Redeemer: God is the redeemer who never fails, even when we fail Him. Exodus 32-34

Exodus 32-34

Redeemer: God is the Redeemer who never fails, even when we fail Him.

Exodus 34:5-9

“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

This passage is central to our understanding of who God is. It’s one of the most significant revelations of God to us in the Bible. And, how Moses responds to what God says depends entirely on who Moses knows and believes God to be. (And what he believes God is like)

God reveals Himself as the Redeemer who never fails, even when we fail Him.

In Exodus 20:1-2. The 10 commandments begin with: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

God commands that we should have no other gods before or other than Him. Why? Because He is the only true and real god.

God is the only true God. As Ross Blackburn writes, “Other gods can never redeem, for they are the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.” (Blackburn Ross)

“Ultimately we learn that false gods never fail to fail. That is the only thing about a false god you can depend on.” (Blackburn, Ross)

The truth that God is the Redeemer who never fails is monumental, it is earth shattering and a truth that we bank our entire lives on… and to rightly understand our passage and this truth- let’s take a look at the context of the passage.

Exodus 32 we see the problem…

Exodus 32:1-6

[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.” [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.

Even though they have been delivered from Egypt, crossed through the Red Sea, fed and given water in the wilderness, and witnessed the power and glory of God by cloud and fire… they go right back to their sinful ways when given the space to do so.

And, God sees it all and makes Moses aware of it, and God judges it.

Exodus 32:7-10

[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.”

Now Moses responds to God’s judgment of the people as stiff necked and the declaration of His wrath with a reminder of God’s promises. What you see begin to happen at this point is that Moses knows God’s purpose and character to the point that he himself is speaking as if he “knows”. Moses has become the mediator who knows both sides and can speak to and from both sides of the covenant. (Though Moses is not the same as God, he does see and understand God’s plan and purpose)

So, Moses intercedes on Israel’s behalf and God responds to him with the same character and purpose we have seen through the book of Exodus.

Exodus 33 records God’s response to Moses; request that God spare the Israelites.

Exodus 33

Exodus 33:1-6

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.’ 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. 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.” 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.

God judges them for their sin

God tells them he cannot continue to go with them because of his holiness and their sin.

They respond with repentance. See 4 when they people hear God’s judgment and respond with mourning. Then again in verse 6 when they repent of their ornaments, likely reminder of their idol. the Israelites respond in faith and repentance to God’s judgment on their sin.

Exodus 33:12-16

[12] Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ [13] Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” [14] And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” [15] And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. [16] For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Moses replies and tells God that if He isn’t going to go with them as they move into the promised land, then they don’t want to go without him.

Moses makes it clear that he understands God’s purpose in redeeming Israel from Egypt- which is to be a display of His power and presence among all the nations.

It’s God’s presence that sets the Israelites apart from all the other nations. They have the one true God, and His presence and power are meant to be seen, feared, and worshipped by the rest of the world.

And, because God has purposed to use Israel to represent him to the other nations, He responds to Moses and the Israelites with grace and mercy.

Exodus 34

As we read in our focus passage earlier… Exodus 34:5-9

God responds with grace and mercy, God renews His covenant with Israel and sets them toward the promised land with the promise of His presence among them, and they have renewed their commitment to Him to worship Him and Him alone.

There is so much we can learn here about God’s heart, His purpose, our hearts, and our purpose.

The sin that causes the need for God to renew His covenant with Israel is the sin of idolatry. And…

The problem with idolatry is not defining it, it’s admitting it.

The 10 commandments begin with “no other gods.” Then the next commandment is to not make any idols… why? Because this is what we do.

As the people of God, the last thing we want to admit is that we have put something or someone in God’s place. But, as Tim Keller said…

“We never break the other commandments without breaking the first one.” Tim Keller

When you see a sin in your life, most of the time you need to repent of two. One, is the sin that you see, the other is the sin of idolatry that is present in your rebellion against God. To follow our flesh and the ways of the world is to put something else, even ourselves, in the place of God.

But, the Israelites did not think of themselves as breaking God’s command. Though from our angle it seems pretty clear. But, they don’t set up an idol to another god other than the Lord. No, they set up an idol to worship and represent god who would go before them. And here in this passage we see that

Idolatry can be committed in two ways: Idolatry is worshipping false gods, or worshipping the true God falsely.

The idol the Israelites make in Exodus 32 is easy to identify… but what was the sin that lies below the surface?

Exodus 32:1-5 says, “[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. [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.”

Israel sets up an idol, which they aren’t supposed to do and worships God in direct contradiction to what he has said.

Idolatry happens when you define what worship is instead of God and His Word.

And this happens in so many ways. You can see it right there in Exodus 32 as an example. The people worship, but they do it in direct contradiction to what God has actually said.

Whoever defines what it means to worship God is the same person who decides what pleases God.

You don’t get to decide what worship is, and you don’t get to decide what pleases God.

Redefining what pleases God is the same thing as excusing sin.

We live in a culture that tries to elevate intentions over actions. But, no matter how well intentioned someone is, if what they have done is wrong then it is wrong. Good intentions are insufficient.

Idolatry in today’s church is more often than not, the idolatry of worshipping the true God falsely. Which isn’t really worship at all, but it is done in His name. (It’s like taking the Lord’s name in vain- another of the 10 commandments.)

Worshipping the true God falsely is the sin of idolatry, and like every other idol it reveals a deeper sin that lies beneath.

Our idols distract us from the sin that lies beneath them.

There are many idols, but some of the most impactful ones are control, comfort, approval, and power.

Power is the longing for influence or recognition

Control is longing to have everything go according to my plan

Comfort is the longing for pleasure and enjoyment

Approval is the longing to be accepted or desired

But, many of us cannot see our sin because we have not identified our idols. And, the sin below the surface doesn’t always take the same shape above.

“The human heart is a perpetual idol factory.” John Calvin

Idols are built when we are idle.

We need to take notice of God’s call for us to obey and to worship him alone. The Israelites were waiting for Moses, they were idle and because they were idle they were ripe for a distraction.

In Exodus 32 idolatry happens at a time when you least expect it. At least this seems like a moment when I would least expect it. They have just come through so much… and, it’s sinful human nature to want to make something that we can look to. Look what God has done, let us make this idol so that we can remember what God has done.

But the problem the things we make to remember what God has done, is that we usually end up just worshipping the thing we made instead of the God they are supposed to remind us of.

And God knows this… He knows this better than we ever could. Why? Because He is the one who has spent thousands of years on the other side of our idolatry.

idols happen in place of God… and we often make them because we don’t trust the Lord’s timing or His ways. So, we will put something in His place rather than wait on him. We look to something else to do what only He can do… and if it works once, then we are all in with it and not with God.

Identifying idols is hard and humble work that involves admitting what you can never be happy without.

Admitting an idol is one of the painful and liberating confessions for a Christian.

admitting an Idol is painful because it reveals that we forsaken God for something that we trust more or to live in a way that we have defined.

Admitting an idol means confessing we are prideful and sinful.

Admitting an idol means confessing how much of our time and effort we spend on it.

Admitting an idol means confronting and confessing that you have put God below your intentions and judgment.

Idols can be good things that become god-things in our lives.

Examine your finances, prayer life, relationships, emotions, concerns, your essentials, your past, and your hopes for the future.

Idolatry stands in the way of people and churches fulfilling God’s plans and purposes. God’s purpose for Israel to be a witness to all other nations cannot be carried out by an idolatrous people. This is why God tells them that He is a jealous God, it’s why he makes sure they know that they have sinned, but also that He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

What do we do with the truth that our hearts are perpetual idol factories? Well, Matt Ryman writes and says that, “Nothing is a greater threat to our idols than God’s devotion to us.”

The solution to the idol factory in our hearts is the steadfast love and faithfulness of God!

Looking in our passage for today, Exodus 34, God tells Moses who is, and He says that He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

Like the Israelites we too will follow after the idols of our hearts over and over again. And we cannot be the solution to the sin problem of our hearts.

To fight against idolatry we must identify the idol, repent of our sin, replace it with a new affection, and remember the gospel..

Identify- We discussed identifying our idols briefly, and we repent by replacing our idols with a new or increasing love for God.

Repent and Replace- A new or increased love for God is the only thing that expels idols from our hearts and enables us to make God primary again. Thomas Chalmers called this the “expulsion power of a new affection.”

Remember and share the truth of the Gospel.

The truth of the gospel keeps us humble and reminds us of God’s steadfast love and mercy.

Jesus is the truth of the gospel….

John 3:16

Roman’s 5:8

Romans 5 helps us to see Exodus 34 more clearly, and Exodus 34 helps us to see Jesus clearly! Paul says that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Which means that God shows grace and mercy to us when we deserved judgment.

And as God said to Moses in Exodus 34, he doesn’t just clear the guilty… no god punishes all sin, and for those who are saved their sin has been punished on Christ.

The best way to remember the gospel is to share the gospel. The more public we are with the gospel message the more focused we will be with our life in public for the gospel.

God’s grace, mercy, and his judgment are found in Christ.

On the cross we see God’s grace, we see His mercy, and we see His judgment. And, to fight against our idols we simply look to the cross.

And when we sin and make idols, we must confess it, repent, replace and remember.

When you are face to face with your sin even the sin of idolatry, you can remember that in Exodus…

God reveals Himself as the Redeemer who never fails, even when we fail Him.

Your failure doesn’t push you further from God, instead your failure is cause and reason to lean in toward God. Moses did, and Jesus tell us too.

So… what are your idols? (Repent, replace, remember)

What’s true about idols?

People will fight to protect their idols. Why? Because their idol is often connected to their identity. And, if they admit the idol they have to admit so much more.

You cannot fulfill God’s purpose for your life and keep your idols.

People will justify or obscure their idols in the name of the Lord.

For further study and teaching..

The confusion over God’s judgment and mercy.

- there is some confusion over this… but God’s judgment and character are actually the basis for His mercy.

The purpose of God’s redemption is seen in His forgiveness.

(See Exodus 14:10)

Exodus 34:10

“And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.”

this is reminiscent of the purpose of His deliverance… God’s redeeming love and purpose is the basis for Moses’ prayers and petition on behalf of Israel.

Moses isn’t asking God to do anything that He hasn’t already done… He is actually praying in line with God’s already revealed purpose and plan. And, as he mentioned about the Egyptians, what would God abandoning the Israelites do for His purpose?

God has revealed through His word and His deed that He is gracious, merciful, and that His love is steadfast and sure. His purposes, including His grace and mercy flow from His love. And, God renews His covenant with His people so that the people of the world will see His glory.

God renews and restores His people for their good and His glory.

We are fulfilled when we are walking in righteousness with God.

it’s not just that we can go and do things for God… We are fulfilled by living for God and with God.

This is at the heart of Moses reply to God in Exodus 33. Moses didn’t want the promised land unless it came with God too.

God is glorified through the faithfulness of His people.

This means life apart from the gathering

This is sharing the gospel

This is resisting sin and temptation

This is repentance

This is love, grace, and forgiveness being given to one another.

This is gospel centered living… or God-centered living.

That’s really what God has called us to right? That we would live with Him in our midst, in the center.