REBELLION! Exodus 32:1-6, Lesson for October 21-22, 2017 Scott Susong

Transcription

1 REBELLION! Exodus 32:1-6, Lesson for October 21-22, 2017 Scott Susong INTRODUCTION In 1898 a professional wrestling match was held. It pitted the European champion, The Terrible Turk, against the American champ, Strangler Lewis. This event was not the fake wrestling as seen on TV. It was a winner-take-all, let out all the stops, grudge match to the finish for the undisputed world wrestling championship. Unfortunately, the strangler couldn t strangle the Turk, and the Turk won. He demanded his winnings, $8000 dollars, be paid in gold coins which he put in a specially made belt around his waist. The Turk loved to show off his belt; he idolized it and never let it out of his sight. On the way back to Europe, the ship on which he was traveling sprang a leak and started to sink. Tragically, the Turk went down with the ship because, you guessed it, he refused to remove his heavy money belt. He sank like a rock the shipwreck happened on July 4, The very thing the Turk idolized directly led to his death. In can be the same way in our lives. Whatever we depend on more than the Lord can lead to our undoing. Be it family, fortune, job advancement or fame it can suddenly betray us and cause our lives to crumble. Sin has consequences. Our passage for today demonstrates this in graphic fashion. BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL SETTING On Mount Sinai, Moses received the Ten Commandments plus other ordinances and he had come down the mountain to deliver them to the people. In Exodus 24:1-8, Moses led a ceremony which included offerings and sacrifices. The people committed themselves to obey all that Moses had read to them. In verses 3 & 7, the people said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient! These words sounded good they were the right words. But, talk is cheap we will see if they followed through. The Lord then called Moses back up the mountain to receive more statutes and ordinances as well as the stone tablets. As we saw last week, much of this section of Scripture (Chapters 25-31) contained instructions for building the tabernacle, plus all of the articles of worship. Moses took Joshua up the mountain with him and left Aaron and Hur in charge of the people down below. On this second trip, Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 24:18). In Chapter 32, the narrative shifts back to what was happening in the Israelite camp, and it was not a pretty picture. It can be summed up in one word: rebellion! I. SHALLOW COMMITMENT LEADS TO IMPATIENCE, Verse 1 Verse one reveals the shallow commitment of the people and their impatience. The key was the delay. But, think about that for a moment. These are the same people who had seen two

2 tremendous miracles: their release from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, which was one of the most dramatic events in human history. Following those two events, God had miraculously provided them two million people of all ages - with water and food in the wilderness. So, even with all of those experiences, they could not bring themselves to wait for six weeks for Moses to come down the mountain! Their impatience in the delay reveals their shallow commitment: they were already starting to fall away from faith and obedience to the Lord. They were fearful that just because they had not seen him, that Moses was not coming back at all. They refused to wait and seek guidance from the Lord. All of these attitudes are characteristics of spiritual and emotional immaturity. So, while Moses was on the mountain receiving instructions for the Israelites worship, the people were down below devising their own form of worship. They gathered around Aaron. Let s break down their request: (1) They asked him to make them a god who would go before them astonishing! (2) They referred to Moses as the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt. It was not Moses who brought them up; it was the Lord God! So, these two statements in verse one reveal that the people were already falling away from the Lord. We wonder how many of them ever actually trusted the Lord in the first place! 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, for we walk by faith, not by sight. (NASB) The Israelites had seen the miracles and God s care for them in the wilderness; they had seen Moses lead them and read the Law to them. So, this was a test. Moses was gone; he was out of their sight and they jumped to the conclusion that he wasn t coming back at all. Instead of waiting on the Lord and seeking His guidance, they gave in to their impatience and demanded from Aaron a god whom they could see. In addition, they demanded a god who would lead them forward. They flunked the test! Romans 8:24-25: For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (NASB) The Israelites could not bring themselves to hope for what they could not see; they lacked perseverance; they couldn t wait. APPLICATION: One of the most challenging things we must do as believers is to wait. When we pray, we want an answer right now. We don t want to learn patience. An impatient person is an immature person, and an impatient Christian is a spiritually immature Christian. In 2 Peter 1:5-8, Peter lists the qualities of Christian maturity. Self-control and perseverance are on that list. Both qualities are close cousins of patience. What the Israelites asked Aaron to do was nothing short of idolatry. II. IMPATIENCE LEADS TO THE SIN OF IDOLATRY, Verses 2-6 Verse 2-4 The people forgot Moses, went to Aaron and he did not seem to hesitate. He commanded that the people collect items to make the idol, which is unconscionable. As

3 Warren Wiesrbe, in his commentary on Exodus, stated regarding this verse, Imagine the first high priest making an idol! (page 398) This is the infamous story of the golden calf. The calf provided them with a visible symbol that the Israelites could identify as their deliverer. The English word idol comes from the Greek word which means something to be seen. (Dr. Constable s Notes on Exodus, page 182) The creation of the idol by Aaron was a direct violation of the first two Commandments: You shall have no other gods before me, and You shall not make for yourself an idol. (Exodus 20:3-4) After they made the idol, they said, This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. (verse 4) This, too, is a direct violation of what God said before He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. God said, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Exodus 20:2) It was the Lord God who brought them out of Egypt, not a golden calf! Umberto Cassuto, in his commentary on Exodus, states, they regarded the calf as an emblem of the Lord, and they considered this emblem itself worthy of divine honour, thus making the calf a partner, as it were, of the Lord. (page 413) Satan will always counterfeit what God has done. The sin of idolatry was and is a case of the worship of God on our terms, not His. APPLICATION: Most of us don t mold a golden calf, place it on our mantle at home and worship it. So, how do we engage in idolatry, or do we? At times we are tempted to worship something visible rather than have faith in the invisible Lord. We might worship another person, a political agenda, our job/career, our 57 Chevy, money, or any one of a number of things. If we look to something other than the Lord for ultimate peace, security and happiness, then we are worshipping an idol something we can see rather than the unseen God. Verses 5-6 Aaron participated in the idolatry by building an altar and declaring a feast! Notice the phrase at the end of verse 6: and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. John Davis, in his commentary Moses and the Gods of Egypt, states, The verb translated to play suggests illicit and immoral sexual activity which normally accompanied fertility rights found among the Canaanites who worshipped the god Baal. (page 285) So, this was a scene of debauchery as well as idolatry! APPLICATION: How could this happen? How could people who had seen amazing miracles fall into such sinful behavior almost overnight? There is a section of 1 Corinthians 10 which sheds light on the situation. Sometimes we learn as much from a negative example as we do from a positive one. The Apostle Paul uses the failures of the Israelites as a stern warning to us. In fact, 1 Corinthians 10:7 quotes the last phrase from Exodus 32:6 word for word. What is the lesson for us? These things are written for our instruction and here is the lesson:

4 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12) The Israelites thought that because of the miraculous ways God had cared for them, that they were untouchable nothing could happen to them they took the Lord for granted. It could happen to us! As soon as we say or think, I would never do that, or That could never happen to me, we re doomed. III. SIN ALWAYS HAS CONSEQUENCES, Verses 7-14 The scene shifts back to Moses on the mountain. Verses 7-10 In rapid-fire fashion, God tells Moses what has happened back at the Israelite camp. They have corrupted themselves and have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. As we said, the progression was: (1) shallow commitment, which led to (2) impatience not living by faith but by sight, which resulted in (3) idolatry. And, as God said, it happened quickly. God went on to tell Moses the details of the molten calf, that He was angry with them, desired to destroy them and build a great nation starting with Moses. I m sure Moses head was spinning! It presented Moses with a test how would he handle it? Verses Moses appealed to God not to destroy the people based on three arguments: I. God s previous work for Israel, verse 11. He had brought them out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand. II. God s reputation and glory, verse 12. In this verse, Moses asked God to change His mind a bold request! III. God s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Israel (Jacob), verse 13. All three points were solid Biblical reasons for God not to destroy the people. So, what happened? God changed His mind about harming the people (verse 14). Moses passed the test with flying colors! QUESTION: The elephant in the room what of this statement that the Lord changed His mind? The KJV says that the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people. Does this mean that God is inconsistent or arbitrary? [TEACHERS: This question needs to be answered briefly, but do not let the issue overshadow your entire lesson, nor can we fully discuss it and solve it here.] Dr. C.I. Scofield states that the test of Moses was real and must be considered in the light of the sovereign will of God that underlies all human decision. (The New Scofield Reference Bible, footnote, page 114) Because of the covenant He made with Abraham, God never intended to destroy Israel and start over. In Scripture, there are three grounds for the Lord repenting : (1) intercessory prayer, Amos 7:1-6, and our current passage with Moses. (2) the repentance of the people, Jeremiah 18:3-11, and (3) God s compassion Deuteronomy 32:36 and Judges 2:18.(Dr. Constable s Notes on Exodus, page 149) Another resource: The Explore the Bible Leader s Guide for the fall quarter has an effective discussion of this question on page 89.

5 Now, even though God repented and didn t destroy Israel, there were still consequences for their sin. Briefly, in Exodus 32:19-20 Moses ground the golden calf into powder, scattered it into the water and made the people drink it. In 32:21-24, Moses dealt with Aaron who had failed miserably in this situation. And, in 32:27-29, 3000 died that day. In the NT, Acts 5:1-11, Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit. POINT: Sin is deadly serious to the Lord, it must be dealt with, and cannot be tolerated. We as believers must take drastic measures to resist and avoid sin. See what Jesus said in Matthew 5:29. What the Israelites experienced in this passage shows the cycle that continued through the rest of the OT over and over again: Sin Consequences Compassion of the Lord revealed toward His people. CONCLUDING APPLICATION QUESTION Do you remember the Terrible Turk and his heavy money belt? What are you carrying that you can t give up and is weighing you down? Open your hands and turn it lose give it up to the Lord. The results just might shock you!