The Golden Calf

God deserves the priority in our heart.

Exodus 20:1–3 “And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

To place anything above God is a “golden calf” event in your life.

Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

It could be your spouse, it could be your kids, career, country, music, movies, sports, money, the internet, pornography, it could be your home boat, hunting fishing, cooking, food, anything.

The golden calf occurred when Moses was away.

Exodus 32:1 “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for 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.””

Temptation comes when the leader is away. Adam left Eve and the serpent seized the opportunity. A pastor is important to a church, a father is important to a home, a teacher is important to a classroom. Look what Covid did to our kids. A boss is important to a job

Moses - the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt. Really?

Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

They had forgotten that God is the one who rescued them from Egypt. Some people worship preachers. Billy Graham, Jimmy Swagger, Joel Olsteen, and countless others. Some always try to point the audience to God but they take their eyes off God.

The Israelites were making a graven image.

Exodus 32:2–3 “And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.”

It didn’t take them too long to destroy ruin the ten commandments. They are making their own gods. This is about the worst thing that they could have done. They had spent 400 years in Egypt an idolatrous nation. Idol worship is an addiction. Do you know how difficult it is to break any addiction? You would think that after what God had just done for them that they would be able to worship him for more than 40 days. You don’t understand the power of addiction.

“These be thy gods.”

Exodus 32:4 “And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!””

Choose your king!

John 19:15 “But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!””

Notice that Aaron fashioned this golden calf with an engraving tool. This is av very important detail to the story. Plus you should never have to make your own god.

You should not have to create or pick up your own god.

Judges 6:31 “But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!””

Gideon tore down the altar of Baal in the book of judges and his father said if he is a god let him plead for himself. In Samuel the Israelites lost the ark. It ended up in the temple of Dagon and the idol fell on the floor, pick it up! You shouldn’t have to pick your idol up and glue him back together.

The Yankees were my idol when I was a kid, My walls were covered with Yankee memorabilia I put it there the Yankees haven’t won the world series in more than a dozen years. I have to try and put them up on a pedestal. GUESS WHAT MY GOD HAS NEVER LOST, HE HAS NEVER FAILED ME!

FEAST TO THE LORD?

1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.””

There were no feasts yet. Interesting fact, this happened in the third or fourth month of the year. There would never be a Jewish feasts in those months. I think that is very telling of what God thought of this event.

They were going to have a feast to the LORD. I recently watched a documentary on sports in the church. It wasn’t talking about how sport’s are bad. Actually it spoke a lot about athletes who have faith, guys like Tim Tebow, AC Greene, David Robinson, and Jim Abbott. There are even highly outspoken Christian athletes today. But it was interesting how many times men have began to speak out about their faith and they are cut off instantly. How come sports can supersede God and the church but Church and Christ can’t take priority over sports. Penn State wrestling has some outspoken athletes. But my point is in this video Pastor’s were talking about Church Super Bowl Partys and how some churches made their super bowl parties the biggest event of the year. On the LORD’S day none the less. But the thing that caught my attention was a woman kicking a bible on a Sunday morning on stage.

They rose up to play!

Exodus 32:6 “Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”

This was offensive to God on purpose, these people were just months earlier singing praise to God as they left Egypt.

Israel had thrown off their devotion to God, and pledged allegiance to a wicked world.

Joshua 24:14 ““Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!”

The people had God’s word and rejected it.

Acts 7:38–39 ““This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,”

Israel chose to follow false gods.

Acts 7:40 “saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’”

The golden calf was demonic.

Acts 7:41–42 “And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: ‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?”

God disowned His people.

Exodus 32:7 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.”

Israel’s fall happened quickly.

Exodus 32:8–9 “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!”

Sin will catch you in a weak moment and destroy you don’t be fooled by it’s allure you can be destroyed in a moment.

The sinful people deserved God’s unbridled wrath.

Exodus 32:10 “Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.””

Moses intercessors or advocates for the people.

Intercessor - Go between

Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Advocate - Legal Counsel who acts on your behalf

1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Moses is acting like a type of Christ.

Hebrews 11:24–26 “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

Plea #1 These are YOUR people.

Exodus 32:11a “Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people

Plea #2 Consider Your Salvation and Grace.

Exodus 32:11b whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?”

Plea #3 Consider Your Glory and Mercy.

Exodus 32:12 “Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.”

Plea #4 Remember Your Faithfulness.

Exodus 32:13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ””

God did not forget His promises, but Moses reminded Him. Sometimes it is good to bring God’s promises to Him to show that you know them. This was a picture of God’s courtroom. The people were guilty. If they received justice they would be dead. They needed redemption, they needed mercy, they needed grace.

Moses case did not rest on the innocence of His client, but on the goodness of the judge.

Psalm 7:11 “God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.”

2 Timothy 4:7–8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

The LORD repented of the evil.

Exodus 32:14 “So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.”

Repent - to stop, turn around, and go the other direction.

Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,”

Repent does not mean, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’ll never do that again. THAT DOESN’T WORK! to repent is a change in direction.

The same plea is available for you today because of Jesus he wants to be your advocate, to plead on your case not because of the good works that you have done but because of his mercy and grace. REPENT and BE SAVED!