Clean Clothes

Ex. 32:1-10, 19-20, 26-28 - 1Now 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.” 2And 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. 4And 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!” 5So when Aaron

saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a

proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.”

6Then 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.

7And 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 worshipped it and sacrificed

to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you

out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9And 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.”

19So 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. 20Then he took the calf which they

had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder;

and he scattered it on the water and made the children of

Israel drink it. 26then 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. 27And 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.’ ” 28So the sons of Levi did

according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand

men of the people fell that day.

Num. 25:1-9 - Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove,

and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of

Moab. 2They invited the people to the sacrifices of their

gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

3So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the

Lord was aroused against Israel. 4Then the Lord said to

Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the

offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce

anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5So Moses

said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men

who were joined to Baal of Peor.”

6And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and

presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of

Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the

children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the

tabernacle of meeting. 7Now when Phinehas the son of

Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from

among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand;

8and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust

both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman

through her body. So the plague was stopped among the

children of Israel. 9And those who died in the plague were

twenty-four thousand.

We can readily see from these instances (plus many more

that are recorded in the scriptures)...that God takes a dim

view of His people defiling themselves.

A. We see from multiple passages in the New

Testament, as well, that God has not changed His

view towards defilement.

1. Because we are in a different covenant period,

we can understand that God doesn’t work in

the same way that He did in the Old Covenant.