Autopsy of A Covenant Broken

From Bondage to Glory • Sermon • Submitted 18 days ago • Presented 18 days ago

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Psalm 95 “Oh come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh, Let us make a loud shout to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us make a loud shout to Him with songs of praise. For Yahweh is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tried Me, They tested Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who wander in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, They shall never enter into My rest.””

Romans 5:1–11 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

INTRO:

AG:

TS: We have been going through the revelation and instruction of God to Moses on the mountain. God gave specific details for the tabernacle and priesthood. They were to follow the pattern given by Moses as he saw in Heaven.

Now, we return to the camp of Israel at the base of the mountain.

When GOD finished

Exodus 31:18 LSB

When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

Immediately, there is trouble! That is where we begin today in Exodus 32

Remember, Israel’s exuberance and devotion in Ex 24:3

Exodus 24:3 LSB

Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!”

Sadly, that was quickly forgotten.

RS: It is easy for us to declare our unwavering loyalty at the high points of our faith only to have it waiver when we get into times of testing. Let’s learn what we can from Israel’s behavior to guard our own devotion.

First, we see

1. Descent into Decadence

A. Delays led to Doubt

Exodus 32:1 LSB

Then the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. So the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Arise, make us gods 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.”

Moses was on the mountain with God

Exodus 19:16 LSB

So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Exodus 19:18–20 LSB

Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because Yahweh descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. And the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder; then Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. And Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

There were plenty of signs

We aren’t sure if they lasted the whole time Moses was there.

This time on the mountain was extended

Perhaps the signs faded, or they grew accustomed to it and began to take it for granted.

Perhaps they grew tired of waiting.

They assumed the worst v. 2

abandonment or death

They wanted something or someone they could see

Perhaps they didn’t mean to abandon Yhwh, (most likely due to v. 5) but by making an image, they violated the 2nd command.

If they intended to abandon God, they violated the 1st as well.

In Moses’ absence, they wanted a visual aid in worship, but God had expressly forbidden such.

B. Arrogance led to Acquiesce

Aaron, as Moses’ aid and priest should have stood strongly against this!

But he gave in to their demands.

Exodus 32:2 LSB

And 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.”

Exodus 32:3–4 LSB

Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he took this from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

I find it difficult to understand this from where we sit today.

Remember, in their world, all but Israel, used idols to represent and commune with their gods.

There were elaborate rituals to “open the mouth” of their idols.

The opening of the mouth ritual was a critical ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian ceremony used to consecrate animate and “awaken” cult statues or mummies, transforming them from human-made objects into living vessels for a deity or spirit. This 2-day ritual enabled the statue to supposedly eat, drink, breathe, and speak according to archeological evidence

That had to have been heavily influenced the Israelites.

However, this was NO excuse for breaking the covenant!

This incident strikes me as similar. They wanted a physical object and Aaron granted their request.

C. Compromise led to Corruption

Exodus 32:5–6 LSB

And Aaron looked and built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.” 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.

The description in Hebrew here for “play” includes drunken and immoral activities so common to idolatrous fertility cults in their revelry.

When they made the idol, they didn’t know what to do, so they copied the pagan influences they had been surrounded by for generations.

They were ignoring God’s specific instructions on remaining separate from the pagans and their rituals.

AP: Stay faithful in times of waiting.

Waiting can be hard on our faith.

We move in a direction at God’s prompting. Yet at times, we reach a place of waiting.

That is when we can get distracted or get antsy to move.

That is the danger point.

2. Confrontation

A. God alerted Moses

Exodus 32:7–10 LSB

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go! Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. “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, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. “Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may consume them; and I will make you a great nation.”

God alerted Moses of the sin of Israel

Previously, God called them “My People” yet now, He said, “Your people”

God offered to start over with Moses.

MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary

Moses maintained what he knew to be true, given the Exodus and the divine promises to the patriarchs (vv. 12, 13), and designated them correctly as “Your people” (v. 11).

B. Moses Intercedes

Exodus 32:11–14 LSB

Then Moses entreated the favor of Yahweh his God and said, “O Yahweh, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and relent concerning doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and You said to them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So Yahweh relented concerning the harm which He said He would do to His people.

MacArthur Study Bible NASB (Commentary)

Moses’ appeal for God to change His mind, to relent, succeeded because God had only threatened judgment, not decreed it.

This raises the question of did a decree of God get changed, a premise that other passages declare impossible.

A divine intention is not an unchangeable divine decree.

Decrees or sworn declarations (cf. Ge 22:16–18; Ps 110:4) or categorical statements of not changing or relenting (cf. Jer 4:28; Eze 24:14; Zec 8:14, 15) are unconditional and bind the speaker to the stated course of action regardless of the circumstances or reactions of the listeners.

Intentions retain a conditional element and do not necessarily bind the speaker to a stated course of action

God isn’t fickle and Moses didn’t persuade Him to change.

God also knew what would happen long before any of these events ever came to pass.

C. The showdown

Exodus 32:15–20 LSB

Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain. And the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other. Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. Then Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted. And he said to Moses, “There is a sound of war in the camp.” 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.” Now it happened, 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. Then 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.

When Joshua and Moses return to camp and see their sin, breaking several of the 10 commandments, Moses shattered the tablets.

D. The Judgment

Exodus 32:21–24 LSB

Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. “Indeed they said to me, ‘Make gods 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.’ “And 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.”

Aaron lied to try and save face.

MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary

Aaron, held responsible by Moses for what had taken place in the camp (vv. 21, 25), endeavored to avoid responsibility for the people’s actions by shifting the blame to their propensity to do evil, and also for the presence of the golden calf by ridiculously representing it as having just popped out of the fire all by itself!

Exodus 32:25–29 LSB

Now 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— so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man among 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.’” So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, “Be ordained today to Yahweh—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”

Moses ordered Levites to deliver God’s judgment.

Most likely, they targeted those who persisted in idolatry and immorality

AP: Sin has consequences

Galatians 6:7–8 LSB

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

SIN has consequences.

In this life, we reap what we sow. Often they are the logical consequences of our actions, at other times, they are direct judgment.

Eternally, Ro 6:23

Romans 6:23 LSB

For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We DON”T have to spend eternity separated from God.

God forgives those who repent!

3. Divine Decree

Ex 32:30-35

A. Confession

Exodus 32:30–32 LSB

Now it happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; but now I am going up to Yahweh, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made gods of gold for themselves. “But now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”

Moses intercedes.

He loved his people so much, that he offered up his own life to bear their guilt.

MacArthur Study Bible NASB (Commentary) The book to which Moses referred, the psalmist entitled “the book of life or more likely, the Book of the Living” (Ps 69:28). Untimely or premature death would constitute being blotted out of the book

This is different than the way it is used in the NT where it refers to the list of the saved.

B. Commission

Exodus 32:33–34 LSB

And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. “But now go, guide 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.”

God renewed the commission for Moses to lead the people even as the guilty are pruned from the nation. Sadly, in the end, it would include a whole generation.