The Great Cost of a Golden Calf
Notes
Transcript
1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 Now 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 So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 “They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10 “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” 11 Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. 15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. 17 Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 18 But he said, “It is not the sound of the cry of triumph, Nor is it the sound of the cry of defeat; But the sound of singing I hear.” 19 It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it. 21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” 22 Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. 23 “For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 “I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” 25 Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.” 30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32 “But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” 33 The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 “But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.
Introduction
Promises are pretty easy to make, they’re harder to keep. It doesn’t even need to be a “promise”, it can just be an appointment you’ve made. Maybe you’ve found yourself in that position where you say “I’ll be there” one day then when that commitment finally roles around you think, “Did I really commit to this? I have all of this other stuff to do.” Sometimes it’s just a matter of overcommitting ourselves to things, but oftentimes it’s the adversity and difficulty of life challenging us and the commitments we’ve made. Whether it’s sickness, or weather, or just other unexpected demands on our time there’s almost always something making it difficult to keep our promises or our word. Now there are things which are circumstantial which everyone understands. If you’re sick and you can’t keep your word often people understand that. There’s another category here though. There’s the adversity of life that makes it difficult to keep our word at times, but there’s also the adversity found in our own hearts.
How often do people go back on their word in the name of some circumstantial problem, but in reality there’s a heart problem going on. “Hey boss, I can’t make it too work, I’m not feeling well.” Now very often that’s a reasonable explanation, but sometimes there’s a heart that doesn’t want to maintain that commitment anymore. There’s something more attractive over here that I’d rather do with that time.
The same thing can happen in marriage. Vows are going to be put to the test at one point or another, oftentimes there are very real circumstances in marriage that making loving one another difficult, but sometimes there’s a heart problem. There’s a sin problem that makes keeping the words of the vows difficult to keep. Many unfortunately try to point to circumstantial things, or the behavior of their spouse to justify themselves, and sometimes there’s truth there, just like how we’re really sick sometimes and can’t go to work, but other times it’s a heart problem that makes keeping our promises difficult.
I’d like to look closely at the heart of Israel this morning as we come to the golden calf, and ask “Why didn’t they keep their word?” All of Israel in unison made a commitment to God not that long ago.
New American Standard Bible (1995) Chapter 19
7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him.
8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.
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We recognize some adversity in the season that Israel is in. They’re in a wilderness, but what’s really the problem? What’s really the difficulty that makes it difficult for Israel to keep their Word. What is it really that makes them break their promise? I hope it’s evident: The problem is sin. The problem is idolatry. In the end a very costly idolatry... Now we might not be building golden calves in our day, but if we’re honest there are idols which tempt all of us.
My hope this morning is that we might gain some awareness of the idols we may be tempted toward, but too that we wouldn’t despair at the sight of our own hearts. Let’s be honest with ourselves and honest with God such that from a position of humility we can look to God who is more faithful to His Word than we are. When we recognize our own sinful hearts there is still hope for us: Hope in the fact the we are children of promise. In this darkest of moments the only hope of Israel is the faithfulness of God to His own Word. For us here this morning, I hope we would set our hope in the faithfulness of God to the promises He has made to us in Christ.
The price of idolatry is no less than death before God’s holy law, yet we have hope knowing that our holy God is faithful to His gracious promise.
The price of idolatry is no less than death before God’s holy law, yet we have hope knowing that our holy God is faithful to His gracious promise.
Idolatry Deserving Destruction
Appeals to a Gracious Promise
Idolatry Addressed with Justice
Idolatry Deserving Destruction
Idolatry Deserving Destruction
Let’s start there in verse 1 and notice (1) the circumstances they’re in, but more importantly what their hearts are doing.
The people have noticed that Moses has been “delayed”. At least that’s what the people of Israel have concluded. If we go back to the end of chapter 24 we’ll see that Moses went up onto the mountain for forty days and forty nights. It only took Israel a little over a month to go from “All that the LORD has spoken we will do” to asking Aaron, “Come, make us a god who will go before us.”
Haven’t they heard the commandment the Lord has given them?? The first one! The one right at the beginning.
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
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What is this utter foolishness that Israel has arrived at?
I want us to notice 3 things about Idolatry.
Idolatry begins with unbelief
Idolatry is fueled by impatience
Idolatry is not without sacrifice
(1) Idolatry begins with unbelief. Idolatry begins with disregarding the explicit promise of God.
All the people of Israel heard the words of Moses: the promise of God delivered to them
6 “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 ‘I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord.’ ”
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Up to this point at the mountain, God has been nothing but faithful to His Word. His promise to deliver them from Egypt was fulfilled, yet now for some reason the people have concluded that the LORD will not live up to his Word. “We need a different God. Let’s make one.”
Unbelief in the ability of God to save, provide, or deliver leads to the pursuit of some other means to secure our blessing. That pursuit of blessing, that pursuit of the promised land by means other than God is idolatry. This thing, this relationship, this god is going to secure what God could not. That’s idolatry.
One more facet of idolatry to be aware of. Idolatry is fueled by impatience. Notice the emphasis on delay here in the text, and the timeline is evident. It’s only been 40 days! Perhaps there is some degree of faith in God’s ability still remaining, but idolatry can still enter the scene if God doesn’t provide in the timeline we like.
Israel has been in slavery for over 400 years. They’ve witnessed an absolutely miraculous deliverance from Egypt, but they still don’t have the patience to wait 40 days for Moses to come down from the mountain. In reality impatience is just another form of unbelief. It concludes that God’s timing isn’t good enough. Impatience is rooted in our thinking that we know better than God. So in the end perhaps there’s a reverence for God in the background, but in the foreground there’s an idol to help us get to the promised land in a more timely manner.…
When unbelief and an unwillingness to wait upon the Lord come together we shouldn’t be surprised to see all the resources of Israel cast before a god of their own making. That final point: Idolatry is not without sacrifice.
3 Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
5 Now 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.”
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The sinful heart of man will sacrifice a lot before an idol that offers the hope of blessing and doesn’t require faith or patience from us... and notice how Aaron tries to sanctify the whole things with the name of God, Yahweh. “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” There’s no sanctifying idolatry! Worship cannot be holy if God is not at the center.
Let’s look at this from another angle.
Did you ever notice how the devil tempted Jesus? He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. No faith required. He could see it all with his eyes. Then the devil offered all the kingdoms of the world to him in a moment. No waiting. No cross. If only Jesus would worship Him. If only He would surrender everything. No faith, no waiting, at great cost! Where Jesus was victorious, Israel failed.
Israel fell to that temptation. They wanted a god that didn’t require any faith of them, they wanted a god they could see with their own eyes. They wanted their blessing in their timing. And they were willing to surrender their current blessings in sacrifice to a god made with their own hands to get it.
Very often, I’m afraid we jump straight to the question, “What are our idols?” This morning I’d like us to think more about the pathways to idols rather than idols themselves. For some of us maybe there is an idol at the end of that pathway, but for some it may just be a temptation we need to be aware of .
I’ve given us three categories, and I’d like us to recognize each as a temptation to idolatry that we need to be aware of.
(1) Unbelief: What promises do we tend to forget? You might say, “How would I know if I’ve forgotten them?” and you would have a point, but usually it’s pretty clear. When does anxiety tend to creep in? Very often anxiety is evidence of a forgotten promise. When we take time to look at the bills and the emergency expenses that have come up, what do our hearts do? Do they go looking for an idol to secure our blessing or do they run to the promises which God has provided?
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
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In moments of crisis when anxiety rises there’s very often an idol waiting. Let’s be aware of those, yet more importantly, let’s be equipped with the promises of God for us in Christ when those crises do arise. As the church let’s be equipped to encourage one another with those promises that we might keep one another from those idols which tempt us. Let’s be aware of the circumstances in each other’s lives and be in fellowship with one another so that we’re in a position to remind one another of the promises of God for us in Christ.
(2) Impatience: Impatience is usually pretty evident. There’s a sense of frustration accompanied by all kinds of thoughts, “Why is this taking so long?? Why can’t we have it now? ” It can be anything from traffic to some genuinely good blessing we’ve been hoping for for a long time. Maybe even decades. Remember Israel’s impatience was oriented towards receiving a gift that God himself promised. They wanted to enter the promised land. That’s not a bad desire, but in their impatience, they resorted to an idol - something they thought would satisfy their desires without the waiting.
Our entire culture today is oriented around, “How do we get what we want fast?” We’re trained to think that if we have to wait something’s wrong. As soon as that package hasn’t arrived after 4 or 5 days we start asking, What went wrong? When the food doesn’t come to the table after 15 minutes, we start to ask “What went wrong?” We can’t think the same way with God’s provision! Because as soon as we grow impatient with God and we start to think that something went wrong, we start looking for another god. We look for a substitute. We look for an idol.
In our desire for good things, in our desire for God’s blessing in our lives and in our ministries, we need be careful should our hearts grow impatient. God’s timing is perfect! Don’t settle for the substitute! An idol of our own making isn’t going to get us to the promised land any faster.
(3) Idolatry accompanies sacrifice. Idols are rarely costly on the front end else they wouldn’t be tempting. The sacrifice is often costly on the back end. They incur a cost over time - a long-term costly sacrifice if you will. Jesus’ temptation wasn’t exactly costly on the front end. There was no cross in his temptation, no sacrifice. All he had to do was worship the devil, but to do so would have been to sacrifice everything: to deprive God of His rightful worship and deprive us of our salvation. In the end idols deprive us of our ability to serve God and one another. Israel’s sacrifice in the moment looked like one big party, but in the end it would deprive God of His rightful worship, and prove to lead many into sin. There may be very little personal sacrifice to idolatry, but very often it is costly to those around us. In our attempt to avoid the temptation of idolatry in our lives, let’s be aware of how we steward what God has given us. Is it being used in service of God and one another or at the expense of God and one another?
...
I’ve taken some time here at the front end, but I hope that in looking at the narrative for another moment, we’ll all see that as much as golden calves may be utterly foreign to us, idolatry isn’t. It’s a very real temptation to us if we look closely, and not something to be taken lightly as we’ll see.
How is it that God responds to Israel’s unbelief, impatience, and sacrifice to a false god?
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10 “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
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If you recognize Genesis as the foundation for the Exodus story you’ll see the echo of the story of Noah here in these words. It’s a humbling moment in the history of Israel. They’ve been delivered from slavery, they’ve been circumcised as the people of God, they’ve even received the law, and yet they are deserving of the same penalty that all the world received in the flood: death! The law did not transform their hearts if anything it only exposed it all the more, and God in all His holiness and righteousness responds with a just anger, a desire to make things right and exact a pure and holy justice upon the people of Israel.
What hope is there for Israel now who’ve failed to uphold the law of God?
What hope is there for us who recognize in ourselves an idolatry not so unlike what is described to us here?
It is not in our ability to uphold the law. It’s not in our ability to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world by external means. It’s not in our our commitment or devotion. Our hope is in the gospel, the good news that carries gracious promises to the people of God.
Appeals to a Gracious Promise
Appeals to a Gracious Promise
Let’s look to Moses’ response to God. What is his appeal?
11 Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
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This doesn’t exactly feel like an ordinary defense when someone is found guilty. Maybe you can remember back to a time as a kid when your parents had a conversation with you about something you weren’t supposed to do, and for some of us there may have been a defense that began with something like, “But I did do this...” or “But I didn’t do that...” “But I thought ...” “I… I… I....” Our natural inclination even as children when we seek to justify ourselves is to begin with “I...”
Moses knows full well there is nothing in Israel that can give them hope. There is no, “but they did wait 40 days...” All of Moses’ appeals are oriented toward God. That requires faith!
vs. 11 Look at this work of redemption which you have begun
vs. 12 Consider your glory amongst the nations
vs. 13 Remember the promises you have made
The bedrock of Moses’ plea is the gracious promise of God which he made to Abraham hundreds of years ago. He knows that even after hundreds of years, God is faithful to His Word. God is faithful to keep his promises.
Genesis 12 God promised that Abraham’s descendants would receive a land.
Genesis 15 He promised that Abraham’s descendants would be multiplied as the stars in the sky.
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As Deserving as Israel is to receive the just wrath of God for their infidelity and idolatry, God’s faithfulness is greater than Israel’s unfaithfulness! God’s promises are greater than Israel’s broken promises, and the grace of God is greater than even the darkest of sins.
How is it that God responds to this plea?
14 So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.
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I appreciate how the CSB puts it, “The LORD relented...”
A statement like that might prompt a question in our minds: “Does God change his mind?” “Is God being swayed by an ordinary man like Moses?” Good questions, but let’s be careful to recognize the nature of Moses’ plea. If God was flippant like us, if God was so easily swayed then Moses would have no plea at all. Moses’ plea is made believing that God has not changed! For our benefit God has revealed to us what we deserve, what Israel deserved, that we might also see God’s mercy, grace, and patience with Israel according to His promise. It is not beyond God to desire justice be served and yet withhold that justice for the proper time. In the end God shows Himself patient and faithful to His promise when Israel proved to be impatient and unfaithful to their promise...
As Moses is writing this account for the people of Israel as they’re about to enter the promised land there’s an important reminder. Remember who the faithful one is! Remember who the patient one is. Remember who remained faithful to their promise. It wasn’t you! It was God.
It’s an important reminder for us today! Our blessing is not secured according to our faithfulness, our patience, or the promises we’ve kept. Our blessing is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
At the end of the day God would withhold the fullness of wrath which Israel deserved. The nation of Israel would be spared according to God’s promise, but there would come a time when they would be held accountable for their sins. Before the chapter is over some, not all, would pay the ultimate price, and as much as many were spared, not even the blessing of the promised land could deliver them from the penalty of sin. The ultimate hope of Israel really rests in another gracious promise which God gave to Abraham.
18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
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The blessing of Israel was not ultimately found in the promised land, their prosperity, or their victory over their enemies. The blessing of Israel and that of the nations will be found in one descendant of Abraham, that is Jesus Christ. The one who will come and take away the sins of the world. The one who will come to satisfy God’s justice in dying for the sins of those who put their faith in Him. It’s Jesus who is the faithful one when we are not. It’s through Jesus that we receive the gracious promises of God which will never fade.
When we find idols in our life. When the Lord graciously shows us the ways in which we have been unfaithful, impatient, and sacrificed our time and resources to false gods, there is no sense in appealing to our own faithfulness anymore. We’re guilty and deserving of wrath. There is no defense that begins with, “I did this..” “I did that..” “I didn’t do this..” I didn’t do that...” Our one defense. Our one plea when we recognize our sin, is the gracious promises of God in Christ Jesus.
22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
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9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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When that is our plea, when the sacrifice and faithfulness of Christ is our defense, we aren’t merely delaying God’s justice as if it’s being kept at bay for another time when we will be held to account. In one sense God does not simply relent when Christ is our plea as if to hold back justice for another time because the fullness of His wrath has already been poured out on Jesus Christ. The wrath of God has not merely been stayed it’s been satisfied and we need not fear!
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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We can hold fast to that gracious promise because God is faithful to His Word when we are not.
...
As we come through to the end of the chapter I hope we would cling to those promises all the more as we see more clearly what the pure justice of God looks like. The gracious promises of God to Abraham will indeed spare the nation of Israel from total destruction, but that does not mean God will not deliver justice.
Idolatry Addressed with Justice
Idolatry Addressed with Justice
(vs. 19) Moses is approaching the camp with the newly inscribed tablets and he sees the calf and the dancing, and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. The tablets themselves have been broken, but more importantly the covenant which Israel made with God has been broken! The people of Israel have failed to be the holy people God has called them to be and the result is punishment, but even before that Moses holds Aaron to account, the spiritual leader of Israel and Aaron offers up this half-baked excuse.
24 “I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
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“The people Moses, they are prone to evil, they demanded I make them a god, and I just threw the gold in there and out it came...”
In the end Moses takes Aaron’s place, grants authority to the priesthood to deliver the penalty of death. 3000 men die for their sins.
But more importantly the question remains what is God going to do?
Moses, addresses the people,
30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
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Moses again comes before God to plea for the people. He even counts himself with the people,
32 “But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”
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But in the end each will pay their own price.
33 The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 “But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.
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In a sobering conclusion the LORD smote the people or struck the people. The same word used for the plagues delivered against Egypt.
As much as Israel may be free from Egypt, it’s evident: they have yet to be free from sin and the penalty from sin. The journey may continue, but the problem of sin will not yet be resolved! It’s only a matter of time until we find ourselves here again where a sinful people are confronted by the penalty of their own sin! We’ve heard the warning multiple times in the law of God, but here we see it delivered by God Himself. The wages of sin is death!
There’s a simple reminder there for us! No matter how free we find ourselves from evil men, we will never be free from the penalty of sin without a Savior.
I’d like to close by pointing us to a very similar scene that ends with the hope of our Savior Jesus.
You might recall the story of Jesus entering the temple and finding it full of money of changers - full of idolatry. He too responded in righteous anger! He too sought to restore the true and right worship of the people of God! He challenged the religious the leaders for failing to lead the people to God. This is no mere prophet mind you. This is God Himself in the person of Christ coming into His temple, and how is he welcomed?
18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”
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We’ve seen the signs God is capable of in Exodus! That is a daring question if you think about it. Jesus in all His authority could have struck the people as he did here. Their sin is no different. Yet how does Jesus respond?
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
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Jesus came to take upon Himself the destruction that we deserved. As Isaiah says,
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
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Though Jesus Himself with all His authority could have exacted that price in that very moment, He didn’t. The sign of His authority was to bear in Himself the wrath of God we deserved, to be smitten of God, and rise again from the dead that we might have life in Him! That we sinners and idolaters might know life eternal through faith in Christ.
In the end might we hear the warning which Exodus declares to us. If you’re here this morning and you don’t know where you stand before God, you don’t know whether that price for your sin has been paid or not, please don’t hesitate to talk with someone. I’d be happy to speak with you after the service, I’ll be here in front.
For us who are in Christ, we can rest knowing the price has been paid, yet in that rest I pray we would strive to put away the idols which cause us to stumble. The gracious promises of God given to us assure us we have been freed from the penalty and power of sin. Might we pray for the Lord’s strength to honor Him, glorify Him, and worship Him with all that we are for the great salvation He’s given us in Christ… and might we work together to that end.
Let’s Pray
Prayer of Devotion
Pastoral Prayer: Chris and Diane Heeter
Missional Prayer: Koinos Church - Brian Barnes
