The Noble Criminal

John 18:40--"Give use Barabbas!"

There are many in this country today who have watched as the drama surrounding the hunt for Christopher Dorner has unfolded. And while many have been hoping for and anticipating his capture, there has been also, curiously, a small crowd of voices which has been applauding his actions and hoping for his exoneration. The purpose of this post is not to debate the merits of the case or to argue for his guilt or innocence. Any comments in that vein will be deleted as quickly as possible. You can argue that somewhere else.

The point I want to make is this: this approving crowd should not surprise us. Jesus Himself said "Men love darkness rather than light" (John 3:19). It has been that way ever since sin entered the world. We have an early example from Mt Sinai. While Moses was up on the mount, the people were wantonly carousing at the foot of the mountain in a drunken orgy worshipping the golden calf--while God was speaking to Moses the very Law these people were corrupting!



But we don't have to go back that far in time to see why it shouldn't surprise us that people are actually supporting this murderer (OK, alleged murderer). Think back to 1994. A white
Ford Bronco carrying OJ Simpson was leading LAPD on a low-speed chase through Los Angeles. People were lined up on bridges over the freeway to watch. Were these people hoping that a fugitive from the law would be caught and brought to justice? No. They were encouraging this fugitive to continue running from the law. (Again, not debating OJ's guilt or innocence. Just sayin').

And there is another trend. Not necessarily new, but it does seem to be more prevalent over the last several years. That is the concept of what I call "The Noble Criminal". You see him (or her) in many movies these days. The team of bank robbers who are only robbing the bank to right some dastardly wrong or because one of the character's loved ones is dying (usually due to the greed of the bank president or some other such embodiment of evil). Examples of these are movies like "Ocean's 11" or "Tower Heist".



Then we have movies where the drug dealer or the prostitute or...well, you name it. Whatever the criminal enterprise, there are probably many, many movies glamorizing and glorifying whatever criminal you can think of. The most recent and most egregious (to me anyway) example of this was "The Sopranos". OK, let's get this straight. The mobster--the head of a Mafia family, a man who did not hesitate to kill anyone who crossed him--he was the good guy. The police and FBI who were trying to catch him--they were the bad guys. And people wonder why there are folks supporting Christopher Dorner. It is because we have a culture where The Noble Criminal is looked upon as a hero while those who are charged with apprehending him are evil.



But these are really no different than the crowd that stood at the Praetorium that day as Pontius Pilate stood before the teeming crowd, asking them which man they would have released. Would they have Christ--the innocent Lamb of God, the Man who had committed no sin, the Man who was the perfect embodiment of righteousness and godly perfection? Or would they have Barabbas--a murderous villain, a man who had most likely committed crimes so vile and horrible the writers of Sacred Writ dared not even name them?

"Give us Barabbas!!"

To see that man's will is inclined toward evil, simply read the headlines. Many would rather have Barabbas than Christ.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Exodus

Introduction--Part 1
Introduction--Part 2
Arrival at Sinai
"You shall have no other gods before Me"
"You shall not make a graven image to bow down to it"
"I am a jealous God"
The myth of the "Generational Curse"
"You shall not take My name in vain"
Jesus as the "I AM"
Taking God's name in vain (Part 3)
Making oaths in God's name
"Remember the Sabbath" (Part 1)
"Remember the Sabbath" (Part 2)
"Honor your father and mother"
"You shall not murder"
"You shall not commit adultery"
"You shall not steal" (Part 1)
"You shall not steal" (Part 2)
"You shall not bear false witness"
"You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor's"
"God has come to test you, that you may fear Him"
Treatment of slaves
Statutes concerning murder
Statutes concerning fornication, sorcery, bestiality, and usury
Treatment of Widows and Orphans
Statutes concerning idolatry, obeying authority, perjury
"You shall keep the feast of Passover" (part 1)
"You Shall Keep the Passover" (Part 2)
"You Shall Keep the Passover" (Part 3)
Bear your neighbor's burdens; let your land lay fallow; I send My Angel before you
The First Covenant (part 1)
The First Covenant (part 2)
The First Covenant (part 3)
The Tabernacle, The Priestly Garments
Replicas of the Tabernacle and the Priestly Garments
Consecrating Aaron and His Sons (part 1)
Consecrating Aaron and His Sons (part 2)
Consecrating Aaron and His Sons (part 3)
Ransom Money, Incense, Anointing Oil
The Calling of Bezalel and Aholiab
Picturing the Tabernacle
The Sign of the Sabbath
Aaron's Golden Calf
The Golden Calf (epilogue)
Two New Stones, The Sins of the High Priest
Finishing Exodus

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Two New Stones; The Sins of the High Priest

This week we will look at Exodus 34. There is a big front porch at the beginning, however.

We are actually only a week away from finishing Exodus. Today we're going over chapter 34, then chapters 35-39 simply record the construction of the tabernacle and the furnishings and the priestly garments we've already delved into in detail. So chapter 34 and chapter 40 will really be all we have left. Today we’re going to study a subject we find in Exodus 32 that I kinda passed right by when we were reading that chapter. Exodus 32:21—And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" look at what he’s saying—Moses tells Aaron that Aaron brought the sin upon the people—even though the people were the ones clamoring for Aaron to make the golden calf. This is a principle that we find throughout the OT—the people are punished for the sin of either their high priest or their king. We see an example of this in Leviticus 4:1-3—1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying…“3 if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people...” (The KJV says “If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people.” Not quite accurate). God considers the high priest to be the representative of the people. And when the high priest sins, being the representative of the people, he brings guilt not only on himself, but on the entire people. We see this fleshed out in 1st Samuel 3:12-13—“12 I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them.” And we see that promise fulfilled in 1st Samuel 4:10-21—10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died…19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured…she bowed herself and gave birth…21 Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel!" Was all of Israel involved in the sin of Eli and his sons? BUT—because Eli, being high priest, knew his sons were corrupting the most important office on earth, God laid that iniquity on the entire nation.

We see an example of a king bringing God’s wrath upon Israel for his own actions in the life of David. 1st Chronicles 21:2-12—2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, "Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it." 3 And Joab answered, "May the LORD make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?" 4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab...5 Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David…7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck—David? No, He struck Israel. 8 So David said to God, "I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly"…11 So Gad [the prophet for David] came to David and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Choose for yourself, 12 either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the LORD—the plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.'" It was David and David alone who decided to number Israel because of his own pride—but it was the entire nation who bore the brunt of God’s anger.

And as with many of the principles we’ve seen over the last couple weeks, this also goes back to the Garden of Eden and the sin of Adam. Were you born yet when Adam sinned? Not hardly. If you were, you look pretty good for your age. I haven’t met many 6000-year old people in that good a shape. We were not yet born when Adam sinned—but guess whose head that sin fell upon? Romans 5:12, 14—12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam. Why do we die? Because we sin. If you don’t want to die, don’t sin. Oops, too late. We die because we sin—and why do we sin? Because we inherit that from our father Adam. Did we choose to inherit that sin? BUT—just as the sin of Eli the high priest was imputed—or, put on the account of—the people of Israel; just as the sin of David was imputed to the people of Israel; and just as Moses told Aaron that he had brought sin upon the people, the sin of our great-great-great-skip a few-great grandfather Adam was imputed to us. How? Through birth. Psalm 51:5 (NET)—I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. Psalm 58:3 (NET)—The wicked turn aside from birth; liars go astray as soon as they are born. Let’s go back to Genesis, right after the flood. The waters subside, Noah builds an altar and makes a sacrifice to God, and God says, Genesis 8:21—“I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth.” 

That’s the bad news. However—that just gets you ready for the good news. Just as the sin of the high priest was laid on the people; just as the sin of the king was laid on the people; just as the sin of Adam was laid on us—we have One on whom our sin was laid, if we believe. In Romans 5:15-19 Paul lays out his case that even though all men were made sinners by Adam’s one sin, all who believe in Christ are made righteous by Christ’s one act of obedience. We’re gonna break it down verse-by-verse. Romans 5:15 (NASB)—But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if [since] by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many—because of Adam’s one act of sin, every man dies; grace and life were given to many because of Jesus’ one act of righteousness. Romans 5:16—The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification—the judgment is: Adam’s one sin brought condemnation to all who will ever be born; by one free gift we are justified and pardoned from many sins. Romans 5:17—For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ—pretty easy: because of the sin of one man, death reigned in all men; but because of the gift, righteousness will reign in those who receive grace. And then he sums it all up in Romans 5:18-19—18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. Just as Adam’s sin led to death to all men, Christ’s one act of righteousness is put into the account of all who will ever believe. He has perfected us, he has given us His righteousness to the point that we even become the righteousness of God in Him (2nd Corinthians 5:21).

And if we are in Christ, we are united to Him and we are one with Him. When Christ appeared to a young Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus, what was the question He asked him? Acts 9:4—"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Did Saul arrest Christ? Was Christ being led to Jerusalem to be imprisoned and murdered? No. Who was it that Saul was leading to Jerusalem to be put in prison and killed? Christians. And as a matter of fact, they were not yet being called “Christians.” These people who were thought of as following the teachings of a dead Jewish rabbi were being called simply “The Way.” Acts 22:4—“I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.” What does Jesus call Himself in John 14:6—“I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life.” Matthew Henry— 

“He thought he was persecuting only a company of poor, weak, silly people, that were an offence and eye-sore to the Pharisees, [not thinking] that is was one in heaven that he was all this while insulting…Note, Those who persecute the saints persecute Christ himself, and he takes what is done against them as done against himself, and accordingly will be the judgment in the great day.” 

In fact, Jesus makes this very fact plain when He tells the people what He will say to the unrighteous in that Day, in Matthew 25:44-45—“44 Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' 45 Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'” However, when a good work is done for one of those who belong to Christ, it is counted as being done for Him. Matthew 10:40—“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” And when we receive Christ, we receive pardon for our sins, we are seated in the heavenly places with Him (Ephesians 2:6), and we are given His righteousness and His life—all because His one act of righteousness has overcome the one transgression committed by our father Adam.

So now turn to Exodus 34:1-7—1 And the LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. 2 So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain. 3 And no man shall come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all the mountain; let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain." 4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

A couple things before we get to the main point. Here is another example of the simultaneous judgment and the mercy of God, or as Paul called it Romans 11:22 (NASB)—The kindness and severity of God. He had just commanded the sons of Levi to slaughter 3000 of their fellow Israelites for their idolatry—yet He spared for the time being those who fled from that very same idolatry. A second thing I want to mention is this—in verse 7 God says He will “visit the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” There are folks who make a lot of money on the myth of the “generational curse.” If you “Send your $1000 seed and Pastor Pete will show you how to break your generational curses.” In the Hebrew, I believe the word they would use is “baloney.” Under the old covenant, did God “visit the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations”? Yes. However, does He do this under the NEW covenant, does God “visit the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations”? No. Ezekiel 18:1-4—1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, “2 What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ' The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? 3 As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.” And in that chapter God lays that out in more detail, that each man will be punished for his own sins—not for the sins of his father.

In fact, Jeremiah 31—in that passage where God announces He will make a new covenant—He says this very same thing, Jeremiah 31:29-32—“29 In those days they shall say no more: ' The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' 30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. 31 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” says the LORD. So this notion that there are still “generational curses” is false—if you sin in the same way your father sinned, it’s because you chose to sin that sin—not because you are under some “generational curse.” People are responsible for their own sins—not for the sins of their parents. 

Exodus 34:8-9—8 So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 Then he said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance." Do “good people” go to Heaven? Did Jesus come to save “good people”? No. In fact, I could stand here and rattle off verse after verse, chapter after chapter, that says that there is no such thing as a “good” person. And if anyone ever tells you that “Ya gotta get right before ya get saved,” tell them they're full of baloney. I won’t go so far as to call it heresy—but it’s a whole lot closer than I ever want to get. In fact, the first step in salvation is realizing that we are a filthy worm; we are a dirty, disgusting sinner who has hated God and that we need to be saved. In the Beatitudes, Jesus does not say, “Blessed are the wealthy…Blessed are those who know that they deserve to be saved…Blessed are the healthy and prosperous.” Matthew 5:3-10—“3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful…8 Blessed are the pure in heart…10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.” And then, in Luke, we find Jesus reading off a list of woes to those who thought they were good enough to be saved. Luke 6:24-26—“24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” 

A little later on, when He called Matthew, a tax collector, to be one of His apostles, Matthew 9:11-13—11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Charles Spurgeon— 

“What was it that made Christ a physician at all? Was is not because men were sick with sin? Suppose they had been perfect—would Christ have ever been a Savior if men had not been lost? Brethren, it would have been…a folly, a monstrous folly, on His part—to undertake an office which was not required of Him! It is sin which makes room for His work as a Savior...It is sin which makes room for His work as a Savior…He is only a Savior because there are sinners and His Saviorship is based upon our sinnership!…What was it that made Him shed great drops of blood? Was it human guilt? Or do you think, perhaps, human merit? Why guilt, and guilt alone! What made Him give His back to the scourgers and His cheeks to the smiters? What made Him stretch His arms to the Cross and give His feet to the nails? What made Him bear the insufferable wrath of Almighty God? Was it man’s goodness? Why you cannot think of such a thing! It was human vileness, villainy, degradation, iniquity which made such sufferings as these all necessary! As I see, then, Christ…I see Him every moment thinking of sin! Sin! Sin! SIN! Man’s sin makes Him die.” 

And of course the apostle Paul picked up on that theme when he wrote in Romans 3:10-16—10 There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God…13 their throat is an open tomb…15 their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 destruction and misery are in their ways…18 there is no fear of God before their eyes. Who is the “they” in that paragraph? You. Me. The person sitting next to you. Let me read it for you the way if we want to get real about it. Romans 3:10-16—10 There is none righteous, no, not one—and that means me; 11 I do not understand; I do not seek after God…13 my throat is an open tomb…15 my feet are swift to shed blood; 16 destruction and misery are in my ways…18 there is no fear of God before my eyes. So, who deserves to be saved? No one! That’s why Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, in Ephesians 2:8-9—8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works. And because God has laid our sins to the charge of His Son Jesus Christ, He can truly say that He is Exodus 34:6-7—“6 The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but by no means clearing the guilty.” He does not simply brush off sin. There must be payment. Either you make the payment in Hell forever, or you accept that Christ made the payment for you.

Then in Exodus 34:10-26, God gives Moses a condensed version of that first covenant. If you recall, when Moses saw the people dancing around the golden calf, he took the two stone tablets which contained all the terms and conditions and commandments of that covenant and threw them down and they shattered—the first case of someone “breaking the Law.” So He tells Moses to cut out another set of tablets like the first. The first thing He commands is that the people not make a covenant with any of the pagan nations around them. We talked about that last week, and how it we are to be holy—sanctified, separate, set apart to God. Does that mean that we as Christians should completely avoid anyone who is not saved? Absolutely not! 1st Corinthians 5:9-11—9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. Jesus commands the church that if anyone is living in sin, and they won’t stop sinning, to go them personally, then take one or two witnesses, and then take them before the entire congregation, and then if they refuse to bend to the commands of Christ, to put them out of the church. And to not have anything to do with them. Can we be friends with people who do not know Christ and do not even claim to know Him? Yes. Are we to take part in the sinful things they do? No. And we are commanded to separate ourselves form those who claim to be a Christian while they are in the midst of living a life that is filled with things like fornication, idolatry and other such things. 

Exodus 34:27-28—27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. “The Ten Commandments”—the Hebrew word translated ‘commandments’ is דַטַר (davar). It literally means ‘word.’ So, the “The Ten Commandments” would be more accurately translated “The Ten Words.” Therefore, we could read this to say, And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words. It’s almost as if God was saying, “OK, you people couldn’t follow those commands, so let Me make it real simple for you. See these words? Follow them.” So God, again, takes His finger and writes on these tablets The Ten Words He wrote the first time. And one point I want to make before we finish up is this—here again we see in Moses almost a visual prophecy of Christ. Between Exodus 20 and Exodus 34, Moses goes up and down the mountain three times. Up in Exodus 20, down in Exodus 24. Back up again in Exodus 24, back down in Exodus 32. Went up in the beginning of Exodus 34, came back down at the end of the chapter.

Turn to Matthew 26:36-45—36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there." 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” 

What happens when the people of God take their eyes off of God? They go to sleep. They get carried away into areas they shouldn’t ought to go. We see that with Moses—the people declare, “All that the LORD has said we will do and be obedient!” And yet when Moses goes up the mountain, what happens? “Hey Aaron, make us a cow to worship!” And Aaron says, “Duh, OK!” The people forgot the goodness of God and Aaron let himself get swept up into their idolatry. We see that here with Peter—who said, “Even if I go to prison, or even if they threaten my very life I will never deny You!” And yet, not too long after Christ leaves to pray in the garden, the apostles fall asleep, they scatter when the Romans come, and even Peter would eventually wind up denying he knew Christ—not once, but three times. Again, Charles Spurgeon— 

“He left 8 of His disciples at the entrance to the Garden…Thus, there ought to have been two [groups] watching and praying. If they had all been on the watch, they might have heard the footsteps of the approaching band and they would have seen…the lights of the lanterns and torches of these who were coming to arrest their Lord.” 

Or, as Jesus warned them in Matthew 26:41—“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” Knowing that we are just as human as those apostles; we are just as human as the people at the bottom of the mountain who wanted to worship a cow, if we are not watching and praying, guess what we’re going to enter into? Temptation, and if we enter into temptation what else are we likely to enter into?

We conclude Exodus next time.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--The Golden Calf (Epilogue)

Last week we surveyed the episode at Mt. Sinai where the people convinced Aaron to make a golden calf to worship. What that episode really shows us is how foolish human beings really are. Many times people construct a “God”—or, an idea about God—and usually this “God” they create is nothing like the true God. The “God” they create doesn't require much out of them, he’ll let them go on living however they want to. And this “God” will brush aside their sins and say “It’s no big deal.” And when you confront these people about some sin they may have in their life—or in the life of someone they love—what these people tend to say is, “Well, that may be your God. But the god I worship doesn't condemn anybody for that.” And, without realizing it, they have hit the nail on the head. They are absolutely right—the god they worship won’t judge anybody or condemn anybody. But that’s because they don’t worship the One, True, Living God, Almighty YHVH. They worship a god of their own making, and what is the term we use to describe worshipping a god of one’s own making?

Of all the sins that are talked about in Scripture, I don’t think there is one that is mentioned more often than idolatry. And I think that is because the world does not know God, or rather, they don’t want to know the true God. So they carve wooden and stone figures and bow to them. And this too shows how utterly foolish we humans are. These people who bow down to statues are worshipping something made by human hands—a block of wood or stone that was, for all intents and purposes, destroyed so it could be worshipped. They worship something that’s broken. Does that make sense? In Isaiah 40-46, God goes into this lengthy, intense diatribe against the sin of idolatry. Especially Isaiah 44. Listen to Isaiah 44:14-17—14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak; he secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it shall be for a man to burn, for he will take some of it and warm himself; yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; indeed he makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 16 He burns half of it in the fire; with this half he eats meat; he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire." 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" Those who worship trees and rocks and think there is such beauty in them—they are missing out on the beauty that is God. One more verse before we get to today’s text, Psalm 29:2—Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 

That said, we are going to begin with the merciful judgment of God. Exodus 32:27-29—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." Now, notice something here. In verse 29, what does God command the sons of Levi to do? “Put on your sword, and kill your brother.” But, in verse 29, Moses says that if the people repent, what might God do? "So He may bless you." Whenever and wherever there are righteous people surrounded by unrighteous people, and God has set His mind on destroying the wicked—but He does not want to destroy the righteous—He is perfectly capable of delivering those righteous ones. Listen to 2nd Peter 2:4-9—4 If God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction…7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked…9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. If God were to send a lightning bolt to zap the person next to you for saying something foul—don’t worry. If God doesn't want to hit you, He won’t--he’s got really good aim. So in these commands of God, where first we see the order to destroy every idolater, and then in the next breath Moses tells the people that if they repent God may still bestow a blessing on them, we see what the apostle Paul refers to in Romans 11:22—Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. God knows how to destroy the wicked and preserve the righteous. 

Next we see Moses’ desire to see Israel become a great nation—even at his own expense. Back in Exodus 32:11-13, Moses pleaded with the LORD to not completely wipe these people out. And even though God relented of the harm He said He would do—that may have delayed the deaths of the idolaters who repented, but it did not take away their sin. And that is what Moses pleads for here, in Exodus 32:30-32—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." If you recall, last week God gave Moses a proposition—“Let Me wipe them all out and start over with you.” And Moses had the right to say, and could have very easily said, “Hmm…not a bad idea there. Let’s do it!” But in his spirit, Moses knows it’s not all about Moses. Yes, there will be times when his temper gets the better of him. But, like King David, the pattern of his life is one that is devoted to God and His righteousness, as well as to the people of God, leading them in righteousness. And nothing is more important to Moses than the name and the glory and the holiness of God. The one attribute of God that is greater than any other is His holiness. Not His love, but His holiness. And because of His righteousness, and to display His holiness, when He makes a promise—He keeps it.

For example, when Jehoram becomes king of Judah, and he kills his brothers and many of the princes of Jerusalem, God could have easily killed him and his children. But, listen to 2nd Chronicles 21:6-7—6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done..., for he had the daughter of Ahab as a a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. 7 Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. As Moses pleaded with God, in Exodus 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 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.'” When God makes a promise, He keeps it. Titus 1:2—God, who cannot lie. Not “does not lie” or “will not lie”—CANNOT lie.

And here, once again, we see the simultaneous judgment and mercy of God. The people have sinned—something has to die. But God is also merciful and patient, and Moses pleads with God, saying, “LORD, you know these people. These are Your people. I know these people should bear Your judgment. But rather than visit Your judgment on all of them, allow ME to suffer the punishment THEY deserve.” This is the same plea that the apostle Paul himself made in Romans 9:2-3—2 I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh. Did Moses take part in making that golden cow? And yet he begs God to punish him and him alone for the sins of the many people who committed that sin. Hmmm…one who did not commit sin, but asked to be punished for the sins of others. Sound like anybody we know? 2nd Corinthians 5:21—[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So you can see how Moses is growing in his office as mediator for the people of Israel. He may not realize it, the people definitely don’t realize it, but he is becoming a “type” or “visual prophecy” of Christ who is our mediator and was truly punished for our sins.

Now, the people did not become the righteousness of God by way of Moses or the Law, but we do become the righteousness of God in Christ. John Calvin—

“[Christ] assumed our place, that he might be a criminal in our room, and might be dealt with as a sinner, not for his own offenses, but for those of others, since he was pure and exempt from every fault, and might endure the punishment that was due to us—not to himself. It is in the same manner, assuredly, that we are now righteous in him—[not because we have rendered any] satisfaction to the justice of God by our own works, but because we are judged in connection with Christ’s righteousness, which we have put on by faith, that it might become ours.”

So Moses pleads with God to not only spare the physical lives of these people, but to spare them from the eternal punishment they deserved.

Which brings us to God actually demonstrating His ability to punish the wicked and spare the righteous. Exodus 32:33-35—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. It’s simple—when a person sins, something has to die. Romans 6:23—The wages of sin is death. Ezekiel 18:20—The soul who sins shall die. Either that person dies, or something dies in their place. Period, paragraph. That fact would be driven home to those people for the next 1500 years or so. When day after day after day after day, week after week after week after week, year after year after year after year, they would take their animal, take it to the priest, the priest would kill it, cut it up and burn it for one simple reason—sin. There was a lot of blood, a lot of dead animals, a lot of burning carcasses and washing intestines and everything else that went with the office of priest, for one reason—sin. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:21—For Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 

Now, this principle did not stop when the old covenant with its sacrifices and offerings was replaced by the new covenant in Christ. That’s the bad news. The Good News—and what word do we use that means “Good News”? The gospel is that this principle found its fulfillment in the death of Christ. Hebrews 9:8-15—8 The way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.  11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. The blood of bulls and goats, which were offered under the old covenant, only covered over sins—it did not take them away. That blood was symbolic of the blood that Christ would shed which would completely take away and forgive sins—not just for the time being, not just until you sin again—but forever. How many times did Christ enter the Holiest of All in the Heavens? Hebrews 9:12—Once for all. Christ went into the Holiest of All, in the Heavens, the one not made with hands, and presented Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of all who would ever believe. Once for all. Not over and over and over and over again—a point the writer of Hebrews makes in Hebrews 9:25—Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another. He went in their once—it’s done.

So, this brings us now to Exodus 33:1-6—1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' 2 And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people." 4 And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the LORD had said to Moses, "Say to the children of Israel, 'You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you. Now therefore, take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do to you.'" 6 So the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb. Does He tell the people, “Go into the lands, learn their cultures, soften your tone with them, be sensitive to their felt needs, and bring them under the tent. Because I am God, and God is love.” No! He says, “I'm gonna drive the inhabitants of these idolatrous nations out of their land and give it to you.” 

That is the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac and Israel—does God keep His promises? And if we were to read through Joshua we would see that God does just that. But God would tell the people that not only was He going to drive out the idolaters, they were to have nothing to do with them or their ways. Exodus 34:11-16—“11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.” And all the people did exactly that and they lived happily ever after. Right? Wrong. After the book of Joshua, with the conquests of the lands, comes the book of Judges—and I think we all know what happens there. But sadly, many churches today have forgotten that we are supposed to be different from the world.

Are we supposed to walk around in sackcloth and ashes? Not hardly. But should a worship service—where the people are supposed to be worshipping God—should that service feature the “praise band” playing music form AC/DC? Or The Beatles? Or Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places”? Yet these are the kinds of music that many “Seeker-Sensitive” churches are playing during their services. Like, for example, the fellow pictured below. 2nd Corinthians 6:14 (NASB)—Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Now, don’t get me wrong. Should a lost person be able to walk into a church and be hammered on and beaten down because they're lost? In no way! BUT—should that church be a place where the lost person can feel as if the way they are living and the sin they are holding on to is OK? In no way. The lost person entering a church building should be made welcome—but they should also be discipled and taught that sin is sin and without Christ they are lost. And as Peter said, 1st Peter 3:15—Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Galatians 5:22-23—22 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. That is how we are to lead the lost to Christ. Not by beating them over the head, but by gently and patiently leading them. Not by embracing their sin and incorporating it into what is supposed to be a time of worshipping God. That is why God told the people not to enter into any covenants with the pagan nations, because He knew if they did the pagans would have more of an effect on the Israelites than the Israelites would have on the pagans. Or, as Paul said in 1st Corinthians 15:33—Bad company corrupts good morals. 

Exodus 33:7-10—7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. How many ways did the people have of seeking God? Exodus 33:8—Everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. How many entrances did the curtain around the tabernacle courtyard have? ONE. How many entrances were there into the Tent of Meeting? In fact, how many entrances were there into the Garden of Eden? Genesis 3:24—So God drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. There was only one way in and out of the Garden of Eden. Now, how many ways are there into the presence of God the Father today? John 14:6—“I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” God hasn’t changed in this regard in 6000 years of human history. If you want to have access to Him, you do it HIS way. Yet there are many who hold fanciful notions, and teach them to others, that they can somehow gain some “new insight” and some kind of new revelation about how to reach God. Rodney Howard Browne’s “ministry” supposedly got started when he said to God, “Either You come down here and touch me, or I will come up there and touch You.” Wow, a God that can be bossed around. Can God be bossed around and have His arm twisted to make Him give us what we want? No. Yet there are many who teach that. They're making a ton of money. The people that listen to them and send them their money—not so much. That is a false idea about God. And what term did we use earlier to describe false ideas about God? Not banging the gavel on these people—just a warning to be careful about what you hear. Even if it’s me saying it. There is ever only one way to God. It’s either HIS way or it’s no way.

Exodus 33:11— 11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Let me just say a little about the phrase “face to face.” You will hear skeptics say, “In Exodus 33:20 God says no one can see His face and live! That’s a contradiction!” On the flip side, the Mormon relies on Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” as “proof” that he was a prophet. Joseph Smith supposedly saw, in his “First Vision”, God the Father and Jesus Christ. And when we mention that “In Exodus 33:20 God says no one can see His face and live! Joseph’s vision is a contradiction!” They say “Well, yeah, but it also says that Moses spoke with God face-to-face.” That defense is also used by those with fanciful ideas about God. But the phrase “face-to-face” is an unfortunate product of the evolution of the English language. “Face to face” in this instance does not mean that God revealed His face to Moses—that would indeed be a contradiction. What this refers to is the mode of communication by which God spoke with Moses. How did God descend on the tent in Exodus 33:9—The pillar of cloud would descend…and the LORD would speak with Moses. The first time God communicated with Moses—how did He do it? Through the burning bush. But here, He’s simply speaking to Moses as a man speaks to his friend. So “face to face” means that God was not speaking through an intermediary, or an angel or any other medium. He was communicating with Moses personally. Today we use cell phones and texting and e-mail. God spoke with Moses as we are doing right now. No one in between, no vision, dream, etc. Just God speaking with His friend. 

Exodus 33:12-23—12 Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people!' But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, 'I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' 13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people." 14 And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." 15 Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" 17 The LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name." 18 Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" 19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" 21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen." 

Anybody know what old church hymn comes from this passage? Does God set boundaries? Are there consequences for stepping over those boundaries? If God promises to do something will He do it? So if Moses caught a glimpse of God’s uncovered glory, what would have happened? Look at Moses’ plea in Exodus 33:18 (KJV)—“I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory!” He doesn't say, “I'm going to see your glory or else!” He doesn't try to boss God around. He wants so badly to know God, but is humble enough to know that if God doesn't want to fully reveal Himself, He won’t. Matthew Henry—

“Moses had lately been in the mount with God, had continued there a great while, and had enjoyed as intimate a communion with God as ever any man had on this side heaven; and yet he is still desiring a further acquaintance. All that are effectually called to the knowledge of God and fellowship with him, though they desire nothing more than God, are nevertheless still coveting more and more of him, till they come to see as they are seen. Moses had wonderfully prevailed with God for one favour after another, and the success of his prayers emboldened him to go on still to seek God; the more he had the more he asked: when we are in a good frame at the throne of grace, we should endeavour to preserve and improve it, and strike while the iron is hot: “Show me thy glory; make me to see it” (so the word is); “make it some way or other visible, and enable me to bear the sight of it.” Not that he was so ignorant as to think God's essence could be seen with bodily eyes; but, having [until now] only heard a voice out of a pillar of cloud or fire, he desired to see some representation of the divine glory, such as God saw fit to gratify him with.”

But one day we will see God in all His glory. Not in this life or in this body. But, as it says in 1st John 2:28-3:2—28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. Moses could not see the glory of God with his own eyes. But I dare say he’s seeing it now. And we will one day as well.

Jesus Christ is Lord
Amen.

A Survey of the Old testament Law--Aaron's Golden Calf

Let’s just kinda recap what has happened so far. In Exodus 20, God calls Moses up the mountain, and gives him the Ten Commandments. He takes them down, announces them to the people, and they cry out, “You go talk to God, lest we die!” So Moses goes back up the mountain, and from Exodus 21 through Exodus 23, Moses receives the commandments that the people were to obey, and in Exodus 24 the people cry out “All that the LORD has said we will do and be obedient!” And God establishes His covenant with Israel. God reveals the specifications for the Tabernacle and all its furnishings—the altars and the lampstand and the Ark of the Covenant and the tent itself—basically, He tells Moses, “This is how I am to be worshipped.” He then gives Moses the sign/token/pledge of this covenant, the 7^th-day Sabbath. And then in the very last verse in Exodus 31, we see how the covenant was put in writing. I love this verse. Exodus 31:18—When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

And now we now get to one of the most well-known events not only in Exodus, but in all of Scripture. It is an event that really doesn’t require much explanation. But it does contain several applications to our own lives. And this passage gives us a term that is used even today when we talk about people’s ideas of God and who He is and what He is like. I am talking of course about the golden calf. Now, keep in mind, back in Exodus 24, when the covenant was being established, that Moses took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient" (Exodus 24:7). That was now several days ago. One of the commandments which the people swore that they would “do and be obedient” was Exodus 20:4—“You shall not make for yourself a graven image.” What is the command? No graven images. Remember that. No graven images.

Exodus 32:1-6—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." 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. 

What was the commandment? No graven images. What did the people make? A graven image. That’s how stupid and stubborn we human beings are. Now, in this whole mess, who should have known better? Aaron. Aaron was up on the mountain back in Exodus 24:9-10—9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. But, what Aaron did was not too much different from what another fellow did a few hundred years earlier. Another fellow received a command from God to not do something. His wife did what she wasn’t supposed to do, he saw her do it, and he thought it looked OK and said, “Hey, why not?” Any idea who I’m talking about? Genesis 2:16-17—16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." What happened? Genesis 3:6—She took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. That’s how stupid and stubborn we human beings are. We hear what we’re supposed to do, and not supposed to do, we go on our merry way and do what we want. 

Exodus 32:7-8—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!'” Look at verse 7. When a parent catches their child doing something wrong, and they call the other parent, how do they refer to that child? “Do you know what YOUR son did today?” God tells Moses “These are YOUR people.” And we’re gonna talk more about that later. For now, notice something else. This is a very clear example of the omniscience—or “All-Knowingness” of God. While God was speaking all these words to Moses, what’s going on down at the bottom of the mountain? They’re making the golden calf. They're drinking and carousing and doing all sorts of wickedness. Does God see what the people are doing and even hear what they're saying? He’s speaking to Moses up here—and seeing the idolatry going on down there. And that is one thing we don’t often think about when we think about how God sees everything. We try to turn our eyes away from wickedness don’t we? When we see something filthy on TV, or see some of the magazines at the checkout, we stop and look away, right? We don’t watch pornography. We don’t engage in the sinful things that go on in the world. consider not only the wickedness that goes on in public—let alone the most bizarre stuff that goes in in the places that are hidden away in the darker corners of the world. Those places where the people think no one sees them—God sees it all. Hebrews 4:13—And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. He has seen all the wickedness I used to do before I knew him. And believe you me, I don’t even want to think of what He saw. And yet He is not tempted by seeing it, He is not corrupted by seeing it. He is offended by fact that it takes place. He looks on it all and will judge it all one day. Just as He will do here. 

Exodus 32:9-10—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." He presents to Moses a proposition that must have sounded very appealing to his flesh. But it’s not so much that God is tempting him—I really think this is a place where God is testing Moses to show Moses the weight of the office God has called him to. Keil and Delitzsch—

“God puts the fate of the nation into the hand of Moses, that he may remember his office as mediator, and show himself worthy of his calling. [By placing] the preservation or destruction of Israel in the hands of Moses, coupled with a promise, which left the fullest freedom to [Moses’] decision…this constituted a great test for Moses, whether he would be willing to give up his own people…as the price of his own exaltation. And Moses stood the test. The preservation of Israel was dearer to him than the honour of becoming the head and founder of a new kingdom of God. True to his calling as mediator, he entered the breach before God, to turn away His wrath, that He might not destroy the sinful nation.” 

Besides, it wasn’t as if the entire nation of Israel was participating in idolatry. And if God had wiped out all the people, He would have taken out the innocent with the guilty. And we see Moses' plea, his mediation, in Exodus 32:11—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?” What did God call these people in Exodus 32:7—“Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt.” But here, Moses shows that he understands just who these people belong to, and who really brought them out of the land of Egypt. God said to Moses, “These people belong to you.” Moses says, “No, LORD, they belong to you.” Exodus 32:12-14—“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.'" So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. Moses knew the real reason why God does every single thing He ever does—and that is His glory, His name. That is what prayer is all about. It’s not about getting what WE want. It’s about God. This event is the basis of some of the most long-debated questions in all of theology.

First, “Can we change God’s mind?” Second, “Does God change His mind?” Third, “If God does not change His mind, and if we can't change His mind—then why pray?” Well, we need to understand one basic principle about prayer. And that is: Prayer is not about changing God’s mind—it’s about changing our hearts. And I don’t think it’s as if God was telling Moses, “I am going to wipe these people out,” so much as He was telling Moses, “Give Me a reason why I shouldn’t wipe these people out.” Moses understood the reason for prayer, and he knew that the honor and glory of God’s name was to be upheld even if it meant having to put up with these stubborn, stiff-necked people. Did God know Moses what Moses was going to pray? Does God know what we’re going to pray? Does God know what we need when we pray? Matthew 6:8—“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” Yet what do many of our prayers sound like? “God do this for me” or “Lord do that for me” or “Lord I need help with something else.” Who and what is the center of that kind of prayer? ME and my needs. Should ME and my needs be the center of our prayers? Who and what should be the center of our prayers? God and His glory and His name. In the “Model Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13), what is the first thing we should pray for? Matthew 6:9—“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.” Right after the commandments against having other gods or making graven images, what is the very next commandment? Exodus 20:7—“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” This, by the way, another commandment the people broke, giving the name of God to the golden calf (Exodus 32:4-5).

Moses understood this. He remembered the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Israel. And he knew that if God did indeed wipe the people out, the pagan nations would have great reason to blaspheme His name. When the prophet Nathan rebuked David for his transgression with Bathsheba, the main point of his rebuke was not that he had committed adultery and killed one of his soldiers. Yes, he did rebuke him for those things. But listen to 2^nd Samuel 12:13-14—13 So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die." The child died because David gave the enemies of God a reason to blaspheme. This sounds very cruel to us, doesn't it? It was David that sinned—why should this child, who had not committed such a sin, bear the penalty for his father’s sin? Keil and Delitzsch— 

“As his sin had given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme or ridicule his religion and that of all other believers, the child that was begotten in adultery and had just been born should die…on the one hand, so that the father should atone for his adultery in the death of the son, and, on the other hand, that the visible occasion for any further blasphemy should be taken away: so that David was not only to feel the pain of punishment in the death of his son, but was also to discern in it a distinct token of the grace of God.” 

We will see the same thing here shortly—that even though God will not destroy them for this sin, they will be punished in a very visible and very memorable manner. 

Exodus 32:15-19—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." 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.

A couple things here. First, think back to the very first verses of the chapter. Where was Aaron? He was right in the middle of the rabble and riff-raff—and in fact HE was the one who fashioned the golden calf! Where is Joshua? He’s up the mountain a ways off. Was he in the middle of the wickedness? No. Was he kind of milling around the scene, checking things out? Was he trying to see how close he could get without crossing the line? And yet there are those who claim to be Christians who will date or even marry those who are not followers of Christ. Some will simply get as close to sin as they can, thinking they won’t cross the line into sin. Can't say I haven’t done that a time or two. But what do you always hear them say? “I can handle it! I'm strong enough!” or you’ll ask them, “Are you sure you should be doing that? There’s gonna be a lot of temptation with that.” And you hear these famous last words—“I would neeeevvvvverrr do that!” When you hear a Christian say something like that, get ready for some bad news. The sin that every Christian will fall into is the one they say “I would neeeevvvvverrr do that!” Because that statement is filled with one thing and one thing only—and what is that? Pride. Pride in their own flesh. Proverbs 16:18—Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 29:23—A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor. Mark 7:20-23—“20 What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” Notice how Jesus lists pride among all these other sins that defile a man. And He says that pride will indeed defile a man. So when you hear a Christian say, “I would never fall into that sin”—get ready, because they're about to. Because they're speaking out of pride, which lives in our flesh, and their flesh will make sure it gets its way.

Now, we’re gonna talk for a minute about the Ten Commandments movie. Of course, the way they depicted this scene was quite a bit tamer than what it actually looked like. And we should be very glad for that. This was a drunken orgy, and not many people—if any—had a shred of clothing on. And the scene was much more depraved than what we see on the screen. But does anybody remember what Charlton Heston does with the stone tablets? He throws them at the golden calf, and they make this huge explosion, and the earth opens up and swallows all the idolaters? Well, it makes for fascinating cinema—but bad theology. Which doesn't really make much sense when you have the script right in front of you. What actually happened was Moses slammed them to the ground and they shattered—a quite literal metaphor for how the people “broke the Law.”

 

Now, look at how the people were punished. God did not destroy the people, lest He give the pagans a reason to blaspheme His name. But, Exodus 32:20—Then [Moses] 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. In other words, he made them take their sin into themselves, that they may get just a taste (for lack of a better word) of how abominable their sin was to God. Now, keep in mind, this would not have been a swift process. They would have heated up a large fire, cast the idol into it, and would have had to watch it melt and watch it get beaten down, spread on the water before they drank it. And this was a symbolic act on Moses’ part, teaching them that sin is not something that is exclusively external—that sin pollutes the inner person.  Proverbs 19:28—A disreputable witness scorns justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity. Job 15:15-16—15 If God puts no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not pure in His sight, 16 how much less is man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water! But, if we are in Christ, our “inner man” is not dying and decaying—it is being refreshed and renewed every day by God Himself. Romans 7:21-22—21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 2^nd Corinthians 4:16—Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

Lastly, we’re gonna see just how foolish we human beings really are. Exodus 32:21-24—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."Aaron is saying a couple things here. First, in verse 24 he makes this miraculous declaration--“Moses, it was amazing! You wouldn’t believe it! I took their gold and I randomly threw it in the fire, and—**POOF**—this fully formed golden calf just jumped right out!!” 

Second, but more importantly, what else is he trying to do? look at verses 22-23. Who is he blaming for his actions? “You know the people! They MADE me do it—It’s THEIR fault!” And again, we go back to the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:11-13—11 And [God] said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" 12 Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." 13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Who does Adam blame for his sin? The woman. But also, he blames God, the One who gave him a wife. “The woman YOU gave me…” Who does Eve pin the blame on? The serpent. Remember the Flip Wilson character Geraldine Jones? What was her famous line? “The devil made me do it.” The devil doesn't MAKE us do ANYTHING. Our sin is our own. And by reading Aaron’s foolish reply, don’t we get a glimpse of our own foolishness when we dismissed our own sins for so many years and blamed them on someone else? We see it all around us today. A person commits a horrific crime and they blame society for it. Or they blame the fact that they were raised in the projects by a drug-addicted mother and an abusive father. But there are plenty of people of all races who grow up in such circumstances who don’t give themselves over to a life of crime. Otherwise, this city would be full of serial killers. Notice though, with Adam and Eve, that God holds each one of them accountable for their own sin. “Adam, did eat from that tree? Eve, what did you do?” And even Aaron had to drink the water that was littered with the gold from the calf he made. 

Exodus 32:25-28—25 Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 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.

Everyone who did not commit himself to the LORD God, but instead sided with the idolaters, was killed. Period, paragraph. No mercy. God said, “If they want they to worship their calf, then let them die.” Ezekiel 18:20—The soul who sins shall die. Were the Levites to spare anyone? They could not say, “Well, I know Yitzhak is still on the side of the idolaters, but he’s my cousin and I just can't do it.” What did we say was the most important thing to God? His name and His glory. God tells the sons of Levi, “Let these people be an example of what I will do to those who blaspheme against Me and worship other gods.” And I dare say, if any of the sons of Levi did not carry out these orders, they would have been counted as being among the idolaters, and would have been, more than likely, slain with the sword as well. In fact, listen to these words of our Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 10:34-37—“34 Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” And listen to this one last verse from Exodus, Exodus 32:29—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." Sound familiar? Think Jesus’ words might have reminded the Jews of a certain event in their history? Methinks.

More next time.