Exodus 31:1-18, 32:1-35

Exodus 31:1-32:35

We’ve had a whirlwind of a couple of weeks, haven’t we? Mark sandwiched Exodus 30 around Dr. Jason Lisle’s message about the importance of Genesis. We’ll be talking a little about that importance today as we get into Exodus 31 and 32.

As you know, I am named after Moses big brother Aaron in the Bible. The name means “Light Bringer.” For those of you who know me, that’s what I believe I bring with me everywhere I go...I bring light with me in any type of circumstance.

I wanted to make sure I knew why I was named Aaron. So, I texted my dad and asked him how that name came about. He texted me back and said: “Because I knew you’d be a failure.”

NO, he said: a year or 2 before you were born, Ohio State had a great player named Aaron Brown. He was a 3-year starter at nose tackle. Later…I knew that Aaron was the right name for you because you were such a great communicator, just like Moses’s brother who did all of the communicating with Pharaoh.

I was named after a tough nose tackle. I was an option quarterback that was built like a cannon ball. Being an option quarterback, you take shots all game long. My senior year, we played against 2 teams ranked in the top 10 in the country and they were brutal. Every time I got hit though, I was the first to get up and helped the guy up who clobbered me.

As I grew up, I became a good communicator. I think so, at least. I can help people see the bigger picture and take ownership in the path ahead. As a young adult, I was a leader of men. I stood up to those who did evil. When I was in my 20’s, I made a golden calf and started worshipping it. Figuratively.

Even the light bringer has dark days. Aaron’s sin will have terrible consequences for the people of Israel. He, like I, stopped leading and started following the crowd. God hates people pleasers. He wants men and women who will walk the walk...and if they have to, walk with a limp.

Moses has been on Mt. Saini for how many days? 40. It’s time to come down...and most of you know what’s waiting for him when he comes down the mountain. Let’s get started today:

Exodus 31:1–5 NKJV

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

Names are important in the Bible, and usually have a good description of the person in the Hebrew and Greek. For you note takers out there Bezalel means “under the protection of or in the shadow of God.” He would become the chief craftsman of the Lord for the tabernacle.

Uri means “fiery”, we don’t really know why. Hur means “hole” he was one of the chief servants to Moses, remember Aaron and Hur holding Moses’ arms up against the Amalekites. This is that Hur. Bezalel was his grandson.

Exodus 31:6–11 NKJV

6 “And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle—8 the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base—10 the garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

Aholiab means “Father’s Tent” and Ahisamach means “support my brother.” In Exodus 35, we hear these guy’s names again, and that wisdom was not just that they were amazing craftsman and artisans, but Bezalel and Aholiab were gifted teachers too, and they taught the people what the Spirit had gifted them with, to build all of these things:

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They would make all of this, beautiful, exacting, what God wants. The altar for the sacrifice, pointing to Jesus. The show bread table made of thorny wood overlaid with gold, representing God wanting to commune with us. The altar again of that thorny wood overlaid with gold, that would point to Revelation where that sweet smelling incense would represent our prayers before the Lord. The bronze basin for ritual cleansing. It was the least we could do, the Lord cleans the rest of us. God spent 40 days with Moses showing him all of these things in great detail, with Joshua not far off.

God had one more command for Moses before he was to return to the people though:

Exodus 31:12–18 NKJV

12 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ” 18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth. Days. Who wrote the book of Exodus? Moses. Who wrote the book of Genesis? Moses. Do you think there was confusion on what a day was? Just like Dr Lisle spoke about a few weeks ago...a day is a day. Got modeled it for us. Moses doesn’t say “Work for a few weeks or years, then take some time for yourself. Who knows how long time really is...”

The Lord says keep the Sabbath. Why? Because the Lord wants us to enjoy our time with Him. Set the time aside, rest. Fill it with growing closer to the Lord. My wife and I are trying to model it to our kids. It’s going poorly, we both work full-time jobs and homeschool...both them AND you all. We still need to rest, though. He wants us to take the day to remember Him. He brought us out of our Egypt, out of the bondage that we were conscripted to. Pharaoh still wants us all back. All he wants is one compromise. One time to settle.

Parents, walk the walk. Your kids, that are beside you now, kids, look at your adoring parents, they need rest. They need YOU to come alongside them. They serve tirelessly to take care of your family. Give tirelessly back.

Our kids see everything we do, and hear almost everything we say. That’s true. They hear all the bad stuff we don’t want them to hear...but take out the trash might as well be pig-latin. Kids, ask your parents what pig-latin is later, you’ll get a kick out of trying to use it.

Rest is the last command here, and death is required if it’s not kept. It’s a day of worship, and if we’re not worshipping the Lord, if He’s not #1 in our life, the grave is where we’ll stay, and hell is where we’re going. God rested, take His commands seriously.

Now, the scene changes from the mountaintop to the foot where the people are.

Exodus 32:1 NKJV

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.”

As for THIS MOSES? It’s like they’re saying “This Moses...if that’s his real name??” This is Aaron’s brother they’re talking about. Aaron knew what Moses did before Pharaoh. He knew that he was God’s man. He knows! Defend him brother!

Aaron does just that, right??

Exodus 32:2–6 NKJV

2 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.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 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!” 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” 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.

Aaron! This is your little brother Moses. Does he defend him? NO, He immediately gives direction! Here’s the ticket! Break off the gold earrings...all the PERSONAL gold you have. What did those earrings mean? It was for beauty, and for identification as a part of a family.

Who did Aaron tell to do the work here...and who obeyed without complaint? Aaron called to the MEN. The mighty men of Israel. The men stripped the beautiful gold from their family and brought it to Aaron.

Men, we can do better. Ladies...stand up for righteousness. 40 days and they took their eyes off the ball.

Aaron KNOWS this is wrong. Why would he do this? Because he fears the people and what they will do. He is a coward. We thought Moses was cowardly when he was telling the Lord...send anyone but me to talk to Pharaoh. Aaron doesn’t want to be disliked! I know the feeling!

Aaron will not always be a coward, but it’s a hitch in his spirit. I’ve been accused of being a people pleaser. Those people aren’t wrong. I do want to make people happy...but I should want to please the Lord more than people. I don’t poll you guys to rate me 1-19 on how I preached this week...YouTube does that for me. I’m just kidding. That’s a bad influence also. I could easily get caught up in what’ll get the most views, what will cross us into the upper echelon of fame.

My biggest problem is, I contribute to other people’s view count. Last Sunday I watched or listened to 4 sermons on Sunday, not including Mark’s. I digress, but I have to ask myself all the time, we as elders have to ask it too: who am I pleasing?

One thing we have to hand to Aaron, though. He’s a man of action, and he took action. He made the calf, he made a day to worship Yahweh, that’s the word used there in v5. They burnt offerings and had fermented fellowship. One heck of a party.

This Moses might not come back...

Exodus 32:7–10 NKJV

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. 8 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!’ ” 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed 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. And I will make of you a great nation.”

Listen to the Lord lay it on thick here. Go, get down, for YOUR people whom YOU, Moses brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves?? These are YOUR people Moses. Not mine! Did God not know this was happening? Of course He did!

For those of you who are leaders here, what is the Lord doing to Moses? Mom’s and dad’s, if you’re talking to your kids like this...what are you trying to do for your kids? When you see them fooling around instead of doing what they’re supposed to do? They’ve even emberrassed me and brought shame to my name, after all I sacrificed for them. God knew what was going on...he wanted Moses to respond. Would he be the man of God, or a man of the people?

Leaders aren’t born, they’re made, and it’s bold decisions that make that leader. It’s a matter of the heart of a man or woman. The heart is what we, as parents, need to be training in our kids. Lead them in the way they should go and they will not depart. We have to be ready to show them the hard path, to break their feelers off and watch what happens.

Let’s see how Moses responds:

Exodus 32:11–14 NKJV

11 Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 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. 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.’ ” 14 So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Moses immediately recognizes, these aren’t his people, they’re His people. The Lord had His man, his leader. Now, some of your translations say the Lord changed his mind, even that He repented. Did the Lord change His mind? Parents, do your kids change your mind when your kids take inititave and rise to the occasion? OR, is it exactly what you were waiting for?

Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody, then 40 years learning he was nobody...NOW, he’s at the start of the 40 years where he will show throughout history what God will do with a nobody who will simply obey Him.

Exodus 32:15–18 NKJV

15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.” 18 But he said: “It is not the noise of the shout of victory, Nor the noise of the cry of defeat, But the sound of singing I hear.”

Moses recognized, this was a party. God was right, this was bad and He had every right to be mad about it! Most of you guys know what happens next...at least some of it. If you read ahead, you know, let’s continue on.

Exodus 32:19–20 NKJV

19 So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.

Parents, when we let our kids lead, does it get messy? Do they do dumb things? In all honesty, this is something I could see my oldest doing.

I remembered the breaking of the tablets...I didn’t remember the grinding of it to powder and making the Israelites drink it. My middle son reminded me of that when we were talking about it weeks ago...I was like: “Nawww...” But yes! Our kids listen, they learn, let them know when they teach you something new!

God made those tablets, didn’t He? AND, God knew what Moses was going to do with them, right? The breaking of the tablets was symbolic of what the Children of Israel did to the commandments. See, God is in control, He let Moses do exactly what Moses was going to do. We, as parents, know how most things our kids do will end up for the most part. We’ve done them...that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t let them make the same mistake. We spoke a few weeks back, you can’t rescue your kids from their own testimony.

This point is Moses showing the people of Israel what side of the fence he is on. Like any good negotiator, Aaron tries to explain...poorly, right?

Exodus 32:21–25 NKJV

21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” 22 So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.” 25 Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies),

Now Moses, don’t get your dander up...right? This is all just a misunderstanding! You know the people...this is just a coincidence… This just came out! Seriously, this is what it looked like when it came out.

So, Moses could probably swallow...yeah, maybe that happened...but what about this around us? Unrestrained meant they had no clothes on. One of the things the Lord required of worship was that they were clothed. Lots of Caananite worship had to do with lewdness and debouchary. Moses recognized this, and Aaron would have also...this is not a coincidence...this is cowardice in Aaron.

I can’t imagine how Moses felt about Aaron at this moment, especially now, because Moses would have to mette out punishment on the people for their disobedience.

Exodus 32:26–29 NKJV

26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ” 28 So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, that He may bestow on you a blessing this day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.”

For those of us who have been with us thru Genesis, in Genesis 34, there is an incident where Jacob’s underage and only daughter was kidnapped and abused at the hand of a local nobleman. Jacob is paralyzed with fear and cowardess, so Reuben and Levi take matters into their own hands and hatch a plan to rescue her and kill everyone in the town. Levi was a leader in that rebellion, and thru that rebellion God would have his vengance, Jacob had not forgotten, and his blessing said they would be scattered in Israel, and that’s what will still happen. They won’t hold land, but they will be dispersed thruout the land serving the Lord. It was God’s grace and mercy that chose the tribe of Levi to be the family of priests for the people of Israel.

That day, Levi took matters into his own hands. This time, the Levites would do what the Lord required of them...and that would be one of the hardest things they had ever done. They were to go thruout and find the people who were among those who lead the rebellion and put them to the sword. This is where the term “The law brings the sword” comes from. In Revelation, when Jesus is on the scene, what does He have in his mouth? A 2 edged sword.

The law brings death. It shows us how filthy and dead we are in our sin. How many people died here? 3000, right? The Law is given, and death comes. Does anyone remember the first sermon Peter preached? Acts 2, How many were added to the church that day? 3000. The Law brings death, the Cross brings life. Be mindful of the sin in your life and leave it behind. Dig in with your brothers and sisters and go to war with the strongholds in your life. Get into the Word and fill your cup up, and you’ll find where your strength comes from.

Aaron learned here too. His cost people lives. I can’t imagine that settling on his heart.

Let’s finish up with the last 5 verses, could we pass out communion?

Exodus 32:30–35 NKJV

30 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” 33 And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.” 35 So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.

Moses is willing to put his life on the line for the people. Blot ME out of Your book. These people, who heard the voice of the Lord thunder from the mountaintop when they first got there. They all heard audibly commands from the Lord. They knew better.

Let’s read Exodus 32:33–34 “33 And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.””

Do you think the Lord was just talking about the Israelites here? Peppered thruout Revelation, Rev 3, Rev 13, Rev 20, Rev 21. God is pointing to Jesus as the angel going before them, and the day of punishment, that’s Rev 20 where the lake of fire is opened and those blotted out are cast into it.

There is a whole lot of book for us to get thru, eventually...it’s God’s providence that what’s here, points to what’s here. This book is for us. It will keep you from sin if you stay in it...but sin will also keep you from this book.

Are we going to start taking our role as evangelists seriously? If you have kids, you have disciples, be training them...BUT, do you have a hope for your future? Is what these Levites did here in Exodus any different than confronting people, those around you with the Law of the Lord? You’re opening their eyes to their death warrant, if only they would open their eyes and live!

Is it worth it? Should it be? Those of us who are taking communion today, I want to let you all know, it’s not for everyone, and that’s OK. It also might not be for you today. Maybe you are harboring ill will in your heart for someone. Maybe there’s a kink in a relationship you need to iron out. If there is, GO and fix that before you take communion. Take the cup with you. Maybe take an extra one and have communion with your brother or sister you’re estranged from, bring them back into the fold.

But for all of us, I want you to open and prepare the bread for yourself. This represents the body of Christ, that was broken and beaten for us. Striped for us. I want you to think of the person who first confronted you with your sin and the consequence of it. Take a moment and thank the Lord for them quietly in your head right now, and consume the bread.

Next we have the cup of the fruit of the vine. Jesus blood that was poured out as a drink offering for each of us, so our names would not be blotted out of the Lamb’s book of Life. If it weren’t for that person who shared with you, pleaded with you, for you, argued with you, didn’t care what you said back to them...if it weren’t for them, this blood would be meaningless to you, because the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Thank you Jesus for those who cared more about Your commands than their comfort to bring us before You. Let drink the juice and pray.

Seems like all I could see was the struggle Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past Bound up in shackles of all my failures Wondering how long is this gonna last Then You look at this prisoner and say to me "Son, stop fightin' a fight, it's already been won" I am redeemed, You set me free So I'll shake off these heavy chains Wipe away every stain, now I'm not who I used to be I am redeemed, I'm redeemed All my life I have been called unworthy Named by the voice of my shame and regret But when I hear You whisper, "Child, lift up your head" I remember, "Oh God, You're not done with me yet" I am redeemed, You set me free So I'll shake off these heavy chains Wipe away every stain, now I'm not who I used to be Because I don't have to be the old man inside of me 'Cause his day is long dead and gone Because I've got a new name, a new life, I'm not the same And a hope that will carry me home I am redeemed, You set me free So I'll shake off these heavy chains Wipe away every stain, 'cause I'm not who I used to be I am redeemed, You set me free So I'll shake off these heavy chains Wipe away every stain, yeah, I'm not who I used to be Oh, God, I'm not who I used to be Jesus, I'm not who I used to be 'Cause I am redeemed Thank God, redeemed