Counterfeits - the problem of the human heart

Counterfeit goods opening

So the counterfeit good industy is a booming one right now. It’s estimated that around 1.7 trillion counterfiet goods are sold every year. It’s currently the largest crime in the world. And we see this, right? We’ve all been on alibaba or ali express and seen these cheap knock off goods right?

I’ve got a few examples here: Abidas, Polystation, Okay shampoo, Dave soap, Creme Betweens, the huge Mountain, Kat Kots, Dolce and Banana, and my personal favotire Unbeleive! this is not butter.

And so we can laugh at these right? but its gets a little less funny when start thinking about counterfeits in other industires - like the military - there was a story awhile back about the government finding fake microships in the fighter plans that if they werent caught would have lead to the planes malfunctioning. Or whats most sad is counterfeits the pharmacutical industy - medicines - Estimated 30% all drugs in Africa are faked, theres one study that found that almost half of the anit-malaria drugs circulating in Africa are counterfiets. Malaria is a curbale desiese, but its deadly if left untreated, but people are dying from it because they’re receiving counterfeit medicine. And so what they thought would bring them life and save them, is actually a cheap substitue that will ultimatly lead to death.

So why do I say all this? Because we’re about to read a story where the people of Israel are going to exchange the worship of the one true God, for a counterfeit. And as we study the people of Israel in this story, we’re going to see that this isnt just their story, its also ours too.

SLIDE CHANGE

so lets read

Exodus 32:1–6 (ESV)

Exodus 32:1–6 ESV

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.” 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.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 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!” 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.” 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.

Recap the story

and so theres three sections of this story, and there are three points that i want us to see in the stroy

the first one is this

#1 The Draw to Idolarty

so we see in this story that the people create for themselves an idol to worship right? there is a draw in us all to idols

Calvi’s famous quote says that the heart and mind of man is “a perpetual forge of idols” - an idol factory

But what you mean by “we all” ? what you talking bout Ben? i have never once had the inclination to carve a golden bull and worship it. I definitly dont want to do that. And I dont really understand why they wanted to do that.

So lets look at why the israelites turned to idolatry, and i think it might help us see that we do the same thing.

Why Idols?

- Idols ease our insecurites

v1 - the peole saw that Moses delayed in coming down the mountain. Moses was their leader - not only governmentally but also spiritually, right? Moses was the one driving them through the wilderness, he was the one hearing from God - but he goes up this mountain and seems to dissapear. So the people get scared, and feel out of control. And their solution is to create an idol - because that will give them a greater sense of security and help ease their fear. So they run to worship this thing because they were scared, and felt out of control.

Idols are conveinent - and so often we want a god of conveince, not a god of covenant - JT english

- Idols help us fit in/ idolatry lets us look good to others

another reason israel makes this Idol is because all the other nations had idols. and you would often go to war with your idols, and fight for them - and so the identity of your nation was based upon the idols you worshipped - and every other nation has idols, so Israel also wants idols. It helps them fit in, it helps them look good. And so we’ll see Israel compromise their identity under God to be like everyone else around them.

- Idolatry give us control/ lets us do whatever we want

lastly, idolatry really was a way to do whatever you wanted. When you create the god, ultimatley you are the person who decides what that god allows and doesnt allow. Really you become the god. and in this day, idols were primary used for two things - wealth and sex. You would organize a system for religion that allowed those things

so worshiping idols was really just a way to justify striving for power or wealth, and having your sexual lusts met.

and so when we describe it like that - Idolarty is anything you go to 1) eases our insecurities, or comfort us 2) help us look good to others or fit in 3) or something that gives us control and lets us decide whats right and wrong, so you can do whatever you want like have sex or chase money and popularity - it starts to hit a little closer to home, doesnt it?

and so we wont bow down to golden calfs - but we often do is idolized things in our lives. We’ll run to other things in our life other than God for security, comfort, popularity, control, power.. Or we’ll make excuses to justify the sins in our life - all while keeping a spiritual facade. And the bible tells us that when we do that, we’re practicing idolarty.

two things things I see in the passage about Idolitary I want to note:

You can make an idol out of a good thing

the made this out of the gold that they got from the Egyptians - on Gods orders. and later they’re gonna use some of this gold to help build the temple and worship God. But here they take a blessing that God gave them and twisted it for their own purpose- and turned in to something to worship.

second is this:

Adding religious activity doesnt negate idolatry

slide change

Look what Aaron does in verse 5-6

Exodus 32:5–6 (ESV)

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.” 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.

so what Aaron wanted to do was take the ways God wanted to be worship and give that to their idol worship so that he could ease his consceince. But it didnt change the fact that they were still worshiping idols. And so just because you’re here tonight, you call youself a Christian, go to church - doesnt mean you dont have idols in your life.

Because a lot of people want to be spiritual. There is a draw inside of us to want to be connected to something bigger, to be spiritual - but we want to do it on our terms. So we’ll go throw the religious motions but still be worshiping idols.

So the question I want to ask today is “what are your idols”

and we’re gonna come back to that question, but first I want to bring up point number 2:

#2 The Penalty for Idolatry is death

Exodus 32:7–10 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 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!’ ” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 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.”

God wants to wipe out the people of Israel for this. and you might think this is a bit harsh. Why is he so bent out of shape about it.

Use engagement anology,

so yeah, God’s a little upset, and hurt and mad. Not only did his people betray him, they left them for something that isnt even close to better for them. Use star wars/ revolutionary war. They left the God of grace and compassion that was leading them through the wilderness in a cloud of smoke and pillar of fire, for a golden cow that can do nothing. In the prophets God will say “the people have left the fountain of life, for broken cisterns that cant even hold water.

So God is mad, but i think ultiamtely he’s sad, because he loves us so much and he knows nothing outside of himself will truly satisfy us.

and we see that there is a punishment for this. There is always a cost for sin, for trading the glory of God for some cheap knock off. we see this as early as Genesis 3. When adam and eve choose to define good and evil for their selves, death enters into the world. and its the same today - that when we go astray and worship something other than the God who made us, we’re committing treason against the king of the universe

The penalty for that is always death - and we see that in the story. Moses has to muster up a police force to go down and end this crazy riot thats going on, and it says 3000 were killed.

Also it might not be a physcial death yet, often its a spiritual death. Some of us are so broken, your life seems so tired, so joyless, - you might even use the term dead. Well are you worshiping a dead god? Idol worship will lead to death, one day physically but now spiritually

So what are your idols?

1. What do you spend most your time doing? The things we value and cherish most are what we dedicate our time to.

2. What do you spend most of your time thinking about? What we invest our thoughts into is often an indicator of what we love most.

3. When are your emotions strongest? (Such as fear, sadness or anger) We often respond with strong emotions when our idols are threatened or we can’t access our idols.

4. What controls your schedule? Our idols often define and rule our days.

5. What do you fear losing? What we think we can’t live without is often an idol.

6. What do you trust in to make your life better or easier? Idols often become our refuge, what we turn to for help and hope.

7. What are your ‘if-only’s? Fill in the blank: “If only _____ happened, then my life would be better.”

8. What sin or sins do you constantly battle? Whatever we worship, whatever we love more than God, we will sin to obtain it.

9. What areas of your life seem out of control? Often the places we attempt to control reveal idols.

10. What barriers do you face in your life, keeping you from what you want? [if only ____ wasnt in my life, it would be better] God often puts up barriers to keep us from our idols, to bring us back to himself.

And so we know that there’s a draw in us to idolatry, we know that the penalty for idolatry is death - but luckily the last thing is that there is

#3 A mediator for the people/Someone mediates on behalf of the people

Exodus 32:11–14 ESV

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? 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. 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.’ ” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

what we see in this story is that Moses goes up the mountain to try to atone for the sins of the people. And in one sense it works…God turns and relents from destroying Israel based on Moses’ plee. But in another sense, it doesnt.

Exodus 32:30–34 ESV

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.” So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”

Moses says, let me go up and try to atone for your sin. He pleeds to God, let me take the sin of Israel and take my life from me. But God says no. Moses, you cant atone for the sins of the people. Its a good try Moses, but you’re no the one who can atone for sin. Because ultimatley moses will need atoning for himself. Later in the bible we see Moses disobey God. We already know he killed a dude. He cant atone for the people. We need a better mediator.

in the next book, God’s going to give the people the sacrificial system, that if i kill a lamb, he blood can cover over my sins. And this is good for a bit, but doesnt solve the problem. The people keep sinning, they mess up the sacrifices, - and we need a better sacrifice.

and the people of Israel contunie to go astay, the contiune to worship other gods and leave the one true God. So God sends them into exile, he executes his wrath. But through his prophets he speaks of a day when he’s going to forgive his people. and he speaks of someone, who’s going to bear the sins of his people.

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;[b]

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

and so the prophets speak a message of hope, that someone will come and walk with God with all his heart - and he’ll carry the sins of the people, he’ll be the perfect lamb that was slain for the world. He’ll be a better Moses, he’ll taste death so that we dont have to.

And when John the Babtist sees Jesus he yells “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” here is is.

He steps in and heals the sick, opens the eyes of the blind, but he also tears down the idols of relgion, and the idols in the temple. but the leaders hate him. They capture him, and they turn him over to the Romans to kill him. And Jesus, the perfect, spotless, holy one of God, walks up a mountain, not sinai, but calvary - and he says let me take the wrath of God for their idolatry, let me make atonement for their sin. Blot my name out of life for them. Jesus walks up the mountain not to receive the covenant of the law, but to administer the covenant of grace. And although God said no to moses, God says yes to Christ.

he takes the death that we deserve for our rebellion to mend our relationship to God

but Jesus didnt stay dead - on the third day he rose from the dead i He appread to his followers and breathed out his Spirit and said just as I have been raised, so you too will be raised. And he opens up our eyes to see him, he invites us to follow him, to make him our everything - follow him, make him the lord of your life - to reconnect to the God of the universe- the ulitmate source of life.

and so yall know i normally dont do alter calls, or long salvation prayers - and i’m not really going to here. But if I had to guess, there are some of you in here - that if you honestly looked at your life, and you could see all your thoughts and break everything down, honestly you wouldnt see Jesus at the center of it. and if thats you then I emplore you to surrender your life to him if you dont know him, or if you do and just need to repent and repriotitize him in your life my prayer is that you would do that today.

So what do we do? How do we deal with our idols?

Dealing with Idolatry

Crush them

Exodus 32: 19-20

Exodus 32:19–20 ESV

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. 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.

some of you, you need to get serious about the things you are prioritizing over God. It could be a hobby, a habit, or a sin patter - some of us have things we just need to crush. Because what we often like to do is make idols our pets. we think we have it under control.

Reshape them for the glory of God

Job, children, sports teams, school - good things, blessing from God. Don't make them into idols.

Look to the real thing

nothing in this world will give you life except the author of life. How do you get rid of an idol? you look to the real thing