Text: Exodus Chapter 32
Title: Lessons from the Golden Calf
Introduction
Exodus chapter 32 tells us about one of the darkest moments in the entire history of Israel.
The people of God changed who they would worship
Read text…
“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods 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” (v1)
“Aaron…took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your god’s, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.” (v4)
God’s people exchange the worship of God for… the worship of an idol in the form of a golden calf?
Question: How does something like this happen?
How could people walk away from the worship of God in order to worship - a piece of metal?
Or closer to home…
Why are there days when I find time to do other things - but no time to spend with God?
Today is Superbowl Sunday!
All week we’ve been pumping ourselves up for the big game
All week we’ve been talking about the game even with- total strangers…
We’re going to get to the Superbowl party as early as possible…
We’re going to really get into the game. We’re going to shout at the tv,
We’re going to cheer for our favorite team
We can’t wait for the game to start!
Are we ever that excited about God?
Maybe you find yourself today wishing you were more excited about God
Again why are there days when I find myself not spending time with God?
What went wrong?
How did we get to that place…Jesus calls it …being lukewarm
What would we say in our defense?
When ever we find ourselves lukewarm what do we say in our defense?
I find I like to use the same defense Aaron gave to Moses.…
I just didn’t know Aaron used it first.
Here is what Aaron told Moses
I told the people…”whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off. Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.” (v24)
What was Aaron’s defense?
It was all an accident
It accidentally happened
It was a surprise to me too Moses
But isn’t that just like our human nature?
When even we are caught putting something before God
Our first response is usually – but it was an accident
I didn’t mean for it to happen…
I can’t tell you how it happened….
Was Aaron really telling the truth to Moses?
Was the worship of the golden calf all because of an accident?
“So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.” (v4)
So it did not just accidentally happen.
Aaron took the earrings from the people and deliberately cast and fashioned them into an idol.
Application:
You don’t exchange the worship of God for the worship of something else by accident
You don’t accidentally forget to pray
You don’t accidentally forget to read your bible
We don’t accidentally walk away from God in order to worship something else
If we’re honest with ourselves –
If we’ve walked away from God – it’s always because we have replaced Him with something else
Through the choices that we made….
What are those choices and how do we correct them?
Mistake #1: We exchange the truth about God for a lie.
Notice this was the very same mistake the people of God made in Exodus 32
As I read verses 1 and 4 see if you can identify what piece of truth changed
Clue: It’s about who gets the credit for bringing the people up out of Egypt
“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods 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” (v1)
Who gets the credit for bringing the people up out of Egypt….? Moses!
Now listen to how the truth got changed for a lie in verse 4?
“Aaron…took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your god’s, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.” (v4)
Now who gets the credit for bringing the people up out of Egypt?
It wasn’t Moses but it was this golden calf that brought you out of Egypt.
They rewrote history- They exchanged the truth for a lie.
How could this happen? How could they fall for the lie?
Simple: Out of sight out of mind.
It’s easier to follow something we can see than it is to follow something we can’t see.
Moses isn’t with us anymore- so let’s replace him with something that is with us
It’s can be just as easily the same mistake for us…
Since we can’t see God- there is the temptation is to replace God who we can’t see with something- we can see
Example: Money, possessions, sports…
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:22)
Remedy; We have got to exchange the lie for the truth.
“He (Moses) took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; them he ground it to power, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.” (v20)
1.He burned it in the fire
2.He ground t to power
3.He scattered it on the water
4.He made the Israelites drink it.
Isn’t Moses overreacting a little!
Lies don’t die easily!
It’s 4 times harder to get rid of a lie than it is to believe it!
Ever try to give up something that was getting in the way of you knowing God better?
This E100 bible reading challenge? It’s hard to find the time!
That’s why we have altar time. That’s why we pray with people…
Just saying I’m going to change is not enough…
The Lie fights back. You have to kill it again and again!
The lie wants you back!
Mistake #2 We’re too much like Aaron and not enough like Moses
Aaron and Moses were brothers.
Same family. Same church…
Aaron and Moses could not have been more different in Exodus 32.
What can we say about Aaron?
Aaron would not take a stand for God.
When the pressure was put on him - He compromised his standards.
Instead of standing for God he accommodated the wishes of the people.
He did what the people wanted him to do and not what God wanted him to do
He gave the people what they wanted and helped to lead the people astray
He even tried to join the worship of God to the worship of the golden calf..
If ever there was ever a man who had one foot in the church and one foot in the world it was Aaron.
He tried to please the people and he tried to also please God.
It doesn’t work!
Moses
Moses on the other hand wants nothing to do with the worship of the golden calf.
He knows it’s wrong and he knows why it is wrong
Unlike Aaron he doesn’t give in to the people – instead he prays for the people
He intercedes for the people…
No where do we read in Exodus 32 that Aaron prayed for the people….
You can’t pray for the deliverance of others when you need deliverance for yourself
Aaron was a man of the people. Moses was a man of God
Aaron gave the people what they wanted. Moses gave the people what God wanted.
Are we an Aaron or a Moses?
Can you change from being an Aaron to a Moses?
The levites – changed their position Exodus 32:26
“Whoever is for the Lord come to me. And all the Levites rallied to him”
Conclusion
1. Exchange a lie for the truth
2. Become a Moses not an Aaron
