Fool’s Gold Series

Look at the pictures on the screen. Which one shows real gold, and which one shows fool’s gold, also known as pyrite? Pyrite is usually found as angular pieces and is brittle. Thin pieces of pyrite will break with pin pressure, while gold ore will bend or dent because it’s very soft. Still, the two can look quite similar deceiving many.

As we continue our Moses sermon series, “Made for More,” we’ll see how the Israelites mistook fool’s gold for real treasure when they worshipped a golden calf, declaring it to be the god who had brought them out of Egypt. How could the Israelites make such a mistake? How do we often make the same error and sin against the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods? And what is God’s reaction to such sin? Listen to selected verses from our text.

In our sermon last week, we learned how after hearing God speak the Ten Commandments from within the fire and smoke on top of a quaking Mt. Sinai, the Israelites not only promised to do everything God had said, Moses also ratified that promise by spattering the Israelites with the blood of animal sacrifices. Like a child who puts in writing that he will clean his room on time and in accordance with Mom and Dad’s standards, the Israelites had bound themselves to obeying God. And why wouldn’t they? This is the God who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt! Binding themselves to God would be like hooking up a broken car to a tow truck.

After the covenant had been ratified, Moses hiked back up Mt. Sinai to receive the rock-solid, tablet-of-stone version of the Ten Commandments inscribed by God himself. Moses also received many other divine directives, like how to build a place of worship called the tabernacle. However, when his absence stretched to 40 days on top of a mountain that continued to be covered in the smoke of God’s glory, the Israelites below got tired of waiting and decided they could follow their own plan for spirituality. You can understand how they felt, can’t you? When you’ve been waiting in the ER for hours and still haven’t even seen the triage nurse, you’re tempted to walk out and treat yourself the best you can. That’s what the Israelites tried in regard to spiritual matters and the result was disastrous.

Like disgruntled air passengers who crowd around a gate agent, the Israelites surrounded Aaron, the brother of Moses and second in command. They demanded: “Get up, make us a god who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” (Ex. 32:1) You’d expect Aaron to object—to say something like, “Make a god? Why would we want to do that? The elders and I saw the true God on Mt. Sinai when we ate in his presence there. That was after we all promised three different times to obey him. No. I will not make an idol for you.”

But that isn’t how Aaron responded. He didn’t even suggest that they wait a few more days for Moses, or send out a search party for him. Instead, Aaron directed: “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” (Ex. 32:2) If Aaron thought he could call the Israelites’ bluff by demanding their treasures, he miscalculated badly. The sacred record says that the people took off their earrings and gave them to Aaron.

Where did these refugees who had been slaves for hundreds of years get gold earrings? Do you remember? These treasures and much more had come from the Egyptians. They had willingly given them to the Israelites as they left Egypt. Why? Because God moved the Egyptians to do this. In other words, these gold earrings, and every other treasure the Israelites had, came from God. But now they were going to use these God-given gifts to pursue their own aims.

Your money. Your vehicles. Your success. Where did they all come from? Oh sure, you may have worked for them. But who gave you the strength, the smarts, and the opportunities? God did. And yet how often don’t we use what God has given us to pursue our own aims and to worship gods of our own making? Hobbies become all-consuming leaving us breathless. Things we own become status statements. And what exactly are we stating? “I’m better than you because I have more”? But Jesus said: “To whom much has been given, much will be demanded.” (Lk. 12:48) God blesses us abundantly that we may be a blessing to others, not so that we can run off and do our own thing while we leave God in the dust.