Untitled Sermon (4)

Introduction: We Are Often Israel

Before I jump too deep into this morning’s text, I want to turn your attention to 1 Corinthians 10 beginning at verse 1

1 Corinthians 10:1–13 ESV

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Here Paul is making the following case to us about Israel: WE ARE VERY MUCH LIKE THEM and so their journey was captured in part to ensure we learn from their mistakes. WE MUST GROW SO COMFORTABLE IN OUR OWN SELVES THAT WE FAIL TO FOLLOW GOD.

Verse 12 “Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

In order to make that point, Paul takes the Corinthians through ISRAEL’s history…Verse 1 through 4. They were under this divine pillar of fire by night and cloud by day…they saw it, they witnessed it. They were all there when Moses raised his staff and they all walked on dry land as the RED SEA became a hallway with massive walls of water and they were all there to see Pharaoh’s army attempt to pass over in pursuit of them when the walls of water came crashing down upon them and drowning them all. They were all there when God rained daily manna from the heavens for food and brought water from the rock for drink…They were all there when they heard saw the thunder, the lightning and the clouds surround the mountain as the voice of God came thundering down from the mountain. They were present for ALL OF THAT!

AND YET Exodus 32 happens...

And so Exodus 32 is here for us this morning in part to learn from so we don’t do what they did!

Now let’s go back to Exodus 32 to examine what exactly did they do!

Exodus 32:1–6 ESV

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.

We learn that when God Doesn’t Move Fast Enough for us…We INVENT gods of OUR OWN

Exodus 32:1 ESV

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.”

Here we see that the longer the Israelites have to wait on God. The more they lose sight of His character..

We’re not quite sure how long Moses had been up on the mountain in fellowship with God and receiving instruction from God, but what we do know is how much the people had seen from God before He went back up to the mountain...

Remember the earlier words from Paul in his letter to the Corinthians…the Red Sea, The Pillar of Fire, The Cloud by Day, the Thunder and Lightning that drove the people to say to Moses “Hey come down and relay God’s message to us because we don’t want to talk with Him...

In fact, when we look at the last time Moses and the people were together, we see this type of divine power at work…the type of power that one would think would have people forever looking towards him...

English Standard Version Chapter 24

9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”

15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

That was the last sight that they had of Moses and they haven’t seen Him sense...

And yet here we are with these people now saying...

English Standard Version Chapter 32

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.

Here is something that you need to know about Israel and by default something you need to know about us...It really does not take us long sometimes to move on from God and try other things. If He makes us wait just a little too long, we are tempted to drift.

Again, let’s go back to chapter 24, the last time they saw Moses:

Exodus 24:3 ESV

3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

To that we say yes and Amen…but here’s the thing…three of the first words that I’m sure Moses came down and told them was found in chapter 20 verse 2-4

English Standard Version Chapter 20

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.

Now we have this...

English Standard Version Chapter 32

Up, make us gods who shall go before us

So they’ve violated commandment 1 and creating other gods…they have violated commandment 2 and making graven images in the place of God... to make matters worse they are now saying to themselves...

Exodus 32:4 ESV

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!”

They have completely and totally turned everything on its head!!!!!

Application: How often does this happen with us…we wait on God, we don’t see Him and then we run to other things...

Some of you in this room are quietly saying to yourself “I’ve waited on God long enough. He doesn’t appear to be at work. So I’m going to do things my way...

LEARN ISRAEL’S LESSON HERE!!!

We learn that when we INVENT our gods, we often create them from the familiar

With Moses out of site and with God out of sight, the Israelites reverted back to their old ways and their old gods.

The Golden Calf was most likely a connection back to the pagan idolatry of Egypt where cows were extremely prominent and worship.

One idol that was especially prominent in Egyptian worship was the goddess Hathor.

According to scholars, she was considered the goddess of mothers, women, and women’s physical and psychological well being. She was also considered the goddess of dance, beauty, and music and the personification of JOY...

Now read that in light of verse 6

Exodus 32:6 ESV

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.

And think about Hathor as you read verse 17-19

Exodus 32:17–19 ESV

17 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 sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.” 19 And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

So, in the perceived absence of their leader and in the perceived absence of their god, the Israelites went back to EGYPT spiritually. They resorted back to gods of their youth...

This was more than likely already the struggle, it only needed a little hardship to expose it...

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Sin is Disobedience

One of the early church fathers, Ephrem the Syrian, wisely commented that the absence of Moses simply gave the Israelites the opportunity to “worship openly what they had been worshiping in their hearts.”

Our former idols are oftentimes nearer than we realize and when hardship, difficulty, or seasons of waiting arrive, we often feel the need to turn back towards the idols we once knew...

APPLICATION: Maybe no one here this morning or anyone watching online has an inventory of golden cows in your closet to pull out in your hours of difficulty, hardship, or waiting, but do you have some idols of the heart that seek to replace Jesus in those moments?

Maybe in these moments, you’re tempted to run back to that one guy or one woman that we know without question is destructive for our lives and for our fellowship with God.

Maybe in these moments, you’re tempted to run back to abusing the bottle of alcohol, prescription drugs, or street drugs

Maybe in these moments, you’re tempted to bury yourself in a political or ethnic identity and find more meaning in your whiteness or blackness, or in your democraticism and republicanism than you are in Christ and the hope of the Gospel!

ILLUSTRATION: These past few years we have witnessed a number of high profile departures from the Christianity. Pastors, Worship Singers, Theologians and why is that?

Because in our moments of waiting, in our moments of difficulty, in our moments of doubt, when feels distant and absent, we’re prone to run back towards what we know, what we thought used to bring us comfort.

They thought they had left Egypt behind but in the moment of crisis, we now see that Egypt and its gods weren’t far either

Some of you are in a crisis of your own this morning. The difficulty of the season is pushing you to your idols of old. So how do we combat the tug…Two ways...

1. Remember Our Idols Are Useless

This Idol That Israel was turning to was helpless to change their situation, helpless to change their circumstance, and they were worse off by placing their trust in it...

The Psalmist says it rightly in Psalm 135:15-18

Psalm 135:15–18 ESV

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.

So many times we turn from the creator to the created in search of hope, in search of peace, in search of joy, in search of satisfaction, in search of purpose, in search of fulfillment, but no created thing was meant to ultimately provide us those things…ONLY THE CREATOR can do that.

And by seeking those things we become more lifeless like the idols and less of who we were intended by God to be. That’s why the more we make a political party our savior the more obnoxious we sound or the more we make a drugs and/or alcohol our peace the more destructive we become…the more we give ourselves over to toxic intimate relationships the more our decision-making becomes unreasonable and even foolish...

We become less of who God designed us to be because we are becoming more like the idols that we’ve given our hearts over too.

When we feel the tug back to idolatry, we can’t forget that this is the eventual end.

2. Remember God is still at work even when it doesn’t feel like it...

At the base of the mountain, while the people were declaring that Moses and God had left them and were forging ahead with the forging of new created gods based on the good ole’ days of slavery in Egypt, Moses was at the top of the mountain with God, receiving instruction for how they were to worship this God.

While Aaron was at the bottom of the mountain, being appointed the high priest for a cow of their own making and making altars for this idol and offering sacrifices for this idol, God was at the top with Moses laying out His plans for Aaron and his line to be a royal priesthood wholly dedicated to HIM.

While Israel was at the bottom partying and celebrating this dead engraved statue with no ability to see, hear, talk, think, or act, God was at the top with Moses laying out the blueprint for worship of the true and living God, the one who not only sees, hears, and knows all, but the one who in we live, we move, and we have our being.

In other words, while Israel was at the bottom declaring that God and His servant had abandoned them. God was at the top preparing the way for them!!!!!

Saints of God, in some ways I feel like we are at the bottom of the mountain right now. Racial bigotry and toxic political partisanship have made a resounding comeback. Leaders throughout our country are being exposed time and time again for either participating or bundling issues of sexual abuse. We’ve lost NEARLY 4M people in the world to a pandemic and 600K of those people were right here in the US. Churches are closing, membership in many places is shrinking and it would be SOOOOO EASY for us to run back to the old dead idols of old to seek satisfaction, but could it be that while we are down at the bottom of the mountain, ready to walk away, God the Father is in fact on top of the mountain with Christ making preparation and provision for His people to grow in their knowledge of Him, their love for Him, and their love for the neighbors and the world around them!

LEARN ISRAEL’S LESSON HERE!!!

Don’t move too quickly away from God back to the familiar!

We learn that our idolatry deserves God’s Judgement

English Standard Version Chapter 32

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.”

Corey and I were talking about verse 7 earlier this week but I absolutely love how God moves from declaring Israel as his people to Moses people...

God is like these people don’t want to claim me. So they must be your people...

Moses asks for grace...

English Standard Version Chapter 32

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.

So Moses pleads…God relents…and Moses takes his tablets of all that God has shared with him and heads down the mountain to meet with HIS people again…and finds Israel going BUCK WILD!!!!!