is a representation of the Lord he's saying this is this is Israel's

Redeemer and notice verse five when everything sets up Aaron announces

tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord. The word used there is that the

Hebrew word Yahweh he's making his golden calf so they will have a festival

to the Lord God the God of Israel. You know it's quite possible actually that

there was really going on here is the people are asking for a different God

and Aaron seeks to arrange a compromise. Instead of making a different God he'll

make a new way to worship the Lord God a way to worship him right now on their

terms and it's utterly tragic. You see while Aaron is saying all of this Moses

is up on Mount Sinai and while he's up there he is receiving instructions from

the Lord about how the people are to worship him. As Aaron is chiseling away

on his pathetic lump of gold trying to make a golden calf Moses is up on Mount

Sinai receiving instructions from the Lord about how Bezeleu and Ohiliab are

to make gold silver and bronze furnishings for the temple. What Aaron

does in these verses it is a pathetic attempt to do what God is already doing

for Israel born out of a desire for them themselves to be in control and to make

things happen when they want it to happen. The people they have been knocked

out of their orbit around God and have started to orbit around created things

instead and it is shocking. But it's not surprising is it? I mean don't we

experience this all the time? A couple of months back we were thinking about

money and anxiety and we looked at that passage Matthew chapter 6 verse 25

Matthew 6:25

where Jesus commands that we shouldn't worry not about money not about food not

about clothing because God has it all in hand. We know that's God's promise to us

don't we? But how many of us grow impatient and resort to overwork and

constant fretting about finances as we orbit our lives around our jobs or

around our bank balances rather than orbiting them around God? We know that

God has promised to satisfy us relationally on the deepest most

incredible level. In Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 Jesus says come to me all you

Matthew 11:28

who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. We know in our heads that

that is a promise of God. We know it's true but in our hearts so often we think

well yeah that's okay but really I need to have a a satisfying sexual

relationship in order to be whole and when that doesn't seem to come on our

time frame we start to look for a relationship with someone else who's not

a Christian or with someone of the same sex or we struggle with sin we struggle

with this sin that we keep on struggling with again and again and again and we

are just incredibly frustrated it's driving us crazy we want a way out and

we know we know that according to the Bible God has given us everything we

need in his word in the sacraments in the church but we think if I'm really

gonna nail this sin I need something more and so we seek it out doubling in

Catholic and Eastern Orthodox disciplines and rituals. Now I'm not

saying that we haven't got anything to learn from those other Christian

traditions but when we start to depend upon those things as if they are a

silver bullet rather than depend on the ordinary means of grace well we're

trying to worship God then on our own terms and on our own time frame. We

started to orbit our lives around created things rather than the Creator

himself. We've become moons instead of planets and that has consequences which

brings us on to our second point today rescue from the solar flare. Now those

moons that used to be parts of planets or asteroids orbiting around the Sun

they were better protected when they were orbiting around the Sun they were

better provided for by the Sun when they were orbiting around it and when they

became moons they they lost their atmosphere and the Sun became a source

of death instead of life. Well something similar happens when we cut ourselves

off from the source of life. Take a look at verses 7 to 14 the Lord is speaking

here to Moses but suddenly he cuts off what he's saying and says Moses you got

to go down because your people have become corrupt and are worshipping an

idol. Verse 9 your people they've become stiff-necked now that's a metaphor like

an ox that won't bend and submit to a yoke so the people of Israel will not

submit themselves to God's law and so verse 10 the Lord says leave me alone

that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Now I think we

read these verses and many of us will really struggle with them. It sounds

like God's having a tantrum doesn't it? People aren't behaving and I am hopping

mad with it and I am gonna go and smite them now. You know I think our problem is

that we we view anger as always being a bad thing and of course for us for us

fallen human beings anger almost always is a bad thing. We know that when we get

angry usually we lose control of ourselves and usually our anger it is

mixed with sinful feelings of pride of envy of self-pity but we mistakenly

assume that anger is the opposite of love and it's not. I mean just for a

minute think about the sort of things that you get angry about. Your work, family,

church, Liverpool football club. We only get angry about the things that we

really care about. The opposite of love is not anger. The opposite of love is

indifference. We are indifferent about things we don't care about. We get angry

when what we love is threatened. So God's anger doesn't show that he hates his

people rather God's anger shows that he loves them and unlike our anger God's

anger is not polluted by pride or selfishness or self-pity it is a holy

anger. It is the just and proper response to humanity's rebellion against him. It's

the right response to their decision to become moons instead of planets and his

anger is tempered by compassion. I mean as we're reading through that you did

notice that didn't you? The Lord told Moses what he intended to do. He told him.

Why did he tell him? Why didn't he just wipe out the Israelites?

Why tell Moses? Well take a look at verse 14. After Moses had pleaded, after he

interceded on behalf of his people we read, the Lord relented and did not bring

on the people the disaster he had threatened. Now that word relented is a

Hebrew word nakham and it means to change one's mind. But of course God can't

change his mind. God's unchanging. He does not change anything. He does not change

his mind which means that what happens here is all part of God's plan. God's

love for his people meant that he must be angry at their rebellion. His justice

demands that he must judge. But he told Moses what he planned to do so that

Moses could intercede for them. So that Moses could step into the breach

representing the people of Israel and bring salvation to them as a

representative of God. Moses intercession was God's chosen means to

rescue the Israelites. So we need to look carefully at what Moses said. Look at

these verses, verses 11 to 13. Moses makes four arguments, four reasons why God

should not destroy Israel. Firstly, God's work. Moses points out all that God has

already done for the people, verse 11. The plagues, the Passover, the parting of

the Red Sea, the feeding with manna and he says having done all of that God are

you really going to destroy them now? Secondly, Moses points to God's glory.

Look at verse 12. He says if you destroy them now the Egyptians they're gonna

mock you. Not for our sake Lord but for your own glory. Rescue them. Then thirdly God

Moses points to God's character. Moses knows that the Lord is gracious and

compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love so he asked him, verse 12, to

relent. And then finally the clincher. Moses pleads God's promises. You promise

Lord, not to me but to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, verse 13. You promised that their

descendants would be more numerous than the stars in the sky. You can't just

wipe them out because you promised that you wouldn't. You must find a way Lord

both to judge sin and keep your promise to Israel. Friends I think this is so

helpful, so helpful to us as we think about how we pray for our unbelieving

friends and colleagues. I've got unbelieving friends and family and the

thought of them spending eternity in hell, well it cuts me to the heart. It

makes me feel deeply, deeply, deeply sad and uncomfortable and I'm tempted to

think but there's not fair. I don't want to believe in a God like that and

they're not that bad after all. But of course none of that is true. It is fair

and me and you and everyone else in this room and in this city, we each of us

we deserve to be judged by God. A God who cared nothing about our rebellion

against him, well he would not be a God worth worshipping. Now we need to look

not to ourselves but we need to look to God himself. When we pray for ourselves,

when we pray for our unbelieving friends, when we pray for this city of 2.8

million people, 95% of whom are heading towards an eternity of hell, we

mustn't just pray excuses. Now we need to plead God's work, God's glory, God's

character and God's promises. That and that alone is the only hope for rescue.

Which brings us to our third and final point today, realigning our orbit around

God. How do we get back to orbiting our lives around God rather than around

created things? Well Moses comes down the mountain this point in time, he's carrying

two stone tablets of the law and as he reaches the bottom he throws them to the

ground smashing them into a million pieces. He's saying Israel this is what

you've done to your covenant promises. You've shattered them. And notice the

conversation that Moses and Joshua have as they head down. They hear this

peculiar noise down in the camp. Now Joshua he's a military man so he assumes

it must be war, what else could it be for a military man? But Moses knows it's not

war. He knows it's something worse. Singing and dancing. Okay not that there

is something wrong with singing itself. We love to sing here at City Church.

Nor is there something wrong with dancing. Some of us love to dance here at

City Church. But that word translated revelry back in verse 6, the end of verse

6. It almost certainly refers to an orgy. You see singing and dancing for the

Lord that is holy and that is good. But when it's for an idol, well we see here

the sin leads to idolatry that leads to immorality. That is always always always

the case. And that's why Moses does this peculiar thing in verse 20. He takes the

idol and he he burns it and then he grounds it down like it's coffee grains.

He mixes it with water and then he forces the Israelites to drink it. It's a

lesson for the people. It's a lesson to help them to realign their orbit. That

idol that was leading them into immorality, well where does it end up?

It ends up as feces, as poo, as it goes out through their digestive tract and

comes out the other end. Moses tries to realign the people's orbit by showing

them the gravity of their sin, smashing the law and then showing the folly of their

sin, showing exactly what the idols they were worshipping were in reality. And

then we're given this this counterexample of Aaron. Aaron is an

example of how not to repent. Take a look at the conversation that Moses and Aaron

have in verses 22 to 24. Moses confronts Aaron and Aaron does three things here.

There's three things that I am tempted to do every time that I am confronted by

my sin. Firstly, he makes light of it, then he blames others and then thirdly he

spins the story. So he makes light of it. Look at verse 22. Do not be angry my

Lord. Oh little brother Moses, don't get so upset about it. It's just a

little sin. It happened, it's done. Let's move on. Isn't that the way we so often

think? Yeah perhaps me and my girlfriend we went too far last night but at least

we didn't have sex. Yeah yeah I may have got a bit tipsy when I was out my

friends but at least I wasn't paralysed like the rest of them. Friends we need to

call sin sin. We need to treat it seriously. Next up Aaron blames the

Israelites. It's all their fault he says verse 23. Again isn't that the way we so

often think and justify our sin? The reason I'm so unkind to other people is

because people are unkind to me. The reason I'm struggling in my walk with the

Lord is because my Christian friends at church well they're just not encouraging

me at the moment. And then thirdly Aaron spins the story. Up until the end of verse

24 everything that Aaron has said has been factually true and then he says I

threw the gold into the fire and out popped this calf. It was magic. No

mention of the whole smelting it down, taking out a tool and delicately

chiseling out the calf himself. No it just happened. Don't we say the same

thing? We are masters of spin of keeping most of the facts as they are and then

just ending it a little bit differently to make it look like we're in the right.

Friends we need to repent. We need to call sin sin and we need to plead God's

work, God's glory, God's character and God's promises. Now what happens in

verses 25 to 29? Let's be honest about it. I think it makes all of us feel pretty

uneasy. If we're Christians we know we shouldn't feel uneasy about this but

that doesn't stop us feeling uneasy about it. After all isn't this what

underlies pretty much all the religious conflict we see going on around the

world? People thinking that they have a license from God to kill the heathen?

But look at what actually happened here. Look carefully. Verse 26. Moses calls on

the people. He says whoever is for the Lord come to me. He gives them a choice.

Every single one of them has a choice. Choose the Lord or choose your idol. The

implication being it was only those who were the ringleaders of the idol worship

who then subsequently failed to repent who were killed. And 3,000 men die in

total. Now that's a lot of people. But it was just half a percent of the men in

Israel at the time. It was just 0.15 percent of the total Israelites. Back in

verse 10 of Exodus 32 the whole nation of Israel every man woman and child

would have been judged and destroyed but God in his mercy simply removed those

who chose to lead the people into idolatry and then subsequently refused

to repent and turn back. It's important to say that this all happened under the

old covenant where God's people were ethnically defined. The only way people

could be removed from the people of Israel was by death. There was no other

option. We today live under the new covenant where God's people come from

all peoples and all nations and removal for unrepentant sin comes through church

discipline and removal from church membership. And that's something we've

had to do here at City Church. And if we're honest when we do that we often

feel much the same way as we feel when we read these verses, verses 25 to 29. It

makes us feel icky. None of us, certainly not the leaders of City Church enjoy

exercising church discipline. But it is necessary when people are unrepentant

if we as a church want to realign our orbit around God. But as we close we need

to ask the question how is any of this possible? Yes Moses and Israel say take

steps to put away their idols, to treat them like their dung. They remove those

who refuse to repent from the people of Israel. They trust in God's grace and

God's promises. But how can God forgive them and still be just? How can he

fulfill his promises while still judging sin? We'll turn over and take a look at

verses 30 to 35. Moses tells the people that he's going back up the mountain,

verse 30, to make atonement for their sin. And notice what he does, verse 31, he

doesn't do an errand. He doesn't try and excuse their sin and make light of it.

No, he confesses their sin. No excuses, no spin. And then verse 32 he offers to be

punished in their place, to be blotted out of God's book of life. Try to get

your heads around this. Back in verse 10 the Lord looks at Moses and says, Moses

I'm willing to start afresh with you. You can be king of the world, you can be a

new Noah, a new Abraham, the whole of my people can descend from you. This is what

I'm offering you. But verse 33, Moses offers to die instead of the people,

eternally be damned in their place. In verse 33 God says, no. Why? Well because

verse 34, sinners must be punished for their own sin. And you see the problem

for Moses was that he had his own sin to pay for. He didn't have the power to

realign the people's orbit back around God because Moses himself was part of

the problem. A better Moses was needed, a sinless Moses. Someone who like Moses

had the offer to rule from a throne, yet like Moses, chose to die in the place of

his people, chose to be blotted out of the book of life. And that's what

happened 2,000 years ago. That's what verse 34 is pointing forwards to. The

Israelites were punished for their sin as Jesus Christ hung upon that Roman

cross, dying in their place. He was blotted out so that they didn't have to

be, so that we don't have to be. That is the only way we can be returned to

orbiting our lives around God rather than orbiting our lives around ourselves.

So my question for you this afternoon is this, will you come to the Lord? Will you

come to him today to receive forgiveness for your sin? Will you come to him today

so that he will restore you to orbiting around the source of life itself? Let me

pray. Father God, thank you so much that you have made a way for us to be

forgiven. You have made a way for us to be restored to what we should have been.

Thank you Lord Jesus that you are a better Moses. You are the one who

perfectly intercedes for us. Pleading your work, your finished work, pleading

God's glory, pleading your own character, and fulfilling every single promise with

a yes and amen. Thank you that because of that there need be no fear, there need be

no death. For you Lord Jesus have conquered sin and death and Satan

forever. Amen.