March 15, 2025
When Yahweh called Moses, he made a promise:
Exodus 3:12 - "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
Faithful to his promise:
Exodus 19:1-2 - In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt-- on the very day-- they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.
While Yahweh had proven himself faithful time and time again, Israel had proven less so. Yet, despite all their grumbling and complaining, Yahweh had journeyed with them and he had brought them to his mountain.
Yahweh called to Moses from the mountain:
Exodus 19:3-6 - "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'”
The people responded:
Exodus 19:8 - … "We will do everything Yahweh has said."
God gave specific instructions for how Israel should prepare to meet him. They were to purify themselves and they were to build boundary markers around the mountain. Yahweh’s presence would make the mountain holy. The markers were to be a line of protection. Anyone who presumed to cross the boundary would be killed.
On the 3rd day there was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud covered the mountain. At the trumpet blast, all Israel trembled. Moses led the people out of camp and they came and stood at the foot of the mountain.
The mountain was covered with smoke because Yahweh had descended on it in fire. The whole mountain shook and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.
Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, so Moses went up. After some further instructions, Moses went down again and told the people all that God had said. And then God spoke to the people directly:
Exodus 20:1-17 - … "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
1 - You are to have no other gods before me.
2 - You are not to make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3 - You are not to misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4 - Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 6 days you shall labor and do all your work, but the 7th day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in 6 days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the 7th day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5 - Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land Yahweh your God is giving you.
6 - Do not murder.
7 - Do not commit adultery.
8 - Do not steal.
9 - Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10 - Do not covet your neighbor's house, or his wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Before we continue, we are going to look again at Commandment #2.
• One of the things idol worship does is it eliminates awe, because the gods we create are no greater than we are or the value we bestow upon them. Yahweh has declared himself to be self-existent. He is great and powerful and awesome apart from what we think about him. Furthermore, God knows that idol worship not only destroys our understanding of him, but it will eventually destroy us. His jealousy, then, should not be seen in the context of human jealousy, which is rooted in insecurity and envy, but in the passionate, protective, exclusive, covenant love relationship he desires to have with his creation.
• What is highlighted here is the reality that the decisions made by one generation will impact the next generation and even the next or the next. In the context of making and worshiping idols, we are reminded that faithfulness or unfaithfulness will have lasting effects. God is not sitting on his throne anxiously waiting to kill children for the sins of their parents. In fact, in Ezekiel 18:20 we are told that, “… A son shall not bear the guilt of the father, and a father shall not bear the guilt of the son.” Certainly, children suffer for the sins of their parents, just ask the child of an alcoholic, but what this commandment is referring to is what happens when the child walks in the steps of their parents and participates in their sin.
o Ellen White (PP 306.3) - … By inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father's sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation. This fearful truth should have a solemn power to restrain men from following a course of sin.
God had spoken directly to the people and it was a terrifying experience. His presence – the sights and sounds coming from the mountain – had made a profound impact:
“You speak to us,” they said to Moses. “If God speaks to us, we’ll die.”
Moses responded, “Don’t be afraid and don’t forget this experience. God has appeared to you in this way so that your awe and reverence for him will keep you from sinning.”
However, while Moses approached God in the thick darkness, the people remained at a distance.
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Exodus 20:23-23:33 are the laws Yahweh gave to Moses that would govern the new nation.
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Yahweh called Moses to come up the Mountain again and this time to bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the 70 elders.
The people had seen Yahweh’s glory. They had heard his voice. They had trembled with fear and when Moses gave them all the laws, they again, declared: “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do”
When he read to them the book of the Covenant, again they responded, “We will do everything Yahweh has spoken. We will obey.”
Then Moses took blood and sprinkled it on the people, “This is the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has made with you in accordance with all these words."
Israel was voluntarily entering into a covenant relationship with God. By doing so, they were placing themselves under his authority and by declaring that they would do everything Yahweh had said to do, they were affirming their commitment to the conditions of the covenant. With the sprinkling of blood, the covenant relationship between God and Israel was ratified.
Now Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the 70 elders made their way up the mountain. “They saw the God of Israel.
Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.”
Once again, Yahweh called Moses to come up the mountain. This time Joshua went with him.
Exodus 24:16-18 - And the glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai. For 6 days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the 7th day Yahweh called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of Yahweh looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.
During those 40 days/nights, Yahweh gave Moses the plans for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:10-31:18).
While Moses was basking in the presence of God, the people were beginning to get worried and restless. What had happened to Moses? Did he die? Did he abandon them? Did he get a better offer?
Brought again, into a moment of perceived crisis, they forgot everything God had done and all they had promised to do and went back to what they knew – gods they could see and touch.
So much for, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.”
To Aaron’s door they went:
Exodus 32:1 - …. “Come, make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.”
For me, the most amazing part of this story is how Aaron responded.
• Aaron, who had been called to be Moses’ mouthpiece….
• Aaron, who had stood boldly beside Moses as the 10 plagues fell….
• Aaron, who had just eaten in the very presence of God….
• Aaron, who was chosen to be God’s High Priest before the people….
Said, “bring me all your jewelry.” Then he cast the gold into an image of a calf.
It does not appear that he tried to dissuade the people or point them to the faithfulness of God or call them to patiently wait. Nope!
The people said, “We don’t know what has happened to Moses. We are tired of waiting. Make us gods that we can follow.”
And Aaron said, “Oky-doky.”
After seeing the golden calf, the people said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
Aaron built an altar in front of the calf and declared, “tomorrow we’ll have a feast for Yahweh.”
Abraham’s children had always struggled with idol worship, but Aaron had taken it to the next level. He connected the worship of Yahweh WITH idol worship. He blurred the lines, and in doing so, he reduced the Great I Am to just another god – a god easily discarded if it didn’t meet expectations.
By that one act, Aaron planted a weed that would entangle Israel and would lead, eventually, to her destruction.
Exodus 32:6 - So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
Until Next Time………
