An Image of Idolatry
The Gospel Project • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsAny worship of something or soemone else besides God is Idolatry and is condemned by Him, but God is merciful in providing forgiveness.
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Introduction
“If Jesus returned today… “ Video ?
I thought we would being with a little light reading this morning…(Read and then Pile up Theology Books)
Tension
What is it about the word “Theology” that makes us want to go and hide. Even when I say the word “Theology” most of us think about people who actually like reading and studying big books like these. We typically thing that “Theology” is for the “Theologians”. It is something for the seminary professors, university professors, the ivory tower academic elite types. We might expect our Pastor to do some Theology, but it does not typically feel like something that directly relates to us.
The truth is that the idea of reading and studying “Theology” was not what drew me to want to be a Pastor. I just wanted to love like Jesus did and teach others to do the same. Sure, I knew that reading my bible was part of that, but that seems a far cry from anything that I would describe as doing “Theology”. Mostly I just imagined that studying “Theology” meant that you got yourself held up in some stuffy room for hours on end arguing with other Christians about topics that I couldn’t even understand without googling them. Even then I wasn’t sure that I would care.
Some of us might get excited, as we like doing what we would call “theology” but I would venture to guess that most of us would say that “Theology” is not our thing. We postulate that “Theology” is for the “Theologians” and since I don’t see myself as one of those I am not too concerned with things labeled “Theology”. I will leave that kind of thing up to the seminary professors, the academics, maybe my pastor but “theology” is not really for me.
was what I didn’t want to spend a bunch of time getting caught up in arguments where I would have to google every other word just to know what they were talking about. Even then I am still not sure I would care.
There has been times in my life when I have thought that. All I need is to just read my Bible, go to church, serve my community and I’ll leave that theology stuff for the egg heads. I just wanna love on people and not get caught up in arguments where I would have to google every other word just to know what they were talking about and even then I am still not sure I would care.
But what if I was able to give you a new picture of Theology this morning. A picture that was not so distant, but very relevant.
It probably won’t make you want to borrow any of these books, but it may prove to be something more accessible and more valuable than you ever thought.
First of all, what is Theology? The word “Theology” come from two Greek Words that you might have actually heard before.
The first one is θεός “Theos” meaning God and the second is λόγος “Logos” most commonly translated as “word”. So theology is the “word on God”.
In the academic world it would be describe as “The science of God and of the relations between God and the universe.” Academically it would be listed right along with things like Archaeology, Biology, Zoology, Psychology and many more. All of these words also come from two Greek Words. They begin with a different Greek word and then follow with the same “ology” from “logos”. They are all the “word” on that particular subject.
and the second is λόγος “Logos” most commonly translated as “word”. So theology is the “word on God”.
In this setting, Theology would be listed right along with things like Archaeology, Biology, Zoology, Psychology and many more. All of these words also come from two Greek Words. They begin with a different Greek word and then follow with the same “ology” from “logos”, the “word” on that particular subject.
And just like there are professional Theologians, there are professional Archaeologist, Biologists, Zoologists and Psychologist, but that doesn’t mean we all don’t have a working knowledge in those fields. I would say that we all have an invested interest in coming to right conclusions when it comes to things like human history, how our bodies work, the behavioral patterns of humans and animals. We want to be operating with the right information on things like his.
In the academic world it would be describe as “The science of God and of the relations between God and the universe.” Theology would sit right along sit right along with things like Archaeology, Biology, Anthropology and Psychology. All of these words also come from a greek suffix with an “ology” or “logos” ending. And just like there are professional theologians, there are professionals who research, experiement and teach in these areas as professional Archaelogis, Biologists, Anthropologist and Phycologist. But that doesn’t mean that you and I have never invested any time in learing about the past, or our bodies, or otehr people or how the mind works. We might not be liscensed professionals in these areas but we have a working knowledge that we depend on when we make decisions in areas like these.
The same is true in the field of Theology. We might not be professional Theologians, but we have all gained some working knowledge that we depend on when it comes to knowing about “God and his relationship with the universe”. So we all practice some theology, even if we have never called it that. Even atheist practice a level of theology. It is a theological statement to declare that God doesn’t exist and because He doesn’t exist, he can’t relate to me or to my world. That is their practice of theology, limited as it may be.
The same is true in the field of Theology. We might not be professional Theologians, but we do have some working knowledge that we depend on when it comes to knowing about “God and his relationship with the universe”. So we all practice some theology, even if we have never called it that. Even atheist practice a level of theology. It is a theological statement to declare that God doesn’t exist and because He doesn’t exist, he can’t relate to me or to my world. That is their practice of theology, limited as it may be.
but in essence it is just the study of God and how He relates to our world. None of us may be professional theologians, but every single person is a theologian to a degree. Every single person holds a perspective on God and how he relates to the world around us. He or she might be more or less bold in how they share it, but they still hold it.
Two words “Theos” and “Logos”
Even atheist practice a level of theology. It is a theological statement to declare that God doesn’t exist and because He doesn’t exist, he can’t relate to me or to my world. That is their practice of theology, limited as it may be.
Each one of us has things that we believe are true about God and His relationship with us and with the world around us. Whenever we explore or express those ideas, at a basic level, we are practicing Theology. We are sharing a “Word on God”.
You might think that you couldn’t make a career out of that - but some have. ironically there are atheistic theologians. They
Here at Friendship Church our aim is to explore and express a Biblical Theology. We believe that God has not left us to figure these things out on our own. Instead He has declared everything that we need to know about Him and how he relates to our universe in His Word. What that means is that we are constantly searching for the true things about God as He has revealed them in His Word, the Bible. That is a core tenant of what we believe and teach here.
When God’s word says something about God, then we believe it and teach it.
When God’s Word says something about how God interacts with us, then we believe it and teach it.
When God’s Word says something about how God interacts with the universe, then we believe it and teach it.
That doesn’t mean that we always understand all of it, but in our quest to have a “Biblical Theology” we always look to be guided by what the Bible tells us about who God is and how He operates in this world. .
Even these books of “Theology” are only useful to the degree that they help us to understand what God has declared about Himself and how He Works in this book! (place Bible on top). If one of these authors decided to just throw in a view on God that is somehow contrary to anything that God has already given in His Word then we should throw them out. The book that is, not necessarily the author. When we find someone who had a different Theology than ours then we Biblically, lovingly and sincerely challenge their view points in hopes that we can lead them back to a right understanding of God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. A “Biblical Theology” never says anything about God or how He relates to our universe that God hasn’t already told us in His Word.
So why am I taking so much time this morning trying to convince you of the importance of Theology? I have said this before, but it bears repeating that, “The most important thing about you is what you believe about God.” It has the furthest reaching impact on your life and the lives of those around you. And if that is true, as I believe it is, then believing the right things about who God is and how He operates has to be one of the most important things you can do.
is and how he relates to our world is one of the most things that you can do.
But wait a minute…aren’t we still in the Old Testament? Aren’t we still in the book of Exodus? And don’t we get most of our doctrine and Theology from the New Testament? We do. That is pretty clear when you look at how many of my books are focused on “New Testament Theology”. The principles of our Theology are laid out most clearly in the New Testament, but God never changes and so we find in the stories of the Old Testament excellent examples of how right or wrong ideas about God can affect His followers.
Last week we began looking at the Ten Commandments, and we are going to continue that story this morning. Specifically we are going to look at the part where the Israelites got impatient and started worshiping the “golden calf”. It might be hard to see how a story about worshiping some statue applies to you, but don’t be so quick to dismiss this as irrelevant. The truth is that there was more going on here than just a return to pagan worship, because the Israelites thought that they still being faithful to the LORD.
Do you know what they got so terribly wrong…their Theology. And considering the consequences of their horrible mistake, it is something worth paying attention to.
So If you haven’t already, let me invite you to open your Bibles up to the beginning of the story of the 10 commandments which is found in . Eventually we will move on to chapter 32, but lets begin in chapter 20 which is on page 61 in the Bibles in the chairs.
Aren’t we still in the Old Testament? Aren’t we still in the book of Exodus? Yes, we are what we are going to see is that the Israelites learned the hard way how important it is to believe right things about the LORD. We will do well to leanr from their mistakes as
us examples an but as is so often the case, th, but what often Yes, we are what we are going to see is that the Israelites learned the hard way how important it is to believe right things about the LORD. We will do well to leanr from their mistakes as
Let me pray and then we will get into the text together.
worship and serve God as He has revealed Himself to us. developing the importance of an everyday theology. us on such a journey through the importance of the discipline and daily practice of our Theology.
Truth
After God rescued His people from Egypt it was clear that they did not believe right things about God and how He opperates in this world. Their theology was all wrong. They kept trying to fit the LORD YHWY into the same mold as the pagan gods that they had learned to serve in Egypt. Through His servant Moses, the LORD was training and testing His people in who He was and how He interacted with the world. He was teach them Theology.
Do you believe me? It’s true. What you believe about God will impact every moment of the life you are currently living as well as every moment of your eternity in the life to come. It will impact your relationships. It will impact your family. It will impact your public life it will impact your private thoughts. There is not an area of your life that what you believe about God will not touch. the one who designed you It has the longest has to do with where we are in the book if Exodus. That is where we are in our Gospel Project, and last week we talked in some depth about the value and purpose of the commands of God. From my perspective we barely scratched the surface of that topic, but
And what you believe about God is what Theology is all about What you believe about God will impact every moment of the life you are currently living as well as every moment of your eternity in the life to come. It will impact your relationships. It will impact your family. It will impact your public life it will impact your private thoughts. There is not an area of your life that what you believe about God will not touch. the one who designed you It has the longest has to do with where we are in the book if Exodus. That is where we are in our Gospel Project, and last week we talked in some depth about the value and purpose of the commands of God. From my perspective we barely scratched the surface of that topic, but
Then last week we read about the giving of the 10 commandments. There is so many significant things in an event like this one that I had a hard time deciding on how to approach that teaching. I ended up teaching primarily on the importance of God’s commands and how even as New Testament people we should obey God’s commands, not as a means to salvation but as a loving response to the salvation we have been given in Jesus.
we have been working through the book of Exodus in our series on the Gospel Project, we have seen how God’s People have not always believed right things about God. Last week we talked about the role of the commands of God in our relationship with Him. God has always related to us through His loving commands that are put in place for His glory and our good.
We focused so intently on the role of God’s commands in the lives of His children that we had little time to get into the specifics of each command or the story behind how they were given. The one thing that we did connect was how the 10 commandments clearly fit within the response of Jesus when He was asked which command was greatest.
With that as our focus, we had little time to work through the way the law was given or even dive into each command in detail. Instead we categorically connected them to the commands that Jesus said are the greatest. Let me read you that account again but this time from the book of Mark:
We will read it from Mark’s Gospel this week:
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
spent so long last week highlighting the relationship between God’s commands and His love for us that we only looked at an overview of the 10 commandments and did not get into the details of each one of them. We did talk about how they seem to be easily divided up into two sections that go along well with the aspects of the Law that Jesus emphasized.
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:spent so long last week highlighting the relationship between God’s commands and His love for us that we only looked at an overview of the 10 commandments and did not get into the details of each one of them. We did talk about how they seem to be easily divided up into two sections that go along well with the aspects of the Law that Jesus emphasized.
Jesus said the the greatest commandment is to Love God and that the second is like the first in that we are to Love our neighbor as our self. Jesus was not replacing the 10 commandments with only 2, He was simply refocusing the religious leaders who were so busy chasing rabbit trails of legalism that they had begun to miss the point entirely. The point of the law was never the law itself, it was to teach God’s people how to live rightly with their God and with each other. How to Love God and How to Love your Neighbor. And the ten commandments line up perfectly in these two categories. .
Mark 12:28-31spent so long last week highlighting the relationship between God’s commands and His love for us that we only looked at an overview of the 10 commandments and did not get into the details of each one of them. We did talk about how they seem to be easily divided up into two sections that go along well with the aspects of the Law that Jesus emphasized.
Love the Lord: 1-4
Love your Neighbor: 5-10
Our text for today includes a violation of the
Ex
Search for the true things about God - as God has revealed himself.
LOVE GOD: No Other “gods” No Idols Keep My Name Holy Keep Sabbath Holy
No Other “gods” No Idols Keep My Name Holy Keep Sabbath Holy
No Idols
Keep My Name Holy
Keep Sabbath Holy
LOVE NEIGHBOR: Honor Parents No Murder No Adultery No Stealing No Lying No Coveting
No Lying
No Coveting
To Love God is to have no other gods besides Him. It is to not make even make idols that resemble Him. It is to keep His name Holy by not attaching it to things that are not His doing and it is to trust Him enough to dedicate one day a week to rest instead of work.
To Love God is to have no other gods besides Him. It is to not make even make idols that resemble Him. It is to keep His name Holy by not attaching it to things that are not His doing and it is to trust Him enough to dedicate one day a week to rest instead of work.
To Love our Neighbors is the honor our parents, to not take innocent life, to be faithful to your spouse, to not take things that are not yours, to only speak true things and to not become jealous when they have things you don’t.
No Other “gods”
No Other “gods”
No Other “gods” Honor Parents
No Idols
Keep My Name Holy
No Idols
No Idols No Murder
Keep Sabbath Holy
LOVE NEIGHBOR
Keep My Name Holy
Keep My Name Holy No Adultery
Honor Parents
Keep Sabbath Holy No Stealing
Keep Sabbath Holy
No Murder
No Adultery
No Lying
LOVE NEIGHBOR
No Stealing
Honor Parents
No Murder
No Lying
No Adultery
No Coveting
No Coveting
No Stealing
No CovetingLOVE GOD
No Lying
No Other “gods”
No Idols
Keep My Name Holy
Keep Sabbath Holy
LOVE NEIGHBOR
Honor Parents
No Coveting
No Murder
No Adultery
No Stealing
No Lying
No Coveting
At another time I would love to go into each one of these in detail, but for our purposes this morning we are just going to look at the way these 10 were given and the significance found in the first three, as they directly apply to our text for today.
How they were given
That is an important teaching, but in order to get a better idea on the circumstances involved in our text for today we need to
rightly understand our text for this morning we need to take a more detailed look at the introduction and first three commandments. You see this morning we are going to look into the signi Eventually we are going to be talking about the well known story of the “golden calf” that God’s people chose to worship
First of all it is important to set the scene for how the 10 commandments were given. You can go back in Chapter 19 on your own if you want to see the details, but basically God instructed Moses to prepare the people to receive the law directly from Him. They were to wash a certain way. They were to come out at a certain time. They were to stand in a certain place. Much like how we might approach a dignitary or President of some country. Their compliance to these expectations showed that they honored God. So all of Israel is washed up and standing tall at the foot of God’s holy mountain waiting. And then God speaks...to all of them.
First of all it is important to set the scene for how the 10 commandsments were given. You can go back in Chapter 19 on your own if you want to see the details, but basically God instructed Moses to prepare the people to receive the law directly from Him. They were to wash a certain way. They were to come out at a certain time. They were to stand in a certain place. Much like how we might approach a dignitary or President of some country, their compliance to these expectations showed that they honored God. So all of Israel is washed up and standing tall at the foot of God’s holy mountain waiting. And then God speaks...to all of them.
There is a gathering of more than a million people and they are listening to the very voice of God! What do you think the voice of God would sound like? Well we are not told at the beginning of God speaking, only at the end, so follow down to verse 18 where we read:
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off
That is what the voice of God sounded like that day. It was powerful. The people were only allowed to go so far up to the mountain. That was not a problem - they were shrinking back the other way!
19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
Exodus 20:19
Exodus 20:19-20
19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:18
God is testing His people once again, that same word “Nee-saw” to test /train/teach them. Teach them what? The word about God - to teach them Theology! God gave the 10 commandments directly to the people. They had his very word on who He is and how He would have them relate to Him and each other.
The first three
“nee-saw”
Now let’s go back the beginning of the chapter to take a look at how it all started...
So understand that the people were given the 10 commandments directly from the voice of God himself. So now look at verse 1 of Chapter 20 again
In order to rightly understand our text for this morning we need to take a more detailed look at the introduction and first three commandments. You see this morning we are going to look into the signi Eventually we are going to be talking about the well known story of the “golden calf” that God’s people chose to worship
1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
This is God giving His people His word. They were given the 10 commandments, that was all for now but it was enough. It had to be enough because they couldn’t take anymore. God had placed His Spirit in Moses in such a way that He was good, but the hearts of the people were too weak. They begged Moses to be their mediator. You talk to God and then come tell us - we will believe you but we do not want to have experience that again.
So Moses did go and get the rest of the Law from God, but the people already had enough to know how to behave rightly. They had the summary, the big 10. God gave them a working Theology, even as they waited for Moses to come back to them with the big book of details. (stack of books) So lets take a look at what they had in the first three, because they are the ones that concern us for today.
Let and lets take a look at the first three because they are the ones that concern our study for today.
1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
The End - The people told Moses to speak the them because they could not stand it to have God speak to them any more - means he was speaking to them directly.
Exodus 20:1
, so if you would turn with me to , we will look at those more closely...
God begins by laying this foundation of what they already know about Him. This is not their first introduction. They have seen His power, His might, His control over every aspect of this world. They have seen how He works. He is not like the false gods invented by the Egyptians. He commands His will to be done, He warns when it isn’t done and then He follows through with what He said He will do. He commanded Pharoah - “let my people go” - Pharoah did not obey and they saw the effect of the consequences of that disobedience to the word of the LORD YWHY. The people are to keep these things in mind as here God speak through the smoke, thunder and lightning.
So if you have you Bibles open to page 61 we will look at these more closely...
Number 1 is the No other “gods” command.
Number 1 is the No other “gods” command.
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.
Exodus 20:2
Remember that this is not God saying, “Of all your gods I should be #1”. Many of your Bibles have a footnote on the word “before” that says it could also be translated “besides” which helps us to see this clearer but “before” is still a fitting word.
Imagine it this way, A King is sitting high on his mighty throne on the far end of throne room. You are there to bow at His majesty’s feet and pay him the honor and respect that is due Him. On your way up to His throne you stop to bow at the feet of a noble who is standing on the way side. Then you cross the room to bow low before another noble and then another and another. By the time you finally reach the end of the room you have already paid homage to so many others in the Kings throne room.
How much do you think it will mean to the King that you bow before Him as well?
As we bow in worship, the LORD YHWY should not find any other gods there before Him. That is what this means. Otherwise the Israelites could just plug the LORD YHWY in above the highest Egyptian god and keep on going. God will not share our worship because He is the only one who rightly deserves it.
Think of it this way, as God sits on his mighty throne and we come in to worship him there. As we bow in worship, the LORD YHWY should not find any other gods there before Him. That is what this means. Otherwise the Israelites could just plug the LORD YHWY in above the Egyptian Sun god Ra and they would be all good. Nope. God will not share our worship because He is the only one who deserves it.
Number 2 is the No Idols command.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exodus 20:4
This is the Idol rule. The people were used to bowing down to statues that were supposed to represent a god, but no man could every create an image that adequately captures the glory of the LORD YHWY. God knows that any attempt to do this will lead us away from Him and into idolatry.
This is the Idol rule. The people were used to bowing down to statues that were supposed to represent a god, but their is no image that can correctly capture the glory of LORD YHWY, and God knows how we are prone to make even symbols of a god into a god.
Exodus 20:This is the Idol rule. The people were used to bowing down to statues that were supposed to represent a god, but their is no image that can correctly capture the glory of LORD YHWY, and God knows how we are prone to make even symbols of a god into a god.
I learned this so vividly when my family and I went over to Minneapolis to see the display of the Egyptian Sunken cities. The tour guide explained how a particular animal shaped artifact was first a symbol of the power of a particular god, but the more people used the image in their worship practice the more popular it became. Eventually that animal got it’s own temple and it’s own priests and the Egyptians had one more pagan god to try and please. It was this kind of pagan attitude that God was trying to break in His people. He is still trying to break it! We are so prone to make God into an image that we can understand and control instead of allowing Him to be God as He has revealed Himself to us.
So God forbade any use of an image or carved statue to represent Him. Even throughout the rest of the Old Testament whenever God instructed His people to set up an alter or monument, it was always made up of uncut stones that were not formed into any recognizable image. It was just a large pile of stones set up as a reminder of the act of the true God, not an image that could be construed to be a new god.
Then Number 3 is the command to keep God’s name holy
Then Number 3 is the command to keep God’s name holy
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Exodus 20:
This is about much more than just using God’s name as a cuss word. Taking God’s name in vain is attaching his name to anything that is not from Him, so cussing is a great example of this. When are we most tempted to use cuss words? When something is so wrong, hurtful or ugly that we look for a word just as wrong, hurtful or ugly to describe it. And that is when we use God’s name?! Some of us would never think of using Jesus name like that, but we don’t see anything wrong with saying, “Oh, My God...” Unless that is a start to a prayer of some kind, I would steer clear of using God’s name in that way.
1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 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. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Theology - study of God and of the relationship between God and the universe.
And that is when we use God’s name?
Some of us would never think of using Jesus name like that, but we don’t see anything wrong with saying, “Oh, My God...” Unless that is a start to a prayer of some kind, I would steer clear of using God’s name in that way.
But taking God’s name in vain is not limited to cussing, it is anytime we take God’s name and attach it to something that is not His. When we do something, create something or participate in something that is entirely selfish or self serving and then we “Thank God” for it. That is taking God’s name in vain.
But taking God’s name in vain is not just about cussing, it is anytime we take God’s name and attach it to something that is not His. So when we take a look outside and say, “Wow, God you are really showing off your creation today” That is not in vain. God’s creation is meant to display his glory. There is nothing in vain about that. But when you are talking about something evil, corrupt and sinful and attaching God’s name to it that is in vain.
I’ll give you example. How often have you heard a musicians, actor or artist begin their acceptance speech with some sort of thank-you to God for helping them make an album, movie or other artwork that is full of anti-God messages.
In essence their acceptance speech should be, ““First of all I want to thank God for giving me this success…in corrupting the minds of american youth with my message of how to objectify women, disdain authority, and celebrate independence from any objective morality”. They are not going to say it that way, but that is what is happening. They want to splash a little good on their bad behavior by throwing God’s name around as if He was a part to it. That is one example of taking God’s name in vain.
“First of all I want to thank God for giving me this success…in corrupting the minds of american youth with my message of how to objectify women, disdain authority, and celebrate independence from any objective morality”
And it’s not just for Rock or movie stars. Whatever your career or hobbies are, if they lead to things that are destructive to yourself, other people or a part of God’s creation then don’t thank God for them. He did not give you those things. And if you are Christian then you bear God’s name so it is never “just a paycheck”. If you can’t do it for the glory of God then you should not be doing it - it is taking God’s name in vain.
“First of all I want to thank God for giving me this success…in corrupting the minds of american youth with my message of how to objectify women, disdain authority, and celebrate independence from any moral code ”
That’s the first three
No other “gods” 2. No Idols 3. No taking God’s name in Vain
No Idols
No taking God’s name in Vain
So lets take a look at our text for today to see how their bad “Theology” caused them to strike out on all three. Our first theme for this week:
The End - The people told Moses to speak the them because they could not stand it to have God speak to them any more - means he was speaking to them directly.
Wrong Ideas about God are themselves false gods - Idols.
“Theology of....”
So lets take a look at our text for today to see how their bad Theology caused them to strike out on all three. Our first theme for this week:
Our theology is important because wrong Ideas about God are themselves false gods - Idols.
Let’s take a look at their story here, which begins with our first them for this week:
If you are worshiping something else and calling it “God” that doesn’t make it true.
We are just going to look at these first three in detail like this, but understand that everyone of the 10 commandments is rich with Theology, and every Israelite heard the word of God as he spoke it to them. This is what made what happened in Chapter 32 such a violation of God’s commands, specifically the first three that deal with a right relationship with God.
You see God has not left us on our own to figure Him out. Unlike the false gods of Egypt, God is a god who speaks, and when He speaks those who hear Him are held responsible to respond to His Word.
Our theology is important because wrong Ideas about God are themselves false gods - Idols.
If you are worshiping something else and calling it “God” that doesn’t make it true.
Truth
Our first theme for this week is that
1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Exodus 20:
The 10 commandments were given audibly to all of God’s people. It freaked them out and so the rest of the law was given to Moses privately over a period of 40 days and nights so that....
While that was happening (Ch 21-31 “The Lord said to Moses...”), the people got impatient and made the golden calf to be the “LORD”
Idol-worshipers distort true worship ()
Idol-worshipers distort true worship ()
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.”
Moses had been on the mountain for about 40 days and the people were getting impatient. So they decided it was time that they took matters into their own hands. Since this Moses fellow was now gone, they just reverted to what they knew. So they all but forced Aaron to “make them gods”. They had just spent three months following the one true God up to this mountain. They had heard Him declare His commandments to them through the smoke, thunder and lightning - but after a few weeks of living without Moses, they figured Aaron could make them “gods” just as good as the one Moses showed them? Apparently the roots of pagan identity were still alive in the people and Aaron did what they demanded.
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!”
Exodus 32:
That sounds familiar doesn’t it! That is how the LORD YHWY introduced the 10 commandments!
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
So what are these people doing? They are attempting to make the LORD YHWY into the image of their preference. Something that is easier for them to understand. Something that is easier for them to control. Something that is not as frightening as all that smoke, thunder and lighting.
We haven’t heard from this YHWY God in a while so we will summon Him up in the form of this golden image to get what we want from Him. Is that how the LORD YHWY works? Never - He is the LORD, He does not bend to the wills of selfish, sinfilled man. So the people just did what came natural after that, in their pagan sinful nature that is...
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.
Who is the feast supposed to be in the honor of? The LORD. Notice the all capital letter there. This isn’t the generic term of God, but the personal name of the LORD, YHWY. They were going to eat and drink and offer sacrifices on this alter in front of this golden calf which they are now calling YHWY.
Do you see how they are striking out on all three of the first commands?
This is what makes it three strikes. If you are worshiping something that is not the God of the Bible but you still call it “God” then you are then you are wrong on all of the first three commandments.
They were Idol worshipers, because you are worshiping an idol.
They were taking the LORD’s name in vain because they were applying it to this hunk of gold in the shape of a calf.
God’s name in vain because you have attached the LORD’s name to something that is not His.
They were worshiping a “false god”, something other than YHWY even though they were calling it YHWY.
that is what You have a god other than YHWY that you are worshiping. You might be calling it YHWY but that doesn’t make it so.
Do you see why it is so important to pay attention to our Theology?
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.
Do you see why it is so important to pay attention to our Theology? If you haven’t heard a word I have said yet this morning please listen right now. If you have been asleep ever since I first started plopping Theology books on the table, I get it, you were probably getting water out of your basement or yard all weekend so don’t worry about it, but you are here now so listen to this - it is the most important thing that I am going to say all morning.
Do you see why it is so important to pay attention to our Theology? To make sure that we understand God in the way that He has revealed himself in His Word.
If you haven’t heard a word I have said yet this morning please listen right now. If you have been asleep ever since I first started plopping Theology books on the table, I get it, you were probably getting water out of your basement or yard all weekend so don’t worry about it, but you are here now so listen to this - it is the most important thing that I am going to say all morning.
If you haven’t heard a word I have said yet this morning please listen right now. If you have been asleep ever since I first started plopping Theology books on the table, I get it, you were probably getting water out of your basement or yard all weekend so don’t worry about it, but you are here now so listen to this - it is the most important thing that I am going to say all morning. This is the main idea of the whole message:
Our theology is important because wrong ideas about God can be in themselves false gods.
You could be worshiping something and calling it God, and if it is not God as He has revealed himself in the Bible then you are worshiping an idol. You are an Idol Worshiper.
This is serious stuff guys! There are many “religions” “cults” “worldviews” out there calling themselves “Christians” and throwing around the name of God, even the name of Jesus, but they don’t worship Him as He has revealed Himself in His Word. When we place a low value on theology, when we ignore the Word of God where He tells us who He is, then we open ourselves up to worshiping an Idol with God’s name placed on it. And that is Idolatry.
This is exactly what the Israelites did. God gave them His Word on who He is and How he interacts in this world but they ignored His word and and made something that was more comfortable for them. Something more familiar. Something they thought they could better understand and so better control.
Just because someone is worshiping something they call “God” doesn’t make it to wide gammit of new acts of Idolatry - even though we are still using God’s name to describe it!
And notice what this Idol Worship draws them into. When they were following Moses in a right relationship with God then they were following God in His plan to us the descendants of Abraham to bring a blessing to the entire world. But what happened when they began worshiping an idol with God’s name wrongly placed on it? They ended up sitting around eating and drinking and only got up when they wanted to play.
Where have you heard that before? That is what we call the “good life”, “The American Dream”. Every investing for retirement commercial I have ever seen shows that as the win! …that’s Idolatry.
They were just sitting around eating and drinking and only got up when they wanted to play.
God made each one of us to play a role in his perfect plan to bless the entire world. For the Israelites it was to usher in the Messiah Jesus and for the Church today it is to take the message of Jesus to the World. When we start worshiping a counterfeit version of God, then we are no longer on his mission, we are on a mission of self. We have declared ourselves the King and whatever it is that we are slapping God’s name on is just there to serve us. The saddest thing is that we believe that this will bring us the contentment and happiness that we desire. That is one of the enemies biggest lies. That living for ourselves will be the best for us - we were created for a greater purpose than this.
we know - ourselves. Idol’s don’t have a purpose
If you aren’t able to see these values in our world then I don’t think you are trying.
So what is God to do with self-centered Idol-worshipers like us?
Our second theme for the week is
So what is God to do with the self
Idol-worshipers deserve condemnation ()
Idol-worshipers deserve condemnation ()
Moses is u
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.”
Exodus
God gave them the Word. He gave them a right theology of who He is and how he interacts with the world. But the people rejected it. Idol worship is a sin, and God has never wavered on the fact that Siners deserves to be punished. Enter our last and most hopeful theme for the week:
Idol-worshipers require a mediator ()
Idol-worshipers require a mediator ()
11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O 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 say, ‘With evil intent did he bring 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 from this disaster against 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 offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
Moses stepped in
Notice Moses didn’t say, “Oh common God, they aren’t so bad, give them another chance. They are worth it”. There was no point in arguing that because they weren’t. It was not the value of the people that Moses leveraged, but the glory of the God whose name they carried. It was for the glory of His own name that YHWY relented. The Egyptians did not carry God’s name - YHWY did not relent. The Israelites were known as the people of YHWY and Moses stepped in and was a mediator for the people. Let me encourage you to read the rest of the chapter on your own this week, because we don’t have time but after Moses returned to find the people worshiping this Idol and calling it YHWY there were some significant consequences for those who continued in unfaithfulness. For the rest, however Moses continued to step up and offered himself as a mediator:
20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
Gospel Application
Do you know what the word “atonement” means? A fun way to remember it is to break it down into three words : “at- one -ment”. It means to reconcile or bring back together as one. To make something one again. The bad theology of God’s people lead them to sinful practices of Idolatry so that they were no longer in a right relationship with God. They were torn apart as a sinful people can not be with a Holy God. Moses was saying that He was willing to meet with the LORD and do whatever it took to bring them back into that right relationship.
This is a foreshadowing of what Jesus will do many years later for you and me. Earlier I said that no man could every create an image that adequately captures the glory of the LORD. That is true, but that doesn’t mean that an adequate image of the glory of the LORD has never been here on earth. says that Jesus is the “image of the invisible God”. Jesus the Son is worthy of our worship because He is the perfect image of the Father. Since He was perfect his sacrifice on the cross provided at-one-ment not just for a single act of Idolatry, but for every violation of God’s laws that has ever been done.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
Landing
Earlier I said that no man could every create an image that adequately captures the glory of the LORD. That is true, but that doesn’t mean that an adequate image of the glory of the LORD has never been here on earth. says that Jesus is the “image of the invisible God”. We don’t worship gold Moses, but he did serve as a mediator for God’s people the Israelites. Jesus Christ is the mediator for all of God’s people.
Landing
We don’t worship gold Moses, but he did serve as a mediator for God’s people the Israelites. Jesus Christ is the mediator for all of God’s people.
Idolatry is sin. Taking God’s name in vain is sin. Serving any God but the one true God is sin. But righteous Jesus died for sinners, so that we could be “at one” with God again. Is that where you stand? If not then today is a great day to commit your life to the one true God as He has revealed himself in His Word. For anything else is Idolatry.
Lets pray.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Colossians
30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
Exodus 32:
Landing